Regional Manager, East Africa

About Palladium:

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 3,200 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities. 

This Opportunity:

Palladium is hiring a Regional Manager, East Africa to join a team working on a global sustainable land-use programme funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) that is due to launch in early 2025.

The Regional Manager will be a key member of the programme team, managing the implementation of the East Africa Region portfolio, strategy, team, workplan and budget, and is responsible for ensuring that programme objectives, outcomes and deliverables are met. Together with the East Africa Regional Director, the Regional Manager will act as the programme’s representative in the East Africa region and will engage closely with partners, FCDO, country governments in priority countries, private sector and public sector organizations, and NGOs. 

Location:

The position is based in Palladium’s Nairobi office.

Reporting Lines:

The role will report to the Regional Director, East Africa who is based in Nairobi.
The role is offered full-time from programme inception through to close-out.
The Regional Manager is responsible for the development management of the regional team, comprising of various workstreams. They will need to work closely with the wider regional team and the central team to deliver the programme.

Primary Roles and Responsibilities: 

The Regional Manager, East Africa will: 

Lead on the scoping, identification and development of forest partnership businesses that align with the programme strategy and results framework. 
Oversee delivery of grants and technical assistance to project partners, including leading on diagnostics and implementation of recommendations
Manage the implementation of the programme’s regional strategy, workplan and budget to achieve the regional targets, in collaboration with other programme staff.  
Demonstrate relevant expertise in developing and communicating a clear strategic vision and overseeing its effective implementation. 
Support the Regional Director in building relationships across a wide range of stakeholders including civil society organisation, public and private sector. 
Act as the programme’s primary representative in the region, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania Uganda and Madagascar.  
Participate in relevant regional events and conferences, raising the profile of the programme in the region. 
Lead the regional design and development of other key initiatives, including supply-side, demand-side, enabling conditions and those with a focus on smallholder empowerment and GESI.  
Work with partners and regional / country teams to identify and facilitate key opportunities relevant to the programme, including potential private public partnerships. 
Provide technical guidance and quality assurance for selected project activities, outputs and deliverables. 
Provide regular feedback to the Team Leader, Project Director and other PMU-based teams 
Provide monthly and regular pipeline and strategy updates to the FCDO-SRO. 
Oversee the preparation and quality of project concepts/proposals for approval by Internal Approval Committees and the Client. 
Manage a regional team comprised of various workstreams, supporting to ensure effective collaboration and delivery of timely work and high-quality outputs. 
Ensure team motivation and wellbeing is prioritised, adhering to good staff management practices including staff planning, recruitment, on-boarding, appraisal, and development. 
Frequent regional and domestic travel may be required, often at short notice and to insecure locations.  
Any other tasks requested by the Regional Director, East Africa or the central programme team.

Essential Criteria:

Entrepreneurial, self-starter who enjoys working in a fast-paced, results-driven business environment.
Extensive relevant experience in international forestry, commercial agriculture or commodity trade policy, processes and investments, at a senior management level.  
Senior level experience in managing multi-disciplinary teams and leading on delivery of high-quality results against tight deadlines.  
Track record of leading a team, delivering results and contributing to positive impact (i.e., economic, social and environmental) with a passion for achieving business and development outcomes.
Proven track record in leading programmes or managing large, complex projects involving high-level local and regional stakeholder engagements and PPPs.  
Prior experience of working with international development agencies, for example FCDO. 
Demonstrated experience in outreach and partnership building across a range of stakeholders, particularly with private sector in East African countries.  
Relevant experience in sustainability, markets and supply chains for agricultural or forest commodities such as, coffee, cocoa, timber products, non-timber forest products (NTFPs) etc. 
Cross-cultural sensitivity, with the ability to build and maintain constructive and collaborative relationships with a diverse group of stakeholders across different socio-cultural contexts; 
Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal skills with experience working in an open and collaborative manner across a diverse multi-disciplinary team. 
Track record of managing a high performing team
A high degree of personal resilience, flexibility and ability to adapt to changing circumstances. 
Strong personal qualities, including integrity, equality, openness, inclusiveness and collegiality  
Fluency in written and spoken English is essential. 
Must have the right to live and work in Kenya without sponsorship/visa support.

Desirable Criteria:

Demonstrated experience working on programmes or initiatives that build livelihood resilience/ focus on enhancing support and empowerment of smallholders and local communities within the forestry sector.   Knowledge and understanding of key barriers to participation and equity for marginalised groups in the sector and/or region, including, women and girls, IPLCs and/or people with disabilities. Knowledge of local languages will be considered as an advantage. 

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status. 

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made during the recruitment process (due to disability, neurodiversity, or for any other circumstance), please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding - We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse.  All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.