Managing Director, Operations and Performance

THE ROLE 

Please apply using this form.

Africa Frontline First (AFF) is recruiting a Managing Director, Operations and Performance to enable best-in-class management practices and operations to ensure AFF has the people, practices, and systems to maintain and enhance the organization’s role as a leader in global health. The Managing Director will partner closely with the Co-Executive Directors and Program Directors and manage a small team to execute against the AFF strategy. The MD will build and sustain a culture aligned with organizational values and vision that is high performing, mission driven, equity oriented, outcome focused, and business savvy. The Managing Director is the accountable party for the AFF’s operational effectiveness.

Overall, the Managing Director is responsible for establishing cross organizational coordination structures, as well as systems, processes and management norms that allows AFF to leverage the operational strengths of Secretariat members. To translate strategy into effective execution. The Managing Director executes this work in a way that acknowledges and embraces the complexity and strength of joint ventures and prioritizes transparency and knowledge sharing. The Managing Director will bring a bias toward action and have experience organizing people and processes within a social start-up culture that is dynamic and fast-moving. 

The primary responsibilities of the Managing Director are:

• Plan for Success – Translate strategy into planned action. Oversee the annual and quarterly planning process. 
• Execute with Excellence – Support the working teams to translate milestones into actionable work plans, practices and tools for performance and accountability, and effective teams
• Build Systems that Drive Performance – Build and oversee organizational systems including finance, operations, and HR. Many of these systems are supported by the AFF partner organizations already, and you will need to work with those existing teams.

Term: Full-time position

Location: Africa-based, Remote. 30% Travel.

Reports to: Co-Executive Director

Manages: Team of 2-4 direct reports with portfolios in organizational management, operations, finance, and HR. Also works with finance, operations, and HR teams of the AFF organizations that provide these business services to AFF. 

Compensation: Gross 10,500 – 12,000 USD/month (126-144K/yr)

Benefits: Independent contractor – equivalent amount for benefits, flexible hours, subsidized professional development

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES:

Your mission is to employ:

• Experience and understanding of what good internal business systems (finance, operations, HR) looks like
• Strong program and performance management, including solid grasp of organizational performance metrics
• Both strategic conceptual thinking and detailed operational standards
• Excellent communication skills 
• A deep understanding of international organization operations, including how global, country teams, and provider partners work together to achieve program goals

In order to:

• ensure AFF’s impact – by helping all teams achieve their annual and quarterly milestones
• ensure clearly communicated vision, strong culture, team health, and effective operations
• build and sustains people, infrastructure and systems required to execute AFF’s strategy

YOU WILL

Plan for Success: 

• Oversee the annual planning process and quarterly progress reviews against AFF’s strategy, including helping teams revise and adapt their work plans. This includes also the annual budget process. 
• Model effective information-framing, appropriate decision-making protocols and progress-tracking
• Effectively leverage the experience, track record, and network of partnership organizations and champions to enhance collaboration, share best practices, and drive collective action in advancing community health
• Ensure effective management, clear communication, and collaboration within the organization.
• Effectively communicate and present critical matters at select leadership meetings, including AFF oversight committee meetings.

Execute with Excellence:

• Support working teams to translate annual/quarterly priorities into actionable work plans, project plans, project practice, and appropriate project management and knowledge management tools
• Elevate and drive decisions and hold themselves and the teams accountable for results, effectively utilizing data and performance frameworks to do so.
• Where needed, apply targeted support to working teams to improve performance and execution of those teams towards annual and quarterly goals
• Identify best practices and improve internal systems with an focus on future needs 
• Build a high-performing AFF, foster a positive organizational culture, team cohesion and effectiveness, and promote professional growth and development of staff members.

Build Systems that Drive Performance: 

• Builds and sustains the systems that drive high performing, mission driven, strategically savvy initiatives 
• Manage cross-organizational business services to execute efficiently and effectively, including finance, operations, human resources 
• Finance – The Managing Director works closely with AFF/FAH finance staff to support appropriate fiscal management and compliance, as well as with finance leadership of all Secretariat members to ensure a shared understanding of AFF financial forecasts, resources required and budget to actuals. This includes oversight of annual and multiyear budget development and financial planning, expenditure tracking, revisions to budgets, financial reporting, and compliance. AFF is fiscally sponsored by FAH which primarily provides these functions, and the Managing Director is expected to interface with FAH and provide oversight. 
• Operations – Support the effective execution of day-to-day operations including with systems and protocols for meetings, IT, travel and logistics, communications, project management, knowledge management, and other business systems that the team needs
• Human Resources – Work with the HR teams of LMH and FAH, to recruit, develop, and retain staff. Work with AFF teams and leadership to identify staffing needs and how best to organize teams/staff for high performance.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

• Vision setting and initiative: You are someone who seeks out opportunity and acts thoughtfully without needing to wait for instruction. You are able to see and communicate the big picture in an inspiring way while determining opportunities and threats through comprehensive analysis of current and future trends. You are willing to roll up your sleeves and get the work done while also setting organizational strategy.
• Managing via systems: You know and appreciate that growing organizations use systems to grow their effectiveness. You know what good business systems look like, and you have built them before. You are able to take these skills and adapt them to a small, but growing initiative.  
• Management for results: You have proven experience of successfully managing multiple projects with myriad stakeholders simultaneously. You have the thoughtfulness and confidence to work with a large number and wide variety stakeholders from diverse geographic, socioeconomic, and educational backgrounds. You are able to break goals into manageable objectives and to work with a team to meet them on schedule. 
• Compelling communication: You have excellent written and verbal communication skills in English (French a plus). Strong interpersonal skills are essential and support your ability to exercise tact and diplomacy in organizational settings. You have a demonstrated ability to build and maintain trust-based relationships with diverse stakeholders, including governments, NGOs, and donors.
• Hit-the-ground-running / Adaptability: Moves quickly and drives progress without being abrasive or cutting ethical corners. You feel comfortable defining new deliverables and processes in a rapidly-changing work environment and can cope effectively with complexity and change. Remains focused in the face of pressure, delivers against timelines, not intimidated by tasks/time limitations

YOU ARE ALSO

• Inspired by healthcare as a human right 
• Empathetic and driven by a desire for deep understanding
• A systems thinker who enjoys tackling large, complex problems
• Able to lead a distributed team on a self-directed work schedule

APPLICATION SUBMISSION

Please apply using this form.

We’re accepting applications until January 12, 2024. Successful candidates will be invited to complete a 40-minute practical assessment, a 20-minute phone screen, a first round 60-minute interview (late January/early February 2024), and a final round 60-minute interview (mid February 2024).

Africa Frontline First is a fiscally sponsored project of the Financing Alliance for Health, a 501(c)(3) public charity. FAH values the diversity of the people it hires and serves within the community. Our diversity is committed to fostering a work environment where individuals’ strengths and uniqueness are recognized, appreciated, respected and responded to in ways that fully develop their potential. FAH has a zero-tolerance approach to any harm to, or exploitation of, a vulnerable child or adult by any of our staff, partners or representatives. We are committed to preventing all undesirable behavior at work. This includes, child abuse and exploitation, sexual harassment and abuse.

FAH values the diversity of the people it hires and serves within the community. Our diversity is committed to fostering a work environment where individuals’ strengths and uniqueness are recognized, appreciated, respected and responded to in ways that fully develop their potential.

FAH has a zero-tolerance approach to any harm to, or exploitation of, a vulnerable child or adult by any of our staff, partners or representatives. We are committed to preventing all undesirable behavior at work. This includes, child abuse and exploitation, sexual harassment and abuse.