Chief Operating Officer
FSD Kenya Chief Operating Officer Candidate Pack – June 2016
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Location: Nairobi, Kenya Contract: Full-time, three year contract initially Salary: Competitive Reports To: Director, FSD Kenya The Kenya Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) programme supports the development of financial markets in Kenya as a means to stimulate wealth creation and reduce poverty. Working in partnership with the financial services industry, the programme’s goal is to expand access to financial services among lower income households and smaller enterprises, as a route to strengthening the livelihoods of lower-income Kenyans. This expansion of FSD has led to growing complexity at the operational level. A new senior management post of Chief Operating Officer (COO) has been created to drive FSD’s operational effectiveness and ensure that FSD delivers against its plan. Applications should consist of a CV, ideally accompanied by a brief covering letter addressing the criteria in the Person Specification. These can be uploaded at www.society-search.com. The deadline for the receipt of applications is midday on Monday 8th August 2016.
ORGANISATION
FSD Kenya FSD Kenya was established to support the development of financial markets in Kenya as a means to stimulate wealth creation and reduce poverty. Working in partnership with the financial services industry it aims to significantly expand access to services among lower income households and smaller scale enterprises. Building on a detailed understanding of market systems and a clear vision of the future, FSD looks to address identified systemic constraints and bring about largescale and sustainable change. A broad range of partnerships are core to FSD’s work. These encompass both the public and private sectors, the latter including commercial players and nonprofits. The operational nature of these partnerships varies significantly and may involve FSD financing substantial programmes of activity, offering technical assistance, commissioning relevant research or FSD’s technical team simply collaborating on issues of shared interest. Since 2005 FSD has operated as an independent Trust under the supervision of professional trustees, with policy guidance from a programme investment committee (PIC). Finance is provided by a number of development partners working with the Government of Kenya (GoK). Current committed funders are the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. When FSD started it had a total of three staff and a relatively limited range of partners and activities. Today it has approximately forty full-time staff members, an annual budget of over $50m and works with a significant number of Kenyan and international specialists to support projects with nearly fifty partners. This expansion in activity has led to growing complexity at the operational level. A new senior management post of COO has been created to drive FSD’s operational effectiveness. Reporting directly to FSD’s Director, the COO will have full managerial responsibility within the senior management team for all aspects of FSD’s operations. As deputy head of the organisation, the COO will be at the sharp end of ensuring that FSD delivers against its plan. ROLE DESCRIPTION
Objectives To drive all aspects of FSD’s operations to maximise the effectiveness and efficiency with which FSD is able to deliver on its programmatic goals.
Area Strategy and generation
Requirement ideas
Aligning FSD operations with the evolving strategy Detailed annual business planning Solving performance bottlenecks Identifying and applying innovations to enhance operations
Team leadership delivery
and
Delivering on FSD’s commitments Leading the operations team Delivering an enabling technology platform Managing FSD’s human resources
Accountability compliance
and
Fulfilling FSD’s reporting requirements Reporting to the PIC on financial performance Ensuring integrity of all operational systems End-to-end compliance across all aspect of FSD’s business Enabling the Trustees’ to fulfil their fiduciary role
Strategy and ideas generation
Act as a thought leader within FSD’s senior management team on the effective execution of FSD’s programme and management of FSD’s operations in line with the new strategy; Co-ordinate the detailed annual business planning process working closely with technical colleagues on the senior management team; Track operational effectiveness and productivity to ensure all aspects of FSD’s operations are managed effectively, ensuring the early identification of key areas of under-performance or risk; Identify appropriate innovations in policies, processes, working practices, systems or technology in FSD to enhance productivity and the efficiency of resource utilisation; Assess quality across the organisation, identify where quality shortfalls are leading to efficiency reductions or compromising delivery and impact and oversee appropriate changes to business processes to provide greater quality assurance.
Team leadership and delivery
Provide overall operational leadership within the FSD senior management team to ensure that the programme delivers against plan; Manage relations with key partners (including especially FSD’s funders) to ensure that operational problems are anticipated before major problems arise; Oversee FSD’s procurement to maximise value for money for the programme, encourage fair and open competition, ensure timely procurement of goods and services and stimulate market development; Manage the contracting function within FSD to ensure that all necessary contracts are issued in a timely manner and protecting the Trust’s interests at all times; Establish comprehensive and appropriate human resource management to provide appropriate support and monitoring through the entire staff life-cycle with FSD; Oversee recruitment processes to maximise the effectiveness in delivering on FSD programme goals and compliance with policies and establish comprehensive induction programme in order to accelerate the effectiveness of new staff in contributing to FSD; Oversee all elements of staff performance management cycle ensuring reviews are completed on-time and in line with FSD standards; Commission and manage end-to-end periodic market remuneration reviews to ensure FSD compensation policy supports programme goals; Support development of a comprehensive programme of staff professional development to drive the organisation’s effectiveness; Lead the organisational development of FSD – focusing especially on strengthening cross-team working – to enhance programme management efficiency and the impact on strategic goals; Oversee effective deployment information and communications technology (ICT) systems to support execution of FSD’s strategy; identifying, mobilising and managing resources to ensure both the effective
security and continuity of FSD’s ICT infrastructure including defining and measuring a ‘service level agreement’ with FSD staff; and Oversee the management of all other aspects of FSD’s operational resourcing (such as office accommodation and transport).
Accountability and compliance
Provide leadership in ensuring that the interests of the Trust are protected at all times, avoiding financial losses, controlling fraud and avoiding damage to its public reputation; Take lead responsibility for ensuring that the Trust acts at all times in a manner consistent with the terms of FSD’s Trust deed, funding agreements with donors and defined policies and procedures; Ensure that FSD’s Trustees are able to execute their obligations under the Trust deed, maintaining full transparency and accountability to the Trustees and providing information expeditiously where requested and advice on specific issues raised; Participate in all routine FSD programme management, programme investment committee (PIC) and Trustee meetings; Co-ordinate the production of annual and quarterly management and financial reports, managing the delivery and review of inputs from theme heads, consolidating and drafting the sector review and performance analysis; Maintain and protect key financial records and data and safeguard confidential information; Undertake periodic ‘value-for-money’ reviews in order to ensure that FSD is receiving maximum benefit from its procurement; Flag cases of under-performance or other non-compliance against terms of funding agreements or contracts; Represent FSD in public forums, meet with development agencies, potential partners and other stakeholders seeking to understand how FSD does business; and Communicate on operational issues internally to ensure all staff are strongly aligned with operational developments in the organisation.
CONDUCT OF THE WORK
The Chief Operating Officer will be a full time member of the FSD Kenya senior management team (SMT), formally reporting to the FSD Kenya Director. FSD’s SMT works on a collegial basis to manage the programme. The Chief Operating Officer will need to work closely with SMT colleagues in order to achieve FSD’s aims. He/she will have full managerial authority within the SMT for all aspects relating to FSD’s operations. Technical heads will be directly accountable to him/her for all matters relating to operations including reporting, procurement and contract management, human resource management and compliance. He/she will be responsible to the SMT for ensuring that the operations function enables the FSD programme to deliver. The COO will have line management responsibility for the operations team (which currently consists of seven staff). An appointment is envisaged for an initial period of three years, but renewable subject to satisfactory performance, (which will be reviewed on an annual basis by the Director). FSD operates a standard three-month probationary period (extendable to a maximum of six months) and the position will be subject to the general employment terms of the FSD Trust as set out in the Trust’s policies and procedures. This includes provision of 30 working days annual leave and flexible working hours. REQUIREMENTS
Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the following requirements: Mandatory requirements Management experience in operations role (at least 10 years work experience) Relevant professional qualification (minimum of master’s degree or professional equivalent) Excellent communication (written and oral) ability Strong finance skills
Short-listed applicants will be assessed against the following criteria: Assessment criteria
Weight
Relevant skills & qualifications and depth of experience relevant to FSD’s programme
25%
Demonstrated strength of core skills and both written and oral communication
25%
Demonstrated track record in professional work managing complex operations in similar environment
25%
Relevant aptitudes/orientation: decisiveness and motivation
25%
Total
team
working,
innovation/entrepreneurial
flair,
100%
In addition to these criteria the COO, as with all staff, needs to represent a good fit with FSD’s culture and vision. The following ‘FSD behaviours’ describe the characteristics we are looking for staff to display in order to work effectively within it: FSD behaviours
Key features
Adaptive/flexible
FSD is a small programme which seeks to change financial markets in Kenya. We respond to opportunities and the evolving circumstances of a dynamic environment. Our team needs to be able to respond effectively and rapidly to these changes. No terms of reference will be able to fully cover what may be needed in the course of work with FSD.
Additive
FSD was established and funded by development partners to support change. We are not about simply executing a defined set of activities. The only constant should be change. Each and every member of staff needs to contribute to ‘moving the needle’ on our aims. Put another way, this isn’t the place for someone who thrives on stability and business as usual.
Initiative
FSD has a very flat management structure. Everyone across the FSD team needs to be able to take the initiative to get things done without being told precisely what to do or how to do it. The responsibility to deliver on objectives starts with the individual member of staff. This doesn’t mean that people operate independently. It is vital to be able to judge when and where to look across the team for support, advice, ideas or simple validation of an approach.
Commitment
There is no doubt that what FSD is seeking to do is hard. Our expectations from staff are high and it requires a considerable investment of real energy to make things happen in the way we work. The motivation to do this has to derive from a real commitment to our overall development goals. A fundamental motivation is about having a real and sustainable, positive impact on the lives of the poor in our society.
APPOINTMENT DETAILS AND HOW TO APPLY
FSD is being assisted in this appointment process by the executive search firm Society. Applications should consist of a CV, ideally accompanied by a brief covering letter addressing the criteria in the Person Specification. These documents can be uploaded via Society’s website: www.society-search.com. The deadline for receipt of applications is midday on Monday 8th August 2016. An appointment will be made subject to receipt of satisfactory references. The appointed candidate will be offered a salary that is commensurate with their experience and the seniority of their new role.