Senior Director, National Endowment Democracy

Position Description

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) seeks to advance democracy and freedom. NED empowers partners to inform, organize, and mobilize constituencies for political reforms to build and sustain democracy.

At NED, you will join a team of committed individuals who are mission- and values-driven. We look for individuals who deliver their talents in support of our work.

• Respect
• Empathy
• Accountability
• Adaptability
• Excellence

The Senior Director, Africa shapes and leads NED’s grantmaking and strategic direction across Africa. In FY26, NED plans to invest $38.5 million in Africa, covering all regions of the continent and 27 country-specific programs with over 200 partners. The Senior Director, Africa develops and advances NED’s strategy and priorities for supporting democracy across the continent, including country-specific strategies, within the framework of NED’s overall strategy and approach.

The position aligns grantmaking resources with organizational strategy and priorities, leads a team of 10–12 experts, and serves as the Endowment’s primary interlocutor on Africa.

The position requires a deep understanding of political dynamics, organizational strategy, and program design to advance NED’s mission. The Senior Director position demands expertise, relationships, and experience in priority countries, including Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, the Sahel, and Zimbabwe as well as demographic trends, economics, historical context, and foreign policies affecting African countries’ current politics and democratic development.

The successful candidate must have relationships of trust across the continent and a nuanced understanding of, relationships within, and command the respect of the policy and media community related to Africa.

The Senior Director serves as a key advisor to the executive team, contributes to cross-departmental integration through the One Grantmaking Team initiative, and represents NED to a range of external stakeholders, including the Board, Members of Congress, the media, and partners in the academic, DC policy, and NGO communities.

This is a hybrid position based in Washington, D.C.

• Formulate and implement strategies to support democracy consistent with NED’s mission, grounded in local political and economic realities and informed by geopolitical, financial, and technological shifts. Align and deploy grantmaking resources with these strategies.
• Brief NED leadership, the Board of Directors, Members of Congress, and other key stakeholders on strategy, approach, and programmatic impact clearly and persuasively.
• Articulate the purpose and intended outcomes of NED programs and ensure accountability for results among both staff and partners.
• Lead integration efforts across the organization through the One Grantmaking Team initiative—streamlining processes, strengthening collaboration across teams, and reducing redundancies.

• Demonstrate deep political, historical, and cultural understanding of sub-Saharan Africa; sustain relationships of trust and respect with local civic, political and economic actors relevant to NED’s work; maintain fluency in relevant languages and familiarity with local media.
• Offer nuanced analysis beyond mainstream reporting and provide authoritative insights sought by peers, leadership, policymakers, and the media.
• Continuously expand expertise across all countries within the Africa portfolio, including frequent travel, ensuring balanced and informed coverage.

• Possess a comprehensive understanding of democracy support, NED’s core thematic areas and project design methodologies, including evaluation and impact assessment.
• Demonstrate creativity and a problem‑solving attitude to adapt programming in response to changing political and operating environments, bringing in new partners and ideas as appropriate.
• Evaluate grant applicants holistically, considering political, operational, and organizational dimensions, as well as assess risk.
• Strengthen programming through monitoring, learning, and targeted…