Job Details

Job Description

ABOUT CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL

At CI, we believe that ending poverty starts with children. Without help, children in poverty become adults in poverty. Our vision is to bring people together to put an end to that through programs focused on health, education, empowerment through life skills and, ultimately, employment. Ours is a unique, long-term, customized approach that allows us to stay with our children for the first two decades of their lives. We’re in it for the long haul because we know that the 220,000 children, we support in through 13 Agencies in 10 countries around the world deserve a fighting chance.
Children International’s work is made possible by generous and caring sponsors, donors, corporations, more than 4,000 dedicated volunteers and approximately 1,200 employees. To ensure our programs give children the best possible chance of breaking the poverty cycle, we are elevating our practices for growing our people talent worldwide. That’s where you come in.

THE CAREER OPPORTUNITY

Children International (CI) Zambia is launching an exciting new project aimed at reducing poverty and disease impact through product donations. This initiative will benefit our sponsored participants, families, communities, and partners in Zambia. The project will be implemented in the vulnerable communities of Kanyama, Chibolya, and George compounds in Lusaka, and will extend to national partnerships across the country.

In order to optimize the gains of the intervention, the project will assume a national focus to reach out to more partners and beneficiaries countrywide. In the medium to long term, Children International Zambia will continue to make product donations to partners countrywide to move sponsored participants out of poverty and to mitigate Zambia’s disease burden and other public health emergencies through sustainable health systems strengthening, improved water and sanitation infrastructure, promotion of safe hygiene practices, and community engagement. The project is likely to impact indirectly above 20 million Zambians with direct impact to 60,925 individuals which includes 15,667 sponsored participants, and 315 volunteers.

The Manager – Product Donations role is a new and pivotal position within our leadership team. This is a unique opportunity to lead the setup and development of the Product Donations department, aligning with both global and local strategies. The Manager will be employed by CI Zambia, a locally registered organization operating since 2024, with offices primarily in Lusaka. CI Zambia is an affiliate of Children International.

MORE ABOUT THE ROLE

This role, reports to the Agency Director and is also technically accountable to Senior Director – Global Partnership. It is pivotal in ensuring an effective and meaningful engagement between the Global Strategic Partnership department, donors, local partners and relevant government ministries in Zambia that work with vulnerable communities that would benefit from these products. Your mission is to align the Global Product Donation strategy to the agencies strategic vision, build and nurture critical partnerships across internal and external stakeholders, facilitate effective implementation and operational excellence, enable compliance with donor and government guidelines and ensure results.

As an innovative leader, you’ll cultivate a high-performance culture aligned with CI’s values. You’ll champion engagement, well-being and development of your direct teams and promote accountability, and collaboration and adherence to our policies, including child safeguarding.
Your role involves driving problem-solving, maintaining and leveraging stakeholder relations, enabling effective communication workflows, and promoting continuous improvement. We seek a passionate advocate for children, possessing operational expertise, skill in partnership management and a deep understanding of community development.

Reports to: Agency Director
Grade: 9
Engagement: 2 – year Fixed Term Contract

If this excites you, you might just be who we’re looking for.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THIS ROLE

• Champions and ensures that organizational Product Donation strategies and plans align to “Global Strategic Partnership Department’s” strategies, guidelines and performance expectations.
• Participates in the annual planning and budgeting specifically related to Gift in Kind interventions and ensures reporting and accountability for results.
• Works closely with Agency Director and Global Strategic Partnership team to identify, build and nurture alliances/partnerships with other like-minded or complementary stakeholders in the sector (regulatory authorities, other relevant government department, and other allied non-governmental organizations) for effective “Product Donation” program integration, development, implementation and sustainability.
• Oversees and ensure the efficient collection, storage, and distribution of product donations received, ensuring they meet internal Product Donation program objectives and local government regulatory standards
• Ensures that all product donations received meet safety and quality standards, and comply with relevant local government regulations.
• Undertake periodic reviews to ensure partners follow and comply with established donor protocols and standards, providing them guidance on corrective measures when needed.
• Maintains ongoing communication with partners for consultation and planning regarding use of the product donations.
• Enables capacity building and training for partner staff on managing product donations
• Institutes effective program control measures by implement monitoring and evaluation methods, ensuring partners adhere to policies and report data timely.
• Undertakes regular review and quality checks on all data gathering and promotes data integrity for all information, including partner and recipient databases, product donations received etc.
• Ensures timely and accurate documentation and reporting of the work on ground to the Agency Director, Senior Director – Global Partnerships and other global Leaders/colleagues, including critical assessments, reflection, recommendations and strategies for improvements.
• Line manages and leads change within the Product Donations Department to effectively adapt and integrate to the global (CIKC) plans within the agency.
• Recruits, leads and develops an effective and efficient Product Donations team aligned to CI Values. Manages performance of direct team members through establishing clear accountability, coaching, and development.
• Plans and ensures seamless coordination to manage donor visits, ensuring compliance with visitor guidelines and safeguarding protocols.
• Encourages continuous improvement initiatives within their department and the larger agency.
• Develops and enables a learning culture to address agency challenges, facilitate problem solving and promote sharing of best practices internally and externally.
• Enables seamless information flow, breaks down silos, and stimulates effective collaboration across stakeholders within the global organization, agency as well as the external partner, donors and maximizing collective impact for vulnerable communities.
• Undertakes regular field visits and participates in key stakeholder activities carried out in the community areas and elsewhere to observe, engage, and solicit feedback with diverse stakeholders both internal (staff and volunteers) as well as external (communities, local NGO’s, government agencies, donors etc).

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND KEY SKILLS:

• Bachelor’s degree with at least 7 years of experience in program/project management, including partnership management, monitoring, evaluation, data collection, and reporting.
• Past experience in managing public health, product donations programs with various partners.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the proven ability to deal tactfully, influence, build and leverage effective relationships with internally stakeholders (staff) as well as other critical stakeholders externally (community leaders, government authorities, NGO partners etc).
• Proven ability to analyze complex information, identify trends, and suggest improvements..
• Time management and planning skills with the ability to handle multiple deadlines and priorities smoothly.
• Strong leadership and people management skills including recruitment, coaching, performance improvement, and conflict management. Able to inspire and empower team members
• Proficient computer skills specifically MS Office as well as familiarity with inter/intranet, Google Drive, etc., as well as other online reporting and database systems
• Learning mentality characterized by listening, humility, and openness/courage to change.
• Fluent in English with strong verbal, written, presentation, and reporting skills. Knowledge of local Zambian languages is a plus.

ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES

• Strictly observe confidentiality and strong ethics regarding all beneficiary information/financial and other organizational data.
• Comply with and ensure adherence to the organization’s policies, safety and security protocols, child safeguarding norms and guidelines by self- and all stakeholders both internal and external.
• Promote diversity and inclusion, value other cultures, and demonstrate respect while relating with all organizational constituents irrespective of their race, color, faiths, gender, sexual orientation, age, caste, disabilities, experiences, beliefs, and ethnicity.

OVERALL DECISION MAKING & SUPERVISION

• This position requires “Critical thinking and sound decision-making capabilities, requiring independent actions and a high degree of initiative to resolve issues.”
• This position is “monitored on results and feedback from collaborators.”

Children International firmly supports the principle and philosophy of equal opportunity for all individuals, regardless of age, race, caste, gender, sexual orientation, creed, disability etc. Our talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to promoting diversity within the organization, alignment to our vision, mission and values as well as protecting children and vulnerable youth from abuse and exploitation

Children International – Zambia is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, volunteers, and associates to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subjected to appropriate screening and satisfactory references prior to appointment.