Job Description
Focus of the Role:
Our Governance work supports the governments and leaders of fragile, developing, and emerging states to enhance their effectiveness. We are focused on helping governments and leaders make their vision for the development of their country a reality. We work in the centre of government and key line ministries and our work is shaped by national priorities.
TBI has been invited by the Government of Burkina Faso to provide support on delivery of Presidential priorities and on the establishment of a delivery unit at the Presidency level. The unit Bureau de Suivi du Programme Presidentiel (BS-PP) – is in its infancy, having had an original mandate for monitoring rather than delivery. It will need support to get up and running and show results in a short period, prior to the upcoming elections in November 2020, such that it can then be well placed to drive delivery in the subsequent political cycle. The urgency of delivery is enhanced also as a result of Burkina Faso’s security situation.
In addition to strengthening delivery in the Presidency, the project will also seek to strengthen the connections with other key ministries and agencies, both in the centre (the Prime Ministers’ Office and the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Development) as well as key sector Ministries, such as the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of education, and the Ministry of Infrastructures. The team may extend to include advisors in these or other Ministries, depending on the sectoral priorities of the Presidency.
The Country Head role is an important role in the TBI Governance pillar: it provides leadership and management to the project, sets and delivers project goals, maintains relations with top counterparts in partner governments, up to and including the President, manages the project budget and impact of work, drives in-country fundraising, and provides the link between the Burkina Faso Project team and the rest of the organisation. In Burkina Faso, the Country Head will set up a new project and develop its strategy while simultaneously beginning to work with Government.
The key competencies that we look for in our leaders are set out below within the duties:
The Duties
Understand and engage with principal stakeholders
- Build a clear understanding of wider context, including role of development partners, private sector and other players;
- Work closely with the BS-PP Director and his staff to implement and manage the delivery unit.
- Build relationship with the Prime Minister’s office and the key ministries to facilitate the delivery unit’s activities as well as identify and exploit opportunities.
- Build relationships with the President’s office, his direct team, and other senior stakeholders to understand the country’s priorities, build TBI’s credibility, and spot and exploit opportunities;
- Deploy resources outside of the team – wider TBI colleagues, including Mr. Blair’s office, the TBI sector practices and strategic partnerships within TBI’s network etc – to support partner governments where appropriate.
Set the strategic direction of the project and, together with executive management, lead the annual project strategy setting, quarterly performance reviews and measurement of impact
- Develop a strategic direction for the project based on TBI’s mission and approach within the particular country context;
- Look at how the wider TBI model can be applied in the Burkina Faso context and test and learn quickly to meet government needs
- Lead the annual strategy setting process for the country project and the quarterly review process;
- Using the organizational Theory of Change and impact tools to ensure the project has a clear measurement framework.
Contribute to wider leadership and development of TBI
- Contribute to the wider leadership and development of TBI as an organisation by contributing to corporate decisions both within the Governance pillar and the wider organisation;
- Contribute to organisational learning by identifying innovations and factors which contribute to or inhibit success and impact.
Build and Maintain a license to operate
- Ensure that risks to the project and staff are spotted and managed adequately and emergency protocols are in place to maximise the safety and well-being of their team, including ensuring all security and safety protocols are upheld and kept up to date
- Ensure timely completion of financial processes e.g. invoices and country tracker and review and approve all services and suppliers relating to new project set up
- Set and manage the project budget, including putting in place appropriate financial controls.
- Ensure that all legal requirements are met for operating in country, including initiating and supporting all legal status activities relating to the project and TBI staff in country
- Ensure policies, procedures and the Code of Conduct are adhered to at all times.
Delivering through your team
- Recruit and lead a l team that is bought into the shared strategy, is aligned across workstreams, solves problems together and holds each other accountable for impact;
- Performance manage staff effectively, including building a culture of feedback and nurturing the next generation of TBI leaders;
- Ensure a good working relationship within TBI team and local counterparts.
- Supervises TBI staff, including participating in the hiring, professional development and evaluation process.Sets specific goals and provides ongoing performance feedback.
- Put in place a planning and evaluation cycle to regularly assess whether the strategy is ‘working’, and adapt rapidly in response to new challenges and opportunities;
- Be the interface between the Project team and the rest of the organisation by representing the team’s views and communicating issues and priorities from the rest of the organisation to the team.
- Implement effective coordination of human resources with the Head of the Sahel Strategy as well as on the follow up of operational aspects when required.
Fundraising
- Understand the project country’s fundraising and business development market by mapping donor opportunities amongst a wide group of stakeholders (predominantly: Foundation offices; bilateral and multilateral donor agency offices and staff; development contractors and INGOs – both not-for profit and for-profit);
- Develop and implement a coherent fundraising strategy for the project, with the support of other parts of the organization.
- Build and maintain intelligence and relationships to inform project and/or pillar-wide fundraising strategies and ultimately to secure project funding;
- Input to the development of marketing materials, presentations and bids as required. Input to the development and implementation of donor trips/meetings etc as required.
What We Look For in Our People:
EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS:
We are looking for outstanding individuals with a proven track record of leadership and delivery in the public or private sectors. All candidates will be required to have at least 10 years of experience in a leadership role, managing medium to large teams and project budgets. Above all, we are looking for individuals with high levels of enthusiasm, resilience, adaptability and a can-do attitude. We seek to create international and multi-disciplinary teams and are looking for individuals with a solid background in public/civil services worldwide; strategy consulting; private equity and finance or international development.
The requirements are:
- The ability to work and interact at the highest levels of public life in Burkina Faso; have strong political acumen; being able to develop an understanding of the needs of senior officials;
- An ability to work independently, think strategically and translate strategies into concrete and implementable plans; an acute attention to detail with excellent analytical, organizational, and communication skills;
- Excellent inter-personal skills and ability to work both independently and as part of a wider team;
- Proven strong abilities and experience leading and managing people and teams
- Experience with project development and project management.
- Ability to liaise with partner governments, the private sector, and key stakeholders (e.g. donors) to deliver the requirements of the role, including a realistic fundraising strategy for the project
- A sufficient understanding of deliverology
- Willingness to travel, sometimes at short notice;
- Experience of identifying and resolving project implementation bottlenecks;
- Strong sense of ethics, discretion and perseverance required;
- Experience of living and working in developing countries is strongly desirable;
- Fluency in English and French is required
VALUES WE LOOK FOR:
COURAGE… because to tackle global challenges, we must innovate and take smart risks
COLLABORATION… because when we work together and with external partners, we can overcome even the largest problems
COMPASSION … because our work is ultimately about improving people’s lives
To apply please visit our website via the link and apply online
About the Organization
About Tony Blair Institute for Global Change:
At the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change we are dedicated to making globalisation work for the many, not the few. We do this by helping countries, their people and their governments, address some of the most difficult challenges in the world today – beginning with those where we think we can break new ground, offering leaders new thinking and new approaches. Our staff – over 200 of them, based all over the world – are working on some of the most intractable problems around issues of co-existence, governance, the peace process in the Middle East and renewing the centre.
