Senior Director, Global Programs

Position description

At Thousand Currents, we believe the people most affected by injustice are the ones already building the solutions. Around the world, peasant farmers, Indigenous communities, women's collectives, and grassroots movements are organizing across borders to transform food, energy, and the commons as  well as the underlying economic systems. Our role is to back them with flexible funding, with the relationships and platforms that amplify their leadership, and with the long-term solidarity that movement-building requires. 

Thousand Currents funds, connects, and supports visionary grassroots groups and movements leading solutions in food, climate, and the economy.We support  movements in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia and the Pacific with core, flexible, long-term grants and value-added services. 

Our Values

At Thousand Currents, we envision a world in which self-determined and connected peoples share and uphold the abundance of life. To realize this vision, we embrace and practice a clear set of values: 

• Courage - We confront injustice and inequality with love, strength, conviction, and integrity.
• Humility - We are part of a greater whole. We are one among many currents. We recognize our place among many forces for good and change that exist in the world.
• Experimentation - In order to take principled actions together, we prioritize learning, commit to self-reflection, embrace trial and error, and honor multiple ways of knowing.
• Creative collaboration - We share power, practices, and resources to reimagine new ways of living.
• Interdependence - With our futures intertwined, we respect all beings and build authentic relationships to move forward together.

Key Details: Compensation, Location, Travel, & Benefits

Title:  Senior Director of Global Programs

Position:
Full time, Exempt

Team:
Global Programs

Location:
Remote, Anywhere in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean

Supervises: Three Regional Directors and One Cross-Regional Coordinator

Travel:
Up to 40%

Position Reports to: Vice President, Global Programs

Compensation:
$152,000 USD annually

Benefits: 

• Health, Dental, and Vision cost reimbursement or stipend for employee + dependents, and out of country medical travel insurance for employee 
• 10 paid annual holidays + open paid time off policy allowing flexible time off with supervisor pre-approval 
• Up to 16 weeks of paid parental leave
• Up to $1,000 stipend to set up work space
• Up to $2,000 per fiscal year in wellness stipend, $1,500 per fiscal year for work from home expenses, and up to $2,000 per fiscal year for learning and development 
• Retirement contribution paid monthly as a 4% salary boost 
• Possibility of sabbatical leave after seven years of employment

What You’ll Do

The Senior Director of Global Programs shapes and supports the structures, partnerships, funding, and accompaniment practices that strengthen movement ecosystems. Acting as a strategist, connector, and builder, you will support our regional teams to ensure that our global programs are rooted in movement priorities, responsive to regional contexts, and aligned with Thousand Currents' long-term vision for climate justice, economic justice, and food sovereignty. You collaborate with the learning team to embed praxis into our work, facilitating ongoing reflection and learning so that what we do remains accountable, adaptive, and open to transformation.

As a member of the Global Programs Team you report to the Vice President of Global Programs and work collaboratively with the Director of Grants Operations and Senior Director of Learning. You directly manage four people: three Regional Directors and the Cross-Regional Program Coordinator. 

Strategic leadership (25%)

This work supports the team to work in alignment with the strategic direction. You read the political and philanthropic landscape, translate and use it to continually inform how we implement our strategy, and steward the long-term vision for how Thousand Currents resources and connects movement ecosystems globally.

• Guide analysis and sensemaking of regional and global political context and philanthropic trends, surfacing implications for movements and informing strategy implementation.
• Support the Regional teams to operationalize the regional strategies that center movement visions and priorities, while maintaining integration with the global program strategy.
• Build the tools, processes, and mindsets that help the team work in collaborative, inclusive, and effective ways.
• Hold space for collective reflection on the strategy,using insights to refine the underlying premise of our work. 

Programmatic and partnership leadership (50%)

This is the operational and programmatic core of the role: making sure the team's annual work delivers, that partnership stewardship is grounded and strategic, and that the spaces we design genuinely build movement solidarity, learning, and collective power.

• Coordinate the development of annual workplans and budgets, and guide course corrections from mid-year and year-end team reflections.
• Ground partnership stewardship practices that distribute resources, connections, and infrastructure in ways that strengthen movement resilience.
• Guide the design of spaces that convene and connect movements across regions and strategic focus areas, fostering transnational solidarity and collective power.
• Steward the vision and collaborative processes that resource, strengthen, and connect the ecosystem of regional, community, and Indigenous funds shifting power to grassroots movements.
• Strengthen collaboration across teams and with external partners through clear purpose, roles, and mechanisms that advance Thousand Currents' strategy.
• Maintain current knowledge of emerging policy and research, and sustain strong linkages across food sovereignty, climate justice, economic justice, movement-building, and philanthropy networks.

Staff management, development, and support (20%)

This work invests in the people who carry the strategy. You will build a high-performing, well-supported team, holding clarity on roles and expectations while creating the conditions for trust, growth, and care.

• Attract, develop, coach, and retain high-performing team members, supporting them to elevate their responsibility, agency, and performance.
• Directly oversee the Regional Directors and Cross-Regional Program Coordinator, providing supervision, guidance, professional development, and alignment with purpose and strategy.
• Provide clear and timely feedback on staff performance, with appropriate support to help team members to grow in their role. Promote a culture of continuous learning, experimentation, and improvement.
• Navigate power differentials thoughtfully, inviting feedback, practicing self-awareness, and modeling the dynamics that build a healthy organizational culture. 
• Communicate expectations, decision-making processes, and delegation clearly.
• Support the flow of information between the team and the wider organization in both directions.
• Apply organizational policies consistently, and surface gaps that need further attention.
• Model practices of care and balanced workloads; foster a collaborative, aligned, and joyful work environment.

Organizational Collaboration (5%) 

This work sustains a healthy and supportive work environment at  Thousand Currents . You show up for the cross-team and organization-wide commitments that make us function as one team.

• Show up fully for organizational activities, including staff meetings, retreats, and training.
• Collaborate with colleagues across programs and functions as needed.
• Support organization-wide activities such as the Thousand Currents Academy, convenings, and fundraising efforts.
• Manage personal administration responsibly, including receipts, reimbursements, scheduling, travel planning, HR paperwork.
• Take on additional responsibilities as assigned.

Thousand Currents responds flexibly to changing circumstances and priorities, which means the expectations of every position are dynamic. This description reflects essential functions but does not restrict the tasks that may be assigned.

Qualifications

We are looking for someone who brings most of the following:

• At least 10 - 15 years of progressively responsible experience in global programs with demonstrated impact at scale.
• A passionate advocate for our mission. You believe in the power of leveraging resources, knowledge, and relationships to strengthen social justice movements in the Global South
•  A strategic thinker who can implement. You can shape strategy and translate it into action. You draw on the wisdom of others, run experiments to test what works, and use insight from the field to make decisions.
• A thoughtful relationship builder. You build rapport across cultures, regions, and political differences, and inspire trust through warmth, authenticity, and deep respect.
• A skilled communicator. You write and speak with clarity and care. You can articulate the ‘why’ behind the work and shape narratives that move different audiences.
• An attuned people manager. You build strong teams, coach direct and indirect reports, and create cultures of collaboration and accountability, with clear roles, clear expectations, and the support people need to grow.
• A flexible, mature team member. You stay focused and nimble in a fast-paced environment, pitch in where needed, exercise good judgment with sensitive information, and receive feedback with humility.
• A network weaver. You create spaces of connection, care, and solidarity, linking people, movements, and ideas in ways that build trust and amplify collective power.
• A skilled facilitator. You design collective learning processes that strengthen networks, inform strategy, and turn reflection and dialogue into shared vision and action.
• Flexible and proactive. Comfortable working in a fast‑paced, dynamic environment with a remote, geographically dispersed team. 
• Ability to travel up to 40% of the time, both regionally and internationally, and to engage virtually across time zones.

• Experience engaging with or advancing work with philanthropies  in climate justice, economic justice, and food sovereignty is considered an added advantage.

Please note: This role can work remotely, anywhere in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean. We are unable to provide visa sponsorship or relocation assistance

Application instructions

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