Deputy Director Country Programmes West Africa and Asia

Company Description

SNV is a global development partner, deeply rooted in the countries where we operate. We are driven by a vision of a better world: A world where across every society all people live with dignity and have equitable opportunities to thrive sustainably. To make this vision a reality, we need transformations in vital agri-food, energy, and water systems. SNV contributes by strengthening capacities and catalysing partnerships in and across these sectors. We help strengthen institutions and governance, reduce gender inequalities and barriers to social inclusion, and enable adaptation and mitigation to the climate and biodiversity crises.

Building on 60 years of experience we support our partners with technical and process expertise and methodological rigour. We do this in more than 20 countries in Africa and Asia with a team of approximately 1,600 colleagues. By being adaptable and tailoring our approaches to these different contexts, we can contribute to impact at scale, resulting in more equitable lives for all.

SNV finds itself at a crossroad of its 2030 strategy, needing to further deepen the country-led model with partners and stakeholders, efficiently stewarding resources within a ‘one global organisation structure’ as well as developing next level capability to deliver our ambition.

Job Description

We are currently looking for a:

Deputy Director Country Programmes West Africa and Asia
Fulltime- duty station in Nairobi or a country where SNV is registered
Reporting to Director of Country Programmes

In this new position you are part of the global country programme structure led by (a newly appointed) Director Country Programmes. In the Country Programmes team you are, together with the second Deputy Director Country Programmes, responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of country programmes and strategies, within an overall coherent framework. The DCP team is further strengthened with a Global Security Advisor and Operations & Programmes Officer. 

SNV’s country offices are led by in-country Country Directors and represent our core locally led footprint; embedded in and comprised of mostly national and/or regional citizens. You will be responsible for SNV's contextual strategy, and together with the Country Directors, you will unlock operational opportunities and driving synergies and partnerships across the country programmes in West Africa and Asia.

Your role
You will lead group +/-12 Country Directors that deliver SNV’s programmes and operations in West Africa and Asia. You are responsible for our geographical strategy, unlocking opportunities and driving synergies and partnerships. You enable operational synergies and mitigate risks across countries, thereby reinforcing SNV’s local presence within a ‘ONE SNV’ footprint. You ensure optimal flows of information and expertise between and from country to global teams and vice versa.

In your role you ensure a safe and secure working environment, especially in fragile, conflict and violence affected countries, enabling our teams to thrive. You are supporting and driving talent management and career development across countries.  In addition, you support place-led development of pipeline opportunities in cooperation with the Global Business Development team and you strengthen partner relations at multiple levels, representing SNV in key regional networks and sharing insights across countries thus strengthening SNV’s geographical footprint.

In this role you will also be responsible for the following:

• Guide, inspire, develop and motivate country teams, particularly the Country Management Teams, actively promoting talent growth career development of senior leaders in country.  You serve as a champion for the organisation and overall culture, both internally and externally and you ensure countries are compliant to the SNV Code of Conduct/integrity.  
• Define operational expectations, monitoring progress in achieving those expectations, providing a work environment supportive of organisational accomplishments and individual growth, and drive performance measures for the operation. 
• Ensures efficient and effective country management, including proper management of resources, fit-for-purpose team composition, in-country safety and security, 
• Country registration ("license to operate") and organisational set-up with and through approval of country annual plans and budgets and consistent implementation of the Country Logistics Policy and Security and Safety Policy.   
• With Country Directors, ensures country operations and associated systems are utilised and perform efficiently with the ability to have high level oversight of optimum operational performance and structures for procurement, finance, logistics. 
• Responsible for implementing country start