Tanzania Program Director, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania at Landesa 46 views1 applications

Job Summary

The Program Director will be responsible for leading and managing Landesa’s engagement in Tanzania, and will guide Landesa’s engagements in East Africa in collaboration with Landesa’s Africa Region Director. The Program Director will work closely with Landesa’s staff and its leadership team to ensure the effective achievement of Landesa’s program objectives and overall mission in Tanzania and East Africa. The Director will participate actively in advocacy and communications, fund-raising, program management and operations as well as serving on project teams, as appropriate, to carry out tasks such as research, writing, field work, and technical assistance for the design, drafting and implementation of land-related laws and policy. S/he is expected to demonstrate leadership on gender equality and support the integration of gender and women’s land rights across East Africa projects, and initiatives, as well as ensure and share learnings around gender-responsive approaches across program functions (design, implementation, and evaluation). The Program Director will be responsible, with support from international headquarters and local staff or consultants, for initiating, fostering, and enhancing key partnership relationships with government partners, regional and Pan-African organizations, local and international civil society organizations, private partners, and the regional and global donor and development community.

Reporting and relationships

The Tanzania Program Director will report to the Africa Region Director and will work closely with other directors to maximize thematic cross-cutting input and integration, such as around gender responsive land rights and research, monitoring and evaluation, and advocacy, and as required by particular task assignments.

Availability

The Program Director will be expected to work a standard workweek of 40 hours plus additional hours as necessary to get the job done. The position requires significant regional and international travel as appropriate (up to 100 days per year).

Essential Job Functions

The primary role of the Program Director is to lead Landesa in the development of a Tanzania program. Additionally, the Program Director will help Landesa’s Africa Region Director explore, execute and oversee specific projects in other East African Countries as appropriate and feasible. As such, the Program Director will execute the following areas of responsibility

• Work closely with Landesa’s US-based leadership, recruit and retain an effective, cohesive, collegial, and collaborative Tanzania Program Team.
• Lead the development of a Tanzania program strategy through the identification of and engagement with stakeholders and of capacity, needs and gaps in land sector policy reform that is inclusive of all genders and marginalized groups; building from stakeholder mapping and engagements under Landesa’s current and prior projects.
• Contribute to an understanding of Landesa’s capacity to implement the Africa Program Strategy in East Africa beginning with Tanzania, and recommend capacity building strategies to that end.
• Coordinate and play a direct role in providing technical assistance to the Government of Tanzania and other stakeholders in Tanzania to develop and implement laws, policies, programs and practices that strengthen and protect land rights for women and men living in rural areas. Similarly, engage in technical assistance in other countries in East Africa as relevant.
• Provide leadership and oversight of all Landesa projects in Tanzania, supporting the Project Lead and informing, as appropriate, the Africa Region Director. Participate actively as a team member in project initiation and execution in Tanzania and in East Africa, as might be appropriate and necessary.
• Support Landesa’s resource development strategy for the Tanzania Program and for Landesa engagement in other East African countries, including actively identifying potential donors, fostering donor relationships, and creating briefs, proposals and other written and visual materials; collaborating with Landesa’s Program Partnerships Team and Africa Region Director.
• Oversee operations of Landesa’s Tanzania office, including management of office start-up activities and administration, budgets and personnel; in close collaboration with Landesa’s global Operations Department.
• Provide thought leadership and program strategy direction with respect to strengthening gender-responsive approaches and women’s land rights and to gender integration across Landesa activities in Tanzania and throughout East Africa, and the region.
• Support Landesa’s Corporate Engagement team in identifying opportunities to advocate and collaborate with relevant civil society and public sector actors in relation to international standards of responsible land-based investments.
• Work collaboratively with Landesa’s Research, Monitoring and Evaluation team to ensure that Tanzania and East Africa projects are supported by evidence, have sound monitoring approaches to monitoring progress and assessing or evaluating results.
• Collaborate with other organizations and networks through communications and advocacy to elevate land rights on the development agenda for Tanzania and East Africa, connecting land rights to other global issues and movements.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Substantive Skills: Excellent organization, delegation, performance management, administration, analytical, influencing, negotiation, and time management skills. Proven ability to cultivate and develop strong government and donor relationships. Excellent and advanced critical conceptual and decision-making skills. Strong leadership and team building skills and ability to manage budget processes. Dedication and persistence working in a mission-driven environment as a constructive, solutions-oriented problem solver. Technical expertise related to land governance and familiarity with data-based research, gender-responsive approaches and programming, legal and policy analysis, and advocacy for social change strongly preferred.
• Substantive Knowledge: Knowledge of key national, regional and Pan-African land rights, agricultural, rural development, gender and social justice commitments, policies and initiatives including significant knowledge of the legal, economic, sociological, political and institutional conditions in Tanzania and other East African countries to an extent sufficient to permit the Program Director to both directly initiate, lead, participate in and manage Landesa projects. Familiarity with regional and global trends, challenges and opportunities related to strengthening land rights for all genders in Africa. Strong leadership qualities with the ability to set and communicate vision and strategy. Commitment to Landesa’s mission, core values and motivation as expressed in the ability to incorporate the mission and values in the work area.
• Collaboration Skills: Experience in leading/ participating in collaborative efforts for policy and legal change. Strong interest in exploring and pursuing collaborative approaches in designing and implementing Landesa’s Africa Program Strategy in East Africa. [1]
• Management Skills: Experience in managing senior level relationships — both internal and external – in regional or international context. Demonstrated commitment to working collaboratively with a range of people and genders at all levels, with humility, respect, and a focus on the results.
• Administrative Skills: Ability to manage documents, expense reporting and accounting, labor reporting and accounting, correspondence, and other administrative items so they are handled efficiently, routinely, and in conformance to Landesa standards and procedures.
• Interpersonal Skills: Exceptional oral and written communication skills with the ability to communicate clearly and persuasively, interpret documents, understand procedures, write reports and correspondence, and speak clearly to third parties and team members. Ability to work collaboratively with a range of people and genders at all levels, including those from host country governmental and non-governmental organizations, and other counterparts, clients, donors, and grantors. Ability to demonstrate cross-cultural sensitivity, tact, and poise.
• Teamwork Skills: Ability to lead and work as a member of teams, including consensus building, communications, and leadership skills.
• Communications Skills: Exceptional ability to communicate in writing and orally in English and to communicate cross-culturally. Needed communications skills include an ability to make and use distinctions as to types, frequency, tenor, and levels of communications, depending upon the circumstances, audience, recipient, and content.
• Launguages: Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Preferred: Fluency in written and oral Kiswahili. Desirable: Fluency in spoken and written French or Portuguese.
• Technical Skills: Ability to proficiently use Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

Education and Experience

• Advanced degree in Law, Rural Development, International Relations, Economics (including Agricultural, Natural Resource or Institutional Economics), Sociology, or closely related field, with strong foundation in land issues, gender, rural development, and public policy. Work experience may not be substituted for the degree requirement.
• A minimum of 10 years overall relevant work experience including a minimum of 5 years in a management position responsible for overall operations of an organization or major program, revenue generation and/or fundraising, and working with private/public partnerships.
• Land rights, gender, rural development, and climate change experience strongly desired.

[1] Landesa’s Africa Program Strategy is built around a philosophy of collaboration with and support for African-based initiatives and institutions. Experience with and support for collaborative approaches will be essential for the Program Director.