Executive Director at Stresert Services Limited

Our client is a Non Government Organization with focus on promoting Good Governance.

Job Location: FCT Abuja

(Job ref: ED/PGG)

JOB PURPOSE

• Responsible for delivering the mandate of the initiative to transform the current inhibitory climate and culture of public leadership by promoting value-based leadership, catalysing the emergence of an empowered and engagement electorate, producing skilled and reformed-minded political leaders as well as driving the design of public-led political and electoral reforms.
• Lead the strategic management of the organization’s Initiative, its School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG) and its reform campaigns by developing, coordinating and implementing programmes, processes and systems geared towards realising the mandate.
• Pioneer the establishment of the organization’s Initiative’s School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG) to drive cultural shift and governance programming capable of inculcating value-based, visionary and noble leadership mind sets necessary to shape the priorities of public office holders, improve the administration of public institutions, transform the quality of government, and produce empowered and engaged electorates.
• Champion the design and development of the organization’s Initiative’s public-led political and electoral reforms.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AREAS

Standards:

• Promote and enable principled and value driven leadership, that operates with integrity, openness, and transparency, exemplifying good governance and accountability culture within the organisation and across its footprints.
• Foster strong organisational culture and paradigm within the organisation by developing, inculcating and implementing change management approaches as needed.
• Ensure the integrity of the initiative by ensuring that activities, policies, actions and position statement of the programmes align with the set corporate policy, and that actions taken by the all stakeholders are consistent with the Initiative’s policy.
• Ensure shared-value and adherence to corporate policies in the development of partnerships, alliances and collaborations.

Strategic Leadership:

• Drive the realisation of the organization’s mandate by coordinating programmes, activities and campaigns of Work Study Groups (WSGs) geared towards expediting the emergence of an empowered and engaged electorate, engraving a new value-based public leadership paradigm and designing public-led political and electoral reforms.
• Promote growth by defining the long and short-term strategic direction of the initiative, implementing policies, systems and the strategic imperatives of the Board whilst recommending improvements to organisational policies and procedures where necessary.
• Enhance the organisational impact by overseeing the operations and activities of the initiative such as the SPPG, policy reform campaigns inter alia.          
• Maintain an organisational climate that attracts, motivates, supports, and retains high quality employees and volunteers who are committed to the organization’s initiative’s vision, mission and values.
• Manage the human and financial resources of the initiative by setting operational goals, planning and monitoring adherence to budgets, managing organisational priorities as well as compliance with workforce planning.
• Recruit and line-manage staff in line with the organization’s Initiative’s policy, including performance management and staff development.
• Promote synergy and team-spirit by ensuring effective communication across the organisation and resolving corporate management issues where they arise.
• Represent the initiative by interfacing with internal and external entities such as the Board, staff, volunteers, participants, corporate partners, sponsors, donors, vendors, and other stakeholders.
• Foster the culture of continuous development by identifying and developing leadership skills in team members and participants, offering sound guidance and direction on complex/critical issues, addressing ongoing training needs, creating suitable opportunities for staff development and empowering individuals to take ownership of their own development.
• Forge and grow a network of international, continental and national partners and stakeholders committed to advancing the goals of the organization’s by developing and sharing a vision and programme of work that will engender buy-in and active participation from desired partners and stakeholders.
• Strengthen the organization’s brand identity by developing and implementing an integrated, organisation-wide strategic communications plan to broaden awareness of the initiative’s programmes and campaigns across key stakeholder audiences.
• Drive the organization’s communications by creating a brand/marketing/public relations strategy that will allow the executive and board leadership to cultivate and enhance meaningful relationships with targeted, high-level external audiences, including the media, public officials and key influencers as well as recognising internal and external communications opportunities and solutions, and defining and executing appropriate strategies to support them.

Program Management

• Head the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG) by leading the design and development of blueprints, curriculum and other requirements for the kick-start of the school as well as coordinating and overseeing the operations and activities of the school.
• Drive the initiative’s reform campaigns by identifying situations of interest, locating key points of change, mobilising think tanks, and platforms for a collective discuss, generating specific policy recommendations and action points, mounting an aggressive advocacy campaign that clearly communicates the most complex ideas in simple and attractive ways to build the case for policy reforms, and driving contact with the relevant stakeholder(s) to act on the reform agenda.
• Promote efficient execution of programmes by working closely with other stakeholders to ensure programmes receive necessary support as well as adequate participation and representation.
• Raise the organization’s profile by promoting outreach to identify potential participants for governance and reform programming.
• Grow the initiative’s network by attending external meetings, consultations with relevant government bodies and other stakeholder meetings relevant to governance, reform policy and sustainable development.
• Drive program awareness and participation by leveraging digital technologies, learning management systems, social media and millennial trends to ensure program and messaging accessibility, reach and penetration.

Compliance:

• Exemplify good governance by working closely with the Board, and ensuring adherence to internal policies and best practice.
• Ensure the integrity of reform policies developed by the initiative by compiling and maintaining copies of governance policies and documentation, checking that new policies are in line with core standards and best practice.
• Enhance internal policy reform development capacity and performance by referencing cutting edge thinking and innovations, benchmarking good practice and promoting capacity building.

Accountability:

• Develop and implement a continuous capacity building and promotional programme to strengthen the understanding and adherence to policies and best practice in areas such as accountability, transparency, and decision making, working closely with other relevant teams.
• Exemplify accountability by taking ownership of assigned tasks, honouring deadlines, ensuring timely delivery of outputs within defined cost and quality standard parameters, taking responsibility for own shortcomings and compliances as well as in supporting subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for all delegated assignments.

Reporting:

• Ensure the implementation of effective reporting and communication systems by establishing management reporting systems and processes between the SPPG, reform programmes and the Board, constantly seeking to enhance the effectiveness of governance through innovative, appropriate, streamlined and coherent reporting.
• Promote Board engagement by ensuring adequate Board reporting and management information systems are in place, and performing regular quality and efficacy reviews of reporting systems in place for improvement.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE IN THIS ROLE

• The School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG)is established on time and within budget.
• The School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG) delivers on its purpose and terms of reference.
• Institutional systems and processes to support the organization’s governance functions are in place.
• Governance and reform-programming initiatives are contributing to more effective local leadership.
• Increased coherence of governance and policy reforms including greater clarity of roles and their delivery in practice.
• Monitoring and ongoing review of governance and reform policy is systematised.
• Programme staff members are effective in their roles.
• Quality support is provided to the SPPG, Board and teams.
• Director makes valuable contributions to corporate and programme management.
• Trusted and robust measurement and evaluation systems and processes are in place to accurately ascertain the impact of the initiative’s political and electoral reforms.
• An empowered and engaged electorate emerges that actively participates governance, the electoral process and in refining public expectations of government and public institutions.
• Elections that are consistently issues based, credible, transparent, free, fair and with large turnout of eligible voters.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of how to grow and scale a start-up.
• Expertise and knowledge of governance and best practice in organisational leadership.
• Knowledge on governance and stewardship particularly for not-for-profit and charity governance.
• Understanding of dynamics of a Board in an NGO setting.
• Mastery of change management and organisational building.
• Good knowledge of the contemporary development, governance and public administration issues as they affect developing countries.

Skills:

• Political judgment and astute people skills.
• Ability to work with volunteer leadership.
• Strategic thinking.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to analyse, work within and reform complex organisational systems.
• Strong writing skills including development of documentation on relevant case studies.
• Fluency in English and any local language.

Experience:

• Experience of governance, board development, including leadership development, standard setting and their implementation.
• Experience working with volunteers at different levels.
• Project oversight and monitoring.
• Management of people including cross-cultural teams and distance management.
• Managing conflict.

Qualities:

• Flexible.
• Principled.
• Committed to making equal opportunities and diversity a reality.
• Committed and able to motivate others.
• Good political and cultural sensitivity and judgment.

MINIMUM REQUIRED JOB SPECIFICATIONS

Academic and Professional:      

Master’s Degree or a Post graduate qualification in development studies, governance, political science, public administration or a related social science discipline

Experience:       

• At least 8 years relevant work experience with similar developmental organisations, think tanks, public policy or inter-government organisations.
• Experience working in the field of public administration, policy reform and institutional strengthening.
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in a senior management capacity.

GENERAL WORKING CONDITIONS          

Ability to work with uncertainty and ambiguity and in an intense and fast-paced environment.