Regional Head of Programmes & Partnerships

Job: Regional Head of Programmes & Partnerships 
Organisation: Street Child 
Location: Nairobi/Kenya 
Job & Contract Type: Full-Time, 24-months renewable 
Estimated Travel: 25% 
Salary: $60,000 - $80,000

Background:  

Street Child is a rapidly growing, child-focused, humanitarian and development organisation. In 2023, Street Child celebrated reaching over 1.5m children across 25 countries over fifteen years of existence. This was accomplished with and through a growing network of more than 200 national and local actors. 

In the East and Southern Africa region, Street Child operates in Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Sudan, and Uganda, focusing on education in emergencies, child protection, and livelihoods for caregivers programming. These initiatives are primarily delivered through local partners or government entities. The regional annual programme portfolio of approximately $4 million and is targeting growth in 2025 and beyond. 

Role Purpose:  

The Regional Head of Programmes & Partnerships will oversee and strengthen the portfolio of education, child protection, and livelihood programming across the region. They will support country programme teams, ensuring technical excellence and high-impact interventions for vulnerable and crisis-affected children. The role will also drive strategic partnerships, business development, and programme quality, fostering growth and innovation while ensuring strong local partnerships and adherence to safeguarding standards. 

Specifically, this position will play a critical role in driving business development and programme growth by supporting countries with proposal development needs, funding opportunities, and strategic leverage that align with Street Child’s country-level and global objectives. The role will also contribute to innovative programme design, ensuring high-quality implementation and technical excellence at the country level. Key responsibilities include ensuring efficient project cycle management and robust Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) systems while upholding rigorous safeguarding standards. Additionally, the role will foster equitable partnerships with local actors, addressing capacity-strengthening needs to enhance programme impact and sustainability.  

Key Responsibilities: 

• Programme Leadership & Technical Support: Oversee programme design, implementation, and quality assurance, ensuring strong technical standards in education, child protection, and livelihoods. Provide technical assistance, coaching, and capacity strengthening to programme teams and local partners. Ensure compliance with donor regulations, safeguarding standards, and financial accountability. 
• Business Development & Strategic Growth: Drive regional programme growth by supporting countries in realizing funding opportunities through high-quality proposals. Identify and leverage funding opportunities to expand Street Child’s impact. Develop innovative programme approaches to enhance effectiveness and sustainability. 
• Partnership Development & Localisation: Strengthen partnerships with local partners, relevant regional bodies, government agencies, and key stakeholders. Foster equitable collaboration, ensuring compliance with Street Child’s partnership principles. Build local partner capacity in programme implementation, financial management, and donor compliance. 
• Advocacy & Representation: Where needed, represent Street Child at regional and international forums to advocate for quality education and child protection in emergencies. Collaborate with networks and stakeholders to influence policy and funding decisions. Communicate programme successes and impact to donors and key stakeholders. 

Person Specifications:  

The ideal candidate will possess significant experience in the development or humanitarian sector, particularly with education/education in emergencies programming, and child protection and livelihoods. They should have a proven track record with innovative proposal design and program delivery, including implementing project management systems, ensuring programme quality, and making technical assistance available to country teams. Strong analytical thinking skills, applied with creativity and resourcefulness, will be highly valued. Experience of adapting, improvising and building systems in low-capacity environments is of particular interest. The candidate should also have experience and/or interest in working with and supporting local partners to ensure effective implementation and equitable partnerships. Strong coaching and mentoring skills and the ability to lead teams and communicate effectively will be important.  

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in education, social work, international development, or a related field; a Master’s degree is preferred. 
• Significant experience (8+ years) in programme/project management in the NGO sector, ideally in education, child protection, and livelihoods. 
• Experience designing relevant education programmes and building partnerships. 
• Proven track record in business development, including successful proposal writing, project design, and donor relations. 
• Experience working with local partners and partnership development. 
• Familiarity with key institutional donors and UN agencies. 
• Strong understanding of safeguarding principles and practical experience in implementing safeguarding measures in programmes. 
• Experience overseeing MEAL and improving MEAL systems and tools for effective programme evaluation and learning. 
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, capable of working collaboratively with diverse stakeholders. 
• Ability to travel approximately 25% of the time. 

Line Management: 

• Reports to: Regional Director 
• Supervises: TBD, matrix management of Country Heads of Programmes/Programme Leads 
• Collaboration with: Regional Finance Manager, Technical Advisory Unit, and other relevant HQ teams.  

Commitment to Safeguarding:

Street Child is committed to safeguarding and protecting the communities we serve, our partners, our volunteers, and our staff. As part of this commitment to safeguarding, all offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate background checks. Street Child also participates in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this Scheme, we will request information 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.  

Employment Conditions:

This position is open to both Kenyan and international applicants. This is an unaccompanied position, and international candidates would be sponsored for a Kenyan work permit. International hires will receive a living allowance, local health insurance, an annual home leave ticket, and a 3.5% retirement contribution. Please note that the position is subject to host country/Kenyan taxation.  

Application Process:

Street Child welcomes applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, or age.  

Please submit your CV and a cover letter explaining why you think you could make an extraordinary impact in this role. We will be reviewing applications as they are submitted, so interested candidates are encouraged to apply early.