Country Director Lebanon

About the War Child Alliance

The War Child Alliance was formed in 2023. It brought together the five War Child fundraising members (in the Netherlands, UK, Germany and Sweden, plus Children in Conflict in the US) and 14 programme members based in and around conflict-affected areas across the world. The resulting Alliance integrated programme activities under one umbrella – all with the aim to multiply our impact for conflict-affected children. The Alliance is now entering a critical phase of its development, where strengthening shared governance across member organisations, deepening equitable partner models, and ensuring clarity of roles between Alliance and member entities will be central to delivering impact at scale.

In 2025, as violence, displacement, shrinking humanitarian access and reduced aid funding made the world increasingly dangerous for children, War Child reached more than one million people through country programmes and partnerships across 30 countries. Its work is grounded in child protection, education, mental health and psychosocial support, delivered increasingly through evidence-based methodologies and in partnership with local organisations.

The Country Director role is critical to ensuring strong, stable and effective leadership of War Child’s Lebanon operations by providing strategic direction and leading a high-performing team operating within an active conflict environment, strengthening fundraising and partnerships, and ensuring the quality, accountability and sustainability of programmes serving children and communities affected by crisis.

Main Purpose

The Country Director provides overall leadership and strategic direction for War Child’s operations within the country. The role leads the participatory development, delivery and regular review of the Country Strategy and annual plans, ensuring alignment with War Child’s global strategy and the local context. The Country Director is ultimately accountable for programme quality, sustainable and locally led partnerships, financial health, safety and security, people leadership, risk management and compliance. The role represents War Child externally, builds the relationships needed to realise the Country Strategy, and ensures that programme, operational and support functions meet organisational and donor standards.

Country Leadership, Strategy and Programme Accountability

• Lead the participatory development, implementation, monitoring and regular updating of the Country Strategy and annual plans, ensuring alignment with War Child’s global strategy and responsiveness to the local context. 
• Hold final accountability for the country programme, including programme quality, delivery, learning, sustainability and compliance with organisational and donor requirements. 
• Lead the Country Management Team in annual planning, performance review and reporting, using context analysis and evidence to adapt priorities and delivery. 
• Drive the transition towards locally led and partner-led programming, ensuring shared decision-making, mutual learning and practical capacity strengthening with local actors. 
• Maintain a strong understanding of political, social, humanitarian and operational developments, and ensure that programme and operational strategies are adjusted when required. 

People Leadership and Organisational Culture

• Lead, coach and develop the Country Management Team, ensuring clear accountabilities, effective performance management and succession or capacity-building plans. 
• Foster an inclusive, safe and motivating workplace that supports staff wellbeing, collaboration, learning and participation in decision-making. 
• Ensure that country-level people practices are applied consistently and in line with War Child policies and applicable local law. 

Partnerships, Representation and Fundraising

• Build and sustain strategic relationships with government authorities, donors, UN agencies, INGOs, national and local organisations, and relevant coordination platforms to realise the Country Strategy. 
• Represent War Child externally and strengthen its visibility, credibility and influence in support of children and young people affected by conflict. 
• Lead country-level institutional fundraising, including strategic donor engagement, a healthy funding pipeline, high-quality proposals, income projections, donor reporting and stewardship. 
• Provide final oversight and escalation support for programme and project proposal development, ensuring proposals are evidence-based, feasible and aligned with the Country Strategy. 

Safety, Risk, Compliance and Operational Stewardship

• Hold overall accountability for safety and security management, including continuous context monitoring, risk analysis, security planning, security decision-making and incident management. 
• Ensure compliance with registration, legal and regulatory obligations, including relevant government processes, and maintain constructive relationships with relevant authorities. 
• Provide final oversight for budgets, financial controls, logistics, office management and resource allocation, ensuring value for money, effective risk mitigation and compliance with policies, procedures and donor rules. 
• Ensure that partners receive appropriate support to meet agreed standards of operational excellence, including safeguarding, financial controls, security and compliance requirements. 

Each staff member is responsible for contributing to a culture committed to our mission, vision, internal safeguarding standards, JEDI (Social Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) principles and the CHS (Core Humanitarian Standard) framework, and is expected to actively promote these in their work. 

These duties provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable duties may be required, consistent with the grade of the role. 

Role-specific or Context Responsibilities

• Ensure country registration, stakeholder engagement and operating arrangements remain appropriate to the local legal, political and security environment. 
• Determine, in consultation with the Country Management Team and regional leadership, the most appropriate operating model for the context, including office footprint, direct implementation and partnership arrangements. 
• Maintain effective links with the regional structure, contributing to shared learning, collaboration, emergency response and the application of Alliance-wide standards. 
• Ensure the Country Office and its partners uphold minimum global standards for safeguarding, security, financial control, integrity and “Do No Harm”. 

• Education: Relevant degree (e.g., International Relations, Social Sciences, Development Studies or Management). 
• Experience: Extensive senior management experience in international humanitarian and/or development contexts. Experience working in conflict-affected settings highly desirable. Demonstrated experience in programme leadership, institutional fundraising, strategic partnerships and working with local actors. 
• Languages: Excellent English, oral and written. Proficiency in French, Arabic or Spanish is desirable. 
• Technical Knowledge: Strong expertise in programme management, partnership development, context analysis and security management. Sound experience in HR and financial management, risk management, compliance and operational oversight. 
• Competencies: Result-focused, dynamic and inspiring leadership style. Strong communication, influencing, coaching and diplomatic skills. Ability to make sound decisions in complex, high-pressure and sensitive environments. 

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