Country Director

About the Organization

For more than 25 years, Right To Play has been protecting, educating, and empowering millions of children each year to rise above adversity through the power of play.

We offer programs in 10 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and North America, reaching millions of children each year in some of the most difficult places on earth, helping them to connect, learn and thrive. We do this by harnessing play, one of the most fundamental forces in a child's life, to equip children with the critical skills they need to dismantle barriers and embrace opportunities, in learning and in life.

This work is supported by our two global offices in Toronto, Canada and London, UK; and seven National Offices in North America and Europe.

Right To Play in Ethiopia is working with government, civil society organizations, communities, teachers and parents to increase access to quality education, enhance primary school children's learning and social emotional skills, promote children's access to inclusive, high quality, play-based Early Childhood Care and Education, provide play-based psychosocial support to improve the holistic well-being of children and young people and address the challenges that children face in host, internally displaced and refugee communities.

Job Summary

Provides overall strategic and programmatic leadership including business development, fundraising, compliance and risk, financial and people management to ensure the success and growth of the country programme.

• Grade: 11
• Reports to: Vice President, Transformation and Impact
• Direct Reports: Program Manager, Education Specialist, Finance Manager, People and Culture Specialist, MEL Specialist, Logistics Officer
• Department: Global Program Unit
• Contract Type: Full-time (40 hours per week), 1-year fixed term contract with possibility of renewal based on funding and performance. This is a national position.
• Target Start Date: January 2027

Key Responsibilities

Governance and representation (20%)

• Identifies and manages organisational risk, including legal and governance matters, and acts as RTP's legal representative in country.
• Represents RTP at country level, engaging government, donors, UN agencies, and NGO coordination platforms to build influence, credibility, and strategic partnerships.

Fundraising and Communication (20%)

• Leads country-level fundraising and resource mobilisation, driving proposal development, donor engagement, and diversified funding partnerships.
• Leads in-country media and external engagement, strengthening RTP's profile and ensuring alignment with organisational values and objectives.

Strategy development and implementation (15%)

• Sets and leads the strategic direction of the country programme, ensuring alignment with RTP strategy, national priorities, and legal and regulatory requirements.

Programmatic oversight, learning and innovation (15%)

• Oversees the country programme portfolio, ensuring high-quality delivery, measurable impact for children and young people, and timely reporting to donors, government, and HQ.
• Promotes collaboration and learning, advising partners on play-based and sport-for-development approaches and embedding evidence-informed practice.
• Champions innovation and continuous improvement, driving excellence in programming and efficiency across internal systems and processes.

Operational management (15%)

• Provides strategic oversight of finance and administration, including budgeting, expenditure control, audits, grant compliance, and strong internal controls.
• Holds overall accountability for safeguarding, safety, and security, ensuring compliance with RTP policies and national legislation.

Staff and workplace management (15%)

• Ensures effective people management, including recruitment, performance management, learning and development, payroll, and the promotion of a safe and inclusive culture.
• Leads, mentors, and develops a diverse country team, fostering staff wellbeing, inclusion, and high performance.
• Promote Safeguarding, foster a safe, respectful, and accountable work environment by modelling appropriate conduct and addressing any behaviour that undermines a healthy workplace.

Perform other duties as assigned.

Scope (geographical and/or functional), Impact and Autonomy:

Oversees all aspects of the country office, providing guidance and support to the team, while serving on the Global Leadership Team to ensure quality program delivery, adherence to budgets, and contributing to global initiatives that enhance organizational systems and processes.

Leadership and Staff Management:

Leads and develops the Country Management Team through coaching, mentoring, and capability-building while championing a safe, inclusive, and high-performing culture. Oversees People & Culture processes to ensure compliance, best practices, and effective performance management, upholding strong DEIA standards, staff safety, and well-being. Demonstrates integrity and resilience, proactively addressing and mitigating legal risks, including seeking legal advice when necessary.

Information Requirement for Decision-Making:

Makes decisions based on a combination of internal and external information, often requiring an analytic approach to draw conclusions from incomplete information or non-conclusive information.

Innovation and Improvements:

Drives innovation and continuous improvement to deliver high-quality, impactful programs and more efficient internal systems and ways of working.

Relationships & Communications: Internal / External:

Builds and sustains strategic relationships with key stakeholders, including donors, government officials, UN agencies, academia, media, NGOs, and local partners, while promoting RTP's identity and relevance to the needs of vulnerable populations, in alignment with the localization strategy. Leads strategic donor, HQ visits, workshops, represents RTP in high-level meetings, conferences, and media to strengthen its profile.

Required Qualifications

• Extensive experience in leadership roles within a large or medium international development organization, including: strategic planning, leadership and people management, project management and planning, monitoring and evaluation and financial and risk management.
• Master's degree in business administration, social sciences, development studies or related discipline.
• Experience working in or managing programmes in stable and fragile contexts.
• Proven success with mobilizing new sources of program funding.
• Understanding of laws, regulations and cultural dynamics local and international.
• Fluency in spoken and written Amharic and English.
• Significant experience with a child-focused organization is desirable.

Required Skills and Competencies

• Collaboration: Highly collaborative with strong interpersonal skills; excels at working in with a multicultural team and builds rapport and trust to develop strong external partnerships.
• Growth Mindset: Demonstrates commitment to own professional development and encourages their team to develop their potential, creates a learning culture through effective coaching and mentorship.
• Communication: Communicates complex operational, technical & strategic issues clearly & credibly to diverse audiences, leveraging strong networks to secure donor funding & influence stakeholders.
• Resilience: Strong organizational skills and the ability to work under pressure: multi-tasking, meeting deadlines, solving problems creatively and embracing challenges with resilience.
• Professionalism: Models professionalism and RTP's values, promoting a safe, inclusive workplace and positive impact for children and youth.
• Management and Interpersonal Skills: Lead and mentor country team with influence, fostering trust, high performance, and shared ownership of outcome.

Additional Information

• Expected to travel regularly domestically and occasionally internationally and work outside regular hours.
• Only candidates who are eligible to work legally without work visa sponsorship in Ethiopia will be considered.
• This job advert is for an existing vacancy.

Benefits Highlights

• Connect and collaborate with a global team who is passionate about protecting, educating and empowering children and youth using the power of play!
• Culture premised on our Culture Code (accept everyone, make things happen, display courage, demonstrate care, and be playful)
• Paid leave (20 days annual leave and 3 personal days per year)
• Competitive benefits such as medical insurance for employee and eligible family members, life insurance for employee, transportation allowance, and communications allowance
• 10% temporary allowance for Ethiopia employees from October to December 2026 and the next salary review is in January 2027
• Learning opportunities and 5 learning and development (L&D) days per year
• Flexible work arrangements

How to Apply

Apply with your resume and cover letter in English via the application link: https://righttoplay.hiringplatform.ca/248004-country-director-ethiopia/1128103-application-form/en

Right To Play provides equal employment opportunities to employees regardless of their gender, race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation or marital status. We strongly encourage groups who have been historically disadvantaged with respect to employment to apply for positions at Right To Play.

As part of our selection process, final candidates will be required to complete security checks and Vulnerable Sector Check or equivalent criminal record check as a condition of the offer.

As part of our recruitment and selection process, Right To Play uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) – assisted tools to support the assessment of candidates or applications. This may include but not limited to generating and editing of job adverts, assessment and interview questions, scheduling, translation, transcription, note taking, etc. Our Applicant Tracking System (ATS), VidCruiter, also use AI-powered ChatBot to answer candidates' enquiries. These tools are used only to assist human reviewers in evaluation and do not make selection or screening decisions. All hiring decisions are made by human reviewers. All AI-assisted processes comply with applicable privacy and data protection regulations, including GDPR and PIPEDA.

We value and promote a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We are committed to providing accommodations to candidates with disabilities during the recruitment and selection process, and thereafter. Please reach out to the People & Culture team by email at careers@righttoplay.com. All information provided will be treated as confidential and used only to provide an accessible candidate experience.