Job Description

Job Title: Country Programme Director

Reporting to: Regional Director for Central Africa and Greats Lakes

Contract Type: Full time (Hours)

Principal Location: Bangui, Central Africa Republic (with frequent travels in other prefectures)

Annual Salary: USD 46,000 - 50,000

Deadline for application: 22nd March 2026 (Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, early applications are advised).

Desired start date: ASAP

About Street Child

Street Child believes that every child deserves the chance to go to school and learn. Our projects focus on a combination of education, child protection and livelihood support to address the social, economic, and structural issues that underpin today’s education crisis. We partner with Governments, UN agencies, local organisations and communities to deliver our locally rooted programmes, using evidence to drive learning and the refinement and scale up of programmes to create maximum impact for the most children at the lowest cost. We pride ourselves on delivering results in the world’s toughest places- including remote, hard-to-reach areas and fragile, disaster-affected states across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Since 2008 we have helped over 1.6 million children to go to school and learn.

Part 1: Role Purpose:

The Country Programme Director will lead Street Child’s efforts in CAR to achieve our mission of ensuring all children are safe, in school, and learning, and be Street Child’s most senior representative in CAR. The primary purpose of this appointment is to lead strong and adaptive set up and delivery of the ‘TaRL+’ foundational learning programme. This role represents an exceptional opportunity to establish and lead an outcome-oriented primary education programme side by side with the CAR government, with strong potential for future scale subject to its success.

This leadership role involves driving results-oriented education programme delivery, building a cohesive, high-performing team, and cultivating strategic partnerships through strong transformative and collaborative cocreation with the CAR government. With immediate effect upon appointment, the role will strategically and technically represent Street Child to the Ministry of Education, UNICEF Education and partners, ensuring Street Child’s programme aligns with and influences national education priorities. The ‘TaRL+’ programme will deploy the proven ‘Teaching at the Right Level’ remedial learning approach and the Street Child Innovative Early Age and Grade Learning Enhancer (EAGLE) to rapidly improve literacy and numeracy outcomes for students across 100 schools across 5 prefectures of CAR.

Reporting to the Central Africa and Great Lakes Regional Director based in Kinshasa, DRC, the Country Programme Director will oversee all aspects of programming, operations, and resource mobilisation, ensuring alignment with Street Child’s global objectives.

Part 2: Key Responsibilities:

1) Programme management

• Lead the TaRL+ programme overall to ensure strong coordination and accountability, with hands-on management and regular field visits through the inception, delivery and close-out of the 12-month programme;
• Drive programme outcomes through evidence-based, adaptative design and delivery of programme activities, pro-actively engaging with Street Child regional and technical teams to:-

1. Ensure that the programme design and tools and approaches are technically sound and appropriately validate
2. Ensure that project performance is monitored regularly and compared to outcome targets, deliverables, budget and outcome payments with strong feedback loops;
3. Supporting team in identifying and addressing the blockages that prevent the effective and efficient implementation of their programmes

• Line manage and coach the CAR team (c 8 staff) to ensure quality and accountability in programme implementation;
• Ensure that the project complies with donor and government expectations and the programme contract terms, and that narrative and financial reporting is of the highest standard;
• Ensure that the financial management of Street Child’s programmes is accountable and transparent, and that all staff are fully aware and able to comply with the Finance Policies;

2) Finance, Operations and HR oversight

• Lead Street Child’s establishment in CAR, providing administrative oversight include office and operational set up, and the establishment of localised policies and procedures in compliance with CAR legal and regulatory frameworks;
• Support recruitment and undertake management of a well-structured SC CAR team, with high capacity, developing an outcomes-oriented, responsive and supportive working culture
• Lead by example, providing inspirational leadership and setting clear objectives, promoting open communication and collaboration among programme, finance, and operational teams;
• Ensure strong financial management, budget oversight, and compliance with donor and regulatory requirement
• Oversee operational functions, including procurement, logistics, security, and human resources
• Take overall responsibility for the safety, security, and risk management of all Street Child CAR staff, programs, and operations, ensuring a proactive approach to threat assessment, that Street Child safety and security protocols are in place and are being followed, with clear measures for risk mitigation and crisis management;
• Ensure adherence to safeguarding policies and practices to protect participants, particularly children, within all programmes.

3) Resource mobilisation and representation

• Represent Street Child in CAR including pro-active participation in relevant coordination mechanisms and working groups at national, regional and local level;
• Engage with government officials, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders to influence policy and systemic change in Education (and Child Protection).
• Lead the development of strategic partnerships with relevant actors including donors, INGOs and local/national government, fostering an entrepreneurial mindset within the team.;
• Identify and drive new potential needs / gaps / expansion opportunities in line with Street Child’s global strategy;
• Collaborate with HQ fundraising teams and local organizations to develop aligned, high-quality funding proposals.
• Proactive engagement with Street Child UK head office and programmes team on strategic, networking and fundraising activities.
• Act as Street Child’s primary advocate for children and spokesperson in Central Africa Republic.

Part 3: Person Specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to degree level or higher
• Masters degree in International Development or related field

Desirable

• Masters degree or higher in Education or related field

Experience and Knowledge

Essential

• Experience of managing development/ humanitarian programming in comparable contexts (minimum 7 years);
• Experience of managing large scale education programmes;
• Strong working knowledge of technical approaches to driving learning and access to education;
• Strong working knowledge of MEL approaches in education;
• Strong working knowledge of the CAR context;
• Demonstrable experience of budget and grant management ($1m+);
• Demonstrable experience of leading a team to success.

Desirable

• Experience in the TaRL approach
• Experience in designing / managing literacy and numeracy-oriented instructional programmes;
• Experience in CAR / Great Lakes humanitarian context
• Experience of Government partnership;
• Demonstrable experience of proposal development and/or winning funding.

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Proven coaching skills and organisational development experience
• Excellent relationship building skills, with an ability to skilfully navigate both national and international stakeholders;
• Strategic thinking, with a strong ‘nose’ for initiating and building partnerships;
• Ability to skilfully balance independent working with wider teamwork with both UK and international teams

Other

Essential

• Excellent written and spoken communications in French and English
• A ‘can-do’, and agile attitude, a passion for problem solving and adaptative thinking;
• A commitment to and respect for local partnership.

Desirable

• Working knowledge of Sango (local language)
• Knowledge of CAR regulatory and operational contexts.

Street Child’s commitment to Safeguarding

Street Child is committed to the safeguarding and protection of the communities we serve, our partners, our volunteers, and our staff.

As part of this commitment to safeguarding, all offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate background checks, including a Criminal Records check.

Street Child also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. For purposes hereof, the following definitions will be used:

Sexual exploitation refers to any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, a power differential, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, among other things, with the aim of profiting pecuniarily, socially, or politically from the sexual exploitation of another.

Sexual abuse refers to actual physical harm or threat of physical harm, of a sexual nature, which may occur by force, or in situations of inequality, or coercive conditions.

To apply:

Street Child welcomes applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age.

Female applications are particularly encouraged.