Country Programmes Manager Ecuador At Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance

VVOB is an international NGO with programmes and projects in 10 countries worldwide. Our head office is based in Brussels, Belgium.

When you join VVOB, you become a key player in VVOB’s mission to ensure quality education as a key enabler for achieving the sustainable development goals. We implement our programmes and projects with one shared passion: to ensure the improvement of quality education. Our teams of national and international experts achieve this by providing technical assistance to governmental and other education actors. In doing so, worldwide we ensure capacity building of governmental and other education actors.

Do you share our ambition to ensure that learners around the world can enjoy their fundamental human right to quality education, without exception? Are you convinced as well that quality education guarantees equal opportunities for everyone and is the key to a better world?

We are looking for a Country Programmes Manager who will operate from our headquarters in Quito, Ecuador. Do you want to take on this challenge? Then continue reading!

VVOB in Ecuador

Ecuador is a pioneer country for VVOB’s Skilling for Sustainable Futures (SF2) Flagship, a multi-country programme that offers an evidence-backed, scalable solution to prepare youth in secondary education (general secondary + secondary technical and vocational education and training) with the technical, entrepreneurial and transferable skills they need to succeed in the world of work. Together with the Ministry of Education and partner universities, VVOB is implementing ¡VAMOS! – “Vinculando el Agro-aprendizaje para un Mundo Sostenible” – a five-year (2022-2026) Belgium-funded programme that will develop, test and pilot a first model of the SF2 approach, with a specific focus on preparing youth for work in green(ing) agriculture value chains. The focus is on the continuous professional development of teachers and school leaders in five provinces (Bolívar, Esmeraldas, Los Ríos, Manabí and Pastaza).

VVOB’s ambition for the coming years is to attract funding and forge partnerships for scaling ¡VAMOS!, seek opportunities for SF2 expansion in terms of focus economic sectors and take concrete steps towards starting operations in other education sub-sectors in VVOB’s portfolio.

Purpose of the function:

As the Country Programmes Manager you bear the final responsibility for the totality of all activities in Ecuador. You carry out the vision and mission of VVOB, you develop our business further and contribute to global business development.

You will:

• You hold the end responsibility of all VVOB operations within Ecuador and are accountable for key results in all areas, including programme operations, finances, human resources and internal organization
• As a leader and role model, you develop and inspire the team in Ecuador and you offer managerial advice, guidance and support towards them in order to achieve programme results.
• You are actively involved in the further development of the business at country level, including portfolio management, highlighting of achievements, identifying the landscape of both partnerships and competition and seeking new funding opportunities.
• You are actively engaged in strategy and policy development at global organisational level and translate these global strategies and policies into relevant and scalable strategies, policies and programmes at the country level. As a leader you ensure VVOB in Ecuador lives and implements the VVOB 2030-strategy: https://www.vvob.org/en/learning-unlimited-strategy
• You develop and maintain a network with relevant government, funding, technical and network partners and other internal and external stakeholders. Furthermore, you represent VVOB towards them.

Who are you?

This position is only open to international candidates, which means the position is open to all candidates who are not a citizen of the country where the position is located.

Your expertise and experience

• A Master’s Degree;
• At least 2 years of international work experience, specifically in Africa, Asia and/or South America;
• Strong and proven management and leadership skills with a track record of success in building effective teams and leading and motivating a diverse group of professional staff;
• Demonstrated and successful experience in strategic networking and partnership building with a varied range of partners, including government partners, donors and investors;
• Experience in organizational development and leading an organization through change;
• At least 3 years’ work experience in managing a project portfolio with an annual budget of more than 1 million euro;
• Experience with capacity development processes and strategies, change processes and change management at institutional level;
• English proficiency: CEFR level C1;
• Spanish proficiency: CEFR level C1

What we’re offering:

• A full-time contract with end date 31/12/2026
• This position is subject to funding approval
• A dynamic working environment in an international context
• An exciting job in a growing organisation with varied responsibilities
• A supportive environment enabling continuous professional development
• An attractive salary and benefits package