West Africa Regional Director

We are recruiting for an experienced leader, strategist, and change agent to direct Blue Ventures’ exciting new programme in West Africa. This pivotal leadership position is responsible for ensuring Blue Ventures capitalises on its recent entry in the region, and delivers impact at scale for coastal communities and the ocean across the West Africa region.

As the Regional Director, you will be responsible for providing leadership, guidance, and coaching to a dynamic, multi-disciplinary team that focuses on building and maintaining partnerships with communities, government, and other sector leaders - today in Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Cabo Verde, with a strong aspiration for expansion across the wider region in the coming 2-3 years. You will work closely with a diverse group of highly motivated, high-performing colleagues to drive our mission and help transform community-led conservation in the region.

Your expertise in change management will be invaluable as you lead the team through this period of rapid growth and transformation, exemplifying interpersonal skills, agility, and resilience to design and implement a regional strategy that gains commitment for change within the regional team and across the wider organisation. As a strategic and consultative leader, you will ensure effective coordination between BV colleagues locally and globally to drive cohesion and alignment with BV’s strategic vision and ambition. You will be responsible for ensuring operational efficiency to maximise impact and value for money, supporting our culture, protecting our values, and enabling our team to thrive.

You will lead the regional input to our annual global planning and goal-setting processes, ensuring our regional strategy is integrated with the needs and opportunities of our team and partner communities. Working closely with colleagues and partners, you will evolve and implement regional and functional plans through close engagement. As the primary representative of Blue Ventures’ work in West Africa , you will be the go-to person for senior government, donor, private sector, and civil society engagements. You will proactively pursue and manage these relationships to further Blue Ventures’ mission, including fundraising, public speaking, and networking at all levels, from local communities to government ministries and international fora.

We are seeking a highly motivated, strategic individual who is resourceful in managing a diverse, multi-cultural team to deliver a broad portfolio of conservation interventions. You will understand and respond to the needs and interests of partner communities and stakeholders, and have significant operational and field experience in the delivery of large-scale international development and/or conservation programmes in West Africa or similar contexts.

As a leader, you will blend entrepreneurialism and strategic discipline, creating and capitalising on change to accelerate impact with creativity and a spirit of innovation and ambition. You will be committed to building a culture of inclusive and evidence-based decision-making, and understand the importance of integrating learning processes into our work and operations.

As a member of the Africa Leadership Team, you will report to the Director for Africa and work closely with other regional leads and senior managers to ensure our programmes achieve maximum impact. This full-time role is based in Dakar, Senegal, with regular travel to work with colleagues, partners, and stakeholders across the region and internationally.

Responsibilities
Lead and develop the BV West Africa team

● Live, model and promote Blue Ventures’ values to nurture and encourage our organisational culture
● Promote a culture of high performance and continuous improvement that values learning and a commitment to quality
● Oversee and direct the work of the West Africa team
● Mentor and develop colleagues using a supportive and collaborative approach: assign accountabilities; set objectives; establish priorities, and monitor and evaluate results
● Ensure all organisational activities are consistently performed under the principles of equity, fairness, inclusiveness and respect for the diversity of people
● Ensure West africa colleagues receive timely and appropriate training and development
● Plan and chair leadership convenings across the regional team
● Build and nurture strong relationships across the region and the BV global team that advance the regional programme’s mission and effectiveness
● Uphold and promote Blue Ventures’ commitment to ensuring the safeguarding and safety of the vulnerable communities we serve
● Nurture a positive and productive work environment free from harassment and bullying

Driving delivery
● Lead and oversee delivery of BV’s programming across the region to drive, expand and accelerate impact with communities
● Support continuous improvement of our delivery approaches in collaboration with regional and global colleagues, including in particular partner-led delivery and advocacy
● Design and develop new programmes and initiatives in line with BV’s strategy and core model, leading fundraising and donor relations where required, and capitalising on new development and partnership opportunities to advance Blue Ventures’ mission
● Where required for our mission to succeed, develop partnerships on related disciplines including health, education and alternative livelihoods, mobilising quality service delivery by experts in these areas, and enabling BV to remain focused on our specialism of fisheries management for marine conversation
● More broadly, identify and establish relations with national and regional actors who complement our mission, including networks, governments, universities, businesses, international organisations, donors, other non-governmental organisations, and key stakeholders in the region

Change management
● Oversee large, cross-functional, region-wide change projects and initiatives
● Develop change management plans for major change projects and initiatives
● Evaluate the impact of planned organisational changes
● Identify risks and develop mitigation approaches
● Identify and manage anticipated resistance to change
● Lead change management work streams through a structured process
● Support development of communications relevant to change initiatives
● Provide coaching and training to employees to embrace changes
● Define success metrics and measure performance against them
● Provide reporting and other updates to management and project teams

Strategic planning, goal setting and communications
● Lead strategic and operational planning processes: defining, guiding, facilitating, monitoring, and improving planning and reporting processes for the regional programme, aligning with Blue Ventures’ global planning processes, and coordinating input from country, regional and global colleagues
● Champion Blue Ventures’ structured goal setting process across the regional programme, ensuring all colleagues are aware of annual and quarterly goals, and that organisational objectives and key results (OKRs) are embedded in team work plans and individual performance plans
● Track the regional programme’s performance against the strategic plan and OKRs, producing quarterly progress updates, and sharing briefings in town hall meetings
and leadership convenings
● Help shape and improve organisational processes for learning and adaptation
● Align regional learning and reflection processes with organisational processes for
learning and adaptation

Representation, communication, and knowledge
● Represent Blue Ventures with public, private and civil society partners, and ensure clear and effective communications are maintained with all stakeholders
● Support field visits and learning exchanges for staff, partner organisations and donors
● Cultivate effective, proactive internal communications to ensure all colleagues are well informed, can clearly articulate Blue Ventures’ core mission in the region and are kept up to date with ongoing activities, as well as new developments, policies and procedures, as and when they arise
● Ensure effective documentation of knowledge, lessons learned and experiences for internal and external sharing and publication
● Lead by example in communicating Blue Ventures’ activities to a high standard through appropriate channels. Provide thought leadership and direction in regional communications and publications, including drafting and editing articles, op eds and technical reports

Operations and financial management
● Ensure safe and secure operations, compliant with Blue Ventures’ operating protocols and policies, and responsive to evolving needs and situations
● Drive the safe establishment of Blue Ventures’ legal setup in relevant jurisdictions
● Support the development and strengthening of budget and project management systems for the regional programme
● Oversee financial management in close collaboration with the global finance team and regional finance business partners, including supporting audits and implementing relevant audit recommendations
● Oversee smooth operations of projects, visits and events; ensuring managers carry out adequate planning, engage adequate support, and support problem solving when needed
● Anticipate and mitigate programmatic and organisational risks, in compliance with Blue Ventures’ risk management and reporting procedures
● Ensure successful resolution of audits and investigations of any noncompliance and/or ethical issues
● Ensure any serious incidents are reported to the regulatory authorities and relevant donors, as appropriate

Essential skills
An ideal candidate will bring the following professional experience and personal characteristics
● Track record of achievements in a previous, similar role
● Proven field and team management experience (>10 years), having served in a similar capacity as a Global or Regional Director previously, covering programme delivery; finance and administration; donor relations; and inter/intra-agency communications in progressively senior roles
● Masters degree or equivalent in marine environmental management, or equivalent qualification in rural development, political or social science, or another relevant field
● Significant operations experience, including direct “hands-on” skills in programme development, strategic planning, programme implementation and evaluation
● Highly skilled communicator, fluent in English and French, and capable of conveying complex messages clearly in presentations, meetings and written form, with the ability to connect with people of all seniority levels and cultural backgrounds
● Demonstrated experience and skill in scientific publication, media relations and public speaking
● Exceptional interpersonal and relationship-building skills, with a proven ability to work collaboratively with others in a complex organisation, demonstrating team building and facilitation skills
● Fluent in change management strategies and best practice; proven success in implementing change across a team or organisation
● Data-driven and results-oriented; proven ability to manage data/metrics and make data informed decisions
● Excellent organisational skills, an ability to marshal resources, and continually improve systems and processes

You will be a great fit if
● You show a commitment to Blue Ventures’ mission and values, evidenced by exhibiting a high level of personal and professional integrity, humility and humanity
● You demonstrate a strong bias for action, and comfort with the uncertain; you are motivated to move forward, make decisions, and finalise details quickly once information is available
● You’ve shown a willingness and ability to challenge the status quo creatively and productively
● You have an analytical mindset and orientation toward measurement, outcomes and continuous improvement and learning
● You value in others, and yourself, data-driven and consultative decision-making. You think critically and put a high value on offering and receiving constructive feedback and criticism
● You’re a natural relationship builder and have a proven ability to work collaboratively with others in a complex organisation, demonstrating team building and facilitation skills. You enjoy collaboration and have a genuine interest in learning from and developing others
● You’re a people person who takes pride and pleasure in developing talent and creating safe, happy, productive and engaging workplace cultures and environments for staff at all levels and from varied backgrounds. You crave finding talent, building teams, nurturing relationships, tackling challenging people-related issues, and creating opportunities for staff to progress, particularly women and people of colour
● You are a passionate professional who combines strong leadership skills with patience and a humble approach
● You’re able to engage people’s energies, hearts and minds in service of a mission. You use exemplary interpersonal skills to establish relationships of trust and influence
● You show self-motivation, flexibility, and the ability to work and thrive in a fast-paced, energetic, entrepreneurial environment
● You’re detail-oriented and compliance-minded; you enjoy dotting i’s and crossing t’s
● You’re comfortable with a playfully professional workplace culture
● You’re trustworthy in managing sensitive situations and information; you are discrete, professional, and possess excellent judgement
● You’re fluent in any of the other main working languages of the region: Wolof, Diola or Portuguese.