Director, Country Cluster NGO Job BRAC

Looking for a director job in Kenya? BRAC is hiring a Director, Country Cluster, skilled in strategic leadership, multi-country program oversight, donor relations, and international development management.

About the Position

As a member of the BIHBV Senior Management Team (SMT), the Director, Country Cluster, BIHBV (DCC) occupies a pivotal leadership position strengthening the strategic, operational, and systems capacity of BI MF entities across an assigned cluster of subsidiaries, ensuring coherence and consistent performance across the portfolio.  The role ensures delivery of the approved Annual Strategic Plan (ASP) through structured performance oversight, early identification of gaps, and timely course correction, while preserving CEOs’ full executive accountability for entity operations and results.

Operating at a critical interface within a matrix structure, the DCC  aligns BI MF priorities with entity-level execution, serving as the first escalation point for operational, regulatory, risk, and reputational issues.

The role acts as a strategic sounding board to CEOs, supporting them to navigate complex regulatory environments, government and stakeholder relationships, and addressing key operational challenges. In doing so, the role coordinates and mobilises support from BI MF central technical teams across Finance, Strategy, Operations, IT, HR, Audit etc. to address entity-level priorities and reinforce execution discipline.

The role also drives cross-entity alignment and learning, fostering the exchange of best practices, strengthening institutional capabilities, and promoting consistent standards across the cluster.

In delivering this mandate, the DCC works across BRAC International verticals such as the Development Programmes, Ultra Poor Graduation Initiative (UPGI) and Social Enterprise, to advance integrated solutions under the One BRAC approach. Through collaborative initiatives such as Accelerating Impact for Young Women (AIM), the role supports holistic programming that strengthens BRAC’s ability to deliver transformative impact for women and underserved communities.

This is a unique opportunity for a C-suite-calibre leader with experience in financial inclusion to shape performance and long-term sustainability across a multi-country portfolio, driving impact at scale within a leading global institution.

Job Responsibilities:

The role operates at a critical interface within a matrix structure, aligning BI MF priorities with entity-level execution while maintaining clear accountability boundaries. Key responsibilities include the following:

Cluster Performance and Accountability

• Ensure delivery of annual strategic plan commitments across the cluster through structured performance oversight and CEO accountability.
• Drive impact at scale across the cluster, identifying strategic opportunities for growth and fostering a culture of entrepreneurial and impact-driven decision-making.
• Monitor performance across financial, operational, risk, and impact metrics, highlighting deviations and risks.
• Monitor operational, financial and impact performance across the cluster and flag deviations from targets.
• Support CEOs in addressing performance gaps and strengthening operational and financial discipline.
• Coordinate with BI MF Central technical teams where technical assistance or intervention is required.
• Challenge and support CEOs to address underperformance and deliver agreed results.
• Ensure consistency in performance standards, reporting, and execution discipline across entities.

Operational Oversight and Escalation

• Act as the first escalation point for CEOs on operational challenges, providing targeted support without assuming day-to-day management responsibility.
• Remove execution bottlenecks and ensure timely resolution of critical issues.
• Maintain execution discipline across entities through structured follow-up and accountability.
• Support CEOs in ensuring that Board materials, performance reporting, and escalation of issues meet BI MF management and governance standards.
• Ensure structured response, clear escalation pathways, and timely engagement of technical assistance from the BI MF central team and the Managing Director (MD) where required.
• Support CEOs in managing key stakeholder relationships (regulators, central banks, investors, development partners).
• Partner with CEOs to drive timely closure of audit findings and strengthen internal control environments, ensuring audit gaps are addressed systematically and do not recur.

Governance, Risk and Compliance

• Strengthen governance discipline at subsidiary level by improving quality, consistency, and timeliness of reporting to BI MF and entity Boards.
• Maintain clear and structured information flow between entities and BI MF SMT to support effective oversight and decision-making.
• Act as the first escalation point for operational, regulatory, risks, and reputational issues, including fraud, portfolio stress, regulatory breaches, systems or cybersecurity incidents.
• Partner with CEOs to navigate complex regulatory environments, providing experienced judgment on balancing compliance requirements with business sustainability and BRAC’s mission, particularly where regulatory constraints impact outreach, cost structures, or growth.
• Manage governance and regulatory alignment across the cluster, partnering with CEOs to address complex requirements and alignment issues, and filtering, structuring, and escalating matters to the MD to ensure focus on only material and strategic decisions.

Cross-Entity Learning and Leadership Support

• Foster cross-entity learning and exchange, encouraging adoption of best practices, continuous improvement, and consistent standards across the cluster.
• Act as a strategic sounding board to CEOs on execution priorities, performance improvement, and complex trade-offs.
• Support leadership development and strengthening of senior teams within the cluster.
• Spend time regularly in-country with CEOs and their teams, building on-the-ground insight and providing coaching and support to strengthen execution and leadership capability.

Safeguarding:

• Establish a safeguarding culture across all levels of the program by implementing the safeguarding policy. Act as a key source of support, guidance and expertise on safeguarding for establishing a safe working environment.
• Responsible for ensuring team members are appropriately trained, supported and have access to resources regarding issues that are identified and actioned in accordance with the safeguarding policy and procedure.
• Follow the safeguarding reporting procedure in case any reportable incident takes place, and encourage others to do so.

Experience

• Senior leadership experience in microfinance, banking, or financial services, including prior experience in a C-suite or equivalent executive role.
• Demonstrated accountability for performance, strategy execution, and stakeholder engagement.
• Experience managing multi-country operations or portfolios.
• Strong track record in driving performance and operational improvement.
• Experience working with regulated entities and governance structures.

Knowledge, Skills & Competencies

• Microfinance operations, portfolio management
• Risk management and internal control frameworks
• Regulatory environments and compliance frameworks
• Financial performance and sustainability
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, including the ability to articulate BI’s mission, vision, and impact to diverse stakeholders
• Ability to influence decision-making in complex and high-stakes environments
• Strong execution and performance management capability
• High accountability and decision-making ability
• Stakeholder management and influencing skills
• Ability to lead senior leaders (e.g. CEOs) effectively
• Problem-solving and crisis management capability

Additional Requirements:

• Demonstrated ability to analyse data and apply evidence-based decision-making.
• Strong organisational and financial acumen.
• Willingness and capacity for frequent international travel as required by the role.

How to Apply

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