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About the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) sits at the nexus of participatory mapping, community-led development, humanitarian response, open data, and tech. With a talented and diverse team spread around the globe, HOT is an NGO that supports a dynamic global community of thousands of dedicated volunteers using maps and open data for humanitarian response and the Sustainable Development Goals. Working with humanitarian and development partners like the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières, UN agencies, governments, and others, the HOT community maps in solidarity with those affected by or at risk of disaster, contributing the maps and data that aid workers need to do their lifesaving work.

In 2020 the work of the HOT community was recognized by TED’s Audacious Project. This collaborative philanthropic initiative serves as a springboard for social impact on a grand scale, leading to an exciting new phase of growth. HOT is expanding its activities: opening four regional hubs and scaling up its support to local mapping communities with the audacious goal of mapping an area home to one billion people in 94 countries at high risk of disasters or experiencing poverty – mapping with communities before they are in crisis.

About the Latin America and Caribbean Open Mapping Hub

Launched in January 2022, the Open Mapping Hub – Latin America & the Caribbean (LAC Hub) is now transitioning towards its official, full launch in 2023. The approach to building this regional Open Mapping Hub was made in collaboration with the OpenStreetMap (OSM) community by a team representing a diverse range of profiles, geographies, and areas of expertise.

The Hub is focused on empowering community action through community building and training, leadership development, access to resources, and formalization of communities, with a particular emphasis on youth and underrepresented groups at the local level. Strengthening the OpenStreetMap (OSM) community on a regional scale through a community-first approach, peer exchange, and support will ensure sustainability and enable governments, institutions, stakeholders, social and civil society actors to use open data (especially OSM) and open source tools to improve lives and livelihoods, through humanitarian and development work.

The Hub is currently active in Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and the Caribbean islands and will expand into other countries in the region.

Purpose of the Role

The Regional Director serves as HOT’s senior representative in the Latin America and the Caribbean Open Mapping Hub. As part of a five-year Audacious Project vision to map an area home to one billion people affected by disasters or multidimensional/extreme poverty, the Regional Director is responsible for developing and executing a strategy for expanding the use of free, open, and accessible geospatial data to 20-25 countries in their region over 4-5 years. The Director will oversee a hub where approximately 13 staff work across HOT’s partnerships, community engagement, microgrants, technical assistance, communications, and technology innovation teams.

About the Role

HOT is looking for someone with significant experience in the region who is passionate about, and experienced in, international development and humanitarian action. You should be able to work within a fast-paced, international organization responding to urgent crises and persistent development issues.

You should be excited about working with an international team and ready to travel to work with different groups in the field. You should be very familiar with the operations and internal functions of international NGOs and knowledgeable about the sector. You will work on a broad range of tasks and projects and have exposure to all aspects of the organization’s functioning. You should have mature ideas for how to raise funds in and for the region. 

Duties and Responsibilities

At global level

• Lead HOT globally as a standing member of the HOT Leadership and Senior Management Teams.
• Maintain excellent relationships with the HOT board of directors.
• Represent the Open Mapping Hub – LAC in the above platforms and with the other three hubs.

At a regional level,

• Adapt, localize and apply HOT’s global strategy to the region while coordinating and liaising with the HOT Global team, Hub Directors in other regions, and LATAM & Caribbean Community Program Managers.
• Design and lead a financial sustainability plan for the region.
• Manage and build relationships with donors and other regional partners and coordinate and execute regional new business development and funding.
• Coordinate the collaboration strategy of diverse Open Mapping stakeholders: From volunteer-based organizations and collectives to NGOs, corporates, government, and academia.
• Represent HOT regionally at national and international fora, leading/supervising strategic meetings, workshops, and other partnership engagements and presenting at conferences. Ensuring timely and engaging high-level external communications to keep HOT at the forefront of the open mapping movement within LAC.
• Work closely with the hub’s senior programmatic managers to connect regional strategies with national and local contexts and needs.
• Strategic support to OpenStreetMap and open mapping communities growth in all countries that are part of the region, understanding this point as a significant objective, connecting resources, and high-level orientation.
• Overall regional team leadership: Develop and manage a high-performing team that delivers excellent and relevant work in line with HOT Global and Regional Strategies.
• Manage and develop direct reports to ensure adequate performance and full development of potential through induction, mentoring/ coaching, and performance management: Senior Manager, Community Programs (LATAM), Operations Team lead (to be recruited), Community Programs Manager (Caribbean). Additional line management duties, might be required in the long term.
• Staffing Resourcing and Team Structure: Ensure staff numbers and structures are designed and kept at a level that is efficient and cost-effective in delivering the regional strategy and annual work plan.
• Collaborating with the functional leads, ensuring efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance with overall financial, administrative, and HR processes and procedures within the region.

Skills and Experience

Required

• An understanding of and buy-in to the nature of the Open Mapping Hub LAC’s approach to developing a community-centered programmatic strategy.
• Experience leading and developing strategies for organizations or communities.
• Experience managing various stakeholders in decentralized ecosystems (public/private sector), including local community representatives. 
• Work experience at senior/director level in the NGO/non-profit or humanitarian space with experience managing teams and budgets of at least USD 400,000.
• Demonstrated successes working in or with open-source projects.
• Experience leading teams in international organizations from (and promoting) diverse profiles, cultures, and backgrounds.
• Strong personal capital and ongoing personal relationships in LATAM with leadership at multiple regional NGOs.
• Clear, influential communicator and comfortable with high-profile public speaking and engagement.
• Fluent in written and spoken Spanish and English; additional regional languages are a plus.

 Desired

• Demonstrated successes working in open source, technological innovation, collaborative knowledge, and open data projects; GIS, open mapping or OpenStreetMap experience is desired.
• Experience with distributed governance models involving volunteer-based organizations and corporate, educational, and government stakeholders.
• Ideally, a significant history of projects involving government data users.