Programme Director, West Africa Programme Full Time

Job Title: Programme Director, West Africa Programme

Location: Accra, Ghana

Reporting to: Africa Department Director

Responsible for: Programme Manager

Duration: Permanent

Salary: TBD

Deadline: 10:00 UK time, Monday 9 Jun 2025

Conciliation Resources

Conciliation Resources is an independent international peacebuilding organisation working with people in conflict to prevent violence, resolve conflicts and promote peaceful societies. We believe that building sustainable peace takes time. We provide practical support to help people affected by violent conflict achieve lasting peace. We draw on our shared experiences to improve peacebuilding policies and practice worldwide. We currently have over 80 full and part-time staff members, working mainly out of the UK, Australia, Kenya and Ethiopia offices. We work with over 70 locally-based and international partners worldwide.

In West Africa, Conciliation Resources’ work focuses on inclusion and addressing root causes of conflicts and is anchored in a strong partnership model and supports cross-border, national, sub-national and community peace and governance structures in West Africa. We currently have active projects in Nigeria and Tri-border areas of Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.

Job Purpose

The Programme Director leads Conciliation Resources’ peacebuilding and conflict resolution work in West Africa. They are responsible for managing the West Africa programme team, providing strategic leadership and operational management to the whole team, with direct line management of the West Africa programme manager. The postholder is responsible for the successful implementation of a programme of diverse projects, including facilitation of dialogue processes; promoting community inclusion and engagement in peace processes, contributing to research and analysis on peace and conflict drivers and dynamics. The postholder has oversight of the full project cycle, including design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, narrative and financial reporting. The Programme Director is responsible for setting and overseeing the management of the programme’s budget, and for ensuring the integrity and credibility of Conciliation Resources’ reputation in West Africa. She or he leads the team’s efforts to secure new funding for our work in the West Africa region, developing new project concepts as well as relationships with existing and new donors.The Programme Director is a member of the Africa department leadership team and the organisational-wide Teams Leadership Forum (TLF). The post is based in Accra (Ghana) and will involve frequent travel in the West Africa region and occasionally to other parts of Africa, London, and internationally.

Person specification

Essential knowledge, skills and experience

• At least 10-15 years’ programme management and leadership experiences, designing and implementing conflict resolution and peacebuilding interventions, including programme design, budget development, programme implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
• Extensive practical and conceptual knowledge of peacebuilding and conflict transformation processes, of processes of social and political change and of supporting the development of local capacities for peacebuilding.
• At least 10-15 years’ experience and knowledge of the social and political landscape in the West Africa context and wider region, and its conflicts.
• Extensive experience of working with local and national partners in an accompaniment and mentoring role, including capacity building and due diligence.
• Significant financial management, including experience preparing and managing annual budgets of at least £1m, monitoring and forecasting spend, and overseeing internal and external financial reporting.
• At least 10-15 years’ experience of leading government or other donor-funded programmes, including donor relationship management, programme development and narrative and budget reporting.
• Experience of line managing staff, including task management, performance management and professional development.
• Significant experience in securing funding for new work, including concept development, building donor relationships and writing proposals and budgets.
• Experience of and sensitivity to communicating with multicultural and diverse audiences.
• Excellent communication skills, to communicate complex issues effectively and adjust communication style to varying circumstances, including ability to listen actively to people from varying backgrounds and with a range of political, cultural, gender and sexual identities and value orientations, combined with an ability to engage with them clearly and sensitively.
• Experience implementing projects in difficult social and political situations or conflict contexts, and experience of hostile environment training or willingness to undertake hostile environment training.
• Excellent organisational and coordination skills, including the ability to think and plan strategically while also retaining close attention to detail, to manage and prioritise a diverse and demanding workload, to convene and run efficient meetings and meet deadlines.
• Ability to navigate political sensitivities and awareness of the complexity of working in conflict-affected situations, including appreciation of confidentiality and handling sensitive information with due care.
• Willingness and ability to work irregular hours on occasions and to undertake frequent international travel in sometimes uncomfortable or insecure conditions.
• Excellent written and spoken English and French
• Experience living and working in the West Africa region.
• Hold the right to live and work in Ghana
• Excellent word processing, spreadsheet, database and email software skills.

Desirable knowledge, skills and experience

• Experience facilitating training workshops and dialogue processes.
• Experience in supporting peace and political mediation processes.
• Experience undertaking advocacy with policymakers.
• Knowledge of local languages in West Africa is desirable

Tagged as: Conciliation Resources, Ghana