Manager, West and North Africa Operations

Manager, West and North Africa Operations

Location: Dakar, Senegal or Rabat, Morocco with frequent travel between Dakar and Rabat and occasional travel across West and North Africa

About the Manager, WNA Operations role

Operations in West and North Africa are the enabling engine behind a fast-moving portfolio across Senegal, Morocco, and regional engagements. WNA combines long-term government partnerships with a steady mix of NGO- and foundation-funded work, and an active pipeline that requires disciplined systems to convert opportunities into high-quality delivery.

The Manager, West and North Africa Operations is a regional operator and people-centered leader who ensures that our Senegal and Morocco offices run smoothly, compliantly, and cost-effectively, while enabling teams to deliver high-quality work without preventable operational friction.

The WNA Ops Manager will report directly to the Africa Operations Director, West and North Africa, with a dotted line to the Regional Director. They will partner closely with WNA project leaders, Finance, People Ops, Legal, Systems, and global Safety and Security leadership. The role manages local operations staff as applicable and leads multiple workstreams across both countries.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations for the WNA region across both offices, ensuring reliable systems for administration, travel support, office management, and vendor services.
• Build a steady operating cadence that reduces firefighting and improves predictability across a multi-country portfolio.
• Translate regional priorities into quarterly operational plans and clear ownership across workstreams.
• Oversee key people operations processes across the employee lifecycle, including recruiting, onboarding, policies & benefits, engagement, administration, and office operations, and culture building.
• Serve as a trusted first line for sensitive employee matters, supporting early issue identification, appropriate escalation, and close coordination with People Ops and leadership.
• Strengthen team engagement through pulse checks, feedback loops, and team rituals that reinforce inclusion, well-being, and performance.
• Coordinate recruiting and hiring for WNA roles in partnership with People Ops and hiring managers, ensuring a consistent candidate experience and fast, high-quality execution.
• Maintain a view of staffing needs and onboarding timelines, coordinating with project leads so staffing changes and short-term bandwidth needs are surfaced early and handled cleanly..
• Own office and operations budgets for Senegal and Morocco, monitor spending, and drive cost discipline through better procurement and vendor management.
• Lead procurement and contracting coordination in line with IDinsight policies and donor requirements, ensuring strong documentation and clear audit trails.
• Partner with Finance to support smooth monthly closes, payments, expense hygiene, and audit readiness.
• Ensure local compliance in Senegal and Morocco across employment administration, benefits, required registrations, and records retention, coordinating closely with Legal and Finance.
• Oversee creation of new organizational policies and guidelines where necessary; ensure organizational employee handbooks are up to date and compliant in each of the jurisdictions in which we operate; contribute to refining safety & security processes and resources for teammates; organize trainings for relevant team members around compliance issues; coordinate closely with the General Counsel and Finance teams to ensure a coherent approach to risk-mitigation and compliance.
• Maintain a practical risk register for core WNA operational risks and mitigation actions, including vendor dependency, insurance coverage, office safety, travel risk, and compliance exposures.
• Improve records and document management to enable WNA to respond quickly to donor, audit, or legal needs.
• Coordinate safety and security processes for the region, including office-specific briefings, visitor and travel orientations, and training refreshers, aligned with IDinsight guidance and global support.
• Support incident preparedness with clear escalation pathways and reliable staff communications.
• Identify recurring operational pain points and redesign workflows to make them simpler, faster, and more reliable.
• Use tools and automation thoughtfully to reduce manual load and improve service quality across recruiting, office ops, and compliance.

Qualifications

Must have Qualifications

• 5 to 7 years of relevant experience in operations, people operations, HR, administration, or an adjacent function, ideally in international organizations, consulting, or complex multi-stakeholder environments.
• Demonstrated ability to run multiple workstreams with high autonomy and strong execution, including improving systems rather than only running them.
• Strong judgment, integrity, and discretion, with a track record of handling sensitive information and people-related matters maturely.
• Strong written and verbal communication, including comfort communicating upward and translating ambiguity into clear next steps.
• Experience working effectively in diverse, cross-cultural teams.
• Values alignment with IDinsight and a strong stewardship mindset.

Nice to have Qualifications

• Passionate about global development and social impact.
• Experience coordinating full lifecycle hiring and familiarity with an Applicant Tracking System.
• Familiarity with tools such as BambooHR, iCIMS, Unit4, Asana, and Slack.
• Working knowledge of operational compliance in Senegal and or Morocco, including vendor management, immigration support, and office administration.

Language

• Professional fluency in French and English required
• Arabic and/or Wolof is strongly preferred

Candidates for the Manager role will be evaluated based on their qualifications, prior experience, and performance throughout the hiring process.

Professional Development

IDinsight invests heavily in professional growth through mentorship, stretch opportunities, frequent feedback, and an annual professional development stipend.

Nuts & bolts

Location

This position can be based in IDinsight's Dakar, Senegal or Rabat, Morocco office.

Start date

The expected start date for this position is Q We anticipate a minimum commitment of two years, with regular professional development conversations and the potential to grow into a long-term career at IDinsight

Work Authorization

IDinsight is not able to sponsor work authorization for this role. Successful candidates will not require IDinsight to sponsor their work authorization in the office where they'll be based.

Compensation

Compensation and benefits are competitive within the global development sector and commensurate with experience. Benefits include comprehensive international health insurance with mental health coverage, paid and parental leave, relocation support where applicable, technology and work-from-home stipends, and a professional development budget. As a nonprofit, we are unable to match leading private-sector compensation.

How to apply

Please click the "Apply for this job online" button at the top right.
Applications are due on the 13th of February 2026.
The application asks various questions to help us get to know you and requires a CV and cover letter.

Please ensure your CV includes relevant professional and personal experience, as well as details of your academic qualifications. CVs can range from one to two pages. Please note that headshot photographs, parental details, birth dates, marital status, and other personal information not relevant to the application do not need to be included in your CV. Additionally, we strongly encourage you to use your cover letter to highlight why you want to work for IDinsight specifically and what has prepared you to succeed in the role you're applying for. A customized cover letter is an important part of IDinsight's recruiting process, as it helps us understand your motivations for the position, your relevant skills, and your writing clarity.

More information, including details on IDinsight's hiring process and frequently asked questions, can be found online at IDinsight Careers. Any questions should be directed to