About Food for Education
Food for Education (F4E) is an African-led, women-led social enterprise that uses technology, smart operations, and logistics to provide low-cost, high-quality meals that improve nutrition and education outcomes for primary school children in Kenya.
We are growing quickly. Our mission is to scale models that prioritise efficient supply chain management and sustainable sourcing, so we can continue lowering the cost of school lunches. We have delivered over 90,000,000 meals since 2012 and are expanding to reach our goal of serving at least 1,000,000 public primary school students in Kenya every day by 2027. By 2030, through technical advisory and a newly established Centre of Excellence, we aim to empower African governments and other school feeding implementers to feed an additional 2 million children daily.Our Values
At Food for Education, our values are guiding principles that provide us with purpose and direction and set the tone for our interactions with all stakeholders:

• Build with excellence and curiosity – We’re not afraid to try new things and iterate as much as we can to find the best and most efficient way to get results;
• Be the change you seek – We acknowledge that continuous improvement is a shared responsibility;
• We do what we say; and say what we do – We embrace an ownership mentality;
• Ask why; and commit – Share openly and question respectfully, and commit fully. When we understand the why, we are able to work with a purpose.

About the Role
The Director – Technical Advisory and Centre of Excellence will oversee two critical pillars of F4E’s mission beyond direct service delivery in Kenya:
1. Technical Advisory (TA) to African governments on establishing and maintaining sustainable, scalable government school feeding programmes.
2. Establishing and leading the Centre of Excellence (CoE) to support other school feeding implementers with tools, resources, and capacity-building services to create cost-effective, efficient school feeding programmes.
This leader will guide F4E’s efforts in co-creating scalable solutions to classroom hunger across Africa, leveraging F4E’s institutional expertise and engaging with governments, implementers, and other stakeholders.
The role involves developing strategies, building partnerships, coordinating cross-functional efforts, and ensuring alignment between F4E’s technical advisory and CoE initiatives. This position will also involve setting up and growing teams to support these workstreams.

Your Responsibilities Will Include:

Technical Advisory to African Governments

Strategy Development:

• Develop and execute F4E’s Technical Advisory strategy to support African governments, prioritizing countries based on strategic criteria and impact potential.
• Provide high-level technical advice on F4E’s school feeding model, covering operational, financial, and policy aspects. Moreover, guide the implementation of school feeding models, addressing technical challenges and adapting solutions for unique country contexts.
• Conduct political economy analyses, budget assessments, and stakeholder mapping to identify enablers and barriers for school feeding initiatives.
• Responsible for the re-granting budget including budget oversight and funds disbursement necessary for accomplishing technical advisory goals.

Stakeholder Engagement:

• Working collaboratively with the Policy & Partnerships team to maintain relationships with governments including ministers and senior officials.
• Build partnerships with governments, multilateral organizations, and development partners, to drive policy change and secure funding
• commitments.
• Partner with F4E’s internal teams to ensure alignment between government needs and organizational capabilities.

Quality and Process Leadership:

• Lead structured diagnostics to evaluate target countries’ readiness, needs, and potential for TA engagement.
• Develop and review technical advisory documentation, including manuals, policies, and operational procedures.
• Ensure all advisory and school feeding models reflect F4E’s expertise and provide value to African governments.
• Recruit and mentor a team to translate F4E’s expertise into user-friendly tools and advisory services.
• Lead co-creation efforts with governments to customize school feeding models that prioritize local ownership, financing, and sustainability.

Centre of Excellence Leadership:

Establishing the CoE:

• Define and launch the CoE’s operational structure and strategy, transforming F4E’s institutional knowledge into practical resources.
• Review existing process documentation with a view to adopting
• best-in-class approaches to be shared with external stakeholders for adoption and where necessary, build processes and document.
• Map existing F4E processes and systems that would generate maximum benefit and value to all stakeholders.
• Create tools such as cost-per-meal calculators, learning platforms, and implementation guides for global school feeding stakeholders.

Capacity-Building and Peer Learning:

• Develop and lead initiatives such as webinars, workshops, and knowledge-sharing sessions to strengthen implementers’ capabilities.
• Facilitate peer-learning opportunities, including site visits and learning exchanges among school feeding implementers.

Global Stakeholder Collaboration:

• Engage donors, researchers, and other organizations to align CoE offerings with user needs and drive collective impact.

Monitoring, Learning, and Impact :

• Collaborate with the Head of Impact to define and track key performance metrics for both the TA and CoE workstreams.
• Ensure data-driven insights inform program design and stakeholder engagement.
• Regularly evaluate progress against milestones, identifying areas for improvement and scaling success.

Team Leadership & Management:

• Working together with the Chief People Officer and in consultation with the Senior Leadership Team, design and implement an effective team structure that would be critical in delivering on the TA & CoE objectives.
• Develop team KPIs and ensure objective performance management of the TA & CoE

Does This Sound Like You?

• A Bachelor’s degree in political science, public policy, law, economics, social sciences, or any other relevant degree; an advanced degree is preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in technical advisory, policy development, or related fields, with significant exposure to multiple African governments.
• Proven leadership experience in building and scaling teams or departments, especially in start-up or resource-constrained environments.
• Demonstrated expertise in co-creating strategies, programs, and partnerships with governments and stakeholders.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to develop tailored strategies for diverse country contexts.
• In-depth knowledge of operational, financial, and policy aspects of technical advisory services, particularly in school feeding or similar programs.
• Experience designing and implementing diagnostic tools, manuals, policies, and technical documentation.
• Strong diplomacy skills, political acumen and an ability to strategize and provide support to government stakeholders from a variety of African contexts.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Experience building from scratch or inception and growing into a functioning entity

Key Skills and Competencies

• A passionate individual committed to Food for Education’s vision and values.
• Ability to think strategically with strong execution and detail orientation
• A genuine leader of people and missions, with a strong understanding of the African context.
• Ability to work collaboratively and cross-functionally in a multicultural environment
• Strong analytical, written, and leadership skills, with striking attention to detail.
• Strong financial/quantitative understanding.
• Ability to work in a diverse team.
• Desire to meet tight deadlines whilst working under limited supervision.

Career Growth and Development
We have a strong culture of constant learning, and we invest in developing our people. You will have regular check-ins with your manager, and receive regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You will have the opportunity to shape a growing organisation and build a rewarding, long-term career.

How to apply
Food for Education is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, race family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances.
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is closed, though early applications are strongly encouraged.