Director, Social Development, Culture & Sports

Director, Social Development, Culture and Sports

Posting Start Date: 12/9/25

Job Description

Organization Information

Reports to: Commissioner HHS

Directorate/Department: Health, Humanitarian Affairs & Social Development

Division: Social Development, Culture and Sports

Number of Direct Reports: 2

Number of Indirect Reports: 21

Number of Positions: 1

Job Grade: D1

Contract Type: Regular

Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Purpose of Job

To provide strategic leadership in planning, developing, and implementing strategic policies of the Directorate while promoting inter-directorate/department collaboration.

Main Functions

• Develops and maintains operating rules and procedures.
• Provides technical leadership and ensures efficient functioning of all Divisions within the department/directorate.
• Manages the work of the Department/Directorate and supervises direct reports to ensure their effective performance as per the organization’s performance management policy and system.
• Leads the directorate/department and ensures effective management of personnel, budget, performance, quality, employee relations matters, and training in conformity with relevant organization’s applicable rules and procedures.
• Determines, develops, and executes the overall strategy for the department and ensures alignment with the organizational overall strategy.
• Designs and develops a business continuity plan to address unforeseen circumstances.
• Develops and oversees policy development and guidelines according to the organization's legal framework.
• Designs policies consistent with the AU’s goal to address the pertinent issues in the relevant area.
• Manages risks and recommends mitigation strategies.
• Prepares and oversees integrated programmes projects of overall activities of the organization.
• Builds and maintains a strategic plan to form good working relations with another directorate/department.
• Develops and maintains regular working relations with top-level stakeholders in appropriate agencies of Member States and partners.
• Organizes coordination meetings between the organization and other relevant partners.
• Prepares periodic financial and budget execution reports and other reports.
• Oversees the collection of contributed funds to the organization.
• Initiates and takes necessary actions to collect funds of and for the African Union as a whole.
• Provides strategic, innovative, and operational leadership for the implementation of the programmes of the Department and ensures the departmental contribution to the overall AU Strategies and Vision.
• Proposes training programmes relating to programme designing and coordination.
• Promotes awareness and training of best practices in the area of expertise.

Specific Responsibilities

• Provides technical guidance and supervises the preparation and formulation of appropriate programs, policies, and strategies related to Social Development, labour, employment, migration, culture, sport, drug control, and crime prevention, etc. at the continental level and follows up on their implementation.
• Supervises the activities of the Specialized Agencies and Institutions of the African Union within the Department working in the areas of social development, labour, employment, sports, and culture.
• Facilitates interactions with the other Director within the African Union, including the Agencies and Institutions in charge of migration.
• Supervises the preparation and management of Ministerial Conferences and other relevant high-level meetings and engagements in the areas of the Directorate.
• Develops and promotes a rights-based approach framework for each thematic programme of work within the Department.
• Provides technical guidance in the analysis of problem situations and major trends, and harmonization of related development programmes and issues for the realization of an inclusive society where all human beings, including those in vulnerable situations—such as older persons, persons with disabilities including albinism, children, indigenous people—have an equal say and standing in Member States.
• Provides quality assurance in the programmes by ensuring that they meet the overall objective of the Department.
• Develops and maintains appropriate working relations with partners of the African Union on social and development issues.
• Supervises, guides, and delegates Heads of Divisions in their duties, ensuring departments' policies and guidelines are clearly communicated while assessing, managing, and resolving problematic developments and situations.

Academic Requirements and Relevant Experience

• Master’s Degree in Sociology, Arts, Law, International Studies, Public Administration, or other related Human and Social Science studies.
• A minimum of 15 years of relevant experience in at least one of the following fields: social development, labour, employment, migration, culture, sport, drug control, and crime prevention.
• Eight (8) and five (5) out of the total 13 years of experience should have been obtained at managerial and supervisory levels respectively.

Required Skills

• Managerial skills.
• Ability to work effectively with people from various backgrounds and create an environment where diversity is respected.
• Ability to collaborate and communicate effectively with top-level stakeholders.
• Ability to identify key strategic opportunities and risks.
• Ability to actively seek, identify, and apply appropriate technology to improve program delivery.
• Ability to delegate the appropriate responsibility, accountability, and decision-making authority with regard to performance management and professional development.
• Proficiency in one of the AU working languages; fluency in another AU language is an added advantage.

Leadership Competencies

• Strategic Focus.
• Developing Organizational Capability.
• Change Leadership.
• Strategic Risk Management.

Core Competencies

• Building Partnerships.
• Drives Accountability Culture.
• Learning Orientation.
• Communicating with Impact.

Functional Competencies

• Conceptual Thinking.
• Job Knowledge Sharing.
• Drive for Results.
• Fosters Innovation.

Tenure of Appointment

The appointment will be made on a regular term contract for a period of three (3) years, of which the first twelve months shall be considered as a probationary period. Thereafter, the contract will be for a period of two years renewable, subject to satisfactory performance and deliverables.

Gender Mainstreaming

The AU Commission is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Languages

Proficiency in one of the AU working languages (Arabic, English, French, Kiswahili, Portuguese, and Spanish) is mandatory, and fluency in another AU language is an added advantage.

Remuneration

Indicative basic salary of US$ 78,138.00 (D1 Step 1) per annum plus other related entitlements e.g., post adjustment (46% of basic salary), housing allowance US$ 26,208.00 (per annum), and education allowance (100% of tuition and other education-related expenses for every eligible dependent up to a maximum of US$ 10,000.00 per child per annum), for internationally recruited staff and a maximum of $3,300 per child per annum for locally recruited staff.

Skills Required:

• Design / Art / Fashion / Media
• Hr / Public / Admin
• Legal / Law
• Political / Science / Ir
• Social / Science / Project / Management / Development