Senior Programmes Officer, Africa Region

IsraAID is an international non-governmental humanitarian aid organization with its HQ based in Israel. Since we were founded in 2001, our teams have worked in emergency and long-term development settings in more than 60 countries around the world. IsraAID responds to emergencies and helps communities affected by crises rebuild their lives, and their futures, together. From hurricanes to refugee crises to global pandemics, we mobilize quickly and collaborate with communities at the deepest level, accompanying the process of becoming self-reliant in the ability to prepare and respond to emergencies and crises and return to adaptive functioning.

The Africa Regional Desk currently oversees Country Offices in Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, and South Sudan — operating across some of the world's most complex humanitarian and development contexts, with programmes grounded in resilience thinking and long-term community engagement.

ABOUT THE POSITION

The Senior Programmes Officer (SPO), Africa Region is responsible for supporting the effective delivery, coordination, and follow-through of programmes across the Africa regional portfolio. The SPO acts as the primary programme coordination and process focal point for Country Offices (COs) in the region, interfacing with HQ support units and technical functions to ensure coherent, timely, and high-quality support reaches the field.

Working under the direct management of the Director, Africa Region and in close partnership with the Director of Global Programmes, the SPO plays a critical enabling role within the regional desk — driving programmatic quality follow-up, process discipline, operational flow, and knowledge management across the Africa portfolio. The role combines technical programme support with strong administrative and coordination responsibilities, and requires a proactive, organized professional who can manage multiple workstreams simultaneously with limited supervision.

The SPO is expected to operate with a high degree of independence and initiative — proactively identifying process gaps, ensuring administrative compliance, managing information flows, and supporting Country Directors and the Director of Region in maintaining programme quality and organizational standards across all COs in the region.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Programme Design, Quality & Implementation Support

• Support Country Offices in programme design and implementation aligned with IsraAID's organizational priorities, resilience framework, programmatic approaches, community needs, and donor requirements.
• Provide programmatic guidance to CO teams on best practices, innovative approaches, and solutions to programmatic challenges — drawing on organizational standards and cross-regional learning.
• Advance and embed IsraAID's programmatic frameworks and approaches across the region, in coordination with the Director of Global Programmes.
• Conduct regular programme quality assessments and monitoring visits to COs and programme sites, identifying areas for improvement and working with teams to address them in a timely and constructive manner.
• Ensure programme effectiveness, sustainability, and alignment with organizational quality standards throughout the programme cycle.
• Support the Director of Region on the development and review of a regional strategy.

Programmatic Lifecycle & Compliance

• Support and coordinate programme design, implementation, reporting, and compliance processes across all COs in the region, ensuring adherence to internal standards and donor requirements.
• Facilitate and coordinate project and proposal development between CO and HQ teams, ensuring high-quality documentation that meets donor expectations — in coordination with the DevComms team.
• Ensure timely submission of programmatic deliverables, reports, and compliance documents, proactively tracking deadlines and flagging risks to the Director of Region.
• Oversee the delivery of regional projects where relevant, maintaining technical oversight and ensuring continuity of programme momentum.

Monitoring, Evaluation & Adaptive Management

• Support MEAL processes across the region, ensuring robust data collection, analysis, and reporting in line with organizational standards and donor requirements.
• Work with CO teams on adaptive management — facilitating reflection, analysis, and course correction based on monitoring data and emerging evidence.
• Document and disseminate lessons learned, best practices, and success stories from COs across the region and the wider organization, in coordination with the Director of Global Programmes and the MEAL function.
• Support regional level reporting when required through leading on the consolidation of programmatic inputs.

Knowledge Management & Capacity Strengthening

• Facilitate training and capacity-strengthening initiatives for CO programme teams in the areas of programmatic management, programme quality, reporting, and organizational approaches.
• Support the professional development of CO programme staff by sharing resources, technical knowledge, and organizational tools — contributing to a culture of continuous learning and improvement across the region.
• Capture and systematically document lessons learned, success stories, and innovative practices from COs, ensuring these are shared across the region and the wider organization.
• Support cross-programme and cross-regional knowledge exchange in coordination with the Director of Global Programmes and the SPO counterpart in the other region.

Operational Support & Continuity

• Provide interim programme and project management support during CO capacity gaps, leadership transitions, or periods of high workload — maintaining programme continuity and organizational momentum.
• Manage the collation, organization, and distribution of programme-related information and updates to relevant HQ and regional stakeholders.
• Support CO teams during periods of transition, ensuring that critical processes, reporting obligations, and donor commitments are upheld.

Administrative & Process Coordination

• Take proactive ownership of regional administrative and process coordination — ensuring that key organizational workflows, documentation standards, and compliance requirements are consistently upheld across all COs.
• Coordinate regional and HQ-CO meetings, including preparing agendas, facilitating sessions, and producing minutes and follow-up actions in a timely manner.
• Support the preparation of operational and financial reports, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and alignment with organizational and donor requirements.
• Ensure compliance with administrative policies and procedures, including procurement processes, document archiving, and programmatic records management.
• Prioritize and manage the flow of HQ requests to COs, reducing duplication and overload through clear communication and coordination with the Director of Region.

Representation & Partnerships

• Represent IsraAID with professionalism and integrity in regional and international forums, networks, and coordination mechanisms relevant to the portfolio.
• Support the Director of Region and Country Directors in cultivating and maintaining strategic partnerships and relationships with donors, partners, and humanitarian coordination bodies.
• Perform other duties as assigned by line management.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & COMPETENCIES

Education

• Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred in International Development, Project Management, Social Sciences, Humanitarian Affairs, or a related field.

Experience

• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in humanitarian and/or development programme management, including at least 12 months of accumulated field-based experience leading programmatic work across one or more country missions (required).
• Demonstrated experience in programme coordination, quality assurance, and compliance across multi-country or regional portfolios.
• Strong experience in proposal and report development, including coordination with CO and HQ teams and alignment with donor requirements.
• Experience in knowledge management, programmatic learning, and documentation of best practices.
• Experience in capacity strengthening and training for CO programme teams.
• Ability to provide interim programme management support and maintain continuity during transitions or gaps.
• Experience working across diverse cultural contexts, including in sub-Saharan Africa (desirable).

Technical & Programme Skills

• Strong understanding of programme design, implementation, MEAL, and adaptive management across humanitarian and resilience contexts.
• Familiarity with IsraAID's or equivalent organizational programmatic frameworks — including Theory of Change, results-based management, and resilience approaches.
• Excellent technical writing skills for proposal development, reporting, and documentation.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to synthesize complex programmatic information for diverse audiences.
• Understanding of safeguarding principles and organizational compliance standards.

Coordination & Organizational Skills

• Exceptional organizational skills and ability to manage multiple workstreams, competing priorities, and tight deadlines simultaneously with high attention to detail.
• Proactive, self-directed work style — able to identify process gaps and take initiative without waiting for instruction.
• Demonstrated excellence in process facilitation, meeting coordination, and administrative management.
• Strong problem-solving ability and adaptability in complex or fast-moving environments.

Interpersonal & Communication Skills

• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to work effectively across diverse cultural contexts, organizational levels, and functional teams.
• Strong capacity for cross-cultural collaboration and sensitivity.
• Commitment to IsraAID's organizational values: Professionalism, Humanity, Collaboration, Flexibility, and Adaptability.

IT & Languages

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and collaboration platforms (Teams, Zoom). Experience with database management or data tools is an advantage.
• Fluency in English (required). Knowledge of French or other regional languages spoken across the Africa portfolio is a significant advantage.
• Willingness and ability to travel to Country Offices across the region (minimum 26% for HQ-based; 34% for remote positions — may vary according to need).

ETHICAL STANDARDS

IsraAID has zero tolerance towards any acts of misconduct and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA). The recruitment process will include all candidates' declarations and reference checks focused on misconduct and SEA.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

IsraAID is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or disability status.