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CARE International is a global humanitarian organisation leading the fight to end poverty in the world’s most challenging situations. Women and girls are at the centre of our work, because we cannot overcome poverty and inequality until all people have equal rights and opportunities. We know that when a crisis erupts, women are often the first to pick up the pieces, so we work alongside women, so they have the power to make change where it’s needed most. Founded in 1945, CARE currently works in over 100 countries and last year alone reached 53.4 million people through nearly 1,500 projects. 

Role Purpose
The Senior Programme Manager (SPM) is responsible for independently managing a mixed portfolio of humanitarian and/or development programmes, including the organisation’s most complex and high-value projects (often multi-country or valued in the tens of millions GBP), alongside medium and lower complexity projects. These programmes span grants and commercial contracts funded by institutional, multilateral, and corporate donors, and are implemented across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

The SPM’s portfolio may cover multiple sectoral themes aligned with CARE’s six Impact Areas: Gender Equality; Humanitarian Action; Right to Food, Water and Nutrition; Right to Health; Women’s Economic Justice; and Climate Justice.

The SPM leads donor relationships and contract negotiations for their portfolio, supports country offices and partners to resolve delivery challenges, and ensures all projects in their portfolio are delivered to the highest quality and compliance standards. They also provide technical guidance and mentoring to Programme Managers.

The SPM is expected to manage their portfolio pro-actively and independently but will escalate significant risks and issues as appropriate.

About you 

You are an experienced programme management professional with a strong track record of managing complex, multi-country or high-value programmes funded by institutional and corporate donors, with experience managing projects across the full project lifecycle, from contracting and start-up through implementation, reporting, and close-out. You bring sound judgement, strong organisational skills, and the confidence to lead donor relationships, negotiate contracts, and resolve delivery challenges in partnership with country offices and stakeholders. 

You have excellent written and verbal communication skills in English (essential) and French (desirable). Experience engaging with corporate partners and an understanding of agricultural value chains, such as cocoa or similar commodities, and the realities facing smallholder farmers, will be a strong advantage. You are committed to CARE’s values and bring a demonstrated commitment to tackling structural inequality, promoting gender equality, and working in line with feminist leadership principles