Director of Programme Operations

Director of Programme Development

Mary’s Meals serves nutritious school meals to children living in some of the world’s poorest communities. The promise of a meal attracts these hungry children into the classroom, giving them the energy to learn and hope for a better future.

Mary's Meals International (MMI) is recruiting for a values-driven leader to join the team as Director of Programme Operations. Reporting to the Chief Programmes Officer, you will provide strategic leadership to our global programme delivery and logistics functions, ensuring our school feeding model is implemented effectively, efficiently, and at scale.

You will lead the development of resilient operational systems, processes, and tools that support quality, efficiency, and growth, translating strategic goals into operational reality. You will ensure  programmes are aligned, scalable, and consistently delivering on our promise to the children we serve — even in the face of challenges. As a key member of the Programmes Leadership Team, you will contribute to cross organisational strategy and lead on operational improvements to enable our vision.

We are happy for you to work remotely and flexibly, in a way that best supports your work life balance. There is also an office near Glasgow city centre for those who live nearby and would like to work from here occasionally or on a regular basis.

This role will undertake regular travel to countries where our programmes operate 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.

Key responsibilities include but are not limited to: 

• Design and deliver a global programme operations strategy, ensuring alignment with Mary’s Meals’ overall vision.
• Lead transformational operational projects across diverse programme contexts, demonstrating a strong solutions focus with an agile approach to managing challenges in complex contexts.
• Oversee the refinement and implementation of our school feeding delivery model, global standards, and SOPs.
• Drive operational excellence through innovation, quality improvement, and cost-effectiveness.
• Oversee global programme delivery functions including food procurement, logistics, fleet, and kitchen construction.
• Build operational resilience to ensure continuity of daily meals in challenging contexts.
• Provide leadership, coaching, and capacity building to our operations teams, fostering accountability and empowerment.
• Represent Mary’s Meals externally, as a key member of the programmes team and the wider Mary’s Meals network.

About you:

• An experienced operations leader with extensive senior-level experience in international programme operations and logistics, you will have a proven record of delivering large-scale operational transformation, designing and improving delivery models, and leading diverse teams.
• With strong analytical skills and a data-driven approach, you make sound decisions in complex environments and manage change effectively.
• You are a skilled communicator and collaborator who excels in building capacity, strengthening systems, and aligning cross-functional teams.
• Knowledge of school feeding, humanitarian logistics, or similar sectors, and experience managing operations in emergency or fragile settings, would be advantageous but not essential.

Please see the recruitment pack below for full list of duties, requirements and further information.