Job Description

Guided by the remarkable legacy of its co-founder, Helen Keller, Helen Keller Intl partners with communities striving to overcome longstanding cycles of poverty. By delivering the essential building blocks of good health, sound nutrition and clear vision, we help millions of people create lasting change in their own lives. Working in more than 20 countries – across Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States – and together with a global community of supporters, we are ensuring every person has the opportunity – as Helen did – to reach their true potential.

We are currently seeking a Country Director (CD) in Nepal to represent Helen Keller, develop new programs, expand our funding and lead the country office and its programs in a manner that reflects our mission and values and ensures technical excellence in the delivery of all activities.

Country Program Overview
The Nepal country program has a health and nutrition focus and multiple research projects. The program integrates gender-sensitive and transformative approaches in all its projects, aiming to rebalance relationships and decision-making power. We aim to make health services more responsive to their clients, particularly women, young children, and adolescents. To improve long-term resilience and sustainability, we focus on strengthening local capacity and preventive care strategies.

Functional Relationships
The CD reports directly to the Regional Director, Asia, and leads the Country Management Team (CMT). The position directly supervises a team of professional level staff, works closely with colleagues at all levels of Helen Keller’s global management structure and may be called upon to participate in global working groups or steering committees. The CD also works alongside a Chief of Party (COP) who leads a separate large award with its own management structure and collaborates closely with the COP to identify opportunities for shared services and to ensure coherence with policies and external representation. Helen Keller has a matrixed reporting structure. Regular communication and a spirit of teamwork among colleagues, both hierarchically and laterally are essential to make this structure thrive.

Helen Keller’s programs require close relations with governments, partner universities and NGOs, private industry, donors, and UN agencies. The CD will represent Helen Keller at relevant external meetings.

Scope of the Position
The CD provides leadership and develops action plans that further the mission of Helen Keller and meet the evolving conditions in Nepal. S/he has overall responsibility for ensuring technical and operational excellence in the delivery of all activities in the country program portfolio to achieve the objectives established in grants and strategic plans and representing Helen Keller to disseminate findings and secure and expand funding for project activities in Nepal. This position is based in Kathmandu with regular travel to project sites required.

Specific Responsibilities

Overall Management and Leadership

• Provide leadership and direction for overall program design and implementation, and proposal development.
• Build a highly effective CMT, recruiting, supervising, mentoring, and evaluating staff, and engaging in frequent performance conversations with team members.
• Work closely with the CMT to manage the office and accomplish country office goals in alignment with the organizational mission.
• Model collaboration for your matrixed team: effectively consult and inform colleagues to maximize efficiency and knowledge sharing and integrate guidance and direction from subject matter experts in your office and elsewhere in the global organization to maximize performance.
• Delegate authority, consult with, and guide staff to achieve goals and contribute to an atmosphere conducive to professional growth and development.
• Ensure accountability to clients, partners, colleagues, and donors by providing ongoing feedback in a context of mutual respect.
• Ensure Country Office is following Helen Keller policies and procedures, staff completed mandatory training, including annual refreshers.
• Represent Helen Keller in formal and informal meetings with government officials, international donor agencies, and national technical advisory groups pertinent to our project activities.
• Collaborate with Business Development Unit to identify opportunities and generate funding from international and bilateral agencies and donor agencies.
• Develop and nurture in-country donor relationships and identify potential partners to participate in joint proposals.
• Lead and prepare concept papers and proposals and provide other information as needed for submission to donors and others for fundraising and marketing purposes.
• As a senior leader in the organization, participate in global working groups, the recruitment process of global colleagues and other activities, as requested.

Programmatic

• Oversee and coordinate the program portfolio to ensure the highest level of project quality and accountability, while fostering continuity through building local capacity.
• Provide technical input to the government, international donors, and technical advisory groups pertinent to project activities.
• Ensure implementation of strong program monitoring, evaluation, and learning functions.
• Oversee research design, methodology, and dissemination of information needed to monitor and evaluate project activities and/or advance programmatic and policy changes.
• Disseminate findings from Helen Keller projects that are of importance to decision- makers in a position to fund or implement projects in Nepal and internationally.
• Keep the national partners and others informed about the progress of the projects, plans for the development of new programs/projects/activities and donor involvement in the overall program.

Financial and Administrative

• Provide oversight to finance and administrative services including procurement, property management, human resources management, vehicle and facilities management, and staff safety and security.
• Work with global colleagues to manage the development and implementation of annual country budgets.
• Authorize expenditures for grant or contract allocations and ensure compliance with procedures required by grant or contract agreements.
• Ensure the accurate and timely submission of financial and narrative reports that comply with grant or contract agreements and ensure compliance with all aspects of donor funding and Helen Keller policies

Qualifications

• Minimum ten years of field experience in managing global health or nutrition programs, including demonstrated experience in program development, implementation, and evaluation, plus a minimum master’s degree in public health, nutrition, international development or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated experience and skills in leadership, staff management, program development and management, strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation and public speaking.
• Technical knowledge in at least one area related to Helen Keller’s mission and programs.
• Demonstrated capacity to mobilize program funding including donor cultivation and grants writing. Excellent donor and partner cultivation skills.
• Experience in designing and implementing workshops, seminars, surveys, monitoring systems, and evaluations plus research design, data analysis, and interpretation.
• Proven experience ensuring the sustainability of program activities is essential.
• Familiarity with and experience promoting health systems strengthening in developing contexts is strongly desired.
• Demonstrated ability to undertake high-level representation and advocacy.
• Experience working in Nepal and/or elsewhere in Asia, with Ministries, international and local NGOs, and donors based locally, is a substantial asset.
• Knowledge and experience managing compliance to diverse donors (USAID, DFID, GAC, etc.).
• Demonstrated ability to supervise key administrative, procurement, logistics and financial functions, including developing and creating budgets and monitoring financial status.
• Experience with staff security and safety issues is desirable.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including an ability to effectively lead a team, communicate a vision, make timely and transparent decisions, and manage conflict.
• Collaborative, flexible and solution-oriented. An ability to maintain balance when under stress.
• Very good oral and written English language skills, including the ability to quickly synthesize complex technical and programmatic issues into concise communications.
• Well established and practiced organizational and planning skills.
• Computer literate in use of word-processing, spreadsheet and statistical software; experience in data analysis and interpretation is highly desirable.
• Demonstrable respect for all persons regardless of religion, ethnicity, class or gender, with a high comfort level working in a diverse environment with a demonstrated commitment to high professional ethical standards.
• Ability and willingness to: o flex work hours to accommodate multiple time zones, as needed. o travel at least 15-20% within Nepal and, periodically, internationally.
• Personal commitment to Helen Keller’s mission and goals and the values embodied by Helen Keller Intl’s co-founder, Helen Keller: compassion, grit, and optimism. Helen Keller will apply its international hire salary scale to an employment package with local Nepalese terms and conditions.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, caste, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. Should you need to request an accommodation during the recruitment process, please contact us at the email above.