Deputy Technical Director, Economic Empowerment

Sightsavers is looking for a Deputy Technical Director, Economic Empowerment – a key role to provide technical expertise.

Salary: UK: £66,237 – £77,926 Other locations: local terms and conditions apply

Locations: UK remote – with occasional travel to Haywards Heath, West Sussex when required and international travel, Kenya or US

Contract: UK: Permanent, Other locations: Two-year fixed-term contract

Hours: This is a full-time role with some flexibility around hours worked and lots of home working

Our vision is a world where no one is blind from avoidable causes and where people with disabilities can participate equally in society. Our Economic Empower programmes within labour and financial market systems in Bangladesh, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe help support people with disabilities to access pathways that increase their confidence and capabilities to achieve their employment, entrepreneurship and financial aspirations. We work to change regulatory frameworks so that barriers to inclusion are removed and people with disabilities are valued for their participation at work.

We are looking for an Economic Empowerment expert to lead on and ensure that Sightsavers’ work in this area is strategically driven, technically-sound, at appropriate scale, and effectively implemented. The role will also provide strategic direction and oversee technical support to country-specific programmes and ensure that the overall portfolio of programmes is aligned with the organisational strategies. Read more about those here

Key duties will include

• leading on the operationalization of the Economic Empowerment work as defined within our social inclusion strategy
• providing leadership across the organisation to ensure programme teams are working towards common objectives
• to lead the Economic Empowerment team providing oversight of the technical leadership and expertise in this area to guide the development and delivery of effective programmes
• to strengthen collaboration across the organisation through working closely with thematic experts in other teams
• to lead in the identification of new strategic initiatives and innovative approaches in Economic Empowerment
• to undertake senior level representation of Sightsavers as a thematic/technical expert with external stakeholders, including with key partners and global networks
• to manage administrative, budgetary, compliance and reporting requirements

Please read the job description for further details

To succeed in this role you will need:

• Extensive experience in a relevant field, e.g., international development, business administration, international public policy or economics.
• Significant experience in economic empowerment/ livelihoods in the government, non-governmental or private sector organisations
• Experience of working with the private sector and in building innovative, impactful public-private partnerships
• Significant experience leading and developing programmes in Economic Empowerment.
• Experience in programme management and programme innovation
• Understanding of theories and practice of management in organisations
• Significant experience in managing diverse teams
• Experience of working in partnership with diverse organisations and partners including government ministries, professional bodies, the private sector, civil society organisations and bilateral and multilateral development organisations.
• Proven experience in understanding and responding to the complexities of working across multiple countries and continents in an international development organisation.
• Experience in developing and disseminating good practice guidance
• Excellent communication and influencing skills
• The ability to travel internationally for at least 12 weeks per year
• The ability to communicate in French and/ or Portuguese would be desirable
• An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity for people with disabilities