Job Description

Position

East and Central Africa - Regional Strategic Advisor

Place of work

Nairobi - Kenya

Start date

1st of March 2026

Duration

3 months, with possible extension of one or two months.

Context

Terre des hommes Lausanne (Tdh), founded in 1960, is Switzerland's largest organization dedicated to defending children's rights. Tdh is committed to bringing about meaningful and lasting change in the lives of children and young people, especially those most at risk. Tdh is active in around 30 countries, working in humanitarian and development contexts.

In sub-Saharan Africa, Tdh works directly in eight countries (Burkina Faso, Burundi, Guinea-Conakry, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Senegal) and through partnerships in six other countries (Benin, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Togo, and Uganda).

As part of the decentralisation of its organisational model, Tdh established a regional office in Dakar, Senegal, in September 2025. In parallel, Tdh aims to strengthen its strategic positioning in Nairobi, Kenya, a major regional humanitarian hub. To support this ambition, Tdh is creating an East and Central Africa – Regional Strategic Advisor position for a three-month assignment.

Mission

The objective of the East and Central Africa – Regional Strategic Advisor is to provide strategic advice to the Tdh Regional Office in Dakar on the humanitarian, development, funding and institutional dynamics of East and Central Africa. The Advisor will support Tdh in identifying opportunities to expand and consolidate its programming, partnerships, and positioning as a leading child rights organisation in the region.

Key Responsibilities

More specifically, the Regional Strategic Advisor will:

· Analyse and provide clear strategic insights humanitarian, development, funding and institutional dynamics in East and Central Africa, including key trends, risks, and opportunities affecting child rights programming.

· Identify and anticipate emerging challenges and required strategic shifts to sustain, adapt, and, where possible, expand Tdh’s presence and impact in East and Central Africa.

· Map and assess key regional donors, and funding opportunities for countries where Tdh is currently operating, as well as in priority countries for potential future engagement.

· Identify key regional institutional, governmental, and civil society stakeholders with whom Tdh could strengthen partnerships and further position itself as a credible and influential actor in the promotion and protection of children’s rights.

· Assess organisational, operational, and strategic support needs and propose a clear roadmap to reinforce and sustainably strengthen Tdh’s presence and positioning in East and Central Africa.

Support, on demand, Burundi and Kenya delegation in terms of positioning, representation and strategic thinking.

Requirements

Training/Qualifications

Diploma: Master’s degree in Development or Humanitarian or equivalent.

Experience

- Proven experience in a senior strategic advisory or leadership role within an INGO or similar organisation in humanitarian and development contexts.

- Strong background in child rights and/or child protection programming, Child Right in Business, including in complex or fragile settings.

- Demonstrated experience in institutional positioning, donor engagement, and resource mobilisation.

- Proven track record in building and managing strategic partnerships at regional level.

- Experience contributing to or leading the development of regional strategies or multi-country roadmaps.

- Regional experience could be a great asset.

- Experience in East and/or Central Africa could be a great asset.

- Experience with Tdh would be an advantage.

Languages

Mandatory written and spoken languages: English.

Languages appreciated: French could be a great aset.

Computer know-how

Microsoft Office package

Tdh General Code of Conduct and ethical policies

Commits to promoting and complying with the Global Code of Conduct, systematically reporting any violations of the Code through Tdh's formal reporting mechanisms and dealing with any violations of procedures and processes appropriately.

Raises awareness of the Foundation of the risks of policy non-compliance, violence and abuse, and related rights, towards children, community members and our own employees.

Undertakes to comply with key ethical policies and guidelines, including the Safeguarding Policy, the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy, the Conflict-of-Interest Policy and other policies related to the prevention of terrorist financing and criminal activities, as well as workplace behavior.

Commits to putting values and principles into practice through exemplary behavior, in full compliance with the Code of Conduct, and always respecting established procedures and processes.

Commits to developing a compliant and enlightened management culture within the organization and in our work with children and the communities in which we operate.

Procedure:

Only complete applications (CV + covering letter) posted on our official website will be processed. Additional documents (diplomas, work certificates, etc.) will be requested at a later date. We will only contact those candidates selected for further recruitment.

References :

Please note that all job offers will be subject to satisfactory references and checks (criminal record and anti-terrorism funding check). Terre des hommes will ask the Human Resources of previous organisations to provide references on any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment as well as fraud and corruption, during employment, or incidents under investigation at the time the candidate left employment.