JOB PURPOSE

The Operations Lead provides senior strategic leadership, systems oversight, and people management for all business operations functions across the Southern Africa (SAF) Cluster, ensuring that finance, logistics, procurement, ICT, compliance, internal controls, and risk management systems operate as an integrated, efficient, and resilient regional platform.

The role is responsible for building and maintaining the operational backbone of the SAF Cluster, ensuring that all business services systems are coherent, fit-for-purpose, and capable of supporting a highly complex, multi-country, partner-led, and increasingly decentralised programme model. It ensures that operational architecture is not fragmented across countries or affiliates, but functions as a unified strategic enabler of Oxfam’s 2026–2030 regional strategy.

Operating under the direct leadership of the Cluster Director, the role has dual accountability: first, for ensuring that operational systems across finance, logistics, procurement, ICT, grants compliance, and organisational controls are strategically aligned and continuously strengthened; and second, for directly leading and managing a multi-disciplinary regional operations team to ensure high performance, strong accountability, and service excellence.

The Operations Lead plays a critical role in safeguarding financial integrity, reducing legal and reputational risk, strengthening donor confidence, supporting partner-led delivery systems, and ensuring that Oxfam’s operational systems are sufficiently agile to respond to both long-term development priorities and humanitarian surge demands.

Through strong strategic leadership, enterprise systems integration, operational innovation, and people management, this role significantly strengthens Oxfam’s regional capacity to deliver efficient, compliant, accountable, and future-fit programming across Southern Africa.

As a member of the Cluster Leadership Team, contribute to the collective strategic leadership, governance, and management of the SAF Cluster, sharing responsibility for organisational performance, risk management, and delivery of the Cluster Strategy. Where domiciled within a programme hub, act under delegated authority as the senior Oxfam representative in that country, providing organisational stewardship and representing the Cluster in engagements with government institutions, partners, donors, coordination platforms, and other internal and external stakeholders, while ensuring alignment between regional priorities and country-level implementation.

Essential Qualifications

• Master’s degree in business management /administration/ financial management or equivalent professional qualification.
• Alternatively, a Bachelor’s degree combined with a full professional qualification in accountancy (e.g. CA/ACCA/ACA/CIMA) will be considered.
• Knowledge/ experience of banking regulations and systems across all four countries in the region.
• A minimum of 6 years’ of progressive experience in finance, operations, logistics, compliance, and business services leadership with at least two years in the development sector.
• Proven experience managing multi-country operational systems.
• Excellent leadership and people management abilities, with motivational, talent development and change management skills. Able to manage and develop other people’s professional standards and potential.
• Good knowledge of logistics management, including the provision of services in remote locations.
• Good knowledge of general administrative management, with expertise in providing a superior, proactive, business focussed service.
• Strong project management and organisational skills, with experience using formal project management techniques.
• Ability to build strong, credible relationships with internal and external individuals and organisations.
• A high level of self-awareness, personal energy, stamina and flexibility. Ability to work creatively, effectively and in an innovative manner, adjusting to constantly changing situations while maintaining focus on delivery and follow-through.
• Proven experience as a team worker and demonstrably cooperative with members of other teams.
• Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible.

Desirable

• Portuguese language capability
• Southern Africa regional experience
• Humanitarian operational systems exposure
• Knowledge of banking and regulatory systems across multiple SAF countries
• Commitment to Oxfam’s overall aims and policies and experience of promoting gender equity and diversity and the interests of marginalized people in all aspects of Oxfam’s work
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly, at times at short notice, locally and regionally.

Organisational Values:

Accountability – Our purpose-driven, results-focused approach means we take responsibility for our actions and hold ourselves accountable. We believe that others should also be held accountable for their actions.

Empowerment – Our approach means that everyone involved with Oxfam, from our staff and supporters to people living in poverty, should feel they can make change happen.

Inclusiveness – We are open to everyone and embrace diversity. We believe everyone has a contribution to make, regardless of visible and invisible differences.

• Provide senior strategic leadership, systems oversight, and people management for all business operations functions across the Southern Africa (SAF) Cluster.
• Ensure that finance, logistics, procurement, ICT, compliance, internal controls, and risk management systems operate as an integrated, efficient, and resilient regional platform.
• Build and maintain the operational backbone of the SAF Cluster.
• Ensure that all business services systems are coherent, fit-for-purpose, and capable of supporting a highly complex, multi-country, partner-led, and increasingly decentralised programme model.
• Ensure that operational architecture is not fragmented across countries or affiliates, but functions as a unified strategic enabler of Oxfam’s 2026–2030 regional strategy.
• Ensure that operational systems across finance, logistics, procurement, ICT, grants compliance, and organisational controls are strategically aligned and continuously strengthened.
• Directly lead and manage a multi-disciplinary regional operations team to ensure high performance, strong accountability, and service excellence.
• Safeguard financial integrity, reduce legal and reputational risk, and strengthen donor confidence.
• Support partner-led delivery systems.
• Ensure that Oxfam’s operational systems are sufficiently agile to respond to both long-term development priorities and humanitarian surge demands.
• Contribute to the collective strategic leadership, governance, and management of the SAF Cluster.
• Share responsibility for organisational performance, risk management, and delivery of the Cluster Strategy.
• Act as the senior Oxfam representative in the country of domicile (where applicable), providing organisational stewardship and representing the Cluster in engagements with government institutions, partners, donors, coordination platforms, and other internal and external stakeholders.
• Ensure alignment between regional priorities and country-level implementation.

• Leadership and people management
• Motivational skills
• Talent development skills
• Change management skills
• Logistics management
• General administrative management
• Project management
• Organisational skills
• Relationship building
• Self-awareness
• Creativity
• Effective working
• Innovative working
• Adaptability
• Focus on delivery
• Follow-through
• Teamwork
• Cooperation

• Master’s degree in business management /administration/ financial management or equivalent professional qualification.
• Alternatively, a Bachelor’s degree combined with a full professional qualification in accountancy (e.g. CA/ACCA/ACA/CIMA) will be considered.
• Knowledge/ experience of banking regulations and systems across all four countries in the region.
• Proven experience managing multi-country operational systems.
• Good knowledge of logistics management, including the provision of services in remote locations.
• Good knowledge of general administrative management, with expertise in providing a superior, proactive, business focussed service.
• Experience using formal project management techniques.
• Proven experience as a team worker and demonstrably cooperative with members of other teams.
• Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding policies.
• Portuguese language capability (Desirable).
• Southern Africa regional experience (Desirable).
• Humanitarian operational systems exposure (Desirable).
• Knowledge of banking and regulatory systems across multiple SAF countries (Desirable).
• Commitment to Oxfam’s overall aims and policies and experience of promoting gender equity and diversity and the interests of marginalized people in all aspects of Oxfam’s work (Desirable).
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly, at times at short notice, locally and regionally (Desirable).