COUNTRY DIRECTOR – CARE ZIMBABWE

JOB SUMMARY:

CARE International (CI) is a global confederation of humanitarian and development non-governmental organizations working to reduce poverty and social injustice around the world. The Country Director (CD) is CARE’s legal representative in the country of operation and has full supervisory responsibility for the country portfolio and is responsible for building a cohesive team that works together to deliver high-impact programming across the country.
The Country Director (CD) is an innovative and visionary leader responsible for developing and managing all programming and operations in the country of operation to deliver impact, harness innovative solutions and influence lasting and systemic change. Reporting to the Regional Director, the Country Director provides management oversight to CARE staff ensuring they are able to play an effective role in addressing poverty and injustice and providing humanitarian assistance when needed.

CARE works in collaboration with a range of stakeholders including Government, the private sector, local and international non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations and local communities to implement programs and influence policies that reduce poverty, promote lasting change and provide innovative solutions to complex humanitarian and development challenges. The Country Director is responsible to identify, foster and nurture relationships with external stakeholders that will further the mission of CARE in the country of operation.

The Country Director is responsible for fulfilling the “Performance Standards of Country Offices” and has a responsibility to ensure the relevance, impact and cost-effectiveness of CARE work and presence in the country of operation. They represent CARE overseeing program implementation ensuring effective and timely humanitarian response, leading operational planning, and overseeing financial, operational and human resource management. The Country Director will develop systems and processes to promote and uphold CARE’s commitments to being locally led, gender equal and globally scaled whilst ensuring programs are climate-smart, safe, inclusive and innovative. They have primary responsibility for the safety and security of CARE staff and to safeguard all organizational assets and operations.

The Country Director is the legal representative of CARE and is expected to maintain high ethical standards and behave in a manner that upholds the values of CARE at all times treating people with respect and dignity.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Representation, Relationships and Influence.

The Country Director is the legal representative of CARE in country representing CARE to all parties, they are responsible to ensure that there is an appropriate legal basis for CARE’s presence in Country conforming to statutory regulations and aligned to CARE’s values and mission. The Country Director must engage with CMPs to build collective ownership of the country office strategy and program and effectively represent all member’s interest in country of operation.

• Fostering and nurturing productive relationships with key stakeholders in country so that they understand and respect the value of CARE’s contribution to addressing poverty, gender inequality and injustice and seek to partner with CARE as a valuable source of experience and as a preferred partner.
• Lead CARE’s outreach and engagement with local/national government, key development partners, civil society actors, and private sector in order to influence development and funding priorities.
• Build partnerships with leading organizations, private sector, government, foundations, community representatives, and other critical partners to enhance collective impact, voice, and shape relevant policy agendas.
• Proactively participate and engage in coordination fora at the national level (including the Humanitarian Coordination mechanism) influencing decision making and elevating local priorities (in particular those of women and girls) for action at the highest level.
• Be visible and present in national spaces relevant to CARE’s mission and vision, play a key role in country level discussions, stay abreast of contextual changes, anticipate needs, and contribute to shaping donors’ views on humanitarian and development priorities in ways that are responsive to changes in the context.
• Ensuring effective media communications, maintaining the image of CARE in country is consistent with CARE’s Mission and Values. The Country Director will act as CARE spokesperson when required.
• Collaborating with relevant HQ departments to build a cohesive organisational culture and brand and build CARE’s brand locally.
• Actively participating in the Regional Leadership Team and ensure that the CO contributes to regional and institutional initiatives / priorities.

Strategy Oversight and vision alignment;

The Country Director is responsible for ensuring that the country strategy is up to date, remains relevant to the changing context and is guiding the work of CARE in the country of operation. The Country Director leads the implementation of the Country Strategy, ensuring alignment with Regional priorities as well as CARE’s global approaches.

• Guided by the CARE US strategy, CARE International program strategy, donor and host government priorities, ensure that CARE has a coherent, documented and understood strategy which clearly sets out how CARE will fulfil its mandate to address poverty and injustice amongst poor and marginalized women and their communities in the country of operation.
• Set direction by prioritising and organising actions and resources to achieve strategic, programmatic and organisational objectives.
• Developing the CO annual canvass to identify priority investments and measurement metrics, ensuring alignment with the CO strategy and the IPO canvass.
• Monitoring the implementation of the canvass ensuring progress against annual commitments.
• Undertaking periodic analysis of the operating environment to ensure CARE’s role and operating model remain relevant to the country context and global trends.
• Design and lead organizational change processes to leverage opportunities and evolve towards the CARE 2030 vision
• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where diverse view points are welcomed.

Financial Health, Resource Mobilisation & Program development;

• Develop a viable program pipeline in line with CO strategy and lead the development of an appropriate fundraising strategy for the country Office.
• Identify and secure adequate funding for ongoing and future program activities on a timely basis. Ensure good stewardship of the funding, maximizing cost recovery from restricted grants and negotiating acceptable terms and conditions with CMPs.
• Monitor the CO’s financial position and take proactive steps to address financial shortfalls.
• Ensure the best use of available resources. This includes overseeing the development and review of CO annual budget, proper allocation of shared program costs (cost pools) and development of unrestricted requests.
• Provide support and guidance to the CO program staff in the identification, development and design of programs and projects consistent with CARE’s CO and global strategy
• In conjunction with relevant CMPs, proactively engage donors and other partners by presenting CARE Vision, Capacity Statements and priorities.
• Identify strategic partners and form alliances and consortiums necessary for fundraising efforts.
• Ensure the CO is tracking mission forecasts, is pre positioning for opportunities in advance with donors and possible consortium leads, is allocating adequate resources for live bids and is negotiating fair share cost recovery in proposal designs.
• Mobilize Global and Regional Technical Teams to provide quality support to business development.

Program implementation and quality.

Oversee the Country Office Programming to advance CARE’s vision and mission, working in partnership with others to achieve impact at scale. The Country Director is responsible for the effective and efficient management of CARE’s projects in country, ensuring they are delivered to the highest standards and are meeting CARE’s minimum quality standards.

• Directing the management of all resources in the CO in compliance with CARE policies and donor requirements.
• Ensuring appropriate staff are in place to guarantee effective management of the country office program portfolio, including ensuring effective project start up.
• Ensuring that the country office is complying with CARE’s Program Management standards and putting in place processes to monitor this.
• Ensure sufficient monitoring and evaluation systems are in place to demonstrate impact at scale and to ensure the CO is complying with CARE’s Program Quality standards .
• Develop value-adding partnerships that are complementary to CARE’s activities and competencies, increase the effectiveness and impact of objectives and are consistent with CARE’s approaches to partnership and global commitments, including humanitarian principles.
• Ensure excellence in programming through the application of best programming practices, sound technical approaches, and good practice monitoring, evaluation and learning and develop a robust evidence base to demonstrate impact and inform policy engagement.
• Ensuring CARE’s compliance with all donor contractual requirements.

People and Team Management

The country director is responsible for managing CARE’s workforce in country; consistent with CARE values, competencies and performance standards. The country director will oversee the management and development of CO human resources to ensure a diverse, skilled and productive workforce, promoting an organizational culture where CARE Core Values are practiced, team work is encouraged and all staff have a clear understanding of their role and contribution.

• Establish a Human Resource strategy in line with the CO Strategic Plan, the CARE 2030 ambitions and our DEBI commitments
• Ensure that systems are in place for recruitment, staff development, performance management and compensation to ensure CARE recruits and retains a high calibre of staff.
• Ensure that all HR policies and procedures are established and implemented in line with CAREs values and in accordance with host country laws and legislation and reviewed on a regular basis.
• Lead talent and succession management in the CO through the implementation of a comprehensive leadership development plan.
• Ensure Diversity, Equity, Belonging & Inclusion policies and processes are in place and monitored and the country office culture reflects these commitments.
• Actively promote staff wellness by monitoring staff morale and taking action as needed.
• Build a strong, innovative senior leadership team and effectively manage all direct reports , ensuring senior leaders live out the values and commitments of CARE.
• Manage direct reports towards high standards of performance through clear roles and responsibilities, on-going feedback and appraisals.

Finance, Operations and Risk Management;

Ensure that the Country Office has a deep understanding about the risks associated with the operations in this context and have system in place to mitigate them:

• Ensure adequate risk analysis and internal controls are in place to protect the CO’s assets and to ensure the resources are used in accordance with donor terms and conditions.
• Ensure risk register is maintained and updated regularly and issues acted on in order to mitigate and manage the risks.
• Ensure that qualified staff and appropriate policies, procedures and systems for finance and operations are in place and functioning throughout the CO.
• Ensure the CO operations are conducted in accordance with all statutory and tax requirements.
• Ensure compliance with CARE financial policies and procedures including internal controls and reporting requirements.
• Ensure financial viability of the country office, by proactively identifying pipeline cliffs and addressing these.
• Monitor the CO cost structure and take proactive steps to ensure it is proportionate to overall portfolio size.
• Ensure Internal Aduit findings are addressed and overall CO performance shows progressive improvement.
• Oversee safety and security for all staff and visitors in the CO and upholds CARE International Safety and Security Principles.
• Working with Headquarter legal department to ensure compliance with all legal, contractual and statutory requirements, to ensure minimize CARE exposure.

Responsibilities on Safety and Security, Gender and Inclusion and Safeguarding and Child Protection:

• [base location] at CARE are expected to adhere to Safety & Security responsibilities, emphasizing team and individual accountability to maintain a safe environment. This includes readiness, compliance, and active engagement to mitigate risks through awareness, reporting, and policy enforcement.
• Gender equality and inclusion are fundamental at CARE, promoting equal rights and challenging discriminatory norms to achieve social justice. We foster an inclusive workplace respecting diverse gender identities, abilities, backgrounds, and experiences through dialogue, training, and diversity initiatives. All CARE staff must uphold ethical standards, following codes of conduct to prevent abuse, including sexual harassment, exploitation, and neglect. Regular monitoring ensures accountability to uphold these principles and support our mission of social justice and poverty alleviation.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Minimum Bachelors degree in Development Studies, Social Sciences or any development field.
• Minimum of 10 years experience in similar position. in addition, the suitable candidate must demonstrate the following:

People/Relationship Management
• Demonstrated self-awareness, leadership and interpersonal skills
• Strong human resource management skills including capacity building, coaching and conflict management;
• Experience supervising and developing a multi-disciplinary team in a cross-cultural setting;

Financial Management
• Knowledge and experience with financial management as demonstrated by ability to:
• Manage a complex budget
• Effectively follow-up on internal and external audit recommendations
• Ensure donor compliance and reporting