The COO provides strategic and operational leadership for Afrika Tikkun Foundation, ensuring that Centres, Programmes, people, systems, and evidence are aligned to deliver high-quality, cost-effective and measurable impact.
The role is responsible for translating strategy into disciplined implementation across core operations, Centre delivery, programme quality, people management, monitoring and evaluation, and continuous improvement. Therefore the COO is expected to be a subject Matter Expert in:
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Ignite - Child and Youth Development
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Health and Fitness
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Disability Inclusion
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Early Child Development
The COO has direct reports and oversight of the following areas:
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Five (5) Operation Centres
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ECD / Bambanani
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Head of HR / People
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Monitoring and Evaluation
Strategic and Operational Leadership
- Translate organisational strategy into integrated annual operational plans.
- Lead centre and programme operations through clear priorities, routines and accountability mechanisms.
- Support EXCO decision-making through operational insight, risk analysis and practical implementation planning.
- Ensure operations are aligned to the Foundation’s mission, funding commitments and sustainability requirements.
Centre and Programme Delivery
- Provide oversight to the five operation centres and ensure consistent implementation standards.
- Ensure ECD / Bambanani and core programme delivery are implemented efficiently and within agreed targets.
- Coordinate centre-based and outreach delivery to reduce duplication and blurred accountability.
- Strengthen service quality, beneficiary experience and operational responsiveness.
People, HR and Performance Management
- Oversee the Head of HR / People to ensure staffing, performance, discipline and development support operational delivery.
- Align people capacity to programme targets, centre needs and budget realities.
- Strengthen accountability, performance management and organisational culture.
- Ensure fair, consistent and legally compliant people processes.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Evidence-Based Management
- Oversee M&E as an operational decision-making function.
- Ensure data is used to track delivery, verify results and inform improvement.
- Embed data quality, reporting discipline and learning follow-up across centres and programmes.
- Ensure POPIA and data governance requirements are upheld.
Subject Matter Expert Coordination and Programme Quality
- Coordinate SME support across Ignite / Child and Youth Development, Health and Fitness, Disability Inclusion and ECD.
- Ensure SMEs provide technical guidance, quality assurance and programme improvement support.
- Translate technical expertise into practical centre-level implementation support.
- Promote integration across programmes where beneficiary needs overlap.
Budgeting, Reporting and Resource Efficiency
- Work with Finance to monitor operational budgets, cost drivers and efficiencies.
- Ensure programmes and centres deliver within approved budgets and funding requirements.
- Identify opportunities to reduce waste, improve productivity and strengthen cost-effectiveness.
- Provide clear operational reporting to the CEO and EXCO.
Values, Governance and Risk
- Model Afrika Tikkun values in daily leadership and decision-making.
- Ensure operational risks, compliance issues and safeguarding concerns are identified and managed.
- Promote ethical conduct, transparency, responsible kindness and accountability.
- Maintain confidentiality and professional integrity.
Formal Qualifications
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Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Management, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Education,
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or a related field.
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Postgraduate qualification or MBA advantageous.
Experience
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At least 10 years’ progressive leadership experience, including senior management responsibility for operations, programmes, people, budgets, reporting and cross-functional delivery.
