Country Director, Ethiopia

About Right To Play:

Benefits Highlights:

• Connect and collaborate with a global team who are passionate about protecting, educating and empowering children and youth using the power of play!
• Culture premised on our Culture Code (accept everyone, make things happen, display courage, demonstrate care, and be playful)
• Paid leave (20 days annual leave and 3 personal days per year)
• Competitive benefits such as medical insurance for employee and eligible family members, life insurance for employee, transportation allowance, and communications allowance
• 10% temporary allowance for Ethiopia employees from October to December 2026 and the next salary review is in January 2027
• Learning opportunities and 5 learning and development (L&D) days per year
• Flexible work arrangements
• More information on what we offer is available on our website.

Job Description:

1.Purpose:

2.Accountability & Responsibilities:

Governance and representation (20%)

• Identifies and manages organisational risk, including legal and governance matters, and acts as RTP’s legal representative in country.
• Represents RTP at country level, engaging government, donors, UN agencies, and NGO coordination platforms to build influence, credibility, and strategic partnerships.

Fundraising and Communication (20%)

• Leads country-level fundraising and resource mobilisation, driving proposal development, donor engagement, and diversified funding partnerships.
• Leads in-country media and external engagement, strengthening RTP’s profile and ensuring alignment with organisational values and objectives.

Strategy development and implementation (15%)

• Sets and leads the strategic direction of the country programme, ensuring alignment with RTP strategy, national priorities, and legal and regulatory requirements.

Programmatic oversight, learning and innovation (15%)

• Oversees the country programme portfolio, ensuring high-quality delivery, measurable impact for children and young people, and timely reporting to donors, government, and HQ.
• Promotes collaboration and learning, advising partners on play-based and sport-for-development approaches and embedding evidence-informed practice.
• Champions innovation and continuous improvement, driving excellence in programming and efficiency across internal systems and processes.

Operational management (15%)

• Provides strategic oversight of finance and administration, including budgeting, expenditure control, audits, grant compliance, and strong internal controls.
• Holds overall accountability for safeguarding, safety, and security, ensuring compliance with RTP policies and national legislation.

Staff and workplace management (15%)

• Ensures effective people management, including recruitment, performance management, learning and development, payroll, and the promotion of a safe and inclusive culture.
• Leads, mentors, and develops a diverse country team, fostering staff wellbeing, inclusion, and high performance.
• Promote Safeguarding, foster a safe, respectful, and accountable work environment by modelling appropriate conduct and addressing any behaviour that undermines a healthy workplace.

Perform other duties as assigned

3.Scope (geographical and/or functional), Impact and Autonomy:

4.Leadership and Staff Management:

5.Information Requirement for Decision-Making:

6.Innovation and Improvements

7. Relationships & Communications: Internal / External:

8. Expertise (Certifications / Education, Professional Experience):

• Extensive experience in leadership roles within a large or medium international development organization, including: strategic planning, leadership and people management, project management and planning, monitoring and evaluation and financial and risk management.
• Master’s degree in business administration, social sciences, development studies or related discipline.
• Experience working in or managing programmes in stable and fragile contexts.
• Proven success with mobilizing new sources of program funding.
• Understanding of laws, regulations and cultural dynamics local and international.
• Fluency in spoken and written Amharic and English Significant experience with a child-focused organization is desirable.

9.Core Competences:

• Collaboration: Highly collaborative with strong interpersonal skills; excels at working in with a multicultural team and builds rapport and trust to develop strong external partnerships.
• Growth Mindset: Demonstrates commitment to own professional development and encourages their team to develop their potential, creates a learning culture through effective coaching and mentorship.
• Communication: Communicates complex operational, technical & strategic issues clearly & credibly to diverse audiences, leveraging strong networks to secure donor funding & influence stakeholders.
• Resilience: Strong organizational skills and the ability to work under pressure: multi-tasking, meeting deadlines, solving problems creatively and embracing challenges with resilience.
• Professionalism: Models professionalism and RTP’s values, promoting a safe, inclusive workplace and positive impact for children and youth.
• Management and Interpersonal Skills: Lead and mentor country team with influence, fostering trust, high performance, and shared ownership of outcome.

10.Additional Information: