Country Director at Child Fund International

About This Role

This is a full-time, fixed-term position open to Kenyan nationals with current residence in Nairobi, Kenya.

• The Country Director, Kenya is a visionary and strategic leader who serves as ChildFund’s principal representative in the country. This role demands a dynamic, entrepreneurial individual with a sharp instinct for opportunities—someone who can navigate complex landscapes to elevate ChildFund’s visibility, influence, and impact. As a skilled networker and alliance builder, the Country Director cultivates and sustains high-level relationships with donors, government agencies, private sector actors, and civil society organizations to unlock new funding streams and expand ChildFund’s reach.

Required Experience and Education

• University degree in a relevant field is required; a master’s degree in a relevant field is strongly preferred.
• At least 10 years of experience in management or senior management positions in the development sector.
• Demonstrated experience in the management of institutional grants and individual donors.
• Demonstrated success in securing funding from varied sources, with a strong emphasis on pre-positioning, strategic networking, and donor engagement. Expected level of effort in business development: 60% or higher.
• Experience in emergency programs and/or community development programs.

Primary Responsibilities

• Strategic Portfolio Growth: Lead the development and oversight of a dynamic and impactful operational portfolio. Ensure a well-balanced mix of high-quality local partnerships, innovative programming, and diversified funding sources—including competitive grants, corporate partnerships, and local philanthropy.
• Program Excellence and Innovation. Lead the design and delivery of evidence-based programs that align with ChildFund’s core models and standards. Integrate youth-led approaches into program design and delivery, ensuring meaningful participation of young people in shaping solutions that affect their lives.
• Grants and Project Management: Lead and oversee grants and project management processes with a particular focus on the strategic execution and management of larger, high-value grants. Ensuring timely and high-quality implementation of funded initiatives, maintaining rigorous compliance with donor requirements—including financial reporting, programmatic deliverables, and contractual obligations.
• Talent Leadership and Culture Building: Lead strategic talent acquisition, onboarding, and continuous development to build a high-performing and mission-driven team. Foster a high-performing, inclusive, and values-driven organizational culture that promotes excellence, collaboration, and accountability.
• Performance and Team Development: Lead, guide and mentor staff to achieve strategic outcomes and meet performance targets. Build and maintain a strong, cohesive senior leadership team that drives collaboration, innovation, and upholds a culture of accountability and excellence across the Country Office.
• External Representation and Advocacy: Position ChildFund as a leading voice on children’s issues in Kenya through strategic advocacy and high-level engagement. Represent the organization with government authorities, donors, INGOs, media, and other stakeholders to enhance visibility, influence policy, and strengthen partnerships.
• Resource Mobilization & Fundraising: Lead strategic resource mobilization efforts focused on expanding and managing a robust funding base. Actively pursue new funding opportunities through strategic networking, pre-positioning, and relationship-building with key influencers, donors, and private sector actors. Drive the growth of local fundraising and business development initiatives.
• Operational Stewardship: Ensure the effective allocation and strategic management of financial, human, and physical resources. Collaborate with Global Shared Services to deliver high-quality support in finance, HR, and IT functions strengthening operational efficiency and accountability.
• Governance and Compliance: Maintain robust internal controls to safeguard assets and ensure compliance with donor requirements, national regulations and organizational policies. Uphold principles of locally led development by ensuring governance structures and compliance mechanisms empower local actors and reflect community priorities.
• Knowledge and Learning: Promote a learning culture by developing and leveraging knowledge products that enhance program effectiveness and inform strategic decision-making.
• Emergency Response: Ensure the development, maintenance, and regular updating of a comprehensive disaster preparedness and emergency response plan. Lead efforts to strengthen organizational readiness and resilience, enabling timely, coordinated, and effective responses to emergencies that impact children and communities.
• Safety and Security: Implement and uphold organizational standards, policies, and procedures to protect personnel, programs, and assets. Lead a proactive culture of safety and security risk management within the Country Office, ensuring continuous monitoring of security trends and timely action. Allocate adequate resources to support safe program implementation and cost recovery. Uphold ChildFund’s duty of care by promoting measures that support both physical and mental well-being of staff. Work closely with the global security team to ensure alignment with organizational standards and a coordinated response to incidents.
• Safeguarding: Remain alert and responsive to any safeguarding risks; acquire and apply relevant knowledge and skills to uphold ChildFund’s safeguarding policy and procedures. Promote strong safeguarding practices across all operations ensuring appropriate behavior, timely reporting of violations, and a culture of accountability. Lead the implementation of corrective actions—including disciplinary, legal, or other measures—in response to any breaches. Collaborate with relevant teams to follow up on findings, and regularly review policies, procedures, and protocols to identify and address gaps or weaknesses. Uphold the organization’s duty of care by fostering a safe and respectful environment for all staff, partners, and program participants.

Required Competencies

• Fluency in English and Swahili with excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the child protection and child-focused programming landscape and cultural context in Kenya.
• Demonstrated high level of proficiency in ChildFund’s Core competency areas including Teamwork, Communication, Results orientation, Decision making, resilience, and digital literacy.
• Demonstrated high level of proficiency in ChildFund’s Leadership Competency areas including strategic leadership, people leadership, partnership, change management, and design thinking.
• Proven ability to cultivate and sustain high-level relationships with diverse donors, including government agencies, UN bodies (e.g., UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP), and other key stakeholders.
• Deep understanding of and sensitivity to cultural dynamics within the country context with the ability to leverage historical context for strategic planning and external engagement.
• Skilled in articulating ChildFund’s value-add and evidence of impact, while promoting a collaborative, credit-sharing approach to partnership development.
• Strong record of team-building and mentoring capabilities, with a focus on knowing and developing staff, upholding accountability, cultivating a high-performance culture, and fostering inclusive and respectful workplace practices.
• Business-oriented approach to leadership, with the ability to identify opportunities, drive innovation, and scale impact sustainably.
• Exceptional presentation and storytelling skills to effectively communicate program outcomes, organizational impact, and strategic vision to varied audiences.
• Demonstrates assertiveness, confidence, and responsiveness, with the ability to set boundaries, and uphold core values.
• Skilled in opening doors, connecting influencers, and mobilizing advocates to advance ChildFund’s mission and visibility.