International Director Latin America and the Caribbean (f/m)

SOS Children’s Villages International is the umbrella organisation for the global federation of SOS Children’s Villages. As a non-governmental social development organisation we support children without parental care and families in difficult living conditions through services in care, education, health and emergency relief, and we advocate for the rights of children and young people, in alliance with a great diversity of partners. We work in 135 countries and territories, reaching over one million children, young people, families and caregivers each year.                                                

Location: Regional Office San José, Costa Rica

Mission of the position:

The mission  of the International Director is the accountable leadership and management of the region, supported by the Regional Directors of Function (Finance, Programme, Fund Development & Communications, Information & Communication Technology and Human Resources & Organisation Development) and a number of general managers (i.e. SOS Children´s Villages International Representatives), who are located closely to the respective Member Associations (MAs) they are assigned to.

This is accomplished by

• enabling and driving the rollout of the global strategy in the region,
• strengthening and maintaining the affiliation of the MAs to the federation,
• strong leadership of the regional management team according to the SOS principles and values, and

contributing to the Global Management Team by bringing in the regional perspective and taking a share of the global leadership responsibility.

Main Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Lead the International Office Region, according to the principles of management by objectives, benchmark best practices both inside and outside the organisation
• Guide the MAs in the region in their development to become self-sufficient (in their operations, where possible and reasonable also increase financial self-sufficiency) strong members of the federation
• Build up legal entities and establish governance structure in countries where these do not exist yet
• Ensure that the right people are employed for the right positions so that co-workers, SOS entities, and external partners are always treated with the desired professionalism and according to the principles of the organisational culture
• Set the direction for the region and all its employees toward the right mix of supporting and guiding MAs to realise the global strategy as well as implement policies and guidelines
• Actively support the SOS Children´s Villages International Representatives (CVI Representative) and the regional Directors of Function in their management roles and responsibilities
• Ensure that the International Office Region, interacts and shares knowledge with the international Competence Centres by contributing its own experiences and learnings from cross-regional and external experiences to guarantee the optimal development of the region as well as global knowledge sharing and the development of standards, policies, and tools
• Take primary responsibility to ensure implementation and adherence to core policy standards in line with the organisational values and ethics as guided by organisational quality standards including but not limited to the Code of Conduct Child Safeguarding and Integrity and Compliance.
• Manage and develop the International Office Region in accordance with agreed plans and objectives, ensure the performance and delivery of objectives according to agreed plans
  • Implementation of global standards for HROD, including recruitment processes, performance management in alignment with target setting and development plans
  • Efficient and effective setup of the structure in the International Office Region, and meaningful task setting at the right level, guaranteeing flawless information flow and avoiding double work

Global Role

• Be a strong and supportive member of the global team of International Directors, Region, and thereby strengthen the global team as well as cross-regional work
• Take up roles in development projects generally led by international Competence Centres, related to the work of the regions

Governance Development in the Associations of the Region

• Set the direction for the SOS Children’s Villages Representative (CVI Rep) in building strong National Associations (NAs) through board and national management team development
• Take strategic and operational finance leadership in cooperation with the Regional Director of Finance
• Insist on evidence-based improvements in MAs' capacity building and on delivery of requested information on time and of the requested quality (both for info related to International Office, Region and MAs)

Planning and Budgeting

• Lead budgeting process in the region according to global guidelines
• Integrate international function targets into the regional targets and budget

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Review the progress made in the regions in the course of the annual review cycle
• Monitor the rollout of standards and policies according to the plan
• Support crisis interventions

Requirements:

• A minimum of 10 years of progressive relevant national and international experience in a development and/or humanitarian context combined with a good understanding of political priorities and strategic direction
• At least 5 years in an Executive Management role with significant leadership responsibility (including experience in planning and managing budgets)
• Relevant experience gained within a child focused and/or program based organization would be a definite asset in an international organization
• Advanced degree in International Development, International Humanitarian Affairs, Social Science, International Relations or related field (an undergraduate degree combined with comparable senior experience would equally be considered)
• Proven background and practical experience in leading, driving and implementing organizational change (including project management)
• Strong leadership and people management skills by creating an atmosphere of mutual trust allowing to guide and motivate managers and staff under her/his supervision. Lead by example by setting high ethical standards in line with our
  SOS Children’s Values.
• Excellent analytical skills to have the capacity to identify key points, develop and generate strategic goals and translate them into practical proposals for action; drive and encourage innovation
• Excellent cross-cultural skills to support and empower the leadership at international and regional level and to foster institutional capacity building and sustainability
• Outstanding interpersonal and advocacy skills with the ability to involve and engage stakeholders at all levels within the Federation to adapt to the changing needs
• Excellent written and oral Spanish and English language skills; knowledge of additional language would be an asset

If you are interested in this position, please click on APPLY, visit our website and send us your application by  17 September 2017.