Africa Practice Associate Director Philanthropic Advisory
Africa Practice Associate Director Philanthropic Advisory
Africa Practice Associate Director Philanthropic Advisory
Philanthropic Advisory
May 2024
1 Africa Practice
About Africa Practice
Africa Practice is a mission-led strategic deliver our world-class insights and advocacy
consulting firm advising investors and solutions through our local presence.
development partners across the continent.
Our mission is to shape a prosperous Africa We operate as one company, with a diverse
that inspires the world. For over 20 years, we team working on a hybrid basis in Abuja, Cape
have been partnering with global investors, Town, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Gaborone,
policymakers, development partners and Johannesburg, Lagos, Nairobi, and
other changemakers to drive transformation London. We are risk analysts, development
on the continent. economists, advocates, storytellers, data
scientists, policy experts, systems thinkers,
Our insights and advocacy solutions are and creative minds. Over 80% of our staff are
rooted in detailed system and stakeholder African and over 50% are women. We have
understanding. We identify, generate, and been a signatory to the UN Global Compact
analyse human-centered systems data to since 2021 and we are actively working to
design impactful advocacy interventions. We achieve B-Corp status.
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The Role
Role: Associate Director, Philanthropic Advisory
Job Summary
The Associate Director, Philanthropic Advisory will focus on identifying and
converting growth opportunities in the existing portfolio. They will also be
responsible for strategic advisory and growth on all philanthropic projects.
Specifically, this means excellent project delivery on existing projects
(work plans, quality assurance, performance monitoring). The successful
candidate will also be responsible for capturing best practice learnings
across the philanthropic portfolio, to be applied within the company’s wider
growth strategy.
Africa Practice 3
Primary Responsibilities
Philanthropic advisory and growth - 35% • Ensure that consulting projects are delivered
• Contribute to the development of a refreshed within the required timeframe and to a high-
go-to-market strategy and value proposition, quality standard, delivering the impact envisaged.
then conduct a capability and capacity
assessment to map Africa Practice’s readiness to Market insights and engagement - 20%
deliver against it. • Monitor and assess the philanthropic ecosystem
• Lead the implementation of a business in Africa on an ongoing basis to ensure the
development and thought leadership programme company understands the latest trends and
to position Africa Practice’s refreshed opportunities as they emerge.
philanthropic advisory proposition and support • Network and build relationships with key
the achievement of our growth objectives. international development stakeholders to
• Act as a senior advisor to clients to guide the identify trends and build a pipeline of new
evolution of investment strategy, programming project opportunities.
and the delivery of priority investments.
• Develop creative programming solutions for Team management - 10%
clients facing specific challenges or opportunities • Support the People function with the
on the continent. development of a programme to identify internal
and external candidates capable of implementing
Client service and delivery - 35% new and existing capabilities required to deliver
• Oversee project delivery across Africa Practice’s philanthropic programme objectives.
portfolio of philanthropic clients, monitoring • Build and develop strong relationships with Africa
project implementation, providing quality Practice’s multi-functional teams working across
assurance and identifying opportunities to evolve projects and across geographies, playing a strong
and grow accounts or projects where relevant. mentoring and leadership role.
• Build and maintain strong client relationships,
embedding yourself as a trusted advisor across a
range of existing assignments.
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Candidate Profile
The successful candidate will demonstrate: • Successful track record of managing teams in
• Passion for development and action-oriented remote field locations and coordinating projects
when it comes to the impact of public policy across multi-sector technical activities.
and advocacy on accelerating the delivery of • Strong technical expertise in one or more of the
development goals. following areas: political economy, public policy
• 10+ years of experience in international design and/or advocacy, program development,
development advisory, with a focus on strategy and capacity-development of civil society
or management consulting for complex donors or organisations and government entities.
philanthropy-funded projects. • Experience working in one or more of the
• Ability to thrive in a fast-moving environment, following segments of the philanthropic
multitask, prioritise, and advise clients across ecosystem: inclusion and resilience programming,
multiple projects with varying methodologies climate change, healthcare, education, or
and objectives. agriculture and nutrition.
• Strong and proven network of contacts and • Understanding of the importance of data-led
relationships across the philanthropic ecosystem monitoring, evaluation, and continuous learning
in Africa, with a track record of conceptualizing on development projects, with demonstrable
and delivering successful consulting and/or experience of implementation.
grant proposals. • Experience with and strong appreciation for
• Experience in building and managing evidence-based intervention design and data-
collaborative partnerships between diverse driven insights and advocacy.
government, community, private-sector, and • Excellent oral, written, and verbal
philanthropic actors at the international and communication abilities in English. Fluency in
local level. French a significant advantage.
• Experience in developing human-centered and • Proficiency and ease working in a hybrid, cross-
evidence-based intervention designs through border environment, using a range of different
collaborative processes. software platforms.
• Significant experience working in African countries.
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What We Offer
We offer the successful candidate an opportunity to
work within a dynamic pan-African consultancy advising
a prestigious portfolio of clients. This position offers:
• Competitive remuneration.
• Organizational focus on talent development,
delivered through individual development plan.
• High degree of flexibility in ways of working.
• Immediate opportunities for growth.
• Collaboration with a diverse and experienced team
of colleagues.
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How to Apply
Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown Timeline
that women and people of colour are much less likely to apply Closing Date: 26th June 2024
for a position unless they meet every single qualification. First stage interviews: TBC
So, this notwithstanding, if you are excited about this role, Final interviews: TBC
we would love to hear from you. At Africa Practice, we are
dedicated to building an inclusive, diverse, and authentic Selection Process
workplace. You might just be the new team member we are All candidates will receive an update regarding their
looking for - for this or other roles. application after the closing date. We advise candidates
to add the role email to their safe senders list and regularly
Do you want to contribute to an influential and prosperous check their spam folder.
Africa, inspiring the world? We’re looking for Africa’s
changemakers – smart people with strong analytical, Equality Statement
advocacy, digital and problem-solving skills who can reconcile Equality and diversity are at the core of Africa Practice’s
diverse perspectives to deliver sustainable change. values. Staff are expected to work collectively and individually
to promote a constructive and sensitive approach to others
All correspondence, at this stage, should be via Oxford HR. from a variety of backgrounds, where the work of others is
To apply for this post, click on the “Apply” button on the job valued and respected.
advert page, complete our online application form, and
submit your CV and cover letter as two different documents, Queries
which should be prepared before applying as they will be If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment
considered in the application process. The cover letter should process, need additional information, or would like to have
be no more than two pages long and explain why you are an informal discussion, please email at africa-practice-
interested in this post and how your skills and experience [email protected] in the first instance.
make you a good fit.
Africa Practice 7
About Oxford HR
Exceptional leaders can inspire change and propel
purpose-led organisations towards reaching their
world-changing goals. Finding such leaders can be a
challenge; and yet their transition into leadership is vital
to an organisations mission and success.
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9 Africa Practice