Team Leader at Nuru Nigeria

Location: Michika, Adamawa
Contract Term: 2 year contract in a field intensive role
Reports to: CEO and then eventually Field Operations Director
Start Date: Flexible, though ideally start in March 2018 with insert into Nigeria in April 2018

Nigeria Project Overview
Nuru is focused on ending extreme poverty in remote, rural areas and knows that a unique solution is needed for highly fragile states:

• “Fragile states are lagging behind in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Without urgent action they will be home to more than half of the world’s poor after 2018. Declining foreign aid and other external resources are not enough to drive development and stability in these countries.” - OECD, Fragile States 2014 Domestic Revenue Mobilisation in Fragile States
• Thus Nuru’s next project site will launch in 2018 in a fragile region in Nigeria. Our goal is to take a “boots on the ground” approach and hire a highly skilled team to launch this project with an established exit strategy in mind. Nuru’s model depends on the organization’s ability to identify, train and collaborate with highly capable local leaders to develop and implement sustainable poverty solutions.
• The initial Nuru Nigeria project will be located in a semi-permissive environment with a fluid security situation. For this reason, the first Field Team will consist of several members with prior military service, ideally from a Special Operations Forces background with combat experience
• All team members will be expected to use sound judgement to make critical decisions in complex and uncertain conditions. Candidates must be able to effectively navigate the spectrum of tactical, operational, and strategic environments.

Job Overview

• The Team Leader role is a generalist position in which extensive leadership and management experience in chaotic environments is a must
• The Team Leader leads the implementation of the Nuru Model on the ground in Nuru’s country projects
• He or she is the carrier of the Nuru culture in country
• The Team Leader is the focus of effort for all support team members on both the Headquarters and International Operations teams and is responsible for everything that happens in Nuru country projects prior to expat exit

Primary Responsibilities can be summed up as follows:

• Mentor and build the capacity and leadership skills of the Country Director.
• Create and execute the country project strategy in line with larger Nuru International strategic goals.
• Ensure Nuru Impact programs create attributable impact in country projects.
• Manage and take care of both expat and national team members in the country project.
• This is a complex position and requires working and collaborating with several decision makers in the organization.

Domestically:

• You will work closely with the CPO and his team (Impact Programs Director, Leadership Program Director, and M&E Program Director) to ensure effective design of the Nuru Model, iterate on the Model and maintain the integrity of the Model in all country projects
• You will collaborate with the COO to ensure high quality support of Foundation Team (FT) members, ensure country project strategy and budget fit within Nuru International’s strategic plan and allocated resources, and ensure that standardized country project business systems (Finance, HR, IT) are created and managed effectively
• You will work with the Strategic Security Advisor to ensure an effective security and emergency response plan is in place and rehearsed regularly. You will also collaborate with the NSE President as relevant or required.

Internationally:

• Collaborate with all FT members and Country Director, Finance and Admin Head, and Impact Program Manager on the national team.

Working Conditions

• You will be living in the country project in a remote village in an unstable fragile state - living with the rest of the Field Team in the team compound (spotty electricity with generator support, running water - western toilet and lukewarm shower, spotty internet connectivity, etc.).
• Living conditions can be physically challenging and occasionally uncomfortable (basic transportation, accommodation: communal living). Security of the team will be a challenge and one of your main priorities.
• Fast paced and rapidly evolving environment.

Detailed Job Responsibilities
Leadership and Management:

• Responsible for the physical and mental well-being and overall morale of the FT
• Collaborate with security providers and emergency responders and make decisions to ensure team safety
• Empower, mentor and manage the Country Director and other specified key local leadership
• Provide support to the FT in the leadership, influence and team building challenges that arise
• Oversee day to day operations of the FT and field staff
• Lead from the field – maintain an active field visit schedule to maintain a pulse on the farmers and field staff
• Responsible for making all project level decisions with the Country Director
• Create and manage a culture of integration and servant leadership on the FT
• Recruit and train FT and country team
• Create and update policies and documentation as needed to ensure systems are functioning properly, and to limit redundancy using lessons learned

Strategy:

• Create 3-year strategic plan and budget for country project in collaboration with Country Director, COO, and CPO
• Ensure strategic goals and milestones of the country project are aligned with strategic goals, priorities, and milestones of Nuru International
• Set project strategic goals and master rollout plan for each FT

Programs:

• Responsible for producing attributable impact in all four impact programs
• Ensure that a robust M&E strategy and team is in place and supported by all FT and country team members to effectively monitor and evaluate the efficacy of Nuru’s Impact and Leadership programs in the country project
• Supervise the training and equipping of Nuru leaders and ensure a robust leadership pipeline is in place and maintained
• Cross-check progress of program deliverables with Program Strategic Advisors (PSAs) to ensure attributable impact is reached through achievement of milestones
• Work with CPO and Impact Program Director to de-conflict any misalignment or collaboration issues among programs

Collaboration and Communication:

• Act as the link between the FT and the country team to reinforce the mirrored peer relationship of the teams
• Collaborate with Development and Marketing Team to plan and execute donor visits and produce strategic blogs as required
• Maintain positive, effective relationships with local, regional, and national government entities
• Create and implement an effective Comm/ No Comm plan for communications protocol between the country project and Nuru International
• Collaborate with the CPO and COO and their Directors to ensure that proper support is rendered from Nuru International to his or her team and the country team

Fiscal Responsibility:

• Collaborate with the Finance Director on the creation of and adherence to the total project budget – specifically responsible for creating and managing the Admin/FT Expenses budget for the project
• Ensure that Nuru adheres to and maintains auditing and financial requirements of the national and regional government
• Manage financial resources allocated to the project to include budget forecasting, sustainable revenue generation (loan repayment and crop sales), and supervising the accounting and financial reporting

Qualifications

• This role is 100% about people and execution
• You will be successful if you can build strong relationships with the CPO and COO and communicate and collaborate effectively with their teams; build a strong, trusting relationship with the senior national staff - mastering a “leadership through influence” mentality; network effectively with and build strong relationships with local and regional government officials; and effectively prioritize and manage tasks.

Eduction & Overall Experience

• Master's Degree preferred (Business and Administration, Leadership, International Development, International Affairs, etc.)
• Bachelor's Degree required
• Minimum of 4 years of leadership experience in chaotic, uncertain environments
• Prior experience living and/or working in a developing country; experience in working with impoverished communities
• 2 - 4 years prior experience living and working in the developing world, with at least 2 – 3 years of experience in training and capacity building of host-country nationals
• Strong leadership and team building experience
• Demonstrated success working closely, leading and building relationships with diverse groups of people
• Experience in developing and managing teams in high stakes situations
• Complex scenario planning and project management
• Combat experience required
• Marine Recon/ Special Operations Forces experience required

Skills & Attributes:

• Solid facilitation skills
• Very effective verbal and written communications skills
• Effective presentation skills using various media
• Ability to do crisis management and rapid, innovative problem solving in uncertain environments
• Strong quantitative and project management skills
• Ability to build deep relationships with a variety of different partners and stakeholders
• Strong commitment to and passion for Nuru’s mission, vision, theory of change, and code of conduct
• Proven work ethic
• Solid understanding of the servant leadership concept
• Adapt easily to rapidly changing work environments
• Operates effectively in high-stress situations
• Self-starter with ability to cope with a high level of stress and ambiguity, think on his/her feet, and demonstrate unshakeable resilience
• Capable of making important decisions in a timely manner with successful outcomes on limited information
• High Emotional Quotient – very personable capable of quickly gaining the trust and confidence of others
• Effective at giving and receiving feedback
• Highest level of responsibility, discipline, and personal integrity