Country Representative, Kenya

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Organization: We are a U.S.-based global non-profit organization committed to narrowing the growing information gap between developing and developed countries by providing communities with technology resources, training, and educational programming.

We seek a dynamic, creative and entrepreneurial Country Representative to lead our program development and implementation in Kenya. The successful candidate will be the primary in-country representative to funding and other strategic partners, government, and local education stakeholders.

He/she will work closely with global team members to develop and implement our Learning Center program in Kenya and will be tasked with managing a team of educational trainers, overseeing strict adherence to annual project budgets, supervising project sites, providing regional and headquarters offices with accurate performance updates, and communicating
project updates to a variety of stakeholders.

The Country Representative will be responsible for coordinating all meetings and activities in Nairobi and the project sites, and will provide overall coordination of training activities. The Country Representative will be our primary point of contact in Nairobi and will report directly to the Program Director overseeing the Kenya program.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Country Representative will be responsible for fulfilling the following duties, as well as other time-sensitive activities:

Program Development and Management

• Work closely with other staff members to develop and implement program expansion activities in designated areas.
• Work with local education administrators and school officials to adapt our training strategy for schools in Kenya and provide supervision and support to trainers during the project cycle.
• Assist in the development of training activities for new sites.
• Provide recommendations from teachers and students for new video programming to be produced by our organization.
  
• Review and provide feedback to our representatives regarding all videos in production, including program content, scripts and resource guides to ensure appropriateness. (Technical knowledge of video production is not necessary.)
• Develop strategies for enhancing community use of the Learning Centers and work with each school to maximize community benefit of the resources.
• Recommend strategies for tailoring this initiative to best meet the needs of under-resourced communities in Kenya.

Program Monitoring and Reporting

• Play a central role in monitoring program performance in Kenya, evaluating the progress of projects in each participating school and contributing to a culture of learning and continuous improvement of DCGEP’s programming.
• Develop training schedules and reports for use in project monitoring and organizational and donor communications.
• Work with supervising Program Director and US-based team members to develop and track project budgets against annual work plans and maintain regular communication with the Program Director and our headquarters office in the United States.
• Play a key role in the preparation of regular reports and year-end auditing.

Representation and Strategic Partnership Development

• Represent the organization through regular meetings with donors, government representatives, school leaders, community members and other stakeholders.
• Develop new, and strengthen existing, national and local partnerships among public and private sector stakeholders and with communities in order to successfully leverage resources and ensure program sustainability.

Other

• Perform a variety of tasks as necessary to support the project in Kenya.
• All other duties assigned by the supervisor.

Experience:

The successful candidate must meet the following employment requirements:

• Have a Bachelors degree from a recognized university in a field of study related to education or management. Masters degree preferred.
• Self-starter with a demonstrated record of managing proactively and working independently in progressively challenging roles.
• Have at least five years of project management experience working in the development sector.
• Demonstrated commitment to program effectiveness, impact and learning.
• Possess an understanding of educational initiatives and priorities in Kenya.
• Staff supervisory and mentorship experience highly desirable.
• Work experience with international non-profit or private sector organizations preferred.
• Must have ability to work effectively both with teachers and communities at the local level and senior government officials and donor and partner representatives at district and national levels.
• The candidate must be willing to travel periodically for extended periods of time .
• Disciplined management of business-related finances (including budget development and expense reconciliation) is essential.
• The candidate must be a Kenyan citizen.

Skills:

Competitive applicants will possess the following critical professional skills:

• Planning skills (project initiation, planning, scope definitions, and cost estimation).
• Financial management and budgetary skills
• Monitoring and evaluation techniques to ensure program performance, reporting and sustainability.
• Strong English written and verbal skills.
• Capability to manage multiple project priorities and completing tasks in short time frames.
• Inclusive, team-based and results-oriented work style.
• Excellent interpersonal and diplomacy skills.
• Superior skills in managing internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to use Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel software effectively, and to be able to communicate on a regular basis with international teams by Internet, email and telephone.
• Strong presentation and critical analysis skills.
• Versatility and willingness to take new assignments in and outside designated provinces in Kenya.

Compensation: The fee will be negotiable based on the candidate’s experience.

DCGEP will cover all program-related expenses subject to adherence with organizational policies and procedures.

Preference will be given to candidates whose life and work experience demonstrates a commitment to improving the quality of education and life enjoyed by Kenyans.

Contact Information:

Qualified applicants may submit curriculum vitae, references and a cover letter by email to: admin@acwict.org and Mashala@telkomsa.net

All Applications must be received by 10th April 2012.

Only final candidates will be contacted.