Evidence Action
Job Title: Senior Manager, Operations, Africa Region
Finance & Administration
Nairobi, Kenya
About Evidence Action
Our organization was founded in 2013 to address a big gap in the fight against global poverty–many of the most promising interventions are either implemented at a very small scale, or not at all.
We set out to address this gap by building programs that would scale evidence-based and cost-effective interventions, leading to significant improvements in quality of life for hundreds of millions of people.
Our model worked. In less than a decade, our two flagship programs, the Deworm the World Initiative and Dispensers for Safe Water, have grown to measurably impact over 280 million people each year.
This success is achieved through the dedication and talent of our staff, the hard work of our partners, and the commitment of our supporters.
By 2024, we seek to double our impact. We are strengthening and expanding our existing programs, and working to identify a new generation of evidence-based and cost-effective interventions that we can scale to reach millions more.
Job Title: Senior Manager, Operations, Africa Region
Job Purpose: The Senior Manager, Operations, Africa Region position will be responsible for leading and overseeing the regional Africa operations function at Evidence Action.
This will include providing vision and direction to the regional operations, procurement and IT teams. It will also involve liaising closely with country leads and country operations and IT capacity to promote effective service delivery as well as leading the identification and mitigation of operational risks throughout the region.
Many of the organization’s locations are field offices whose varied challenges and circumstances require creative problem-solving.
The ability to promote efficient and compliant systems and processes which account both for varied country level needs and experiences as well as regional and global requirements and perspectives will be essential.
With the organization in an exciting period of rapid growth, this role will play an important role in ensuring the organization’s policies, processes, and systems are up-to-date, understood, and roles and responsibilities clear.
The Senior Manager, Operations, Africa Region will interface with Evidence Action’s regional leadership team and key global team stakeholders in designing and advocating for strategic approaches to managing operations, procurement, and IT in the region.
A keen appreciation for implementing strong systems and processes at scale and cost-effective solutions will be key.
Duties and Responsibilities
General Management & Leadership
- Lead development of the region’s operations strategy, with a particular focus on enabling growth and mitigating operational risk in close coordination with country leads.
- Lead the development, review, and maintenance of regional operations, IT, and procurement goals, objectives, and operating procedures ensuring that these include clearly defined roles and responsibilities.
- Provide leadership, direction and functional guidance to the operations team including setting team and individual objectives.
- Ensure quality staff hires in the unit with high performance of direct reports
- Promote a culture of high performance, high quality and continuous improvement that values learning and feedback;
- Responsible for developing/refining and regularly reporting on key performance indicators and metrics to management concerning the regional operations support activities and capacity/gaps.
- Work in close coordination with the country and departmental leadership and remain responsive to their needs;
- Provide leadership in identifying, evaluating, and recommending operations related projects to improve process efficiency.
- Foster a culture that encourages creativity, proactive solutions, accountability, and results.
- Ensure team and individual recognition.
- Direct the training of country office administration and operations teams to ensure they remain up-to-date on best practices and company policy and procedure requirements.
- Provide timely inputs to senior management on team performance and highlighting challenges with any team members.
Operations
- Ensure staff are proactively trained on all key operational policies, systems, and processes required to effectively and appropriately conduct their roles and responsibilities. These include policies and practices on information management, inventory management, etc. Seek opportunities to reinforce and monitor adherence to operational policies, systems, and processes as needed.
- Actively work with regional leadership, country leads, and the regional operations manager to assess risk and develop mitigation strategies to operational risks in accordance with the organizations risk framework and practices.
- Provide leadership in managing sensitive relationships and negotiations with key vendors, including landlords, key service providers, etc.
- Guide and support the Regional Operations Manager in liaising with country leads and country operations capacity to ensure:
- office lease agreements are being tracked and effectively managed
- office budgets are being tracked and adhered to
- asset registers are being actively and appropriately managed
- requisite company insurances are in place and reviewed/updated regularly
- vehicle pools are actively being managed in a cost-effective manner
- administrative services are provided efficiently and effectively
- all requisite workplace safety and security are being adhered to
- emergency management and threat monitoring protocols are in place
- Work closely with the Regional Director, Finance and Administration to track and actively manage country level registrations and governance requirements
- Work closely with country leadership to review, update, or establish operations systems for all country offices and provide appropriate training on those systems
IT
- Provide leadership to the IT Manager in ensuring understanding of and compliance to the Global IT policy across the region.
- Provide leadership in reviewing and establishing regional IT SoPs for the provision of IT support and maintenance in the region and monitoring their implementation.
- Provide leadership in reviewing and updating SoPs for service and maintenance of IT equipment in the region
- Actively work with regional leadership and country leads to assess the IT needs in the region and develop appropriate plans and budgets to address any gaps in consultation with the global IT team.
Procurement
- Oversee the Procurement Manager in the formulation and updating of existing procurement policies and procedures, and monitoring their implementation.
- Provide leadership in reviewing and establishing robust vendor due diligence procedures.
- Provide guidance to the regional and country operations teams in sourcing cost-effective services and holding vendors accountable.
- Provide leadership and guidance in management of annual procurement planning with a focus on ensuring cost-effectiveness and efficiency.
- Provide leadership in managing sensitive relationships and negotiations with key vendors, including landlords, key service providers, etc. to ensure excellent service provision and cost-effectiveness.
- Provide leadership in continually assessing the organization’s procurement needs for the Africa region and developing plans and budgets to address any gaps.
Skills:
- Strategic and tactical critical thinker with good analytical and problem-solving skills.
- A confident decision-maker who can communicate directions and solutions clearly to both technical and non-technical staff.
- Understanding of the business role of operations functions within the programs and organization, and to set objectives based on that.
- Demonstrated leadership in managing others.
- Metrics-driven performance philosophy.
- Good English – written and verbal competence.
Key performance Indicators
- High quality, appropriate, and well-managed implementation of operations, IT, and procurement services across the region.
- Over 90% satisfaction rating from both internal and external partners on the efficiency of the operations unit in terms of management of partner relations
- Demonstrated Cost-effectiveness in all lease engagements and logistics management in the region.
Qualifications
- Minimum Master’s degree in Business Administration, Finance or related field.
- Experience managing a shared services function in a multi-national context is desired.
- Experience in the of Google Suite applications as well as in handling of web-based management systems is desirable.
- A Minimum of 7 years work experience in a position with similar responsibilities in a multinational organization.
- 5 years of experience working with international organizations, managing a mid-size team of experienced professionals across locations;
- Self-directed and self-motivating personality, with proven ability to manage demands from multiple clients while adhering to deadlines and priorities;
- Highly motivated to achieve exceptional quality of results, and the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously;
Preferred Product Knowledge
- Windows 10, 11
- Microsoft Office 2013-16
- Google Enterprise Apps
- Box cloud storage
Working conditions
- Primary work hours is (8:00 am -5:00 pm), Monday to Friday, in Evidence Action’s Nairobi, Kenya office.
- Off-hour work may be required as necessary.
- Travel. The Senior Manager, Operations will visit offices across Africa for technical support and for purposes of oversight, training, project management, and meetings of program and country staff.
Position Location
The position will be based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Direct reports
- Associate Manager, Operations | East & Southern Africa (ESA) region
- Manager, Operations and Procurement | West & Central Africa (WCA) region
- Manager, IT | ESA region
- Manager, Procurement | East & Southern Africa (ESA) region
Equal Opportunity Statement: Evidence Action does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization
Apply online at Senior Manager, Operations, Africa Region