Executive Director

Job Description

Position Title: Executive Director

Location: Geneva, Switzerland. If not based in Switzerland, must be able to travel frequently to Switzerland.

Start date: January 2022

Position closing date: 25 October, 18:00 CEST

Position Overview

Reporting to the Chair of the Board and the Board of Directors, the Executive Director has overall strategic and operational responsibility for GAHP’s staff, consultants, programs, expansion, and execution of its mission.

The Executive Director is responsible for leading the GAHP Secretariat, guiding the translation of GAHP’s global strategy into action, ensuring program quality and the achievement of outcomes, outputs and targets, and providing strategic input to organizational initiatives as well as ensuring efficiency, cost-effectiveness and impact.

This role requires a strategist, program developer, and visionary who is an active, hands-on leader, effective manager and dedicated team-builder with outstanding facilitation and communication skills that translate across varied cultural contexts and are applicable to a start-up NGO.

The Executive Director is responsible for all program delivery, overall administration, financial oversight functions, as well as informing the Board as to all relevant organizational activities, annual budget preparation, and convening the GAHP Council.

Specific Responsibilities

Leadership

• Develop and manage GAHP’s CHF 1 million and growing annual budget, workplan, all public/private/corporate fundraising efforts, strategies and implementation of activities;
• Manage capacity building and strengthening of all GAHP operations, including ensuring the deepening and expansion of GAHP member network;
• Manage GAHP Board, Council and Secretariat staff and consultants;
• Ensure ongoing local programmatic excellence, rigorous program evaluation, and consistent quality of finance and administration, fundraising, communications, and internal systems;
• Actively engage and energize GAHP Board, Council Members and Observers;
• Develop, maintain, and support a strong Board of Directors;
• Lead, coach, develop, and retain GAHP’s Secretariat staff;
• Regularly evaluate program components and communicate results thereof to the Board, funders, and other constituents.

Program Management

• Develop strategy for implementing GAHP’s mission and dual objectives (advocacy/awareness and country support) and three core driving principles: ensure credibility, increase recognition and deliver valuable results;
• Manage and direct GAHP portfolio of projects;
• Manage and direct high-level policy and advocacy efforts;
• Identify and pursue opportunities to influence the policies, funding priorities and behaviors of governments and other key agencies related to pollution and health;
• Advocate for inclusion of pollution and health in the international agenda through key international presentations and events.

Communications

• Build GAHP’s credibility and recognition globally as an expert in the field of pollution and health;
• Forge effective partnerships with the private sector, governments, academia and other relevant stakeholders to design and deliver high-quality programs and policy that lead to tangible results;
• Manage Communications team to deepen, refine and implement all aspects of communication from web presence to external relations, with the goal of creating a strong, credible brand.

Fundraising

• Expand revenue generation and fundraising activities to support and expand program operations.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Minimum of 15 years of professional experience, with minimum of 5 years in a Director or higher level position, demonstrating increasing levels of responsibility;
• Master’s degree or higher in international development, public health, environmental science, or related field;
• Strong established network in public health and environment, particularly in the field of chemicals and wastes;
• Proven ability to design and manage programs using outcomes-focused, evidence-based approaches, both in-country and internationally;
• Proven ability to build networks at a senior level that result in securing new opportunities and strategic growth for the organization;
• Proven ability to build strong and productive relationships with key constituencies, including staff, government representatives, NGOs, not-for-profit and for-profit counterparts, and donors;
• Proven strong financial management and planning skills;
• A strong record of collaborative leadership that contributes to a positive team environment and builds strong relationships with people from diverse backgrounds, genders, cultures and viewpoints.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

• Specific, detailed knowledge of pollution and public health issues and of environmental governance, both with institutional connections and technical knowledge, especially in the field of chemicals and wastes;
• Excellent networking skills;
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills;
• Excellent listening, written and verbal communication skills;
• Communicates openly and transparently;
• Effective at delegating appropriate levels of responsibility, accountability and decision-making authority;
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion;
• Ability and willingness to travel internationally, as needed;
• Ability to work flexible hours or across time zones, as needed;
• Fluency in one or more UN languages a plus. Additional languages are an advantage.

Interested candidates should submit a CV of no more than 3 pages and a cover letter to edsearch@gahp.net by Monday October 25^th, 18:00 CEST. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Please take note of the short timeframe of the posting. In the cover letter, please provide a clear explanation, with specific examples, of how you meet each of the job requirements. The cover letter should also state salary expectations. We thank all candidates for their interest, but only candidates who have been selected for an interview will be contacted.

About the Organization

The Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP) is a collaborative body made up of more than 65 members and dozens of observers that advocates for resources and solutions to pollution problems. GAHP was formed because international and national level actors/agencies recognize that a collaborative, multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral approach is necessary and critical to deal with the global pollution crisis and resulting health and economic impacts. GAHP was formed in 2012 by Pure Earth, the World Bank, UNEP, UNDP, UNIDO, Asian Development Bank, the European Commission, and Ministries of Environment and Health of many low- and middle-income countries to address pollution and health at scale. GAHP incorporated as a foundation in 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland.

GAHP’s overall goal is to reduce death and illness caused by all forms of toxic pollution, including air, water, soil and chemical wastes especially in low- and middle-income countries. These efforts will contribute to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals related to pollution, particularly on Health (Targets 3.4 and 3.9).