Chief Programs & Partnerships Officer (CPPO)

Background

• Women for Women International (WfWI) invests where inequality is greatest by helping women who are forgotten — the women survivors of war and conflict.
• In Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Sudan, women learn skills to rebuild their families and communities through the Women for Women International’s Stronger Women, Stronger Nations Programme.
• They form support networks, are equipped with the skills to earn an income and save and gain knowledge and resources about health and their rights. Since 1993, our global community has invested in the power of over 550,000 women across 17 conflict-affected countries, to create a ripple effect that makes the world more equal, peaceful, and prosperous.

About the Role

• Women for Women International is seeking an exceptional Chief Programs & Partnerships Officer (CPPO) to join our Executive Leadership Team and help shape the future of our global impact.
• This is a pivotal executive leadership role responsible for ensuring that our programs remain high quality, evidence-based, women-centred, and aligned with our mission to support women affected by war and conflict.
• Reporting directly to the International CEO, the CPPO serves as a strategic partner on program direction, organizational growth, partnership development, and mission delivery.
• The role leads the organization’s global program strategy, program quality standards, evidence and learning agenda, institutional business development, strategic partnerships, and overall program coherence across multiple countries and regions.

Purpose

• The Chief Programs & Partnerships Officer is a member of the Executive Leadership Team and the senior leader responsible for Women for Women International's global program strategy, program quality, program design, evidence and learning, institutional business development, strategic programmatic partnerships, and program delivery coherence.
• The CPPO acts as the International CEO's principal strategic partner on mission alignment, program model coherence, program expansion and geographies, delivery continuity, and institutional and strategic partnerships.
• The CPPO does not hold permanent line-management responsibility for Country Offices once regional reporting lines are in place.
• To protect program quality during and after the transition to the regional structure, the CPPO holds a formal matrix role with Regional Directors and Country Directors for program strategy, technical standards, program design, evidence, delivery feasibility, and programmatic commitments.
• The role may retain or delegate interim line management of designated Country Directors during the phased transition, as agreed by the International CEO.
• This matrix role gives the CPPO clear authority on program quality and programmatic decision rights without duplicating regional line management.
• Regional Directors lead regional strategy, relationship building, coordination, regional representation, and agreed regional revenue contributions.
• The CPPO leads global program direction, program-quality standards, institutional program alignment, and final programmatic sign-off.
• The CPPO leads the Global Programs team in the Global Support Center through direct supervision of the Deputy CPPO, the Global Director of Business Development, the Crisis Response Fund Manager, and the GPU Coordinator.
• The Deputy CPPO directly leads program planning, country planning and budgeting, and coordinated execution across the technical program functions, including Program Design and Development, MERL, Grant Management, and Country Office Support.
• The CPPO works in close collaboration with the Chief Research, Policy, Advocacy & Strategic Communications Officer to ensure WfWI's advocacy, communications, and thought leadership are grounded in program evidence and country realities.
• The CPPO also works closely with the COO to ensure programs and country offices are enabled by strong operational systems, compliance, risk management, procurement, contract management, finance, IT, safety and security, and people support.
• The role holds final decision-making authority on global program standards, technical quality, major program design shifts, pilots and innovations, programmatic commitments, and institutional go/no-go decisions.
• This includes institutional proposals, corporate funding opportunities, major donor grants, strategic partnerships, MOUs, and other commitments that include program content, delivery obligations, or implications for country capacity.
• A core purpose of the role is to reduce the risk of WfWI becoming donor-driven when regional and country leadership roles carry strong revenue responsibilities.
• The CPPO ensures that funding opportunities, external commitments, and program adaptations remain aligned with WfWI's vision, mission, strategy, evidence, delivery capacity, and accountability to women affected by war and conflict.

Requirements

• Applicants in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, S Africa, Germany, UK, Iraq, US must have the existing right to work in one of the jurisdictions as WfWI will not sponsor a visa nor provide relocation expenses.

Application Closing Date
Wednesday 12th August 2026, 23:59 BST (GMT+1). 

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:

Note

• Please submit a CV and answer the application questions on our recruitment website by the date and time below.
• Shortlisting will be based on the criteria evidenced in application form, including your location and your existing right to work.
• Women for Women International does not offer sponsorship for potential candidates.
• Online tests will be scheduled during the selection process.
• Interviews will take place on: 1st round, 27 and 28 August. 2nd round, 2 and 3 September.
• If you will need reasonable adjustments for the application process, please contact the People & Culture Team via the UK Recruitment email address [email protected] , on our recruitment page in our Women for Women International UK website.

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