Program Support Director – Francophone and Lusophone Africa

About the role

This senior leadership role sits within Ipas’s Global Program Support Team and partners strategically with Regional and Country Directors and other leaders across the Ipas network to strengthen organizational effectiveness, program quality, risk management, and leadership capacity. Reporting to the Deputy Chief Operating Officer, the Program Support Director (PSD) provides strategic leadership, technical guidance, and operational oversight to 4–5 regional or country programs, supervises 3–5 direct reports (including CDs, RDs, and Senior Program Managers), and ensures alignment with Ipas strategy, donor and award compliance, and risk mitigation. The PSD acts as a bridge between global teams and regional/country offices, promoting cross-learning, supportive supervision, and shared leadership.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership: Partner with regional and country leadership to advance organizational priorities, strengthen strategic decision-making, and promote alignment with Ipas’s mission, values, strategic framework, global standards, policies and shared leadership practices; support monitoring of organizational, programmatic, and financial performance; participate in global strategic initiatives; represent Ipas on national or regional Boards of Directors as needed; provide thought leadership to translate organizational strategy into contextually relevant program strategies.
• Program Quality, Stewardship and Support: Provide high-level strategic inputs and assistance in project and program management; facilitate periodic reviews to strengthen compliance, program quality, organizational learning, and accountability; lead or support special assessments or learning initiatives as needed.
• Regional and Country Program Support: Serve as trusted advisor to RDs and CDs, supporting leadership effectiveness, adaptive management, and cross-organizational collaboration; provide supportive supervision and thought partnership; promote communication, collaboration, and cross-learning; support addressing implementation challenges, risk management, and adaptive programming; contribute to developing/updating and implementing regional/country strategic plans; provide coaching and support to RDs and CDs in recruiting, developing, and sustaining high-functioning teams; provide strategic input on annual work plans, budgets, reports, and high-priority deliverables; oversee mechanisms that support a positive and effective work culture, organizational learning, sharing, and peer support; support start-up, scale-up, and close-out of country programs.
• Staff Management & Capacity Strengthening: Foster a culture of shared leadership, accountability, learning, trust, and inclusion; provide supportive supervision and manage the performance of direct reports; support capacity strengthening of regional/country teams in program management, donor compliance, and risk management; promote organizational training and other capacity strengthening efforts.
• Donor Engagement & Compliance: Support RDs and CDs in managing complex donor-funded portfolios by strengthening systems, decision-making, compliance practices, and cross-node coordination; ensure programs comply with donor requirements and organizational policies; contribute to resource mobilization efforts; ensure new business efforts and proposals align with strategic plans, technical excellence, good stewardship, and optimal cost recovery; represent Ipas in donor meetings, technical forums, and external engagements as required.
• Risk Management & Safeguarding: Ensure timely identification and mitigation of programmatic, operational, and reputational risks; promote safeguarding, protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), and ethical programming; conduct regular reviews to ensure adherence with organizational policies on safeguarding, gender equality, and inclusion; guard Ipas interests and reputation through oversight on policy adherence, budget performance, audit findings, ethical issues, and donor compliance; work with regional and country leaders to ensure adequate internal controls and reduce the risk of fraud and mismanagement; perform internal control functions as needed.
• Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning & Accountability (MEL): Promote strong MEL practices across assigned regional and country programs; support the use of data for decision-making, learning, and program improvement; encourage documentation of best practices, innovations, and lessons learned.

Requirements

• Essential:
  • Commitment to sexual and reproductive health and rights, especially safe abortion and access to contraception, and understanding of related principles, policies, and best practices.
  • Knowledge of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights issues and context in the Africa region, with demonstrated experience working with NGOs in Africa, preferably in an Ipas implementing country in West Africa.
  • Demonstrated commitment to shared leadership principles, with experience fostering distributed leadership, collaboration, accountability, and trust across geographically dispersed teams.
  • Proven ability to lead and motivate teams and create a positive work environment through supportive supervision, strong communication and teamwork, and shared leadership approaches; demonstrated successes in program management, team leadership, strategic planning, and problem solving.
  • Proven ability to build and maintain positive working relationships with government officials, regional or global donors, partner organizations, and diverse stakeholders.
  • Ability to work across cultures and manage complex relationships remotely.
• Minimum qualifications:
  • At least 15 years of increasing responsibility in non-profit leadership and program management in the international development or NGO sector.
  • Minimum of 7 years of senior program leadership experience overseeing multiple country programs and proven ability to provide strategic and technical leadership across diverse country contexts.
  • Strong experience managing donor-funded programs (e.g., bilateral, multilateral, foundations), including budgetary management.
  • Demonstrated experience supporting organizational risk management, compliance monitoring, and implementation of internal control systems.
  • Relevant post-graduate degree (e.g., MBA, MIA, MPH).
  • Respect and credibility as an advocate for reproductive health and rights.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills in English.
  • Fluency in French required; knowledge of Portuguese is an added advantage; other local languages are an asset.
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and SharePoint.

Travel

Estimated 20%–25% travel to regional and country programs and regional/global meetings.