Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Job title

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Reporting to

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Years of experience

15+ years

Location

One of RTV’s operational hubs 

Terms

Full-time

About Raising the Village  

Raising The Village’s mission is to build and strengthen pathways out of ultra-poverty through an approach guided by data, designed with communities, and scaled by partnerships. We work with last-mile communities to implement solutions that raise incomes, sustain impact, and chart sustainable pathways to possibility within 24 months. To date, we have supported more than two million people in Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with support from our partners and our team in North America. Find out more about our programs and impact at www.raisingthevillage.org.

Why join RTV

Raising The Village is building one of the most ambitious and innovative approaches to ending ultra-poverty in rural Africa. Through its integrated development model and partnerships with governments and communities, RTV helps last-mile communities build sustainable pathways out of poverty. The COO will play a central role in this next chapter — building operational systems, and infrastructure needed to expand impact across Sub-Saharan Africa.

This is a rare opportunity to scale a proven model that combines community-driven development, data systems, and technology to improve the lives of millions.

Role description

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) provides strategic and operational leadership for RTV’s global operations, ensuring the organization has the systems, people, and infrastructure needed to scale its mission to end ultra-poverty in last-mile rural communities across sub-Saharan Africa.

RTV is expanding its impact through a range of programs and service delivery approaches.  Across these approaches, RTV integrates program methodology, operational systems, and data- and technology-enabled tools to support consistent implementation, learning, and scale across different operating environments.

The COO will play a central role in  strengthening and scaling RTV’s core operational capabilities, ensuring the organization can grow rapidly while maintaining the quality, accountability, and impact that define its work.  Working closely with the CEO and senior leadership team, the COO will oversee and align field operations, digital platforms, and data systems to function as a coordinated system that supports program delivery at scale. This role drives operational excellence, disciplined execution, and cross-functional alignment with a clear focus on enabling adjacent initiatives such as Venn and Programs.

The COO is accountable for end-to-end operational performance for Procurement, Facilities, Fleet, IT (excludes Venn), Legal, Health & Safety, and Operational Planning (excludes Programs). The role ensures that the organization operates efficiently, responsibly, and with the resilience required to expand across multiple countries.

Key responsibilities 

Strategic leadership & organizational scale 

• Provide overall leadership for RTV’s global operations, ensuring strong alignment between strategy and execution.
• Build and manage the operational systems required to scale the areas of responsibility outlined above.

Organizational operations 

• Oversee operations and ensure operational systems enable efficient logistics, strong program delivery, and cost-effective implementation across multiple countries.
• Ensure compliance with donor requirements, internal policies, and national regulatory frameworks.

• Build operational systems that support rapid growth and multi-country expansion.
• Develop operational playbooks and replication frameworks to support expansion into new regions and partnerships.
• Strengthen coordination between programs, operations, finance, and technology teams.
• Provide leadership and mentorship to operational leaders and country teams, and establish an internal talent management pipeline to support demand.

Technology infrastructure & platform operations 

• Support continuous improvement of operational infrastructure supporting digital systems, including deployment, procurement, device management, field connectivity, vendor management.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to ensure effective implementation and utilization of digital tools across internal teams and external partners.
• Support the reliability and performance of digital platforms with a focus on enabling consistent functionality in rural and low-connectivity environments.
• Lead and strengthen cyber security practices across RTV, ensuring the protection of systems, data, and digital infrastructure through effective risk management and implementation of security best practices.

Data governance & security 

• Support and strengthen  RTV’s data governance framework by contributing to the development and implementation of clear policies and standards for data collection, management, protection, and use across  data across programs, digital systems, and partnerships.
• Collaborate with cross-functional leaders to ensure operational systems effectively support RTV’s digital infrastructure, including field devices, connectivity, and supporting technologies used by staff, contractors, and partners.
• Contribute to the evolution of organizational risk management systems for digital infrastructure, information security, and responsible data use, ensuring compliance with applicable regulations, standards, and practices across all countries of operation.
• Partner with relevant departments to enable the responsible management of large-scale data systems and information flows across multiple countries, partners, and digital platforms.

Legal, compliance & risk management

• Provide enterprise oversight of RTV’s legal, regulatory, and compliance frameworks at the global level and across all countries of operation.
• Oversee contract governance for agreements with governments, partners, vendors, and service providers.
• Strengthen organizational risk management systems covering operational, legal, and partnership risks.
• Ensure effective internal controls and compliance with donor requirements, national regulations, and organizational policies.

Strategic priorities for the first 24 months 

• Operational integration and scale
  • Develop an integrated operational model to scale both direct implementation and technical assistance/digital platform services. 
• Data governance and infrastructure
  • Establish robust data governance and cybersecurity systems. 
    • KPI: 95% compliance to data privacy and security standards across all jurisdictions (5+).
• Operational systems for growth
  • Build scalable processes across procurement, logistics, and program operations. 
    • KPI: Strong operational systems for efficient, cost-effective rural livelihood programs and new country expansion.
• Leadership and organizational capacity
  • Strengthen engagement and leadership across country teams and build operational capacity to support growth and scale. 
    • KPI: Achieve ≥90% retention in critical roles and improve internal fill rate for leadership positions year of year. 

Skills and qualifications

• Minimum of 15 years of progressive leadership experience across international development, technology-enabled development programs, and/or large-scale non-profit organizations with experience spanning multiple areas strongly preferred.
• Graduate degree (MA/MSc preferred) in international development, business administration, public policy, technology management, or a related field.
• Deep experience with governance, compliance, and risk management in multi-country complex environments, including donor, regulatory, and government stakeholder requirements in complex political contexts.
• Demonstrated success scaling and managing complex  operations, programs, or platforms across multiple geographies in Sub-Saharan Africa or similar emerging market contexts is required.
• Experience supporting or partnering on digital platforms, technology-enabled service delivery, or data-driven program models is a plus.
• Formal training or significant experience in financial management, project management,, and operational leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to lead with adaptability and resilience in fast-paced, evolving environments.
• Strong change leadership capabilities, with a track record of guiding global teams through ambiguity and transformation.
• Thrives in a high-growth, high-change environment with shifting priorities
• Demonstrates a bias for action while maintaining operational discipline.
• Brings a systems mindset, connecting strategy to execution across functions and geographies.
• Ability to develop and elevate leaders across diverse teams and geographies
• Builds a culture of trust, transparency, and high performance.

Location & travel 

• This role involves close collaboration with global and country teams across Sub-Saharan Africa and the organization's headquarters in Toronto, Canada.
• The position may be based in one of RTV’s operational hubs, depending on the candidate's experience.
• This role requires regular international travel (~25-35%), including travel to rural and remote program locations.
• Suitable for leaders who are comfortable working across diverse environments and engaging directly with field teams, government partners, and communities.

Raising The Village is an equal-opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We highly encourage women candidates to apply.