Director of Programme Development

Salary: (UK) £62,355 plus benefits (Our pay philosophy ensures consistency across locations and salaries. The starting salary for this opportunity plus benefits depends on location of the candidate).

The role:

We are recruiting for a values -driven leader to join Mary’s Meals International (MMI), as Director of Programme Development. Reporting to our Chief Programmes Officer, you will provide strategic, visionary leadership for our global school feeding programmes and help shape the future of how we serve children around the world. You will drive the continued evolution of our programme strategy and policies, drive innovation and excellence, and guide our global teams towards delivering maximum impact for the children we serve.

You will:

• Lead the design and delivery of our programme development strategy, ensuring alignment with Mary’s Meals’ mission and organisational goals.
• Drive improvements in quality, effectiveness, and impact through innovation, evidence-based learning, and strategic partnerships.
• Provide inspirational leadership to Country Directors and the Programme Development team, fostering collaboration, accountability, and empowerment.
• Build strong external relationships with governments, multilateral bodies, research institutions, and sector networks.
• Oversee the evolution of our Theory of Change, ensuring we measure, understand, and share our impact.
• Embed safeguarding standards and best practices across all programme design and delivery.
• Represent Mary’s Meals externally, as a key member of programmes team and the wider Mary’s Meals network.

About you:

An exceptional leader with a deep commitment to Mary’s Meals’ vision, mission, and values, and significant strategic leadership experience in international development. You will have a proven track record of delivering transformational change across global programmes, along with expertise in research, evaluation, and policy influencing in humanitarian or development contexts.

Skilled at coaching and inspiring senior leaders and diverse international teams, you bring excellent relationship-building, communication, and strategic influencing abilities, as well as cultural sensitivity and experience of working across different geographies and contexts. Experience of working with governments, particularly in strategic advocacy, policy development or school feeding initiatives, would be beneficial but not essential.

About us:

Mary’s Meals is a global movement supported by people from all walks of life and we are focused on one goal – that every child receives a nutritious daily meal in a place of education. We continue to change the lives of over 2.6 million children who today will receive Mary’s Meals.

We believe in the innate goodness of people, respect the dignity of every human being and family life and believe in good stewardship of the resources entrusted to us. In line with our values, Mary’s Meals is fully committed to a culture of safeguarding. Mary’s Meals is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work and we expect all the Mary's Meals family to share this commitment and work in the best interest of the communities we serve. Our safe recruitment practices ensure that only those that are committed to our high standards join our movement.

Salary advertised is for UK based candidates, our salary philosophy ensures consistency across locations where Mary’s Meals operates, please reach out to jobs.mmi@marymsmeals.org for more information about salaries in other locations.

Additional Information:

This role will undertake regular travel to countries where our programmes operate, up to 10 weeks per year and will involve regulated work with children. You will be required to register with the Protected Vulnerable Group Scheme or local equivalent before undertaking your role.

To apply:

If you are inspired to join our movement and our vision, mission and values resonate with you, we would love to hear from you. To apply, please click below to send your CV and a short covering note (no more than 1 page) telling us why you are a great fit for this role and why you would like to work for Mary’s Meals International.

Closing date for applications is Sunday 31st August 2025.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.