Salary: USD 94,857 per annum. This will be converted and paid in local currency dependent on location. This role will be paid at the rate for Grade G in our salary scales. We do not negotiate on salary.
Location: This role is global and is open to applicants based in any location. You must have an existing right to work in the country you are to be based.
If you are based in a country where we have an existing office you can choose to work from the office, from home, or a combination. If outside of these countries, you will be expected to work from home. In that case we would use an Employer of Record to employ you on our behalf.
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer
Contract: Full time and permanent contract (though we are open to considering applications from those who want to work on a part-time or job-share basis). At ADD we work a 4-day week, Monday to Thursday 30 hours per week. Expected start date is April 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.
As an organisation that works with disability justice activists in Africa and Asia we are clear that lived experience of disability is hugely important to our mission. Priority for this role will be given to disabled people. We want to see you at your best and so please let us know if there are any accommodations at all that we can make to the recruitment process to ensure that it works for you. We are also committed to ensuring that we continue to review and make accommodations throughout your employment with ADD.
About ADD International.
ADD is a participatory grant-maker for disability justice. Our vision is for a world in which ableism no longer exists, and disabled people can fully participate in society. Our mission is to strengthen disability justice activists and organisations through resourcing, and leadership skills. In March 2024 we launched a new ten-year strategic framework which can be found on our website here: https://add.org.uk/mtiririko/
We are transforming our organisation away from traditional development and getting back to our roots by sharing more power and resources directly with activists. Over the next ten years, we have a goal to provide £25 million long-term unrestricted grants directly to disability justice activists and movements. Crucially, we will also give disability justice activists greater decision-making power on who should receive funding and how funding should be spent.
About the Resources, Systems and Culture Directorate.
This role was created in 2022 to oversee the resources, people and culture that are needed as we transition to a new model and way of working. Since then, our outgoing Director, has helped us to re-think how we approach our finances, people and systems to support our new model rooted in a commitment to shift more resources and decision making to disability rights activists and their organisations in the countries where we work.
ADD has been moving through a four-year period of transition away from a traditional INGO approach and has now become a Participatory Grant Maker and Movement support organisation that provides funding and non-financial support directly to disability rights activists and their organisations through a participatory mechanism.
This role has oversight of all of our finances, systems and organisational culture supporting the leadership team as a whole to ensure that how we do what we do is in line with the values that underpin our transformation.
Job Purpose.
The Director of Resources, Systems and Culture will be responsible for creating the environment internally that will support our strategic framework, Mtiririko and also leads our Resources, Systems and Culture Team (17 people) all of which support our strategic intent to ensure more resources flow to disability justice activists and their organisations. This includes line management of the Head of People and Culture, the Head of Grant Making Operations, the Chief Accountant and the Safeguarding and Security Manager. You will also ensure we stay on top of risks and act as our company secretary and safeguarding lead.
Key Responsibilities.
- Be Strategic Lead on the Senior Leadership Team responsible for our overall Resources, Systems and Culture.
- Be our financial lead on the Senior Leadership Team, supporting our Team to manage money well, with excellent processes and ensure a trust-based approach to grant making and movement support.
- Take overall responsibility for ensuring we have the resources and culture in place to support us in achieving our Mtirirko strategy that focuses on supporting the flow of funding to disability justice activism and lead and develop a team that will support you to do this.
- Work closely with our Treasurer and attend Trustee Meetings and report to Trustees regularly about our financial position.
- Lead, coach and support the Resources, Systems and Culture Team to deliver on the goals of the department’s strategyensuring there is a clear operational plan for the next year and beyond and identifying any improvements that might be made and gaps that may need resourcing.
- Lead on the implementation of our new Business plan working with the rest of the Senior leadership team to ensure that we keep track of it and deliver on our goals and helping us stay aware of risk and mitigations as necessary
- Coach and support the new Head of Grant Making Operations to develop and deliver the systems we need to make our participatory grant making work both effectively and efficiently.
- Coach and support the Head of People and Culture to develop and implement ADD’s HR policies in line with our values and operational needs. Oversee the Head of People’s development of our Inclusive Cultures work stream ensuring that ADD takes seriously our commitment to being an Anti-Racist and Anti-Ableist organisation and building a clear work plan for ensuring that this commitment lives in our practice.
- Coach and support the Chief Accountant and work with them to ensure ADD meets all its audit requirements and has appropriate internal controls for its operations and risk appetite.
- Act as our Safeguarding Lead and coach and support our Safeguarding and Security Manager. Ensure that emerging issues and investigations are dealt with promptly and effectively. Ensure that a safe, supportive & inclusive culture is central to ADDs way of working, liaising with others in SLT to help ensure we build this into our approach to our work moving forward.
- Spearhead our continued plans to diversify and develop our team ensuring that we continue to be an Exemplar Employer of disabled people. Ensure that we report on these and on the diversity of our staff team to Trustees regularly as agreed.
- Act as our company secretary and work with the Co-CEOs to ensure that the board has the resources and information it needs to function effectively. Including Interfacing with our Trustees Inclusive Cultures lead, Safeguarding lead and Treasurer and supporting the Finance, Safeguarding and Risk Committee of the ADD Board.
- Ensure our risk management and quality assurance systems are fit for purpose. Developing the appropriate systems to deal with our participatory grant making approach.
Safeguarding level.
We are committed to ensuring we are a safe organisation that does no harm to people we work with. As we transition from project-based work to grant-making we recognise the power dynamics this creates that can make grant-seekers vulnerable to abuse and are putting in place robust systems to minimise risk to any communities we work with.
Our processes ensure all posts are graded, based on interaction with communities, persons or organisations of persons with disabilities. This post is a Level 3 post. See outline of all levels below:
- Level 1Â – office based, no real direct access to communities, persons or organisations of persons with disabilities, and never alone.
- Level 2Â – a travelling role, possible access to communities, persons or organisations of persons with disabilities but unlikely to be alone.
- Level 3Â – regular access to communities, persons or organisations of persons with disabilities, including on their own, or lead responsibility for safeguarding within office/location. All SLT posts are Level 3.
Person Specification.
- At least 5 years demonstrable experience of managing and leading a geographically diverse operational team at senior management level
- A professional accountancy qualification or significant experience of leading strategic financial planning processes and overseeing a finance function.
- Excellent strategy and planning knowledge and experience
- Demonstrated knowledge of and experience of leading people and culture focused initiatives, ideally within a participatory grant maker
- A commitment to shifting and sharing power in the international development sector and to decolonising development and justice-based approaches and a willingness to apply that commitment to resources, people & culture centring equity
- A willingness and ability to think outside the box and do things differently, challenging accepted practice and learning as we go
- Experience of supporting staff through significant internal change/culture change
- Strong demonstrable leadership, coaching and strategic thinking skills
- An understanding of or willingness to learn about power analysis and how it can support cultural change at ADD
- Strong communication and documentation skills enabling you to ensure that everyone across ADD understands and engages with the changes we are making internally. A willingness to share learning with others across the sector as well.
- Experience of leading DEI and Safeguarding initiatives and a clear understanding of Anti-ableism and Anti-racism
- Willingness to work remotely and travel as required
Equal opportunities.
We are keen to promote strong principles of equality and diversity and would welcome applications from all backgrounds. Disabled people are strongly encouraged to apply and as a ‘disability confident employer’ ADD guarantees to interview all disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria. We also prioritise applications from disabled people, this means that we first only review applications from those who identify as disabled. Only if we are unable to recruit from this group will we review other applications.
For more information on this please see our Equal Opportunities Policy.
Safeguarding.
The nature of ADD’s work as participatory grant-maker for disability justice means that our staff, consultants, trustees and volunteers may come into contact with children and vulnerable adults in some capacity or another. As we transition from project-based work to grant-making we recognise the power dynamics this creates that can make grant-seekers vulnerable to abuse.
ADD is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all staff, consultants, trustees and volunteers to share this commitment.
At ADD, we’re committed to creating a safe and rewarding environments for all of our people to work and volunteer, as well as for those we come into contact with through our work.
This means we have robust safeguarding policies and procedures to ensure everyone is treated properly, and a whistle-blowing policy and process so people can raise any concerns they have, confidentially.
For more information on this please see the safeguarding pages on our website.
Data protection.
ADD International is aware of its obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK Data Protection Bill and is committed to processing your data securely and transparently. For more information on this please see our ‘Job Applicant Privacy Notice’.
Due to the nature of our roles, interacting with staff in our different countries, staff from our overseas offices are often involved in the recruitment process. This requires us to send applications (and therefore personal data) outside of the EU. By applying for this role, you are indicating your permission for ADD to send your personal data outside the EU.
How to apply
Interested applicants should complete the online application form, including uploading their CV or resume and answering the application questions.
You also have the option of responding to the application questions through an audio or video recording of no more than 6 minutes and uploading this through the form. Please note these will be anonymised and reviewed before we look at CVs and will form the basis of our initial shortlisting so please ensure you provide full answers. Audio/video recordings will be transcribed to maintain anonymity.
If you need an accessible format of the application, or if you have any queries about the application process, please contact recruitment@add.org.uk
Application deadline: Monday 9 February at 9am UK time
First round interviews will be held on: Wednesday 25th February with second interviews likely to be on Thursday 5th March
Incomplete applications will not be accepted. We are unfortunately only able to reply to those shortlisted.