Senior Project Director (SPD)

Overall Purpose of the Job

Provide strategic leadership and overall accountability for the EKN Regional Programme, ensuring effective donor stewardship, partnership governance, government engagement, sustainability, localisation and achievement of programme outcomes. The Senior Project Director is accountable for ensuring alignment between programme delivery, consortium governance, stakeholder engagement, resource mobilisation and strategic objectives while positioning the programme as a trusted and influential regional initiative.

Key Performance Areas

Programme Strategy, Direction and Stewardship 15%

Purpose

Provide strategic leadership and direction for the EKN Regional Programme, ensuring alignment with donor priorities, partnership commitments, country contexts and organisational strategy.

Key Accountabilities

Lead the development, implementation and refinement of the programme's strategic direction and regional vision.

Ensure programme goals, outcomes and priorities remain aligned with approved donor commitments and organisational objectives.

Provide strategic leadership and decision-making support to programme and consortium leadership.

Promote integration and coherence across programme components, countries, technical work streams and partners.

Drive innovation, adaptive management and continuous learning to maximise programme impact and effectiveness.

Ensure programme decisions contribute to sustainable outcomes and long-term impact.

Partnership Governance, Accountability and Partnership Leadership 15%

Purpose

Provide executive oversight of partnership governance structures and strategic partnerships to ensure accountability, collaboration and high performance across the consortium.

Key Accountabilities

Provide overall leadership and oversight of partnership governance and accountability frameworks.

Ensure effective operation of governance structures, forums and decision-making mechanisms.

Foster a culture of transparency, accountability, collaboration and shared ownership among consortium partners.

Oversee partner accountability against contractual, governance and programme commitments.

Resolve complex partnership matters and facilitate effective collaboration between consortium members.

Strengthen strategic partnerships that contribute to programme success, influence and sustainability.

Ensure governance and partnership approaches support localisation and long-term partnership development.

Donor Stewardship and Relationship Management - 15%

Lead Build and maintain strategic donor relationships that strengthen confidence in programme performance, accountability and impact.

Serve as the primary executive relationship holder for EKN, Aidsfonds and other strategic donor stakeholders.

Lead high-level donor engagement, strategic dialogue and relationship management activities.

Ensure proactive communication regarding programme achievements, risks, challenges and opportunities.

Maintain donor confidence through effective stewardship and accountability.

Represent the programme during donor reviews, missions and strategic consultations.

Promote programme achievements, lessons learned and affect evidence to donor audiences.

Support a culture of donor compliance and strategic donor engagement across the consortium.

Government Relations, Policy Engagement and Strategic Stakeholder Management - 10%

Purpose

Position the programme as a trusted partner to governments and stakeholders while strengthening enabling policy and programme environments.

Key Accountabilities

Lead executive-level engagement with government ministries, agencies and regional institutions across participating countries.

Build and maintain strategic relationships with policymakers, development partners and key stakeholders.

Represent the programme in high-level policy, technical and sector forums.

Promote alignment between programme interventions and national priorities, policies and strategies.

Provide strategic oversight and guidance to Country Advisory Committees.

Strengthen collaboration with civil society organisations, community structures and regional partners.

Facilitate stakeholder engagement that advances programme influence, impact and sustainability.

Sustainability, Localisation and Systems Strengthening - 5%

Purpose

Drive long-term programme sustainability through localisation, institutionalisation and strengthening of country systems and partnerships.

Key Accountabilities

Lead the development and implementation of programme sustainability strategies.

Champion localisation and meaningful participation of local organisations and communities.

Promote institutionalisation of successful programme approaches within government and partner systems.

Facilitate strategic partnerships that advance sustainability and local ownership.

Support capacity strengthening of local institutions and consortium partners.

Ensure sustainability considerations are embedded in programme planning, implementation and decision-making.

Promote systems strengthening approaches that maximise long-term programme impact beyond the life of the grant.

Risk Management, External Representation and Leadership Effectiveness - 10%

Purpose

Provide executive oversight of strategic risk management while representing the programme externally and leading a high-performing programme leadership team.

Key Accountabilities

Maintain oversight of strategic, operational, reputational, compliance and partnership risks.

Ensure critical issues are identified, escalated and managed appropriately.

Lead strategic responses to emerging risks and complex programme challenges.

Represent the consortium at regional, international and sector-wide forums and events.

Promote the visibility, reputation and influence of the programme and partnership.

Lead, coach and develop direct reports to ensure effective performance and achievement of programme objectives.

Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, inclusion and continuous improvement.

Build leadership capability and succession readiness within the programme structure.

Contribute to broader organisational leadership, strategic planning and organisational change initiatives.

Risk Resource Development and Strategic Fundraising (30% Level of Effort)

Purpose

Lead resource mobilisation and fundraising efforts across Angola, Eswatini, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe to secure complementary and follow-on funding that strengthens programme sustainability and impact.

Key Accountabilities

Develop and implement a multi-country resource mobilisation and fundraising strategy.

Identify, assess and prioritise funding opportunities across bilateral, multilateral, foundation, corporate and philanthropic donors.

Build and maintain a robust regional funding pipeline.

Cultivate and steward strategic donor relationships in collaboration with mothers2mothers' Resource Development function.

Lead donor positioning, opportunity development and relationship-building activities.

Support the development of high-quality concept notes, proposals and funding submissions.

Secure co-financing, follow-on funding and strategic investments that complement the EKN grant.

Monitor progress against agreed fundraising targets and pipeline objectives.

Provide strategic intelligence on donor trends, funding opportunities and market developments.

Strengthen long-term financial sustainability across all participating countries.

Accountability

Owns

Programme strategy and direction.

Strategic leadership and programme stewardship.

Executive consortium governance and accountability.

Donor stewardship and relationship management.

Embassy and strategic stakeholder engagement.

Executive government relations and policy engagement.

Strategic partnerships and partnership collaboration.

Strategic oversight of Country Advisory Committees.

Sustainability, localisation and systems strengthening strategies.

Executive risk management.

Overall consortium accountability and programme performance oversight.

Regional positioning and external representation.

Resource mobilisation and strategic fundraising across the six EKN countries.

Leadership, performance management and development of direct reports.

Building and sustaining a high-performing programme leadership team.

Succession planning and leadership capability development.

Integration of programme delivery, partnership governance, stakeholder engagement and strategic objectives.

Does Not Own

Country implementation management.

Programme delivery management.

Work plan management and tracking.

Routine reporting coordination.

PMO systems and administration.

Meeting logistics and coordination.

Qualifications, Experience and Competencies

Must-Have

Master's degree in Public Health, International Development, Social Sciences, Public Policy, Business Administration or a related field preferred.

Relevant postgraduate qualification advantageous.

Experience

Significant senior leadership experience managing large, complex, donor-funded, multi-country programmes.

Demonstrated experience working with governments, donors, development partners and consortium structures.

Proven record of accomplishment in donor stewardship, resource mobilisation and fundraising, preferably within Southern Africa.

Experience leading strategic partnerships, governance structures and stakeholder engagement initiatives.

Experience in HIV, AGYW, adolescent health, public health or related development sectors preferred

Core Competencies

Strategic Leadership

Donor and Partnership Management

Political Acumen and Diplomacy

Stakeholder Engagement and Influence

Financial and Business Acumen

Resource Mobilisation

Governance and Accountability

Risk Management

Negotiation and Relationship Building

People Leadership and Talent Development

Change Leadership

Systems Thinking

Communication and Executive Presence

Languages

Excellent written and spoken English.

Portuguese would be advantageous

Reporting and Team Structure

Direct Reports: Project Director (PD); Senior Partnership Governance & Engagement Lead (SPGEL); Senior Project & Coordination Manager (SPCM)

Lead (SPGEL); Senior Project & Coordination Manager (SPCM)

Level of Effort: Full-time, of which approximately 30% is dedicated to resource development and fundraising activities across the six EKN countries.

Location: GSH

Countries: Angola, Eswatini, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Working Conditions

Full time role

Regular travel required across sub Saharan Africa and occasionally internationally

Compensation and Benefits

Competitive salary and performance-based incentives

Comprehensive benefits (health, retirement, leave)

Opportunities for growth, leadership, and professional development