Regional Director

Job Description

Regional Director – Asia

Flexible Location

Job Announcement

Search for Common Ground is the world’s largest dedicated peacebuilding organization with offices in over 30 countries, 600+ staff, and hundreds more volunteers working to transform how societies deal with conflict – away from adversarial approaches toward collaborative problem-solving. For more than 35 years, we have been working to prevent and end violent conflict before, during, and after crises. Our work fosters the transition of communities and countries toward peace and stability, so all other aspects of human development can thrive. We envision a world in which conflict serves as a source for cooperation and creative problem-solving rather than a source for polarization and violence. We tackle myriad issues that drive violent conflict, including Refugee and Internal Displacement Issues, Sexual and Gender-based Violence, and Violent Extremism. We also work with key stakeholders on the ground to influence factors that reduce tension such as Interfaith Cooperation, Fair and Responsible Media, and Governance, Democracy and Elections.

Search Asia

In Asia, SFCG has five vibrant country programs in Indonesia, Myanmar Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Kyrgyzstan with additional programming across Central Asia. The RD also supervises programming in Macedonia and Colombia (as they are not assigned to other regional teams). We have a diverse portfolio of initiatives including work on security sector engagement, youth leadership for peacebuilding, CVE, reconciliation and governance. We are currently scaling up our presence in Myanmar, which will be the largest program in the region.

Position Summary

The Asia Regional Director offers leadership and oversight to the Country Directors and regional team. This includes four fundamental areas: program strategy and quality; program development and fundraising; grants management and operational/finance management. S/he supports country programs in developing annual plans at the country and regional levels which drive program and business development in line with SFCG’s organizational mission. S/he oversees compliance with internal policies and rolls out new policies across the field. S/he oversees key recruitment and performance reviews, approves proposals and budgets to donors and signs off on strategic external communication. S/he shares best practices around program quality, innovation and capturing of results, drawing from SFCG programs and others in the peacebuilding field. S/he supports the development of a team spirit in each country and throughout the region, respecting the diversity of the team and ensuring that our organizational values are upheld. As a member of the Regional Directors’ Team, S/he serves in a global leadership position, providing insights from the field to HQ-based and executive level staff and providing input into key organizational initiatives and policy changes.

Team & Reporting Lines

The Regional Director supervises six Country Directors as well the Asia Regional Support Team with direct line supervision of the Regional Program Manager. S/he collaborates closely with other regional team members including the Regional Controller, the Regional Program Finance Manager, and the Asia M&E Specialist. The Regional Director reports to the Vice President, Programs, based in Washington DC.

Location & Target

SFCG is flexible concerning the location of the Regional Director. Preference will be given to candidates who will live in Asia, and can be based in one of SFCG’s Country Program offices. However, applications from candidates who prefer to live elsewhere in HQ or an area within the same time zones and in relative geographic proximity will be considered. This position requires extensive travel around the region, estimated at up to 40 per cent.

Key Responsibilities

• Supervising Asia region Country Directors, with attention to attaining excellence in program quality, fundraising and financial and operational management;
• Providing leadership to the Asia regional team (Program and development team, finance and DME) towards these goals
• Ensuring excellent performance in grants management and compliance, through establishing clear benchmarks, lines of accountability, and ongoing performance improvement initiatives.
• Contributing actively to the global organization strategy, priorities and policies through the Global Leadership team;
• Engaging with all SFCG global departments in Washington DC and Brussels towards achieving organizational goals;
• Serving as SFCG’s representative for the Asia region;
• Liaising with key donors;
• Working with country teams to set annual strategic plan priorities in each country, and for the region or sub-regions;
• Supporting Country Directors and the Asia Regional Support Team in raising the funds to implement programs in line with these strategies;
• In partnership with global programming teams and country teams, lead the development of strategies for country programs
• Responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with relevant international organizations, partner organizations, donors, clients, key government officials, etc
• Inspiring ongoing improvement in program quality, innovation, monitoring & evaluation and in the programmatic work across the region;
• Overseeing key recruitment and performance reviews;
• Overseeing strategic external communication for the region. As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities.

Ideal Experience

• Master’s degree in conflict resolution, international relations, international development or a related field;
• Minimum of 6 years of program management experience at a senior level, preferably in peace building or a related field;
• Significant field experience in managing multiple projects, multi-tasking, clear delegation and follow-through;
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with a diverse team, with attention to professional development of staff;
• Successful track record of fundraising and excellent skills in the cycle of design and proposal development;
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal);
• Excellent financial literacy and management skills, including a familiarity with the basic funding guidelines of major donors;
• Ability to respond collaboratively in situations of uncertainty, ambiguity /or conflict;
• Experience in Asia with at least 3 years of working in Asia and in a cross-cultural environment;
• Experience working collaboratively with a broad range of stakeholders, local government officials, and international donors;
• Willingness to travel up to 50 percent of time;
• Fluency in English (written and verbal)

Salary: Salary is commensurate with education and experience, with excellent benefits.
This position will close on May 18, 2018.
To apply, interested candidates should send a current resume and cover letter to our employment website here. We are looking to fill this position with the right candidate. Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls please. Please see our website www.sfcg.org for full details of our work.

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