Regional Programme Director (RPD)

Early Childhood Development is one of the core programmes of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) in East Africa. AKF wishes to recruit an experienced Regional Programme Director (RPD) for the Madrasa Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) Programme in East Africa.

The RPD will be based in Mombasa, Kenya and will require frequent travel to other locations within East Africa.

The Programme supports community-based early childhood initiatives to improve quality, access and effectiveness of early years’ development through locally registered Madrasa Resource Centres (MRCs) across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

The Regional Programme Director will be responsible for strategic direction and effective management and implementation of the Programme at a regional level in collaboration with the
three MRCs under guidance of the Madrasa Regional Committee and the Aga Khan Foundation.

S/he will be responsible to:

• Provide strategic direction and leadership in successfully achieving MRC current and future programme objectives;
• Provide support in strengthening MRCs leadership and management capacity, especially on programme planning, programme implementation and reporting;
• Develop and implement longer-term strategic direction for MRC;
• Provide support in strengthening the communication strategy for MRCs, especially in making it more visible to other ECD stakeholders in the region; and
• Provide guidance on developing close coordination and collaboration among three MRCs and with other partners.

The MRC RPD will perform the above mentioned roles in conjunction with the MRCs, their National Boards and the Madrasa Regional Committee.

The RPD will report to the Chairman of the Regional Committee on technical matters and to the Aga Khan Foundation Regional Programme Officer for Education on technical matters.

Qualifications, Experience & Skills required:

• A post-graduate degree in Education and at least five years of experience in the education sector, preferably in early childhood education;
• Proven experience and advanced knowledge of principles, theories and practices in one or more of the following areas: Organisation Development, Change Management and Leadership Development;
• A solid track record of working with Government(s) and NGOs, especially at local levels;
• Experience of working in the East African context;
• Proven experience in managing complex grants; programme planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; managing an organisation including financial and HR management; community mobilization;
• Excellent interpersonal skills including high quality oral and written communications; and the ability to work independently and manage a regional team and to meet strict and high quality implementation and reporting deadlines.

Applications, along with a cover letter and an up-to-date CV, names of three referees should be sent to the address below by 9th May, 2011

The Regional Human Resources Manager,
Aga Khan Foundation, East Africa
P.O. Box 40898, 00100, Nairobi
Email: recruitment-akfea@akdn.org

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted

The Aga Khan Foundation is an Agency of the Aga Khan Development Network