Regional Director for the Latin America and the Caribbean program

Position Summary:

The Regional Director – Latin America and the Caribbean leads Thousand Currents’ programmatic efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean, playing a crucial role as grant-maker, donor organizer, and network weaver. By nurturing strong relationships based on mutual trust, respect, and integrity with movement partners, the Regional Director works to advance Thousand Currents’ commitment to deepen the core and turn up the volume as well as the Latin America and the Caribbean regional strategy.

Reporting to the Director of Global Programs and working closely with the Regional Directors for Asia and the Pacific and Africa, the Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean co-designs our unique model of partnership, builds alliances, and shares learning about our work within philanthropy. The Regional Director supervises the Program Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, consultants, and interns. The Regional Director also collaborates closely with colleagues in Communications, Philanthropic Partnerships, Learning Initiatives, and Operations to strengthen Thousand Currents’ work in alignment with our Theory of Change. The Regional Director brings to this role a strong commitment to human rights and social justice and to ensuring that Thousand Currents’ communications with donors and other stakeholders is consistent with our organization’s values, Fundraising Vision and with the Association of Fundraising Professionals Code of Ethics.

Essential Functions:

1. Lead the development and implementation of the Latin America and the Caribbean strategy and grant-making: 50% Working under the supervision of the Director of Global Programs, the Regional Director leads the strategy development of the Latin America and Caribbean regional program in alignment with the Global Programs strategy and the Thousand Currents’ theory of change. This includes but is not limited to:

    • Leading the development and implementation of the regional program strategy
      • Provide operational oversight and ensure strategic coherence of all programmatic objectives
      • Through regular dialogue with grantee partners, regional advisors, allies, and desktop research, develop deep contextual knowledge of regional issues around food sovereignty, economic justice
        and climate justice;
      • Manage a portfolio of Latin American and Caribbean grantee partners, reviewing application materials and reports, and recommending grants aligned with Thousand Currents’ strategy — in compliance with international grant-making regulations;
      • Work closely with the Investment Fund and CLIMA Directors to ensure synergy between these Funds’ investments and other support for Thousand Currents partners;
      • Provide tri-annual written program development summary briefs for Thousand Currents staff and board.
    • Develop and nurture strong partnerships with movements and movement support organizations and other allies and networks in Latin America and the Caribbean
      • Through regular ongoing communication and in-person program meetings in Latin America and the Caribbean, identify and nurture strong relationships with movement partners in accordance with Thousand Currents values and principles;
      • Represent the work of the regional program in philanthropic, civil society, government, media, and academic spaces including attending meetings, writing briefs/articles for external publication, and presentations (virtual and in-person);
      • Actively participate in regional networks, coalitions, and alliances that are relevant to our priority issues and the work of Thousand Currents’ movement partners.
    • Fiscal and Administrative Leadership
      • Manage Latin America and the Caribbean staff members and consultants while holding responsibility for the performance management of the regional team as a whole as well as individual direct reports;
      • Develop and manage an annual regional program budget for review and approval by the Director of Global Programs;
      • Periodically review expenditures against budget and recommend spending adjustments or budget modifications as necessary;
      • Supervise the regional programs activities for timely grant making, effective portfolio monitoring, and management for accountability and impact.
      • Supervise and support the Latin America and the Caribbean Program Manager to deepen and strengthen our work with movements and movement support groups in the region, and the administration of grants (agreements, expense requests, wife transfers);
      • Support implementation of grants including documentation, learning and evaluation procedures, and partnership exit strategies as needed.

2. Contribute to Donor Organizing, Fundraising, Organizational Learning, Communications, and Alliance-building: 30% Integrate learning from Latin American and the Caribbean partners’ work and context into programmatic, donor organizing and organizational learning and strategy development at Thousand Currents. This includes but is not limited to:

  • Contribute analysis and experience of Latin American and the Caribbean partnerships and programs work to inform learning and communications activities
    • Analyze and synthesize key learnings and themes that emerge from work with Thousand Currents Latin American and the Caribbean partners and programs;
    • Share lessons internally with Thousand Currents staff and board and externally through contributing to briefs, evaluations, webinars, blogs, and public speaking opportunities;
    • Work with communications staff to articulate Thousand Currents’ partnership model and to support the narrative shift work of the organization.
  • Contribute to fundraising efforts, including proposals and reports
    • Work with the Philanthropic Partnerships team, Grants Operations team, and the Director of Global Programs to manage restricted funding, including joining donor calls and contributing to donor reports and proposals;
    • Maintain and deepen understanding of trends in philanthropic giving and social change and provide research on trends and opportunities in Thousand Currents’ funding areas in response to requests.
  • Build alliances for Thousand Currents and our partners
    • In partnership with communications and other pertinent staff, coordinate partner engagements with Thousand Currents and ensure that partners remain at the center of Thousand Currents’ resource mobilization strategy;
    • Activate Thousand Currents’ networks and alliances to build linkages and promote increased engagement with, and support for, the work of our partners as well as that of Thousand Currents itself;
    • Work with the Philanthropic Partnerships team to influence allied funders in overlapping sectors.

3. Contribute to overall planning, management of, and funding for, all Regional Programs (10%) Along with other program team members and under the leadership of the Director of Global Programs, the Regional Director contributes to program policy and management systems development, including but not limited to:

  • Collaborate with other regional directors on program strategy development, learnings, resource mobilization, and communications;
  • Contribute to periodic revisions of program processes, such as partner selection criteria and indicators, funding priorities, learning and evaluation procedures, in-person program meeting protocols;
  • Provide guidance to the Grants Manager on grant administration; and hire and supervise regional consultants, contractors, interns, and volunteers as needed;
  • Support setting funding priorities, participate in budgeting for program operations, and track and manage spending within budget parameters;
  • Support Thousand Currents’ fundraising efforts by developing content for donor communications, foundation proposals and reports, and nurturing relationships with donors and foundation partners;
  • Undertake special projects as needed in a dynamic, cross-functional, and fast-paced work environment.

4. Participate in organization-wide learning, cross-program partnership and administrative efficiency (10%) Along with all other staff, this position contributes to Thousand Currents’ culture of teamwork and continuous learning and does what it takes to ensure that Thousand Currents staff collaborate and support each other within and across programs and excel in an environment where every member takes care of their own basic administrative needs. This includes but is not limited to:

  • Showing up fully for learning and planning activities, including staff meetings, retreats, trainings, planning, and strategy sessions;
  • Pitching in when needed for organization-wide activities, such as the Thousand Currents Academy, annual events, fundraising drives, partner visits etc.;
  • Supervising and project management of relevant volunteers and interns, and ensuring that they have a positive learning experience at Thousand Currents; and
  • Managing your own regular administration, including timely submission of receipts, reimbursement requests, scheduling, travel planning, filing HR paperwork etc.

Note: Thousand Currents is committed to responding flexibly to changing circumstances and priorities which means that the expectations of every position are dynamic. This description reflects the assignment of essential functions, but does not proscribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned.

Key skills and experience:

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

  • Commitment to Thousand Currents’ vision; proven strategic planning experience; outstanding critical thinking skills, and the flexibility to change course as needed;
  • Excellent analytical skills to ensure strong learning, evaluation, and impact assessment;
  • Understanding of social, cultural, political, ecological, and economic conditions across the region;
  • Proven cross-cultural relationship-building skills with demonstrated cultural competency and resourcefulness;
  • Strong communication skills, particularly writing, editing, and synthesizing complex information;
  • Excellent organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple staff, priorities, and work under deadlines;
  • Ability to work collaboratively, independently, proactively, creatively, and respectfully in a virtual team environment with multiple constituencies and audiences;
  • Strong judgment and discretion in dealing with sensitive information;
  • Ability to participate in team and staff meetings that may occur during early morning or later evening hours, depending on local time zone
  • Proficiency in written and spoken English is required and proficiency in additional language(s), in particular Spanish and/or Portuguese, is an asset;
  • Proficiency in, or willingness to learn, MS Office, Salesforce, Egnyte, and Asana;
  • Ability to travel for periods of up to a month, one to two times per year.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

  • At least Bachelor’s, preferably Master’s degree in a relevant field, or equivalent experience;
  • Experience working with or a strong understanding of movements and movement support organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean working on food sovereignty, economic justice, and climate justice;
  • Demonstrated organizational development experience;
  • Proven experience of supervising staff and volunteers.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

The physical demands of this position are light with the expectation that the staff person can exert up to 20 lbs. of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 lbs. of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects. Light work usually requires walking or standing to a significant
degree. Physical demands are in excess of those of sedentary work. The position requires frequent computer use at a workstation. As Thousand Currents staff work in a number of locations and come together for meetings on occasion, all staff must be able to travel by car and plane to meetings at locations nationally and internationally. Availability to travel and maintenance of a valid passport is required. National or international travel represents approximately 30% of the time for this position. Thousand Currents will make reasonable accommodations in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This job description and its physical requirements will be reviewed periodically as duties and responsibilities change with business necessity. Essential and marginal job functions are subject to modification.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY:

Thousand Currents is an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage and seek applications from women, people of color, and bilingual and bicultural individuals, as well as members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, color, marital status, or medical condition including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and AIDS-related conditions.

SALARY RANGE:

$75,000 USD – $90,00 USD

HOW TO APPLY:

Please submit a writing sample, a cover letter, maximum of one page, and a resume to jobs@thousandcurrents.org with “Regional Director, Latin America and the Caribbean Application” in the subject line by May 24, 2022. Due to the volume of applications, we will only contact applicants that have been moved to interview rounds.