Country Director, Palestinian Territories

Right To Play

1.Purpose:

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.

2. Accountability & 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.

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.

Programmatic oversight, learning and innovation (15%)

• Oversees the country programme portfolio , ensuring high-quality delivery, measurable impact, 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.

Perform other duties as assigned

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Innovation and Improvements:

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

7. 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.

8. Expertise (Certifications / Education, Professional Experience):

• Master s degree in business administration, social sciences, development studies or related discipline.
• 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.
• 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 [local language], English and French (for Francophone countries).
• Significant experience with a child-focused organization is desirable.

9. Core Competences:

• 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

10- Additional Information:

Expected to travel frequently domestically and internationally and work outside regular hours