Country Director – Kenya

About IJM

We are a dynamic, highly professional organisation, ambitious to achieve our vision. We are the global leader in protecting people in poverty from violence and are working with governments to bring protection to half a billion vulnerable people.

Our global teams of lawyers, social workers and investigators partner with governments and local authorities around the world to help identify and bring to safety survivors of violence and exploitation, and ensure they receive the support and assistance they require, whilst also working with law enforcement and prosecutors to tackle impunity by ensuring laws are enforced. We have spent more than 25 years on the front lines, fighting some of the worst forms of violence: slavery, police abuse of power, sexual violence against children and intimate partner violence. To date, our work with local authorities has resulted in over 480,000 people being brought to safety from slavery and violent oppression. We have seen local justice systems where we are working begin to proactively rescue and support survivors and hold perpetrators to account.

About IJM Kenya

Started in 2001, the IJM office in Kenya is dedicated to strengthening government capacity to combat police abuse of power (PAP) and violence against women and children (VAWC). IJM’s PAP vision in Kenya aims to protect 35 million people in Kenya from police violence and abuse of power by 2030.

To achieve this, IJM Kenya is partnering with the government to enhance accountability, professionalism and effective response to misconduct in the National Police Service (NPS). With a strengthened criminal justice system, community members reliance for protection from police misconduct will lead to accountability due to increased reporting and effective prosecution, marked by observance to the rule of law and the promotion of victim- centred approaches for the well-being of affected families.

IJM’s VAWC project in Kenya aims at protecting 18 million women and children in Kenya from physical and sexual violence. This will be achieved through a criminal justice system that performs effectively to enforce VAWC laws, which will in turn increase victims and community reliance on the criminal justice system to provide justice and address VAWC. The project focuses on ensuring that survivors confidently report VAWC crimes and are protected and supported as they pursue justice, and that investigators and prosecutors effectively and efficiently bring VAWC cases to trial, enabling courts to deliver just and timely rulings in VAWC cases.

About the role

IJM Kenya is seeking a Country Director to provide strategic vision and leadership for IJM programmes and operations whose focus is police accountability and will provide effective operational support for IJM’s programme combatting violence against women and children. The primary focus is on ensuring that IJM Kenya contributes to IJM’s global vision of protecting 500 million people by 2030 including 120 million in the Africa and Europe region.

Success in this role will be  measured by the following key result areas:-

• Implement and continually develop IJM’s strategy to protect 35m Kenyans from Police Abuse of Power
• Provide effective operational support to IJM’s VAWC program in Kenya
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders in the Kenyan government and in international bodies to ensure effective advocacy, collaborative implementation and strong government ownership of IJM’s strategy.
• Lead the Kenyan team in developing and delivering strategy-aligned annual workplans, annual targets and strategic goals, ensuring compliance with grant/financial regulations and managing of IJM Kenya’s national budget
• Provide leadership in staff safety, safeguarding, ethical conduct, care/resilience, spiritual formation and professional development, resulting in increased employee satisfaction, engagement and overall team performance and retention
• Ensure compliance by IJM Kenya with all relevant Kenyan laws and regulations as well as IJM’s global values, standards, and policies
• Support IJM’s fundraising activities through engagement with IJM Advancement Offices, private donors and actively pursue institutional donor opportunities
• Actively participate as a member of IJM’s Africa/Europe Regional Leadership Team.

Roles and Responsibilities

Leadership and Management

• Provide exemplary leadership skills with strong communications and interpersonal skills effective in both internal and external settings. Advance IJM’s brand and reputation while promoting IJM’s culture, particularly by prioritising professional excellence and spiritual formation
• Drive performance to enhance employee experience and retention ensuring accountability at all levels
• Ensure IJM Kenya’s operations comply with Kenyan laws and regulations and IJM global standards and policies while reflecting the Kenyan context
• Oversee budget setting and management
• Ensure the security, safety and safeguarding of all stakeholders involved with IJM Kenya
• Demonstrate resilience, sound judgement and strong problem-solving particularly during times of crisis or change
• Uphold integrity and fully commit to IJM’s vision, mission and values

Networking & Partnership

• Maintain and develop strong relationships with local and national government agencies to support high-quality programme delivery
• Sustain and expand donor relations, working closely with IJM fundraisers to secure resources for IJM Kenya
• Engage implementing partners to support and scale IJM’s programme

Programme Management, Monitoring and Learning

• Ensure the Kenya Police Abuse of Power programme is implemented according to an up-to-date strategy informed by continuous learning and in accordance with relevant IJM policies, standards and best practices
• Implement IJM’s Programme Management Standards ensuring that the programme remains focused on progress towards protection targets, incorporation of ongoing learning and effective management of risk
• Empower IJM’s measurement and learning through regular collection of data, compliance with IJM’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning standards and utilisation of IJM’s Justice Data Solution system

General tasks

• Engage in required regional and global meetings including travel within region and participation in global events
• Support IJM Advancement Offices in raising awareness and resource for IJM’s mission
• Collaborate and learn with leadership across the region

Supervisory Responsibility

• This position reports to the Regional President for Africa and Europe and will receive support from regional and global teams in areas such as programme quality, governance, legal compliance, grant acquisition and compliance, safety and security management, finance, HR, advocacy and communications
• All senior leaders associated with the PAP programme in country and operational and administrative leaders, report to the Country Director of Kenya PAP

Education & Experience

• Minimum eight years’ experience successfully leading cross-cultural teams to achieve ambitious objectives in challenging environments with excellent outcomes
• Experience in sub-Saharan contexts preferred
• Degree in law, international development, business, or other related field (Master’s or Doctorate level preferred)
• Minimum five years’ experience in international development, with demonstrated rigour and success
• Experience of collaborating with international donors and intergovernmental organisations, engaging at a senior level to secure and successfully manage international donor funded programs
• Proven ability to negotiate and work with partner organisations and key stakeholders towards achieving specific objectives. Demonstrated experience with organisational capacity strengthening and partnership building
• Advocacy and/or policy experience with key stakeholders including governments, cultural and religious leaders, institutional donors, civil society organisations and other partners
• In-depth understanding of programming to combat violence against women and girls. Broader experience in access to justice, Rule of Law and human rights issues in sub-Saharan contexts is preferred

Technical Competencies:

• Ability to serve as a spiritual leader and mentor
• Demonstrated successful leadership and management experience with a multi-disciplinary team in a cross-cultural setting, including active mentoring and coaching
• Proven ability to set and achieve significant outcomes and impact
• Excellent communications writing and professional speaking skills
• Proven ability to develop and manage key relationships within the highest levels of government and the development sector
• Strong programmatic understanding, including of harnessing monitoring, evaluation, research and learning to successfully reset strategic interventions
• Fluent in written and verbal English and Swahili to a professional standard

Non-Technical Competencies:

• Mature orthodox Christian faith as defined by the Apostles’ Creed
• Demonstrated ability to appropriately manage crisis, stress, change, and conflict
• Courageous, confident, servant leadership
• Sound and disciplined in judgement and problem-solving
• Rigorously result-oriented
• Resilient, persevering in joy through challenge and failure

APPOINTMENT TERMS

Location: Nairobi, Kenya. Candidates must have the existing right to work in Kenya. Must be able to live and work in Nairobi and travel to field offices ie Mombasa.

Salary and Benefits: Competitive salary and benefits package.

Contract: Permanent, full-time.

HOW TO APPLY

Closing date: 20^th October 2024

To apply please click ‘Apply Now’ above

As part of the application process kindly submit your CV and a cover letter, preferably in MS Word. All application documents (cover letter and CV) should be submitted in English.

In addition, IJM kindly requests that you provide a statement of faith as part of their standard application process. Kindly include this as part of your cover letter.

This statement should outline your core Christian faith and how it informs your personal and professional life. We appreciate your thoughtful consideration in sharing this important aspect of your background with us and IJM.

Should you require access to information in a different format to facilitate your application please contact us via [email protected]

Please name your submitted files with the following reference: IJM_CDK

Safeguarding

IJM holds strict safeguarding principles and a zero tolerance to violations of the Safeguarding Policy, Protection against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment Policy, and Code of Ethics. Candidate selection is based on technical competence, recruitment, selection and hiring criteria subject to assessing the candidates value congruence and thorough background, police clearance, and reference check processes.

Red Sea takes our responsibility towards protecting your personal data very seriously. The data you provide is processed in line with relevant data protection legislation. For the purposes of this recruitment, and as defined under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Red Sea is defined as the Data Controller.

Red Sea is committed to meeting the standards set out in our Equality and Diversity statement, acting in line with the UK Equalities Act 2010 and building an accurate picture of the make-up of the workforce in encouraging equality and diversity.