Rare Charity
Rare Education. Rare Community. Rare Thinking.
JOB DESCRIPTION: Country Manager (part time), RARE CHARITY
Rare Charity
Rare Charity funds education where opportunities are rare, but talent is not. We offer talented people within tea communities access to education through scholarships. The majority of our educational funding is currently delivered in Malawi.
The Role
We are searching for a Country Manager who will institute Rare Charity as a Malawi-based organisation, and manage and develop activities in country. The Country Manager will be responsible for:
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- Managing, strengthening and streamlining scholarship and day-to-day operations in Malawi
- Safeguarding scholars and delivering initiatives to improve their experiences
- Managing the Rare Charity Support Officer and any volunteers / interns
- Representing Rare Charity on a national level, and occasionally to international partners and donors through online platforms (ie. Zoom, MS Teams)
- Actively contributing to organisational communications including story and content generation for online media
The role will be wide-ranging. You will report to the Managing Director in the UK, but you will be encouraged to use your own initiative to develop initiatives and approaches to improve and grow Rare Charity’s work.
Location
Work will be home-based, but will require travel in and around tea communities, to support scholars, as well as periodic visits to educational institutions. Being based in Thyolo, Blantyre or a neighbouring district with easy access to the tea communities would therefore be strongly preferred.
Person Specification
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- A proven self-starter, with experience of effective delivery while working independently. Very comfortable with using his/her own initiative, with ability to propose and realise solutions to challenges.
- At least 5 years of relevant experience, which has led to the development an understanding of and skills related to the different tasks encompassed by this role
- Compassion and understanding to engage thoughtfully with scholars and assist them to overcome challenges and have a rewarding experience
- Good knowledge of safeguarding
- Strong administrative skills; clear and diligent record keeping and documentation
- Experience of managing colleagues, providing structure and supervision for their work and supporting their personal development
- Excellent written, verbal and digital communication skills, with the ability to coordinate clearly and regularly with remote colleagues and scholars, as well as to provide guidance and training for others in effective (and safe online) communication
- A high standard of written and spoken English. Good communication in Chichewa strongly preferred
- Able to represent the organisation and raise its profile with existing and potential partners at all levels, in coordination with the Managing Director
- Strong networking and partnership management skills
- Understanding of formal registration processes, and diligence to ensure effective progress and compliance with necessary requirements
- Good working knowledge of Word, Excel, Google Drive. Adaptability to work with other software and platforms for the benefit of coordination and delivery
- Bachelors degree with strong understanding of secondary and tertiary education in Malawi
- Serve as an advocate for individual students, including liaising with headmasters and
- Commitment to the value of education, and its accessibility to all
- Strategic, resourceful, self-reliant and able to manage multiple contrasting tasks
- Able and willing to provide support, encouragement and counsel to scholars
- Digital media skills, ability to contribute engaging content for digital and social media platforms and/or support scholars to do the same
- Positive, ethical approach, committed to uphold Rare Charity’s values and policies
- (Preferable) Based in or able to relocate to Thyolo, Blantyre or elsewhere close /easily accessible to the tea communities and base of activities
Detailed job description
Operations
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- Manage the assessment and timely payment of tuition fees and other payments associated with secondary and tertiary education scholars
- Provide detailed financial reports to the Managing Director.
- Help to ensure scholar access to registration, meals and accommodation as needed.
- Proactively establish relationships with key university staff such as the finance officers, registrars or others who can assist when a situation arises
- In coordination with Managing Director and Support Officer, monitor tertiary student reports, submitted monthly to the support officer
- Coordinate MASM health insurance coverage and payments for scholars
- Monitor scholar reports for any issues, special requests or additional support that goes beyond what is provided by the University (ie, clinical attachments, work study)
- Invite and assess student proposals related to ancillary financial support
- Ensure efficient and effective management of operations at a national level
Student Welfare and Support
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- Serve as an advocate for individual students, including liaising with headmasters and University staff as necessary
- Coordinate and collaborate with the Support Officer on visits with scholars and schools, ideally once a semester, to ensure student welfare is sound and to help assess new scholars applications
- Proactively work to safeguard the welfare of scholars
- Develop and manage support services for scholars, which might take the form of:
- Mentorship from graduated Rare Charity scholars
- Training in digital skills and employment skills ie. CV writing
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Governance
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- Coordinate the registration of Rare Charity in Malawi
- Review and contribute to policy documents
- Advise the Rare Charity Trustees and Managing Director
Communications
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- In coordination with the Managing Director, contribute to a social media and including sourcing stories, images and video.
- Represent Rare Charity in Malawi, raising the profile of the organisation in country, and engaging online internationally, with partners and stakeholders, in coordination with the Managing Director
- Presenting and maintaining a positive image of Rare Charity, in line with the ethos of the organisation
Contract 1 year, inclusive of 3 month probation period
Reporting to: Rare Charity Managing Director.
Self-employed consultant, part-time at 3 days per week, subject to review.
Method Of Application
Send a CV, cover letter and response to the written application task (please take care to follow guidance below) to tom@rarecharity.com by EOD Sunday 29th January. As a small charity we are not able to respond / feedback on unsuccessful applications.
Cover Letter: Please ensure your cover letter shows your motivation for the role and how your skills and experience relate to the criteria listed above (under Person Specification, though you also may add further experience relevant to the Job Description). Both CV and cover letter should ideally be two pages long (ie. two sides of A4) and no more than three.
Written Application Task: Rare Charity supports scholars in tertiary institutions across Malawi. In no more than 500 words, suggest an initiative or approach that could improve the experience and/or success of these scholars and why it could be important.
Rare Charity is committed to promoting equal opportunities in employment. Any job applicants will receive equal treatment regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.