Associate Director

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR – LEARNING & INNOVATION
CONTRACT TYPE: PERMANENT
REPORTS TO: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
DIRECT REPORTS: LEARNING LEAD; SP3 – HIV & CRISIS LEAD; HEAD IIIPROGRAMME

TRAVEL REQUIRED: INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL REQUIRED
LOCATION: SOUTH AFRICA

JOB PURPOSE

The Associate Director for Learning and Innovation is a key leadership role in Frontline AIDS. The post- holder is responsible for leadership of our new Learning and Innovation team and is a standing member of the five-person Senior Leadership Team. They will lead a high-performing team responsible for identifying, developing, and disseminating evidence of effective community-led practices that advance Frontline AIDS’ strategic priorities, and for growing a new strategic priority focussed on ensuring resilient HIV responses in crisis, with a strong link to our wider learning agenda. The Director will drive innovation, foster partnerships, and ensure scalable, low-cost solutions are shared across countries and regions—building resilience, influencing policy, and empowering communities to lead the HIV response. As a member of the Senior Leadership and one of two members of the SLT based in South Africa the post holder will assume a key representative role, both in relation to learning and innovation, and for Frontline AIDS as a whole.

KEY ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES
Senior Leadership
 Provide decisive, accountable leadership as part of the Senior Leadership Team, ensuring delivery of strategic priorities in line with Frontline AIDS’ values.
 Co-lead the development and implementation of the organisational strategy, with a focus on the three strategic priorities: sustainable health systems, countering anti-rights movements, and crisis resilience.
 Champion matrixed and collaborative planning and budgeting processes that reflect shared ownership across departments and partners.
 Provide leadership in delivering on Frontline AIDS’ vision for leveraging our presence in South Africa and the UK, with senior level colleagues in both locations
 Model and embed Frontline AIDS’ commitment to anti-racist, feminist, and decolonial values in leadership behaviours and decision-making.
 Maintain strong working relationships with the Board, relevant Committees, and Partnership Council. Leadership for Learning and Innovation
 Line manage the Lead: Learning and Innovation and work with them to shape and implement a new learning agenda for the Frontline AIDS partnership in alignment with our strategic priorities.
 Oversee our organisational approach to identification and synthesis of evidence of community-led practices across the partnership
 Promote innovation through collaboration with partners, peers, governments, multilateral and donor partners and research institutions etc.
 Translate evidence and data into policy products and recommendations, and work with the Associate Directors for Advocacy and Funding to ensure that these inform and influence key audiences.
 Oversee the measurement and management of data on results and impact to enhance learning, strengthen accountability and demonstrate how Frontline AIDS is effecting change
 Represent Frontline AIDS in global and technical forums, and in discussions with donors and other key counterparts. Strategic and Programme delivery
 Line manage the new role of Lead: HIV in Crisis, working closely with them to develop Frontline AIDS’ portfolio in this area, bringing together and building on existing pockets of learning and innovation, and mobilising further funding and advocacy linked to this strategic priority.
 Line manage the current Lead: Programmes, responsible for the delivery of our Unitaid-funded Inspire, Involve, Innovate programme, and oversee the development and implementation of programmes which generate evidence through targeted piloting and scaling of innovative practice
with partners.
Partnership Engagement
 Build and maintain strategic relationships with partners at global, regional and national level
 Facilitate south to south knowledge exchange across the Frontline AIDS partnership
 Enter into strategic relationships with peer allies from global civil society, research oriented institutions around areas of shared strategic interest for the benefit of the partnership
 Provide capacity building support to partners in association with colleagues from across Frontline AIDS in areas of strategic focus.
 Works partnership colleagues and other key teams to identify the new partnerships that are needed to deliver on organisational strategic priorities
Organisational Leadership and Management
 Lead and manage the Learning and Innovation Directorate, fostering a high-performing, collaborative, and values-driven team.
 Represent Frontline AIDS externally to influence policy and practice in support of marginalised communities
 Promote matrixed ways of working across departments and with partners to deliver joined-up learning and innovation linked to strategic priorities
 Collaborate with the Funding Directorate to position Frontline AIDS with donors and secure resources for around organisational learning and innovation strategic priorities.
PEOPLE /FINANCIAL/RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
 The AD L& I line manages three leads: Learning; Strategic Priority 3; the Inspire, Innovate and Involve Programme
 The AD L&I will be responsible for a budget the comprises the organisation’s collective work around both SP3, the III Programme and the wider work of the Learning and Innovation team
PERSON SPECIFICATION
QUALIFICATIONS, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS &; EXPERIENCE

Essential Competencies
 Proven strategic leadership in a complex, culturally diverse international organisation.
 Deep understanding of HIV, ideally with some knowledge in one or more of Frontline AIDS’ priority areas which include sustainable and inclusive health systems, human rights and gender justice, and resilient HIV responses in crisis.
 Strong background in evidence generation, MEL and research translation, along with a commitment to and experience of delivering learning activities aimed at ensuring that key stakeholders can benefit from evidence.
 Policy and advocacy skills, ideally with experience of using advocacy to secure support for and/or scale-up of learning and innovation.Strong understanding of community-led movements and experience fostering equitable partnerships.
 Excellent strategic thinking, and project management skills
 Evident commitment to and practice of anti-racist, feminist, and decolonial leadership.
 Excellent communication and convening skills, with the ability to inspire and mobilise diverse actors.
 Experience leading high-performing, geographically dispersed teams in digitally agile environments and fostering inclusive, values-driven cultures
Desirable
 Extensive experience of living and working in different regions in the Global South and/or in the Global North.
 Familiarity with working on global health issues in crisis contexts.
 Experience of programme delivery or oversight.
 Experience of successful fundraising, particularly for innovation and learning work
 Multilingual capacity or experience working across language-diverse contexts.
Core values and Behaviours
 At Frontline AIDS we expect everyone to demonstrate and actively develop our intersectional Anti-Racist, Feminist and Decolonising Values and Behaviours (ARFD):
 Delivers results with accountability – commits to high performance, role-models positive behaviours.
 Collaborates / Inspires,and advocates with impact – builds shared vision, motivates others, and influences change.Acts / manages / leads with dignity, respect and fairness – demonstrates courage, honesty, and commitment to intersectional anti-racist, feminist and decolonial values.

How your role fits within Frontline AIDS
As we pursue our strategic priorities over the next five years, Frontline AIDS will play three core roles which align with our strengths, with the functions that partners have signalled would be the most facilitative of the Partnership and with our anti-racist and feminist values:
 To advocate together and with impact to shape global national, regional and global decision making
 To develop and share learning on innovative, community-led practice for our new realities
 To unlock new and sustainable sources of funding for the civil society response to HIV.
 In order to fulfil these core roles well, this work will be underpinned by Partnership Engagement and Operations fit for the future
Your contribution to these roles are the vehicle for delivering our strategic priorities for the benefit of the partnership and into the wider ecosystem of the HIV response (see figure below), which are also deeply interlinked and each will contribute to the delivery of the strategic priorities all of which is informed by our values.

 Link:   Associate Director: Learning and Innovation

Closing date: 10 April 2026

 All applicants need to apply on our website using the above link