Senior Regional Director, Latin America and the Carribean (LAC) At Global Communities

Overview

Global Communities works at the intersection of humanitarian assistance, sustainable development and financial inclusion to save lives, advance equity and secure strong futures. We support communities at the forefront of their own development in more than 35 countries, partnering with local leaders, governments, civil society and the private sector to achieve a shared vision of a more just, prosperous and equitable global community.

Global Communities is seeking a Senior Regional Director, LAC to join the Global Programs team. This position is based in the Silver Spring, Maryland office of Global Communities.

The Senior Regional Director (SRD) provides strategic leadership, oversight and cross-departmental coordination for Global Communities’ field programs in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. The SRD is accountable for the LAC strategy. The role provides strategic guidance and supports development and ensures implementation of country-level strategies for sustainable impact and growth in the region. The SRD is responsible for developing a regional plan to support country strategies and monitor contributions towards the organization’s strategic plan and priorities.

This SRD is responsible for ensuring oversight and support to program delivery and quality assurance across the portfolio and ensures adherence to compliance and quality assurance standards. The SRD liaises with other Global Communities senior leaders to proactively identify and lead resolution to implementation challenges. The SRD provides direction and offers guidance and support to country teams in emergency response situations. The SRD, with support from other regional SRDs and Senior Regional Managers, will lead the integration of operational and program systems, policies, and procedures to accommodate the nexus of crisis, stabilization and resilience programming.

This position supervises field leaders (Country Directors and Chiefs of Party) and works with them to anticipate and trouble-shoot program and operational challenges, contribute to their resolution, provide technical and operations oversight, and lead program start-up and close-out as required. This position leads and supervises program management support staff at HQ, and reports to the Vice President, Global Operations

Responsibilities

Regional Strategy (30%)

• In collaboration with Global Programs and country leadership, and in support of organizational strategic priorities, lead regional plan and establish priorities for growth and development in the LAC region with a focus on integrating humanitarian response, stabilization and resilience programming and coordination at the program, country and regional levels.
• Work closely with Global Programs senior management colleagues to ensure regional plan and country strategies are compelling, competitive, and informed by timely, relevant contextual analysis of the unique operating environments in the region, country, and relevant sub-national areas.
• Support country leaders to develop and implement country strategies and growth plans and contribute to business development efforts. Offer technical leadership and assistance in developing and managing country-level crisis preparedness and response plans.
• Identify, develop and strengthen relationships with current and prospective public and private donors and partners.

Program Delivery (20%)

• Work closely with other Senior Regional Directors and across other GC departments to improve organizational policies, standard operating procedures and project management capabilities to ensure efficient and effective program implementation and operational performance.
• Support Senior Regional Manager to monitor program delivery and quality assurance across regional portfolio. Monitor portfolio performance analysis and reporting to proactively identify, escalate and resolve performance issues that may result in delays, unmet targets or unallowable costs.
• Conduct high level financial analysis of the LAC portfolio, identify issues or management challenges, and propose and implement solutions alongside HQ and country leadership.
• Review and approve internal annual budgeting and quarterly forecasting exercises; and communicate to leadership on regional and country office financial health.

Country Operations & Risk Management (25%)

• In coordination with other internal stakeholders, assess, identify and mitigate risks and develop risk management approaches that enable successful country operations and program delivery.
• Ensure effective country management and support structures are in place to manage the complexity and diversity of shorter-term humanitarian response and longer-term stabilization programming.
• Ensure country offices understand and comply with organizational policies and procedures, and ensure appropriate monitoring, control and accountability mechanisms are implemented.
• Ensure effective coordination and integration between Headquarters (HQ) and field, across functions and management structures to enable efficient and coordinated support to country offices and project teams.

Team Management (25%)

• Supervise and manage the performance and professional development of senior field leaders and program management staff at HQ.
• Direct staff to prioritize, coordinate, and distribute the flow of work based on available resources and changing demands across projects and countries.
• Conduct regular country office visits, meet and connect with country senior management teams and staff, provide mentorship and guidance.
• Lead the selection process for country and field program leaders; ensure country offices are resourced and staffed with appropriate skills
• Promote departmental, cross-departmental, intra-regional and global learning through the support of regional exchanges and peer learning in the pursuit of programmatic excellence.

POSITION SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Travel internationally up to 30 percent of time; provide surge support to county teams to manage transitions and staffing gaps as required
• Serve as lead humanitarian response coordinator for the region.
• Promote a culture of excellence, inclusion, learning, support, diversity and innovation.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Extensive knowledge of the international development field, including public and private sector actors.
• Demonstrated experience and results managing, coordinating and integrating international development projects across the nexus of humanitarian, development and peace-building sectors.
• Demonstrated understanding of and adherence to humanitarian principles.
• Demonstrated capability in strategic visioning, planning and execution including program development, resource mobilization and operational excellence.
• Exceptional leadership, management and supervisory skills with demonstrated experience managing, mentoring and developing capacity of professional staff and teams in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Demonstrated ability to lead effectively with a diverse, multi-cultural team across geographies, and involving matrix relationships with other functions and departments.
• Excellent dispute resolution, facilitation and team building skills.
• Excellent project management skills. Recognized project management certification (e.g., PMP, PMD Pro) a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex field-based operations, including a high level of working knowledge across management, finance, administration, procurement, logistics, HR, legal, and security functions.
• Demonstrated ability to read, analyze, interpret, and develop actionable insights from financial, programmatic, and contractual data and information. Excellent analytical skills. High level of financial literacy.
• Demonstrated experience working collaboratively with a broad range of stakeholders including public and private donors, host government, international and local NGOs, and private sector.
• Demonstrated ability to build and foster a culture of high performance, accountability, learning, respect, diversity and inclusion.
• Fluency in English and business proficiency in Spanish (written and verbal) required.
• Advanced computer skills in a Windows based environment including the Microsoft Suite and a high level of comfort working with technology solutions.

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in a related discipline and minimum 11 years of related work experience or a minimum of 15 years of related work experience.
• Required experience must include at least 10 years’ experience at a leadership/senior management level in program management and/or operations role with an international NGO, and significant experience with USG program management and/or implementation, operations, financial analysis, and budgeting.
• Significant experience managing projects in a humanitarian context with short project lifecycles and complex and high-volume procurement and services delivery schedules. Previous BHA award management experience highly desirable.
• Proficient in USAID rules and regulations and their application.
• At least 5 years of experience from an international assignment, with a strong preference as a Country Director or COP in the region.
• A passion for the mission and values of Global Communities

Global Communities is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

Global Communities holds strict safeguarding principles and has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment. In the process of recruitment, selection, and appointment, Global Communities will conduct robust reference and background screening checks, including international vetting as a signature of the Global Misconduct Disclosure Scheme to ensure children and vulnerable adults are safeguarded, and abuse is prevented. The incumbent is required to carry out their duties in accordance with Global Communities Safeguarding policy and the Standards of Conduct.=

NOTE:

As an organization working to advance public health, Global Communities has an obligation to model best practices and to do all we can to protect each other, our partners and the communities where we work. To ensure the continuity and effectiveness of our business operations, Global Communities is adopting a policy to safeguard the health of our visitors, employees, families, and the larger global community from COVID-19. Effective January 3, 2022, all U.S.-based Global Communities employees are required to provide proof of having received full dosage of COVID-19 vaccine that is FDA approved, approved for emergency use authorization, or have an approved medical or religious exemption on file with Global Communities, as a condition of employment.

Salary Range: $144,640 – $216,960. Salary offers are based on a variety of factors including internal equity, experience, budget, location, etc.