Head of Impact – East & Southern Africa

About Christian Aid

Christian Aid exists to create a world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty.

For 80 years, Christian Aid has worked in partnership to address the root causes of poverty, through integrated development, humanitarian programming, policy and advocacy work. We work with some of the world’s most vulnerable communities in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America and Caribbean. We are there before, during and after emergencies, to save lives and support lasting change. We also work in other countries and regions through the ACT Alliance and our other partners, particularly around humanitarian emergencies.

We focus on four key areas: peacebuilding, gender justice, governance and rights, and climate adaptation and resilience.

We are grounded in the belief that every person is made in the image and likeness of God, and that poverty is an outrage against that God-given dignity. We work with people regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, and seek to put people’s voice and agency at the centre of efforts to end poverty.

About the Region and the new Multi-Country Cluster

Christian Aid has been working across the globe since the 1950s.

Our programmes across the East and Southern Africa Multi-Country Cluster (ESA MCC) are built upon an understanding and commitment to working in partnership with civil society, and our approach to locally-led programmes and shifting power. The contexts of the region inform our response to Christian Aid’s four key priority areas, with our programme impact reinforced by our influencing work on economic justice and climate justice. We also advocate on crisis contexts, such as South Sudan.

Across this region, Christian Aid has a history of building networks, alliances and campaign movements, which will continue in our new model. In the new model we seek to strengthen our work on cross-border issues, and ensure that where relevant our programmes and influencing cut across countries in different MCCs.

Christian Aid is moving to a new model, designed to make us more impactful, better stewards of the resources entrusted to us, and more responsive and accountable to communities living in poverty. We will transition from our current structure, where programmes are primarily delivered through country offices, to one in which our partnerships are led from five Multi-Country Cluster (MCC) hubs.

About the role

Christian Aid is seeking a Head of Impact, based in Nairobi, Kenya to lead the East and Southern Africa Multi-Country Cluster Hub.

This is a new role, in an evolving organisation, which brings together all of our humanitarian, development and influencing work, to be led and coordinated through the MCCs.

The Head of Impact, East and Southern Africa will lead our work across our priority countries in this region. MCC teams will enable us to create more space for partners to flourish and lead, and unlock our ability to work more horizontally, and to develop programmes that cut across multiple countries.

Reporting to our Director of Impact, each MCC will work together, with the Heads of Impact forming part of an extended directorate team that meets regularly with the CEO and directors, to jointly lead the organisation’s work on impact.

Role purpose

• Lead a coherent change strategy for the region, which results in significant impact on poverty. Bringing together development, humanitarian and advocacy work as part of a dynamic impact strategy, addressing both poverty alleviation and tackling the underlying causes of poverty.
• Hold oversight of the resourcing strategy for the region, this will require an ability to bring all sources of funding together to drive a coherent impact strategy.
• Obtain effective management of resources across programmes, allocate resources to maximise impact and identify strategic opportunities.
• Provide leadership across all functions, ensuring close coordination across development, humanitarian, and influencing partnerships.
• Represent Christian Aid’s programme and advocacy, amplifying partners’ experience, insights and leadership.

About you

• You will bring a detailed understanding of the drivers of poverty within the cluster region, and extensive experience in working across a range of operating contexts, including an understanding of conflict settings.
• You will have substantial experience developing strong and strategic relationships; with donors, partners and other key stakeholders, and a highly developed ability to effectively network coupled with a deep understanding of working in partnership and experience in strengthening and connecting Civil Society.
• You will have highly developed ability to support an organisation through change and growth.
• You will have extensive experience leading diverse and high performing teams.
• You will have a strong affinity with the vision and values that underpin and shape Christian Aid’s work and a detailed understanding of and support for Christian Aid’s faith identity.

Other

• Travel: In-country (up to 50 days/annum) and global (up to 50 days/annum)

We invite you to download the full Job and Person Specification for this role at the following link:

Christian Aid_Head of Impact ESA

APPOINTMENT TERMS

Location: Nairobi, Kenya. This role requires applicants to have the right to live and work in the country where this position is based

Salary and Benefits: National salary and benefits package

Contract length: Permanent

HOW TO APPLY

Closing date: 27^th August 2025

Red Sea Interviews: w/c 1^st September

Christian Aid interviews: TBC

To apply please click ‘Apply Now’ above

Candidates are kindly asked to submit a CV of no more than four (04) pages and a cover letter, preferably in MS Word. All application documents (cover letter and CV) should be submitted in English.

Should you require access to information in a different format to facilitate your application please contact us via [email protected] .

Please name your files as follows:

FirstName_Surname_CV_ESA

FirstName_Surname_CL_ESA

Red Sea takes our responsibility towards protecting your personal data very seriously. The data you provide is processed in line with relevant data protection legislation. For the purposes of this recruitment, and as defined under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Red Sea is defined as the Data Controller.

Red Sea is committed to meeting the standards set out in our Equality and Diversity statement, acting in line with the UK Equalities Act 2010 and building an accurate picture of the make-up of the workforce in encouraging equality and diversity.

Christian Aid strives to be an inclusive and diverse employer and recognises the value that this brings in helping to build strong, creative and high performing teams.

In line with Christian Aid’s procedures, all successful candidates will require a DBS/police check appropriate to the role and location and a Counter Terrorism Sanction check as part of your clearance for commencing your role with them. Christian Aid also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.  In line with this Scheme, they will request information as part of the referencing process from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.