About Splash

Splash is an international development organization founded in 2007 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, USA. In 15 years, we have reached nearly 1,000,000 children in cities around the world. In 2019, we embarked on an exciting, five-year initiative, Project WISE (WASH in Schools for Everyone), focused on serving over 800,000 children in three major growth cities - Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar, Ethiopia and Kolkata, India - with improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure, WASH behavior change programs, and strengthened school-based menstrual health programs. This is an exciting time for Splash as we pivot to new ways of working and aim to expand our impact to new cities across 3-5 countries.  

Splash supports local leaders, institutions, and partners to drive lasting change on the ground. We believe that local capacity to solve problems at scale exists, and our job is to strategically support and magnify the impact of local governments, nonprofit and for-profit actors for the good of children and families across the cities in which we work.  

Our core values guide everything we do, including every hiring decision we make. They are:   

• People - People first. People second. People third.   
• Quality - Beautiful products that function and last.   
• Honesty - No drama, no surprises, no BS.    
• Joy - Kids at heart, seeing potential everywhere.   
• Mistakes - Make them, don’t repeat them.   

Splash values the unique skills and experiences everyone brings to the organization, and we are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment. To learn more, please visit www.splash.org.   

The Job

Full-time serving Splash’s East Africa countries. 

Location: East Africa (Kenya preferred)

Position Overview

The Regional Director of East Africa (RD) will lead the Splash efforts both internally and externally across countries in east Africa. This includes the launch and implementation of Project WISE, Phase II, external relations with relevant stakeholders (e.g. government, implementing partners and donors), office operations, and manage the implementation of Ethiopia sustainability program.   

The Regional Director of East Africa will report to the Chief Program Officer (CPO) based in the USA.  

The position requires strong leadership skills and ability to represent Splash externally in meetings with project donors, government officials, and WASH sector INGOs. The Regional Director should be adept at navigating government relationships, while possessing the technical skills to lead the design and implementation of large-scale WASH in Schools (WINS) activities concurrently across multiple cities.  The Regional Director should possess high levels of people, project and financial management experience.  

The RD will sit in a collaborative position that works alongside the Global Management Team, creating a positive atmosphere and a culture of equity and inclusion for all employees at all levels within the organization. 

This position requires exceptional passion for our work, significant experience with and capacity for partnership building and team management, and the ability to thrive in a dynamic work environment. There will be regular travel to all Splash countries, as well as periodic travel to the US for strategic meetings, donor engagements and team building exercises. 

Roles & Responsibilities

The Regional Director of East Africa, guided by the CPO, is focused on five core areas of responsibility: 

Support the implementation and sustainability of programs in Ethiopia – Manage and support the existing country program in Ethiopia to succeed in alignment with Splash’s strategy, donor expectations, and government obligations. Ensure that our work is completed on time, executed within budget, and that there are clear definitions of roles and delegation of responsibilities. Work with members of the Impact Team to measure and report on programmatic efforts and collaborate with the local implementing team to ensure existing projects remain functional and transition to government ownership. 

Support the launch of programs in Project WISE Phase II countries and cities in East Africa – Contribute to negotiations with national and sub-national leaders on design, financing, implementation and oversight in cities in Malawi, Tanzania and eventually Zambia in collaboration with the CPO and Global Program Team. This includes providing technical leadership to Splash’s country teams on WINS systems, infrastructure (including operations and maintenance), behavior change, and menstrual health interventions. Identifying, vetting and structuring agreements with local implementing partners, while holding them accountable to achieve high-quality results and program fidelity. Work with members of the Impact Team to measure and report on programmatic efforts. 

Support the Regional team and E. Africa country office teams - To establish optimal legal entities and recruit and retain high performing staff that facilitates the build out of new country operations. Collaborate with the Chief Financial Officer to build out and track multi-year country budgets.  Support Country Directors to manage project WISE Phase II programs. 

Support business development – Identify and support the cultivation of new funding opportunities in collaboration with Chief Partnerships Officer and Business Development Team. This includes contributing to aspects of donor solicitation and stewardship, proposal development, reporting, and representing Splash at donor conferences and other external events.  

Leadership - Serve on the Global Management Team to help ensure success and contribute to the overall direction of the organization. Be an active participant within networks and relationships in the WASH space. Directly manage and provide guidance and mentorship to Country Directors and regional programmatic staff. Actively manage and evaluate staff performance, building a positive working environment and supporting staff wellbeing in alignment with Splash’s values. Facilitate learning events with local staff and implementing partners to collaborate and exchange best practices. 

Qualifications

• MA or MSc in a related field such as Public Health, Global Health, Education, Economics, International Development or Project Management is desired. Candidates possessing a BA/BS in these fields with considerable relevant experience will also be considered. 
• At least 20 years of work experience, including a minimum of 15 years in a related field in East Africa 
• Experience managing implementation of a multi-year, multi-million projects 
• Experience and strong networks/relationships related to the Education, Water and/or Health sector in East Africa strongly preferred, WASH experience helpful 
• Fluent in English (written and verbal) and relevant East African language (preferred) 
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Office 

The Ideal Candidate

• You exhibit absolute integrity, honesty, openness and sound judgment 
• You enjoy collaboration and have a genuine interest in learning from and developing others 
• Innovative and creative: you constantly seek better ways to accomplish objectives 
• You are an excellent communicator, with the ability to listen, communicate effectively, and build trust with a wide variety of internal and externals constituents 
• You demonstrate excellent organizational skills, self-motivation, flexibility, and the ability to work and thrive in a fast-paced, energetic, entrepreneurial environment 
• You think critically and put a high value on offering and receiving constructive feedback and criticism 
• You have a deep belief in and passion for Splash’s work and the children we serve 
• Able to travel up to 40% time 

Compensation & Benefits

At Splash, we are committed to living out our mission every day, and that starts with providing benefits that allow our employees to care for themselves and support their families.  

• Splash works across multiple time zones and embraces flexible, dynamic work schedules. Team members are welcome to set standard work hours within their time zone, however some availability to accommodate periodic off-hours work is preferred. This expectation is balanced by the benefit of a self-managed schedule that allows for personal time as needed. 
• Splash believes we must invest in you so that you can succeed.  This means we will equip you with the resources and technology to excel, and onboard you in a way that highlights Splash’s ethos, culture, history, successes, and challenges.  
• Splash provides generous benefits, including health benefits, paid time off, pension plan, etc. We also offer Wellness Fridays (reduced working hours on Fridays all year round), and two additional weeks of office closure during the year for all staff, in addition to personal paid time off benefits.