POSITION: Country Manager, Senegal

REPORTING TO: Program & Impact Director

LOCATION: Dakar

COMMITMENT: Full time

TYPE OF CONTRACT: Permanent, 6 months probationary period.

APPLICATION PROCESS: Interested candidates should apply directly to our career site here.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: August 5th, but applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis so apply now.

INTERVIEWS: Expected to take place Mid August or earlier.

STARTING DATE: Oct/November 2022 or upon agreement.

Are you passionate about creating a better world for children and youth and want to lead our strategy in line with our ambitious 2030 vision? Are you a confident and visionary leader who can build partnerships, fundraise, build and manage resources to execute the strategy and operations as well as secure local partners and build a network? Then this role might be for you.

Who we are:

We believe that one person can change the world. One person with true passion, an entrepreneurial spirit and an innovative idea. But we also know that this person needs support - someone who believes in the idea and enables the first steps into building a social business. This is where we at Reach for Change come into the picture. We enroll exceptional local and early stage social entrepreneurs into our support programs, people who truly have a passion and innovative idea for creating a better world for children and youth. And we help them to go from an idea to a sustainable social business. We have done this for 12 years, and during this time supported over 1200 social entrepreneurs, in 18 countries across Europe and Africa, who in turn have reached 4.3 million children and youth. Read more here

About the role:

As Country Manager for Senegal you will play a crucial part of the social entrepreneurship ecosystem development, organizational growth and be part of the extended leadership team with other Country Managers. You will report directly to our Program & Impact Director and be responsible, in line with the overall long-term strategy for the organization, for strengthening our work, visibility and impact including increasing our relevance in Senegal and other Sub-Saharan African countries. This will include leading and developing the strategy and managing the operations in Senegal, cultivating and managing new partnerships for funding and implementation, and together with the rest of the Global Management Team be an active contributor to our overall strategy, one RfC and our 2030 vision. The role can be considered similar to an Executive Director at a local level and it is therefore required to act as a governance guardian and comply with local and global policies.


Primary responsibilities include:

1. Strategy, Program & Ecosystem Development

a) Developing and implementing a locally relevant country strategy in line with the strategic plans and regional priorities to achieve the maximum social impact for social entrepreneurs, children and youth.

b). Cultivate, develop and grow partnerships and widen our funding base (with existing and new partners) by developing and executing win-win collaborations together with our central partnership and fundraising team.

c) Continuing to build the sense of ‘One Reach for Change’ by promoting a collaborative culture and efficient sharing of resources across teams, primarily with central functions, but also with the rest of the organization where cross-collaborations have been agreed.

d) Accelerating our impact on specific pressing and emerging issues in Senegal in line with our long-term strategy for the organization.

e) Increasing Reach for Change’s visibility in Senegal by proactively identifying and leveraging communication opportunities with a focus on building thought leadership around relevant issues.

2. People & Project Management

a) Leading the day to day work and long-term planning to achieve the country’s strategy and objectives, and creating a positive atmosphere by inspiring others toward a common vision and fostering trust and ethical behavior. This will include team management, facilitation and recruitment.

B) Project management of core projects and overall oversight of all programs & projects led by in-country Program and Project Managers including overseeing and supporting in planning of deliverables from direct reports, and at times, working on direct project management and execution.

c) Bring inspiration, energy and excitement to the team and encourage everyone to reach their full potential, while working in a very flexible team where we help each other out.

d) Managing the budget and ensuring all financial and auditing processes are complied with and that the operations are run efficiently and effectively.

e) Leading the Reach for Change operations and programs in Senegal with the goal of unleashing the power of social entrepreneurship and innovation to create a better world for children and youth, in keeping with the long-term strategy of the organization.


3. Reporting, Communication and other responsibilities

a) Managing the monitoring and reporting of the progress of the local operations and program, and contributing to our processes to build, measure, learn for continuously improving our impact.

b) Strengthening Reach for Change’s networks in Senegal, with a focus on potential partners, the social entrepreneurship and child rights sector and key opinion leaders.

c) Reporting to the Program & Impact Director and our CEO based in Sweden and providing recommendations for review of the Global Management Team and Board.

Who are you?

You have a genuine interest and passion for social innovation and can lead and empower while nurturing local partnerships by pragmatically implementing key funders & partners and shaping new local programs. You have experience from similar leadership positions and hold knowledge about national social challenges for children and youth, as well as the social enterprise ecosystems, and the donor landscape. You have a positive attitude and can develop, coordinate and manage the delivery of national programs and projects. You have developed competencies from similar roles where you have handled overall budgets for programme and project activities including internal resources, procurements etc.

Required qualifications, competencies and experience:

Leadership and team management

• Minimum 5+ years of progressively responsible leadership or management positions, with a distinguished record of relevant accomplishments in the non-profit sector and/or business sector

• Evidence of being an entrepreneurial and strategic leader who is passionate about social change, with strong leadership skills

• A collaborative “can do” attitude and a desire for continuous improvement

• Effective team & people management skills

• A professional and resourceful style; the ability to work independently and as a team player, to take initiative, and to manage multiple, sometimes conflicting priorities

• High energy and passion for Reach for Change’s mission is essential

• Demonstrated ability to work sensitively with diverse people, cultures and communities

• Sensitive to cross cutting issues and approaches such as gender, child protection, accountability, resilience, inclusion and behavior change.

Strategic and Pragmatic planning & implementing

• Ability to see both the micro and macro perspective in terms of executing the global strategy into the local strategy

• Strong organizational, time and project management skills with attention to detail and deadlines

• Experience with allocating resources in an effective manner

• Ability to prioritize during conflicting periods of tight deadlines and follow through to deliver on time both in one’s own work and in teams.

• Ability to oversee and effectively manage financial resources and ensure financial sustainability.

Partnership, fundraising and networking

• Minimum 3 years of experience in fundraising or business development positions with demonstrated experience successfully fundraising for a non-profit from foundations and institutions. Experience from corporates, high-net-worth individuals and the general public is a plus.

• Ability to assess potential funders and partners and leadscan with critical thinking

• Ability to work cooperatively to build networks and satisfy needs of internal and external stakeholders

• Tangible experience of having expanded and cultivated existing funding relationships.

• Proven track record of success in representing an organization with partners; government agencies, private sector organizations, media and donors nationally and globally

• Ability to construct, articulate and implement an annual strategic fundraising plan

Sector & social enterprise ecosystems knowledge

• Knowledge of or experience working with social innovations, entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship development

• Knowledge on current thinking and practices in the field of social entrepreneurship and the social sector in Senegal is a strong plus

• Knowledge and experience of local ecosystem structure as well as legal and political environment.

• Ability to analyze local problems and pressing issues and able to contextualize our solution to them

Language and technical skills

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to influence and engage a wide range of funders and influencers and build long-term relationships - the holder of this post must develop and nurture relationships across a wide spectrum of stakeholders (Government, Donors, INGOs and local NGOs, academic bodies, private sector entities and relevant local civil society etc.)

• Well spoken and written fluency in English as the CM will be responsible for the preparation, writing and submission of high-quality proposals and reports, as well as extensive communication with donors, the central RfC functions, and partners in English.

• Good IT skills and familiarity with Google Suite, MS Office and remote, cross functional online working.

• Ability to understand and use web based applications and platforms

What do we offer you?

• Working with a purpose on high-leverage issues within three areas aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: a) Child and Youth Poverty b) Inequality and c) Climate Change.

• Being part of a team that has a family spirit and are truly passionate to support local social entrepreneurs in order to create a better world for children and youth.

• Working in an exciting and entrepreneurial global environment and learning from colleagues from all over the world.

• Opportunity to develop your own role and mission within the organization.

Reach for Change recognizes that creating the change we want to see around us starts with ourselves, in our own organization. That is why it is important for us to strive to represent the change we want to see in the world. As a team, we strive to be diverse along many dimensions such as ethnicity, gender, language, age, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, beliefs, socio-economic status, physical and mental ability, thinking styles, experience, and education. We believe that the wide array of perspectives results from such diversity and promotes innovation and success. We therefore invite every candidate to bring their unique individual strengths