Portfolio Manager - Africa

PORTFOLIO MANAGER - AFRICA

What we are looking for 

Hivos is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all qualified individuals. We are currently seeking suitably qualified, highly competent, and motivated candidates to serve as Portfolio Manager – Africa.

Scope: Africa

Location: This position can be based anywhere within our African operational countries where we have a registered office (including Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe).

Hours: Full Time (37.5 Hours Per Week – Zimbabwe / 40 hours Per Week – Kenya / 37.5 hours Per Week - Malawi / 37.5 Hours Per Week - Zambia)

Reports to: Global Head of Programmes

Supervises: Project Managers

Team: Programs

Contract Type: Fixed – Term

Term: This appointment is for an initial term of 1 year, with possibility of annual renewal, subject to donor funding availability, performance and organizational needs.

Office: Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malawi or Zambia

Deadline: 24 September 2026

About the role

The Portfolio Manager Africa reports to the Head of Programs and is a strategic, cross-cutting role responsible for overseeing the coherence, design, and performance of an assigned project portfolio in line with Hivos’ strategy. The role leads program and project design, contributes to idea generation and proposal development, steers portfolio-level planning and reporting, leads project managers, and drives quality, compliance, and continuous improvement across the portfolio.

Purpose of the role

The Portfolio Manager Africa provides strategic leadership to ensure the coherence, quality, and impact of Hivos’ project portfolio, strengthening program design, implementation, and performance while fostering continuous improvement, accountability, and evidence-informed decision-making across assigned countries and initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure strategic coherence and alignment across the project portfolio.


• Project design ensuring thematically solid propositions in line with Hivos’ strategy


• Generate interesting ideas for proposal development in line with Hivos’s strategy.


• Provide strategic advice for developing new programs and projects.


• Analyze and provide strategic recommendations on the political, social, and economic context of countries in the assigned project portfolio.


• Contribute to overseeing the implementation of improvement processes resulting from audits of the assigned project portfolio and provide support for consolidating good practices.


• Responsible for designing, implementing, and evaluating advocacy strategies.


• Initiate, facilitate, and manage or co-manage relevant and impactful advocacy activities and events.


• Draft project reports and presentations, summarizing progress and insights.


• Develop workstream and project plans aligned with frameworks.


• Support risk, issue, and dependency tracking and mitigation.


• Coordinate stakeholder engagement activities.


• Supervise closeout processes of the assigned project portfolio.


• Support the development of funding proposals.


• Analyze project data and prepare insights reports.


• Support process improvement initiatives and horizon scanning.


• Supervise local and regional project managers, allocate work, and contribute to appraisals.


• Identify and report noncompliance with organizational policies.

Person Specifications

• Master’s degree in business, law, development, public administration, or an equivalent discipline


• A seasoned professional with at least 10 years of regional and or international programme management experience, possessing a proven track record in strategic thinking within complex operations, alongside extensive expertise in team leadership and staff supervision.


• Demonstrable project and financial management skills including resource mobilisation and the development of large and small funding proposals.


• Project planning, reporting, and prioritization.


• Support and coordinate requirements, gathering and change management processes.


• Experience in developing effective advocacy strategies.


• Strategic thinking and ability to create, identify and make use of advocacy opportunities, and link results and lessons to wider program outcomes.


• Understanding of the contexts of the Southern, Eastern, Western and Central African countries and territories.


• Data analysis and insight generation.


• Stakeholder engagement and expectation management.


• Ability to manage resistance and handle issues effectively.


• Tech-savvy with modern project tools.


• Strong organizational and problem-solving abilities.


• Strong verbal and written communication skills are important.


• Language skills: Fluent in English. French is an asset.

What we offer

We offer a stimulating work environment in a professional international organization with dedicated staff. We offer an initial one-year contract, renewable based on performance and funding, based on local labor conditions, with a remuneration commensurate with experience and expertise.

Please Note:

• Work Authorization: Hivos does not sponsor work permits or international relocation costs for this particular position.


• Eligibility: To be considered, the successful candidate must already possess or independently secure the legal right to work in one of the specified duty stations highlighted prior to appointment.

Want to apply?

Please submit a cover letter (maximum 1 page) and CV (maximum 2 pages) as soon as possible by clicking the ‘Apply here’ button. Applications are being received until 24 September 2026, midnight CAT.

Our values and commitment to safeguarding

Hivos is committed to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace, and strives to be representative of all sections of society. We know that different perspectives, experiences, and competences are key for Hivos to be a relevant, capable, and successful organization. Hivos therefore strives to recruit staff with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences.  

Hivos is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people, adults and partners with whom Hivos engage. 

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks. Hivos also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. When you submit an application, you confirm your understanding of these recruitment procedures.