Country Manager at Solidaridad Eastern

As a frontrunner in the area of sustainable economic development, Solidaridad seeks to create prosperity for everyone that respects both the people and the planet.

Position/ Job Summary 
The Country Manager, Kenya plays a key role in Solidaridad East & Central Africa's comprehensive and solutions-based approach to deployment through a high level of strategic leadership, innovation and effective advocacy. The Country Manager is ultimately accountable in the country for all aspects of Solidaridad’s work, leading the consolidation and at the same time development of the programmes, continuing the process of developing solid impact measurement mechanisms, strengthening accountability initiatives, and ensuring that the financial management and organizational setup is adapted to the operational context. The Country Manager sets direction, leads, maintains team morale, safety and welfare, while managing resources, delegating specific duties as necessary, and maintaining oversight and accountability.
Objective
The Country Manager is responsible for leading the development, implementation, monitoring, and learning of the activities of the Solidaridad country office.

Position in the organization

The Country Manager reports to the Managing Director of Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa Expertise Centre. The Country Manager provides leadership to all employees of the country team.
Key Result Areas
Management of the Country Office and Country Teams

Management of the country office in close collaboration with the regional operations team.
Management country teams.

Fundraising and Proposal Development

Identify opportunities for fundraising in partnership with the fundraising teams in the Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa Expertise Centre, REC Europe and develop tangible proposals.
Identify and pursue opportunities to mobilize resources in support of Solidaridad's priorities and/or advocate for public and private sector stakeholders to scale Solidaridad's demonstrated intervention models in the country.
Identify and secure opportunities for co–funding from the private sector.
Build strong partnerships with international donors in the country.
Ensure all new funding proposals have a strong linkage with the new global strategy of Solidaridad, including linkages with at least one of the new innovation topics (impact investment, climate innovation, landscapes innovation, gender, IT in agriculture).

Partnership Development and Management

Convene and build relationships with domestic government, private sector, donors, civil society organizations, and others with a presence in the country, to build and nurture country-level partnerships deemed essential to Solidaridad's mission in the country.
Serve as primary point-of-contact to donors in the country, furnishing them with required reports, day-to-day communications, and timely insights on program challenges and breakthroughs in a manner which maintains their positive engagement with the program.
Engage and build strong relationships with key stakeholders in the agricultural sectors, such as producers, associations, traders, NGOs, research institutes, government, and private companies.
Relay feedback from Solidaridad's partners, especially the government and development partners to other parts of the organization.
Develop and formalize partnerships with government institutions and the private sector linked to the various initiatives.
Take responsibility as main account manager to maintain good relationships in the current programme portfolio with key government institutions (Ministry of Industry, Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries), private sector associations and other relevant institutions in the country (IFC, ILO).

Program Management Project Portfolio

Ensure that new program initiatives are being established in the country in an effective and professional manner, in close collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
Overall coordination of projects, including steering project commodity teams and main communication towards relevant donors.
Support in the preparation of annual plans, project proposals and reports to be submitted to Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa Expertise Centre, REC Europe, and international donors.
Ensure that professional (result chain led) M&E systems are in place to effectively monitor the performance and indicators of all supply chain initiatives.
Advise and report to the regional management of Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa Expertise Centre on further design and development of the country strategy, direction, ambitions and vision in line with the Multi-Annual Strategy Plans (MASP).
Ensure that professional communication materials are in place and (with support from the regional and global communication teams) stories are being published about the work in the country in trade forums, conferences, social media, magazines, and websites.
Provide support in hosting incoming trade missions or incoming visits from Solidaridad, partners, and international donors.

Monitoring Deliverables

Develop and submit annual country reports and plans to the Managing Director for approval, demonstrating and showing the growth of the country office in the country in terms of the program portfolio, funding secured, partnerships developed, and HR capacity.
Quarterly meetings in Kenya to present to the Managing Director and teams the progress of the country's activities in the country.

Deliverables

Country programs coordinated and run smoothly in line with objectives ensuring growth targets are met in line with the (Multi-)Annual Country Plans (MACP) and Solidaridad Network Ambitions 2020.
Country projects of Solidaridad in the country are successfully implemented in good collaboration with main partners.
Projects monitored continuously and reported at predetermined intervals agreed with the Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa Expertise Centre in Kenya and international donors.
New concept notes and funding proposals written, evaluated, and approved to fund new supply chain initiatives in the country.
Ensuring and leading the growth and expansion of the country office in country and country teams in a professional manner.

Requirements
Knowledge and experience

Relevant academic level education, Master or higher – in relevant fields e.g. Agriculture, Public Policy, Development Studies, Project Management, Strategic Management, etc.
Eight (8) years’ experience – managing sustainability projects at a senior level in the region.
An understanding of the policy environment, issues, and stakeholders in the agriculture and/or agribusiness sector in East and Central Africa.
Experience of leading and managing small teams.
Experience setting up new projects and programmes
Fluent in spoken and written English, other language skills proficiencies desirable.
Knowledge of strategic, human resource, financial and quality management.

Specific job requirements

Ability to identify and pursue strategic initiatives which provide the greatest value and sustainable impact. Balance long and short-term tradeoffs, communicate clearly and precisely the strategic goals and the strategies for achieving them.
Demonstrate ability to mobilize, focus, align, and build effective groups to enable them to conceptualize and achieve collective objectives. Exhibit drive and commitment to Solidaridad's mission. Help others understand how their daily work contributes to Solidaridad's mission and inspire others to proactively meet Solidaridad's strategic objectives in partnership with clients.
Maintain high personal integrity and provide support for professional development efforts linked to business objectives.
Develop the capabilities of Solidaridad through the acquisition of top talent and development of staff as per the organization's stated objectives.
Demonstrate knowledge of the customers served by Solidaridad, competitors, suppliers, and the regulatory environment. Provide a balanced, responsive and proactive approach to meeting client needs, encourage staff to understand client needs and concerns, ensure provision of customized services and products as appropriate. Respond promptly and effectively to client and market needs. Add business value based on your own understanding and service of the customers and the market in which they work.
Demonstrate drive for improvement of organizational results, based on well-rounded understanding of general business principles and own activities' commercial and financial implications.