Welcome from the Executive Chair

Thank you for your interest in the position of President and CEO of Right To Play International.

For more than 25 years, Right To Play has been protecting, educating, and empowering children to rise above adversity through the power of play, reaching an estimated 18 million children.

I joined Right To Play in 2016 and have had the privilege to see firsthand the change that happens in children's lives in our programs. Over the past quarter of a century, Right To Play has helped children leave dangerous work and return to school, learn how to protect themselves and their families from disease, stand up to discrimination, overcome trauma, and grow into confident and fulfilled adults.

The magical ingredient is play — a transformative force in a child's life that, when harnessed by our skilled staff, partners, educators, and coaches, helps children learn, develop, and reach their full potential. Our teams in 21 countries bring incredible commitment, skill, and a "One Right To Play" spirit to our shared work every day, and they are supported by dedicated funders and donors around the world.

With a new strategic period on our horizon, and an ambition to deepen our partnerships, drive localization, and scale our impact to reach more children, it is an exciting moment to welcome a new CEO to Right To Play.

Our Board and team look forward to meeting you!

Kate McGilvray

About right to play

Right To Play protects, educates, and empowers children to rise above adversity using the power of play. For 25 years, we have been a global leader in helping children learn and improve their well-being through play. We reach millions of children each year in 14 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Indigenous communities in Canada, helping them to stay in school and learn, overcome prejudice, heal from trauma, and develop the skills they need to thrive. We do this by harnessing play, one of the most fundamental forces in a child's life, to teach children the critical skills they need to dismantle barriers and embrace opportunities, in learning and in life.

The Role

Role: President and Chief Executive Officer

Reports to: International Board of Directors

Location: One of the RTP Countries

Salary: Competitive and Location Dependent

Benefits: Competitive and Location Dependent

Travel: Able and willing to travel internationally including to insecure & remote locations for up to 30% of their time.

Executive Team Structure

Chief Executive Officer

Chief Development Officer
Vice President, Partnerships
Vice President, Marketing & Communication
Vice President, Information Technology
Chief Financial Officer
Chief People & Culture Officer
Vice President, Impact & Quality
Interim Vice President, Impact & Quality

Job Summary

The President and CEO is accountable for leading the vision of Right To Play International and all its subsidiary organizations and providing strategic leadership to ensure fulfilment of the mission and its growth. This role is accountable for overall organizational performance, specifically the achievement of the objectives related to strategy and innovation, social impact, financial viability, relationships with diverse stakeholders, and organizational effectiveness.

Responsibilities

Strategic Organizational Growth

Responsible for the growth of the organization through innovation, development and the creation of new external opportunities and partnerships, new donors and fundraising prospects, and as the primary organizational spokesperson within the global community.

Strategic Planning

Oversees and guides the design and development of the organization's vision and long-term strategic plan. Ensures National and Country Office strategic plans align with global framework and are implemented accordingly.

Organizational Leadership and Management

Leads, develops and manages the organization in accordance with its mission, values, strategic objectives, policies and systems to enable a fully integrated "One Right To Play"

Governance

Acts as link between the International Board of Directors (IBOD), its committees, National Boards and the organization. Executes Board directives as required across the organization. Creates the organization's long-term strategic plan in consultation with and for approval by IBOD.

Financial Management

Ensures financial viability of the organization through oversight of the consolidated budgets. Reports the financial status of the organization to the IBOD on a quarterly basis.

Candidate Profile

Right to Play is seeking an experienced CEO with an innovative spirit and a proven track record of global leadership. The successful candidate will have experience managing complex governance structures and maintaining a balance between international and national entity governance.

They will be strong on resource mobilization, and have experience developing successful revenue strategies that respond to different and changing contexts and realities. The incumbent will have experience in one or more of the following areas: government, high net worth, legacy, and/or corporate fundraising. The incumbent will work with fund development across the organization to build funding strategies for the future.

The incumbent will bring with them ability to balance innovation and a track record of enabling strong processes and compliance. They will bring a strong orientation to partnership-building, an understanding of localization trends, and an ability to advance Right To Play's localization strategy. They will have the ability to broker new business and drive change internally and externally.

The incumbent will have a proven track record of building a global organizational culture that drives trust and loyalty. They will be comfortable in the role of brand ambassador and bring with them experience in and an orientation towards thought leadership and profile-raising. The individual will be up to date and understand the world and the change currently happening within it; helping to forge a pathway for Right To Play for the future.

Key Competencies

Strategy and vision: Envisions the future organization and can develop pathways to achieve it.
Collaboration: Proven relationship-building skills and ability to work collaboratively and effectively with a wide variety of partners and donors.
Growth mindset: Lifelong learner with capacity to grasp trends and emerging contexts.
Leadership: Strong leadership and team spirit and an industry thought leader and innovator helping to shape the future.
Integrity: Creates and promotes ethical practices internally and in all partnerships and coalitions.
Communication: Excellent oral and written communication, representation, presentation, negotiation and influencing skills with fluent written and spoken English.
Education: University educated, preferably with Master's qualification in business, international development or a related discipline.
Experience: Minimum five years' experience at an executive level in an organization of similar size and comparable levels of international complexity.
Sector knowledge: Understanding of international development and humanitarian aid sectors and current trends.
Change management: Strong demonstrable experience of leadership capacity, including leading change management processes and innovation while retaining organizational effectiveness.
Program knowledge: Knowledge of the issues children, communities and staff experience in contexts where RTP delivers its programs. Knowledgeable about play-based learning and its impact in child development.
Board management experience: Significant experience working directly with a Board of Trustees
External representation: Extensive experience of networking and influencing at the top level of governments, donors, foundations, corporations or academia
Government relations: Knowledge of how government works and the ability to maneuver through political and bureaucratic structures well – can position RTP as a value add to political agendas

How to Apply

All correspondence, at this stage, should be via Oxford HR. To apply for this post, click on the "Apply" button on the job advert page, complete our online application form, and submit your CV and cover letter as two different documents, which should be prepared before applying as they will be considered in the application process.

The cover letter should be no more than two pages long and explain why you are interested in this post and how your skills and experience make you a good fit.

The document should be saved in PDF in the following format: Your First Name-Your Last Name-Document Name-Date (mmyy)-Organisation e.g., Pat-Jones-CV-0525-RightToPlay or Pat-Jones-CoverLetter-0525-RightToPlay.

Please note that all our clients recruiting in the UK are legally obliged to confirm that the appointee is eligible to work in the UK. As of 1 January 2021, government's new regulations will apply. For further information visit the Home Office website.

Timeline

Closing Date: 20th June 2025

First stage interviews: TBC

Final interviews: TBC

Selection Process

All candidates will receive an update regarding their application after the closing date. We advise candidates to add the role email to their safe senders list and regularly check their spam folder.

Equality Statement

Equality and diversity are at the core of Right to Play's values. Staff are expected to work collectively and individually to promote a constructive and sensitive approach to others from a variety of backgrounds, where the work of others is valued and respected.

Queries

If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information, or would like to have an informal discussion, please email at jsawyer@oxfordhr.com in the first instance.

About Oxford hr

Oxford HR is a B Corp certified leadership consultancy. Having worked within a diverse range of institutions, from not-for-profits and charities to governments and corporate environments, we've seen the powerful impact that the perfect team can have.

Finding innovative leaders can be a challenge; and yet their transition into leadership is vital to an organisation's mission and success. We work across the globe to search for and support remarkable leaders and teams, improve their board effectiveness and support on a range of leadership functions.

Learn more at: oxfordhr.com

Contact Information:

Oxford

46 Woodstock Road

Oxford OX2 6HT

United Kingdom

+44 (0) 1865 985 457

Nairobi

Indigo Cowork Space

Off General Mathenge Road

Westlands, Nairobi

Kenya

+254 (0) 715 163 631

Singapore

6 Battery Road

#06-16

049909

Singapore

+65 (0) 9114 1439

Washington

1250 Connecticut Avenue NW

Suite 700

Washington, DC 20036

United States of America

oxfordhr.com | Company No. 6456325

This position was originally posted by Right to Play and Oxford HR and has been curated by PurposePhil Career. To apply, please visit the original listing on the "apply" link below. We are not affiliated with the employer organization of this job ad or consultancy, and provide this curated listing as a service to our users.

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