Overview
Job Title: Country Manager (based in Zanzibar)
Job location: Unguja, Zanzibar
Length of Contract: 1 year, renewable
The compensation: 6,500,000 TZS/Month + Health benefits
The commitment: Full time, 40 hours/ week
The start date: August, 2025.
Youth Challenge International (YCI)
About Youth Challenge International:
The Youth Challenge International promotes youth creativity for benefit. Together with young leaders and innovators, we are building a better future in which people, the planet, and profit can thrive. We are all in on the big ideas, skills, and projects that will bring us there. In over 30 countries, YCI has collaborated with young people and partner organizations to transform complicated challenges into long-term solutions; we learn quickly, fail smartly, and put ideas into action. We think that the next generation can and will create a better world for itself.
HerStart: Innovate the Future.
HerStart is a YCI effort promoting gender equality, innovation, and economic empowerment on a worldwide scale.
YCI’s HerStart: Innovate the Future program provides dynamic entrepreneurship and leadership training, mentorship, and seed capital for young women in Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda to establish enterprises that have a positive impact on their communities. We co-design and co-implement HerStart with local partners in each nation, who contribute their unique knowledge while also advancing their own organizational development. We use the enthusiasm and abilities of Canadian volunteers to increase our impact while also promoting their personal and professional growth. Beyond HerStart, supportive ecosystems are created on a local level to stimulate cooperation, decrease silos, and break down gender barriers.
The Position Summary:
The Country Manager will report to the Regional Project Manager and contribute leadership, initiative, and innovation to HerStart’s management and growth in Tanzania. This position is responsible for fulfilling project goals and increasing YCI’s effect at the national level. The ideal candidate exhibits people-centered leadership for staff, partners, and volunteers, ensuring that they are well-equipped to apply YCI values across all activities and achieve organizational and program goals.
We are looking for an experienced, creative, and passionate leader to deliver extraordinary results. We are looking for team members with the talents, passion, and drive to accelerate young innovation for good on a global scale.
The Responsibilities include:
- Program Management: Foster a thriving team culture by leading, managing, and improving team capacity to achieve a high-quality project. Oversee the delivery of all program components through integrated processes to achieve goals and targets, including volunteer management and project grants for participants and partners; Manage national-level reporting and annual work planning operations. Oversee and implement country-level human resource management, such as recruitment, onboarding, and performance management; Collaborate on the design and implementation of communication, gender equality, and climate action strategies in the country.
- Finance, Operations, and Risk Management: Monitor and manage yearly and multi-year program budgets in accordance with donor requirements and work plans; Ensure organizational compliance with national laws and regulations. Ensure the creation and submission of high-quality financial papers and reports. Monitor and manage the program risk profile in the country. As the focal point for all risk, safety, and security occurrences, ensure that YCI’s risk, safety, and security protocols are monitored and applied throughout the project.
- Partnership Development and Management: Manage local partnerships to guarantee that collaborative project activities are delivered effectively. Engage multiple ecosystem actors (including government, non-profit, and commercial sectors) to create a multi-stakeholder network to support youth, women’s empowerment, and entrepreneurship goals. Establish and maintain good communication and connections with all partners and the YCI headquarters in Toronto, Canada. Stay informed about national and regional priorities and concerns affecting women and youth, and, where possible, position the project and partnerships to respond effectively.
- Strategic Initiatives: Manage the national team to develop and implement annual country strategic action plans that are aligned with YCI’s strategic plan. Pursue and manage new financial and public engagement possibilities in accordance with the Country Strategic Action Plan. Stay current on research, best practices, and sector initiatives to ensure that strategic decisions are relevant and impactful. Increase YCI’s brand and presence through smart interactions and relationship building. Perform any other duties assigned by the Regional Project Manager or CEO.
The Skill and Experience:
You are an experienced leader with a minimum of 8+ years of progressively responsible leadership experience at a management or director level; you have a successful track record in co-designing, managing, and implementing donor-funded projects, with a demonstrated commitment to team management, mentoring, and supervising teams; and you can demonstrate how you have built effective teams and partnerships with diverse stakeholders, including government, community leaders, donors. You have good financial planning and budget management skills; you have significant expertise managing effective community development; you are passionate about investing in women’s and youth livelihoods and are driven by innovation and entrepreneurship. You understand the significance of volunteerism and ideally have experience working with volunteers; Ideally, you exhibit an integrated understanding of economic inclusion, gender equality, and climate action. You are an efficient communicator with outstanding written and spoken English and Swahili skills; and you are a permanent resident or citizen of Tanzania, with the ability to live and work in Zanzibar.
Preventing sexual exploitation and abuse.
YCI understands the unequal power relations that exist in international development work, as well as our responsibility to respect the human rights of the people we serve and to offer a safe environment free of sexual exploitation. Youth Challenge International (YCI) has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA).
Everyone is responsible for preventing sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), and all employees must sign and follow the PSEA Policy and Code of Conduct at all times. All employees must ensure that they understand and comply with this condition.
How to submit an application:
The application deadline is Monday, July 14, 2025.
Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis as they arrive, therefore we encourage early submission. No phone calls or emails regarding the post will be allowed. We appreciate all applicants’ interest; unfortunately, only those selected for interviews will be notified.
YCI welcomes applicants from all backgrounds. To achieve our objectives, we rely on the diverse experiences and perspectives of our employees, volunteers, and partners. We recognize that varied opinions are essential for an inclusive culture to exist, one that respects and welcomes all. We are committed to establishing an inclusive environment for employees, candidates, volunteers, partners, and participants of all ages, religions, races, gender identities, physical abilities, and sexual orientations.
When screening applications, YCI takes a people-focused approach. We do not use artificial intelligence in our recruitment procedure. If you require accommodations throughout the recruitment process, please let us know and we will work with you to satisfy your requirements.
Submission of an Application: To begin the application process, click the button below.
