Regional Manager, Africa

Position description

Key details 

• Salary: Benchmarked against our UK-based compensation framework at $66,000 – $85,000 (£55,000 – £70,000) dependent on experience. 

• Hours: Full time, 37.5 hours a week but flexible working will be considered.

• Annual leave: 26 days plus the public holidays of your country of residence.

• Location: Home-based, remote working. Flexible work location but must be based in the Southern or Eastern African regions with regular virtual team meetings and in-person sessions. Applicants must have the right to work in their country of residence as we cannot provide work visas for any country.

• Contract type: The role is permanent and a part of the core team but due to our remote organisation set-up, the contract will be that of an international self-employed contractor.

• Reports to: Senior Regional Manager, Africa. 

• Line Management: No line management however Project Consultants as required.

Purpose of the post 

In the past three years, Open Ownership has seen significant growth in delivering impactful technical assistance to countries around the world. This has been achieved through innovative methods and an expansion in partnerships with multilateral agencies and development banks. As the demand for support continues to rise, we are focused on delivering this assistance more strategically and sustainably, aligning closely with our priorities.

Open Ownership’s work is at the forefront of the global push for corporate transparency, and the use of beneficial ownership data is becoming increasingly critical for national governments. In Africa, governments are recognizing the value of BOT in sectors such as extractives, procurement, and other critical areas that demand greater transparency and accountability. As a Regional Manager, you will play a vital role in supporting countries in Africa to collect, maintain, share and use this data effectively, contributing to real change across the continent.

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced individual to oversee and coordinate project management efforts across countries in Africa that are implementing BOT. This role offers the chance to make a lasting impact on the use of beneficial ownership data, helping governments combat corruption, increase transparency, and strengthen governance in key areas.

You will join a distributed team across the region and beyond, working on delivery of Open Ownership’s support to priority national governments in the region delivering high-quality technical assistance. You’ll proactively work with colleagues across our teams to develop and manage a portfolio of country and regional relationships, apply Open Ownership’s tools to support national governments implementing beneficial ownership transparency, and share this knowledge across and beyond the organisation.

Key tasks and responsibilities

1. Lead Open Ownership’s technical assistance to support the implementation of BOT and use of BO data by national governments in the Africa 

• Manage national level projects and grants to achieve high quality outputs. Support the organisational grant management function by providing inputs into project proposals, donor reports and fundraising efforts as determined. 

• Lead and manage multiple projects on BOT implementation and the use of BO data by government and non-government data users across a select group of African countries from inception to completion, ensuring they meet agreed objectives and are delivered on time, within scope, and within budget.

• Based on Open Ownership’s Implementation Guide and Principles for Effective Beneficial Ownership Disclosure, develop and deliver tailored support to countries to implement legal, technical and other changes required to publish high quality and usable beneficial ownership data for impact, drawing on internal expertise and support from technical consultants where necessary. 

• Identify knowledge gaps, design and deliver targeted training to enhance the skills and understanding of key stakeholders to strengthen their capacities in collecting, maintaining, and publishing high-quality beneficial ownership data. 

2. Develop and sustain working relationships with national stakeholders in countries of focus and support the attainment of regional advocacy goals on BOT implementation 

• Facilitate collaboration and manage relationships and strategic partnerships with in-country stakeholders across government, civil society and the private sector as well multilateral institutions and partner organisations for a smooth running of all projects.

• Identify opportunities to further Open Ownership’s technical delivery in the region in line with the Open Ownership’s strategy, and per the demands for support made by regional stakeholders and national governments.

• Collaborate with stakeholders to leverage related work being undertaken by other organisations to maximise impact and use of Open Ownership tools and resources. 

• Contribute to the development and execution of a regional advocacy strategy to promote BOT at the regional level. Represent the organisation at national and regional forums, conferences, and workshops, advocating for best practices in BOT reforms and fostering collaboration with regional partners.

• Manage technical project consultants who may be engaged to support Open Ownership’s technical assistance to countries and support project delivery.

3. Document, develop and share knowledge arising from Open Ownership’s in-country work

• Document progress of projects using internal documentation and communications systems. This could include delivering session summaries, feedback reports, and operational plans based on the activities conducted as part of project delivery.

• Develop and share knowledge about national implementation contexts, successes and challenges.

• Work with colleagues to feed national knowledge and learning into Open Ownership’s research and policy work, capacity building and data use, as well as tools and packages of country support.

• Contribute to Open Ownership’s monitoring, evaluation and learning processes at project and organisation level.

Candidate profile

You will be an action-oriented individual with a keen eye for detail. You’ll understand and have a passion for how policy, technology and data can together drive positive impact. 

The successful candidate will demonstrate the following skills and attributes:

• Demonstrable experience with managing complex projects with several stakeholders involved 

• Experience of building relationships with senior stakeholders from different nationalities and timezones to influence policy

• Experience of managing international and national projects in a relevant field (e.g. natural resource governance, anti-corruption, digital transformation)

• Knowledge of countries in east and southern Africa where OO is actively engaged in providing technical delivery including Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia. Preference will be given to candidates’ knowledge and experience in at least one of these countries with 3 + years of relevant work history. Candidates must be based in Southern Africa or East Africa.

• Knowledge of national and/or international policy in a field such as anti-corruption, tax, good governance, open data, national security

• Confidence with Microsoft Office and G-Suite, experience with Notion would be an asset 

• Willing and able to travel internationally up to 40% FTE (travel restrictions permitting)

• A confident communicator (in at least English), with an aptitude for explaining complex issues in an easily digestible manner 

• A proactive self-starter who shows initiative and can manage competing priorities without much supervision 

• Experience with managing direct reports and consultants 

• A quick learner, able to swiftly understand information about complex issues 

• Good attention to detail and highly organised

• Entrepreneurial and look for opportunities to solve problems and adaptable to changing context

Application instructions

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