Africa Programme Director

About WeForest

WeForest is an international non-profit association headquartered in Belgium and with current projects in Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Tanzania, and Zambia. Their mission is to advance innovative, scalable and lasting solutions to restore forest and landscapes for the climate, the people and the planet: WeForest promotes scientific evidence for the ways in which forests contribute to climate change mitigation, beyond their impacts as stocks of carbon, by increasing water availability, enhancing local cooling and improve rural livelihood and resilience.

Their aim is to demonstrate, through the restoration of entire regions, that well-planned reforestation can be the solution to today’s biggest challenge: climate change. The organisation promote Forest and Landscape Restoration best practices and have created a movement, engaging international brands and their millions of customers to act. Current corporate partners include Wex, UCB, Diorapthe, Swift, Treesisters, Nike, Delifrance and Duvel.

The values of the organisation are Integrity, Transparency, Excellence, Collaboration, Passion, and Courage. Their vision: ‘We imagine a world where communities and nations sustainably manage their forests and natural resources for the benefit of our climate, our environment and humanity’.

The Role

The Africa Programme Director will coordinate and reinforce WeForest’s existing restoration activities in the region and focus on developing new project opportunities. We currently have a strong presence in Ethiopia (3 projects) and Zambia (2 projects), we are scaling-up in Tanzania, and we are starting a new project in Malawi.

Duties and Responsibilities

Strategy

• Co-Responsible for the Operational strategy (with the other Regional Director and the Ops P&Q Director).
• Initiates and develops new projects in the region (ensuring they are science-driven, innovative, scalable and eventually self-funded).

Project Management

• Accountable for the timely delivery of agreed project timelines.

Team Reinforcement

• Actively support the country directors on project management, priorities management, acting as back up when needed.
• Supports the HR manager with staff development (needs and delivery).

Finance

• Responsible for programme budgets validation and follow-up.

Risk Management

• Risk analysis for current and potential projects.

Reporting

• Manages and coordinates regional and country reporting.

Networking

• Building and consolidating a strong partnership network at a regional level.

Person Specification

• Proven senior management experience and results in the environmental sector, with at least 5 years in a leadership role.
• Leadership: ability to support, inspire and coach/train country directors and project managers.
• Ability to drive planning, reporting processes and teamwork.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, open to coaching and collaborative teamwork.
• Proven ability to work with a wide variety of people and partners and to meet deadlines.
• Proficient financial and analytical skills.