CARE is a leading humanitarian organization dedicated to fighting poverty and social injustice with a special emphasis on women and girls. CARE began working in Zimbabwe in 1992 in response to severe regional drought and has since expanded programming to address longer-term development issues. CARE Zimbabwe's FY2026–2030 Country Strategy focuses on four priorities: Humanitarian Response; Climate-Resilient Livelihoods; Empowered Girls and Women; and Women, Girls and Youth Economic Empowerment. The organization seeks to recruit outstanding candidates who are known for their excellence, professionalism, and integrity, and who are committed to making a difference.

Position Summary

CARE International Zimbabwe is seeking a strategic and results-driven Head of Programs to join its Senior Management Team. This is a senior leadership role with primary accountability across three interconnected mandates: leading the organisation's resource mobilisation agenda; managing and developing the Programs team; and ensuring coordinated, high-quality delivery of all Country Office programming. The incumbent will serve as Country Director during delegated periods.

Key Responsibilities

1. Resource Mobilisation (60%)

• Lead and manage CARE Zimbabwe's funding pipeline across institutional donors, UN agencies, private foundations, and non-traditional financing sources.
• Develop high-quality concept notes, expressions of interest, and full proposals, coordinating inputs from program, finance, and MEAL teams.
• Build and manage strategic donor relationships; represent CARE Zimbabwe compellingly in donor and private sector engagements.
• Drive non-traditional resource mobilisation, including blended finance, CSR partnerships, and social enterprise initiatives.

2. Program Leadership & Supervision (15%)

• Provide direct line management, performance management, and professional development for all program direct reports.
• Coordinate program delivery across all active projects and pillars, facilitating integration, knowledge-sharing, and cross-project synergies.
• Embed a culture of continuous learning using evidence from MEAL to improve program design and delivery.

3. Programme Quality, Compliance & Operations (20%)

• Ensure all programs comply with donor requirements, CARE International standards, and Zimbabwean regulations.
• Review and approve high-quality donor narrative reports; oversee program-level risk management.
• Collaborate with Finance, Operations, and HR Managers to ensure programs are operationally feasible and well-resourced.
• Integrate CARE's safeguarding and anti-fraud standards across all program activities.

4. Strategy, Representation & Visibility (5%)

• Represent CARE Zimbabwe at donor forums, cluster meetings, government consultations, and INGO coordination platforms.
• Contribute to country-level policy and advocacy using programming evidence across the four programme pillars.

Education

• Master's degree in Development Studies, International Development, Social Sciences, Public Health, Public Policy, or a related field.

Experience

• Minimum 7 years of progressive experience in international development or humanitarian programming, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role.
• Demonstrated, verifiable track record in resource mobilization — leading successful multi-million-dollar proposals across institutional donors and private foundations.
• Proven experience managing multi-disciplinary program teams in a complex, multi-donor INGO environment.
• Strong knowledge of Zimbabwe's development context, donor landscape, and key sector dynamics.

Key Competencies

• Exceptional written communication; ability to produce persuasive proposals, donor reports, and strategic documents.
• Strong leadership, people management, coaching, and conflict resolution skills.
• Financial management literacy; able to develop and monitor program budgets and demonstrate value for money.
• Committed to gender equality, women's leadership, and CARE's core values.

Why Join Us?

At CARE International Zimbabwe, you will contribute to a mission-driven organisation dedicated to empowering communities. We offer a supportive work environment, opportunities for professional development, and the chance to lead high-impact programming.

CARE does not use recruiting or placement agencies that charge candidates an up-front fee of any kind. Occasionally, CARE does employ recruiting or placement agencies to help us identify candidates for specific employment within CARE. If you’re contacted by a legitimate recruiting or placement agency, there should be no charge for you. We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity, ancestry, national origin, handicap, disability, marital status. CARE is committed to preventing any type of abuse, exploitation and harassment in our work environment and programming, including sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment.