We are hiring a Managing Director!
http://www.rafikiwamaendeleo.org/
About Rafiki wa Maendeleo Trust
Rafiki wa Maendeleo Trust (RWMT) is a charitable organization that works to empower communities to create positive change in a rural area of Siaya County in Western Kenya. Nearly 60% of the population in this area live below the poverty line and only 18% of the population have finished high school. Rafiki lies in the center of Rarieda sub-County and serves over 30,000 people.
We dream of people believing in themselves and working together to build a vibrant and progressive community. To achieve this, we run community programs under RWMT and offer vocational trainings at Rarieda Training & Resource Centre (RTRC).
Our team of 55 currently engages nearly 3,000 orphans and vulnerable children and their families with impressive outcomes across health, education, economic empowerment and human right advocacy. Currently, 200 students are being equipped with vocational and life skills, which otherwise would not be accessible to them.
To grow our reach and impact, we are now working with Community Based Organisations (CBOs) across the county, driving up revenues through our various income-generating activities, streamlining our operations and programs, and aim to enrol up to 300 youth annually for vocational training.
About the Role
After 16 years of active leadership of our Founder and Executive Director, we are hiring a Managing Director to take over day-to-day management of the organization, and allow the ED to focus on partnerships and strategy.
We are looking for an energetic and experienced Managing Director to lead the organization to reach new and bold heights. The Managing Director directly oversees a team of managers handling Programs, Operations, Finance, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, Learning (MEAL), and the Rarieda Training and Resource Center (RTRC). You will support the ED in partnership management, fundraising, strategy development and board engagement.
Under your lead, RWMT and RTRC will become an even stronger role model in terms of community development, Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and effective organizational management in Western Kenya and beyond.
Your responsibilities will include:
Organizational Leadership – Oversee all functions and create synergies that drive the organization forward (40%)
- In collaboration with board and management team, spearhead the organizational design, culture and structure in service of the goals and strategies and in line with our values.
- Lead and develop the management team and enable them to drive the organization’s results through their teams.
- Cultivate a positive work environment where staff are happy and enjoy coming to work each day.
- Promote unity, drive and a strong performance culture across the organization. An environment where people collaborate, take decisions keeping in mind the big picture and own their work. Lead the team to succeed!
- Champion a solid talent management strategy, and learning and development mindset and activities across the organization.
- Liaise with Operations and Finance, ensuring they serve the organization’s demands, promoting operational excellence and fiscal prudence.
- Inspire and drive a strong quality focus through culture building and processes (such as industry or ISO certifications)
Lead Program Design, Strategy and Expansion (30%)
- Ensure that our programs address community needs in an empowering way, align with key trends and opportunities in the development sector and donor interests.
- Drive creation and implementation of overall strategy for RMWT as a role model NGO and RTRC as a role model TVET when it comes to programmatic, MEAL, evidence-based training and operational excellence.
- Engage with the M&E team to draw key insights about our activities and feed into the overall Theory of Change. Work with managers to promote outcomes and evidence-based thinking for our partners, staff and external stakeholders.
- Support the TVET development of RTRC into a strong entity with regional impact and brand.
- Enable the organization to replicateand bring to scale successful aspects of our models, through advocacy, training, partnerships.
Fundraising and External Representation (30%)
- Lead the team in the proposal writing process and engage existing and new donors to secure funding.
- Continuously market, communicate and share the RWMT and RTRC visions, missions, values and impact to all stakeholders.
- Oversee reporting to all donors with the aim to manage, nurture and grow the relationships. Ensure high levels of professionalism, quality and integrity in all documents going to external parties.
- Together with the board, develop the brand and lead external positioning of RWMT and RTRC as a development organization and TVET with a social enterprise approach.
- Scope, identify and build new partnerships that align with the organization’s goals and needs across the private, philanthropic and public sector, first in Kenya and later globally. Leverage board members in strategic ways.
Who we are looking for:
- You have a vision for community development, based on a strong understanding of rural issues and trends in the development space.
- You have held various senior leadership roles in the non-profit and impact space, with excellent understanding of realities, players, trends and standards.
- You have at least 10-15 years of overall work experience, preferably some of that in rural areas with disadvantaged communities.
- Track record in fundraising and resource mobilization. Strong ability to engage donors. An existing network of partners and donors is desired.
- You have strong people and relationship building skills. You know how to enable collaboration. Others describe you as approachable, compassionate and fair. You build deep, trusted and open relationships with team members, colleagues and board members.
- You have strong leadership and senior management skills with at least 5 years of experience managing large teams and multiple departments.
- You know how to build organizational culture and drive values and mind-sets in the workforce with impressivepast results in growing and shaping an organization.
- You havedesigned and implemented institutional capacity development programs with clear achievements.
- You have good overall understanding of Financial Management in a medium sized organization and are comfortable making the final call on budgets, spending, reports etc.
- You are a critical thinkerwith strong decision making ability, especially in challenging and complex situations
- You are a stickler for quality and detail, whether in documents orservice delivery.
- You have excellent written, verbal communication and presentation skills, both in person and via video calls.
- In difficult situations you stand strong, remain calm and don’t get pulled in different directions by stakeholder interest.
- Experience with income-generating activities, value chains and social enterprise is preferred
- Ability to relate to our international and multi-cultural family of development partners. An ear for languages and multi-lingual skills ideal.
- You are excited about rural living yet flexible and willing to travel and engage with donors and partners as required.
You have the right fit with our culture if:
- You are compassionate and deeply care about children, youth and rural development.
- You value transparency and encourage accountability in all aspects of your life.
- You pride yourself on being flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances.
- You are humble and comfortable in varying social and professional settings, alternating between interacting with rural community members, and high-level stakeholder meetings with institutional representatives.
- You value being part of a team that aims to set new industry standards.
Why work with us?
- While our work with communities is very challenging, it is also very rewarding – you see lives changing before your eyes!
- You will be part of growing our impact with some exciting networks and partnerships that we have built over the past 15 years.
- We are on the journey to becoming a role model development organization and will in the process support many other CBOs and NGOs.
- We are a committed team and we care about each other.
- You will be living and working in a beautiful, rural, calm and clean environment, with fresh air and close to Lake Victoria.
Other information
Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.
The MD will be based in our main office in a rural village in Rarieda, Siaya County with occasional travel to Nairobi as required. We are about 20 km from the nearest town (Bondo) where some of our team members live.
Due to the nature of work additional hours may be required. At times, program activities extend into the weekend and may require your participation.
We are looking for candidates who are ready to commit for 5+ years. The candidate will undergo a six-month probationary period and a one-year transition plan with the current ED. We will agree on performance and learning objectives.
Interested?
- If you are interested in the role, please get in touch with [email protected] to discuss more about the role and your candidature.
- Also, take a look at this briefing on the selection process: http://bit.ly/MDProcessGuide
- To apply, fill in the application form under http://bit.ly/MDRafiki
- Upload your CV in PDF format when filling the application form. Please ensure it is tailored to this role and no more than 3 pages.
- We look forward to hearing from you!
Selection process in collaboration with edge