Lead: HIV in crisis

JOB DESCRIPTION

LEAD: HIV IN CRISIS

CONTRACT TYPE: PERMANENT

Salary: R1, 115,000

REPORTS TO: ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR: LEARNING AND INNOVATION

DIRECT REPORTS: ADVISER: HIV IN CRISIS

LOCATION: SOUTH AFRICA, UGANDA, ZIMBABWE.

TRAVEL REQUIRED: FREQUENT INTERNATIONAL

JOB PURPOSE

To lead Frontline AIDS’ new strategic priority to strengthen the resilience of the global HIV response to crisis. The role drives the identification, development, and scaling of locally rooted innovations and knowledge that enable HIV responses to anticipate, withstand, and recover from current and future shocks—including conflict, climate change, and other systemic threats. Through strategic partner support, learning, evidence-informed advocacy and brokering new relationships the post holder will ensure that community-led approaches to resilience are amplified, shared, and  embedded in national HIV responses. You will bring deep knowledge of humanitarian and resilience policy and programming and its intersection with HIV providing expert leadership within Frontline AIDS and with key external stakeholders.

KEY ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES

STRATEGIC PRIORITY LEADERSHIP

You will lead a matrixed team of staff across learning, advocacy, funding, communications and partnership engagement teams to deliver our new strategic priority to strengthen the HIV response’sresilience to crisis. This will involve convening key leaders from the Frontline AIDS partnership to develop a strategic vision and operational workplan for the priority and oversee its delivery.

LEARNING AND PARTNER SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE

Provide hands-on support to partners to help them better navigate the humanitarian systems in their contexts. Lead the development and dissemination of practical guidance, standards, and evidence-based innovations that strengthen the resilience of HIV responses during crises. This includes advancing work on the intersection of climate change and HIV, supporting partners to navigate locally-led humanitarian action, and developing a strategic ‘playbook’ for coordinated crisis response across the Frontline AIDS partnership.

ADVOCACY

Represent Frontline AIDS and cultivate a network of advocates within the partnership to lead strategic advocacy efforts to ensure HIV and intersecting issues are addressed in national and global humanitarian policy frameworks. Develop and promote powerful narratives that challenge the structural inequalities which are driving crises.

BROKERING FUNDING AND RESOURCES

Mobilise strategic investments and broker funded partnerships to strengthen HIV responses in crisis settings. Support partners to access global and local funding mechanisms and build consortia that deliver community-led, resilience approaches.

PEOPLE MANAGEMENT

Providing highly effective line management to direct reports (currently 1), as well as effective task management with key colleagues in other teams, ensuring a high level of performance and supporting individual development. As the leader of a team, this role will build a team culture with a focus on performance, safety, well-being, and integrity. As part of the Extended Leadership Team, the role holder will be expected to uphold the highest standards of organisational conduct, with zero tolerance for serious misconduct and a firm commitment to safeguarding and to cultivate a culture that prioritises well-being, psychological safety, in which staff feel open to voicing and reporting concerns, and with a good work-life balance. We will learn from partners and peers and share our own practice openly.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

PERSON SPECIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

QUALIFICATIONS, KNOWLEDGE SKILLS, EXPERIENCE

Knowledge

• Expert understanding of HIV and AIDS programming particularly in crisis and humanitarian contexts.
• Extensive professional knowledge of the humanitarian system, programming approaches and actors and locally led humanitarian responses.
• In-depth knowledge of resilience frameworks, climate change impacts, and locally led humanitarian action.
• Familiarity with relevant global funding mechanisms (e.g., Adaptation Fund, Pandemic Fund, Green Climate Fund) and how they intersect with health and crisis response.

Skills

• Strategic leadership: Ability to lead cross-functional teams and deliver operational plans aligned with strategic priorities.
• Advocacy and policy influence: Skilled in shaping national and global advocacy activity.
• Innovation and learning facilitation: Capable of generating and scaling practical guidance and evidence-based solutions.

• Partnership brokering: Adept at building consortia and fostering collaboration across sectors and geographies.
• People management: Strong line management and team-building skills, with a focus on performance, well-being, and integrity.• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with cross-cultural sensitivity and fluency in English (additional languages
  desirable).
  Experience
  • Extensive experience in humanitarian programming with knowledge of HIV and SRHR in those settings, ideally within civil society or multilateral settings.
  • Proven track record of leading strategic initiatives and delivering impact through multi-stakeholder collaboration.
  • Experience in advocacy and policy engagement at national and international levels.
  • Demonstrated success in mobilising funding, managing donor relationships, and accessing global financing mechanisms.
  • Experience working in diverse cultural contexts.CORE VALUES AND BEHAVIOURSAt 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. Inspires, and advocates with impact – builds shared vision, motivates others, and influences change.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 AIDSAs 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, 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:    Lead: HIV in Crisis

    Closing date: 23^rd February 2026

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