The Bill & Melinda Gates foundation(BMGF) invests in efforts throughout Sub-Saharan Africa to improve health, equality and help reduce poverty. Our offices are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Abuja, Nigeria. We work through a variety of partners and intermediaries and seek to utilize the capabilities of local actors in support of our mission.
Africa is a continent with both rich resources and great challenges. We work closely with governments, academia, the private sector, and civil society across 45 nations to help advance progress across the continent. We support a range of programs, from the international to the local level, that focus on health, equity, and poverty alleviation.
Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Director, Africa will be responsible for managing key stakeholder relationships on the continent; providing guidance and oversight to the country teams; developing and executing a strategy to further the foundation’s goals on the continent; and serving as a thought partner to the foundation program and policy teams as it relates to their work on the continent.
The Director will contribute to the advancement of the foundation’s mission and impact by creating an environment of optimism, collaboration, rigor, and innovation.
- Hold accountability for the quality of a diverse portfolio of work in Africa and for the execution toward its strategic outcomes; develop the strategy and engagement plan for key initiatives, with particular focus on scale, diffusion, and replication in the region; lead annual planning process to reflect progress or refinements to strategic engagements.
- Cultivate and manage key stakeholder relationships, including with governments, donors, and regional institutions; build partnerships in Africa; build alignment and motivate governments, donors, the private sector and non-profit organizations to influence policy and increase resource contributions for health and development in Africa.
- Communicate with division and program staff about opportunities and progress with critical partnerships for key stakeholders, including division Presidents, CEO and Co-chairs.
- Collaborate with foundation policy/advocacy leadership (including through a secondary, dotted line reporting relationship to the President, Global Policy & Advocacy) to strategically manage government, donor, and other key political partnerships, and to manage foundation policy and financing asks in the region
- Provide direct oversight to the foundation’s work and staff in South Africa; guide and support the Ethiopia and Nigeria country directors and their teams to further the foundation’s objectives in these countries.
- Advise and partner with program teams on diffusion/replication of the foundation’s work in West Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa.
- Manage a portfolio of investments that can support the foundation’s efforts to achieve regional scale for key products and interventions.
- Be the key representative for the entire scope of the foundation’s work in Africa, to include serving as the foundation’s primary spokesperson on Africa to stakeholders, at events, and for media at the local, regional, national, and global levels.
- Manage program, operation, policy and communication staff and be responsible for hiring the talent needed to achieve our goals.
- Be a critical thought partner, provide functional expertise and critical political context to program teams on strategies, partnerships, and investments.
- Utilize analytical and research skills to understand, interpret, and present to internal and external stakeholders complex and sensitive information about Africa.
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with senior leadership to ensure overall success of the vision.
African Networks and Stature
- A respected leader in the African context, who can connect with the private sector, governments, multilaterals, and NGO’s, with strong influence and understanding of governmental decision-making across the continent. Proven leadership experience in international relations, economics, government or public policy, with senior level representation experience in Africa, preferred.
Strategic and Managerial Acumen
- Significant tenure of senior executive experience (15+ years) driving strategic direction and programmatic success in organizations with multinational scope in sub-Saharan Africa. Directly and effectively led, managed, developed and retained a diverse team of full-time employees and consultants across multiple locations and in a growing office. Managed an increasing scope of responsibilities in multiple country settings. Experience managing a regional or continental portfolio of work, and driving systemic change and reform on a nation or region-wide basis, strongly preferred.
Development Sector Expertise
- Deep understanding and experience in at least one of the sectors in which the foundation operates (e.g., health, nutrition, agriculture, financial services, water & sanitation), ideally coupled with familiarity in other sectors.
Language Ability
- Ability to work effectively in English is required. Fluency in another official language of the African Union and / or African languages is strongly preferred (e.g. French, Swahili).
The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation is partnering with Spencer Stuart, a global executive search firm, in the recruitment of a stellar candidate to take up this exciting and challenging appointment. Should you wish to apply for this position, we kindly ask you to submit your CV for consideration before January 31, 2018.