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Regional Director Horn, Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (HECSA)

Cordaid Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe
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Role description

Regional Director Horn, Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (HECSA) What you do
  • Regional Strategy & Leadership: Lead the HECSA regional strategy and ensure alignment with global strategies and locally led development commitments. Set regional priorities, guide portfolio and resource choices, resolve cross-functional bottlenecks, and contribute to organization-wide leadership through the Senior Leadership Team.
  • Partner Ecosystem & Locally Led Development: Set the strategic direction for partnership practices and ecosystem development. Ensure mutual accountability through clear expectations, performance dialogue, and transparent feedback mechanisms, creating an enabling environment for equitable, context-driven partnerships.
  • External Representation & Political Engagement: Represent Cordaid at the highest levels with governments, institutional donors, regional networks, civil society platforms, and private-sector actors. Use contextual, political, economic, and security analysis to inform organizational positioning and decision-making in sensitive environments.
  • Portfolio Performance & Financial Resilience: Hold overall accountability for the financial health and performance of the regional portfolio against agreed KPIs (quality, partner satisfaction, risk management). Set priorities and make strategic trade-offs across countries, partners, investments, and opportunity pipelines.
  • Humanitarian Preparedness & Response: Provide strategic oversight of the regional humanitarian portfolio, preparedness, and response readiness. Provide strategic direction during crises to ensure coherent regional decision-making and alignment with core international humanitarian standards.
  • Risk, Safeguarding, Safety & Compliance: Ensure regional risks are identified, addressed, and escalated in a timely manner. Provide strong safety and security leadership, including duty of care for staff and partners, and collaborate with Shared Services to uphold formal compliance, legal, procurement, and HR policies.
  • Quality, Evidence & Learning: Ensure that evidence, learning, partner feedback, and performance information are structurally embedded into regional decision-making, portfolio reviews, and strategic priority settings.
  • People Leadership & Change Management: Lead, support, and develop the senior regional management team. Shape an entrepreneurial, open, and accountable regional culture, driving the implementation of new ways of working and embedding clear decision-making processes.
Who you are
  • You have an Advanced degree (Master's or equivalent) in International Development, Political Science, Public Administration, Humanitarian Studies, or a related field.
  • At least 10 years of senior leadership experience in Horn, Eastern, Central, or Southern Africa, or comparable fragile and politically complex contexts.
  • Strong experience in regional leadership, strategic partnership stewardship, external representation, portfolio oversight, and resource mobilization.
  • Demonstrated experience engaging with senior political, donor, government, civil society, and private-sector network actors.
  • A strong understanding of locally led development, partner-led programming, humanitarian preparedness, risk management, safeguarding, safety, and compliance in fragile settings.
  • In-depth knowledge of the application of Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS), Sphere standards, Pledge for Change, and Grand Bargain commitments.
  • Proven ability to build strategic partnerships, support co-creation, strengthen funding pipelines, and lead multi-country or distributed teams through organizational change.
  • You are fluent in English. Knowledge of French, Arabic, Portuguese, or relevant regional languages is a distinct asset.
  • You recognize yourself in Cordaid’s mission and values.
What we offer
  • A high-profile senior leadership position within an international, professional organization with a focus on social impact.
  • A varied, highly impactful, and autonomous role where strategic initiative and vision are essential.
  • A global organization with a strong commitment to social entrepreneurship and locally led impact.
  • Good international working conditions and excellent secondary benefits.
  • An initial contract for 1 year with the intention of extending, home-based within the HECSA region.
  • Hybrid working conditions and a market-conform contract with employment terms and conditions aligned with the responsibilities of the position.