Director of Logistics and Delivery

Director of Logistics and Delivery

Role description

The Director of Logistics and Delivery oversees a large and vital array of volunteers, as well as contributing substantially to operational and strategic decisions as part of the Board of Directors. The Director of Logistics and Delivery leads on the charity’s ongoing risk management in direct consultation with the Chair of the Board of Trustees.

The Logistics and Delivery committee works on practical aspects of summer preparation, from ensuring volunteers pass DBS checks to booking flights and arranging the central houses in our East African sites.

The committee is also involved, in coordination with the Fundraising Committee, in designing, implementing, and reviewing our current and potential programmes. This means evaluating what the Project Workers have done in their schools, testing new projects such as EPAfrica Standards, and articulating a convincing case for support so that projects new and old can be part of funding bids.

The role requires someone with a good knowledge of EPAfrica, a strong commitment to managing and supporting volunteers (Manager roles present volunteers with significant opportunities for growth and development), a proactive and organised mindset, and a good tolerance for risk, uncertainty, and last-minute changes of plan.

Committee members (whom you would manage)

  • Summer Manager
  • Programme Manager
  • Research Manager
  • M&E Manager
  • Logistics Officers at each university site (1 each Cambridge, Oxford, and Warwick, 2 in London)
  • Logistics and Delivery Associates

Core responsibilities of the Director:

The Director will attend (virtually or in person) the monthly Directors’ meetings. They will coordinate and lead monthly (virtual) Logistics and Delivery meetings.

They will also attend Director-Trustee meetings as required, as well as smaller or ad-hoc meetings.

The Director will be responsible for sections of the Trustee-Director risk log (separate from East African risk awareness); planning, overseeing, and accounting for a substantial portion of the charity’s annual budget; and timely completion of the relevant Milestones in our Annual Plan.

In addition, the following specific responsibilities are particularly important:

  • Manage insurance provider (Feb – May)
  • Monitor visa rules (continuous)
  • Manage PW country selection and partner selection (Jan-May)
  • Manage UK admin and emergency coverage (May-Sept)
  • Log and categorise risks (continuous)
  • Prepare online forms to gather PW and Summer Team documentation (Dec-June)
  • Lead on decisions regarding NGO partnerships (as needed)

Additional Responsibilities of the Committee, overseen by the Director:

Support the Summer Manager to:

  • Book flights (Jan-March)
  • Arrange central houses in all sites (Mar-May)
  • Organise summer team – ensure coverage of all sites (Jan-June)
  • Manage Summer Team documentation (May-June)
  • Prepare summer plan (June)
Support the M&E Manager to:
  • Ensure that Deliverables match M&E needs and priorities (Jan-May)
  • Further develop & implement M&E strategy (full year)
  • Ensure deliverables (Project Planners etc) are completed and collected (Sept-Nov)
  • Collate data, store and analyse data for reporting purposes – prepare data for debriefs, annual report and reports for donors (Oct-Jan)
  • Provide training materials on M&E for ST and PWs (Jan-May)
  • Prepare materials for HT conference and debrief and mid-summer meeting (June-Sept)
Support the Research Manager to:
  • Develop research priorities, in collaboration with M&E Manager (Nov-Mar)
  • Publicise existing research within the charity (full year)
  • Manage ongoing desk-based research activities (full year)
  • Recruit and support researchers (Dec-May)
  • Develop research questions (Nov-Mar)
  • Ensure research meets ethics standards (Nov-May)
  • Own and lead Ethics committee (full year)
Support the Programme Manager to:
  • Work with Fundraising Committee to design, scope, and ‘sell’ EPAfrica’s programmes to various audiences (full year)
  • Communicate with schools (full year)
  • Communicate with key stakeholders in East Africa (full year)
  • Develop/update strategy for Central Pots (Feb – June)
  • Develop our programmes outside of schools (Summer Team Projects) (Feb – June)
  • Oversee Central Pot application process (June-Aug)
  • Provide materials to Training team on Central Pots (Feb-May)
  • Prepare deliverables – work with M&E Manager (Feb-June)
Work with Logistics Officers to:
  • Manage the running of DBS checks
  • Follow up directly with PWs regarding other documentation deadlines and pre-summer decisions (Feb-June)

Person Specification

We are looking to recruit someone with the following skills and experience:

Core

  • At least two years’ experience in EPAfrica after being a PW, OR two years of work experience, OR less than two years’ experience plus EPAfrica Project Management experience
  • Experience of managing and motivating a team.
  • Experience managing volunteers.
  • Excellent communication skills, both verbally and in written form.
  • Demonstrable strategic experience
  • Evidence of strong organisational skills, particularly in terms of delivering projects or activities on short deadlines.
  • The ability to balance priorities and deliver work under pressure.
  • The ability to foster collaboration and group working.
  • The ability to form strong working relationships, including with people external to the charity, and when working remotely.

Desirable

  • Understanding and experience of monitoring and evaluation and/or research within a development context.
  • The capability and motivation to develop an understanding of monitoring, evaluation, and research techniques for the EPAfrica context.
  • Knowledge of EPAfrica’s risk assessment and/or current East African risks
  • IT skills, specifically Salesforce and Excel/spreadsheet experience
  • Financial literacy or willingness to learn