Regional Director for Africa

Based in Africa, the successful candidate will provide leadership and inspiration for a talented team of staff and consultants working on resolving and preventing conflict in sub-Saharan Africa; lead the restructuring of the Africa directorate: bringing coherence to well-established West, East and Central African operations; drive development of new projects and fundraising efforts; as well as, representing HD at the highest levels across the continent.

Key responsibilities would include:

• Strategic Leadership: Providing strategic vision and creative private diplomacy to resolve and prevent conflict in sub-Saharan Africa, producing clear and measurable results.
• Organisational Restructuring: Leading the change process to design the future structure of the Africa directorate, including management arrangements, reporting lines and team structures — working closely with colleagues across the region.
• Relationship Building: Developing and maintaining high level relationships with key interlocutors, including governments, conflict parties, civil society representatives, the African Union, regional economic communities, etc. to influence movement towards peace.
• Dialogue Facilitation: Facilitating dialogue among conflict parties and other relevant actors across sub-Saharan Africa.
• Fundraising: Leading on fundraising for the Africa team, including networking and representing HD with partners, developing broader donor relations in the region, diversifying funding for the continuation of existing activities and new streams of work.
• Senior Management: Leading within HD as a member of the Senior Management Team and contributing to thematic and strategic debates for the organisation as a whole.
• Team Leadership: Managing, developing, supporting and caring for staff across diverse linguistic and cultural contexts.
• Public Representation: Contributing to policy discussions on peace and conflict issues in Africa both internally and within the wider peace-making community, representing HD publicly.

The ideal candidate would have:

• Minimum 15 years of leadership experience in the INGO/non-profit sector, foreign policy, security, government engagement, or related fields.
• Combination of diplomatic skills, understanding of mediation and peace-making and ability to craft creative programming.
• More than a decade of experience working as a mediator or in a related field.
• Possess a creative flair for conceiving ideas, an ability to inspire teams and to be persuasive with interlocutors.
• Deep knowledge of Africa and a strong grasp of strategic trends and cross-cutting issues in the region and beyond.
• Strong relationship-building skills at the political level with organisations and with partners.
• Demonstrated experience in change management, including supporting large teams and complex organizational structures through transformation processes.
• Fluent in French, English. Knowledge of African languages an asset.
• Experience in managing large teams across different cultures and linguistic areas.
• Experience in fundraising for programs.

The position is based in Africa, with the exact city to be negotiated. Frequent travel is expected, both domestically and internationally. This position would report to HD’s Executive Director.

If you are interested in this position and meet the criteria defined in the full job description, please send your CV and 1-page cover letter to HRgeneva@hdcentre.org by 31 July 2026. Please include “Regional Director – Africa” in the subject line of your email.

HD respects diversity and all are encouraged to apply. For more information, please visit: www.hdcentre.org