Background:The Alliance for Children Everywhere is hiring an experienced, hardworking, and capable professional to lead our work with Transition Partners in Zambia.

Alliance for Children Everywhere has been in existence for over 50 years, and in Zambia for over 22 years. In Zambia, our work spans orphans and vulnerable children, education, systems change for family based care, and community based family empowerment. We have over 100 employees or stipend positions, and our work impacts over 3,000 children.

We are looking for an exceptional candidate to lead our work with our Transition Partners. Our partners are typically other Child Care Facilities within Zambia that seek to incorporate elements of family-based care, family economic strengthening, and/or global best practices for child protection. ACE Transition Partners comes alongside these Partner CCFs, supporting them to build technical skills in caregiving, social work, child reintegration, foster care/adoption, and family economic strengthening. In addition, we mentor and coach staff as they acquire these skills. At the organizational level, ACE Transition Partners facilitates Organizational Development by supporting Partners’ leadership team to apply better Project Cycle Management, Program Design, and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning processes. Where appropriate, we engage the partner and invite them into broader systems change movements for OVCs, working with peer organizations, government, academia, and global actors to improve and accelerate systems change for family-based care.

Reporting: The position will be hired and domiciled within ACE Zambia. They will report directly to ACE Zambia Country Director. However, day to day management, annual work plans, job performance targets, quarterly evaluations, and annual strategy review will be conducted by the ACE Transition Partners International Manager and Ace Transition Partners Global Director, located in the UK and USA respectively.

Job Description:

Tasks and activities: This position will be expected to be capable of successful partner consultation at the field staff, leadership team, and systems levels. This will require frequent trips to partner organizations, and direct work with their staff in the field to provide supportive supervision for critical skills acquisition. It will require direct engagement with Partner’s leaders, and an understanding of organizational change management. It will require a broad understanding of the stakeholders, policy coalitions, and government positions regarding orphans and vulnerable children, and their families, in Zambia.

Candidate Background: The successful applicant will have a solid background in childhood wellbeing, with a background in child protection, social work, community-based development, or orphans and vulnerable children. They will understand organizational development and change, as well as the practical components of community-based programming at the grassroots level. They will be able to form trust-based collaborative relationships with individuals spanning humble farmworkers to government officials. Above all they will have a passion to see children living safe healthy, and productive lives.

Expectations: We recognize that this is a broad, challenging, and technically demanding job, and each candidate will be stronger and more experienced in some areas, with gaps and weaknesses in other areas. Therefore, we prize above all else a collaborative mindset, a humble heart, and an eagerness and willingness to learn. In addition, the successful candidate will be expected to spend several months working alongside ACE Zambia field staff and social workers, learning additional technical competencies, observing our systems change work, and absorbing our organizational culture. 100% job effort is a minimum requirement, as is personal integrity.

Vision: We believe that the successful candidate will help transform care for orphans and vulnerable children across Zambia, advance systems change, and pilot strategies and programs that can be adopted throughout the Southern African region. Ultimately, we want every child to grow up in a safe, loving family.

Posting: ACE Zambia HQ, Lusaka, Zambia

Travel: up to 25% of days, within Zambia.  Occasional regional travel possible.

Education: Bachelors (Arts) Degree preferred; experience and expertise weigh more heavily.

Start Date: As soon as Possible

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted