CEO
NOVEMBER 2021
2
TRADEMARK EAST AFRICA CEO
About TradeMark East Africa TradeMark (Trade and Markets) East Africa is an aid-for-trade organisation that was established in 2010, with the aim of growing prosperity in East Africa through increased trade. TMEA operates on a not-for-profit basis and is funded by the development agencies of the following countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, European Union, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, United Kingdom and United States of America. TMEA works closely with regional intergovernmental organisations, including the African Union (AU), East Africa Community (EAC), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), national governments, the private sector and civil society organisations. TMEA, with an annual expenditure of approx. US$80 million, is now a leading aidfor-trade facility in the world. The first phase of TMEA (2010-2018) delivered exceptional results which contributed to substantial gains in East Africa’s trade and regional integration in terms of reduced cargo transit times,
improved border efficiency, and reduced barriers to trade. We are now in the second phase (20182024) where we will focus on: 1. Reducing barriers to trade; and 2. Improving business competitiveness. We believe this will deliver large-scale impact in job creation, poverty reduction and enhanced economic welfare. In a bid to mitigate the impacts of Covid-19 on trade for the good of the economy and their citizens, TMEA has created a US$23 million Safe Trade Emergency Facility (STEF) to support Eastern African governments to undertake critical measures along the transport and trade routes that will ensure trade continues safely while protecting livelihoods. TMEA has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, with successful operations and offices in EAC-Arusha, Burundi (Bujumbura), Democratic Republic of Congo (Bukavu), Ethiopia (Addis-Ababa), Horn of Africa (Hargeisa), Malawi (Lilongwe), Rwanda (Kigali), South Sudan (Juba), Tanzania (Dar es Salaam) and Uganda (Kampala).
TRADEMARK EAST AFRICA BOARD MEMBER
The Role
3
Job Summary
Role:
Chief Executive Officer
Contract Type:
Full Time, Three Year Initial Contract
Reporting to:
Chair of HRRC, TMEA Board of Directors
Location:
Nairobi, Kenya
Salary:
Competitive with benefits
The Chief Executive Officer has the overall responsibility for leading TMEA, one of the world’s largest and most successful aid-for-trade programmes. The CEO is responsible for developing and delivering TMEA’s medium- and long-term strategy, annual objectives, plans and results. The CEO oversees a $600m portfolio over 12 countries, leading a capable team of trade facilitation professionals.
The CEO should have a passion for developing trade in Africa and strong personal commitment to TMEA’s mission and vision. The CEO plays a critical role in representation and stakeholder management, fundraising and resource planning, portfolio and fiduciary oversight and programme conceptualization and well as accountability to TMEA’s Board and Council.
TRADEMARK EAST AFRICA CEO
Organisational Positioning Chief Executive Officer
Director, Corporate Affairs & Fundraising
Chief of Programmes
Director, Corporate Resources
Director, Audit & Assurance
Director Risk & Complicance
Senior Lead New Frontiers
Director, Impact
4
5
TRADEMARK EAST AFRICA CEO
Roles and Responsibilities Strategy Development
• Leads on overall medium and long-term strategy development for TMEA in terms of thematic and geographical operations, with major inputs from the Chief of Programmes and the Senior Management Teams for approval by the TMEA Board of Directors and Council. • Oversees major thematic inputs to support implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, with a view to develop TMEA into a Pan-African institution supporting trade development across Africa. • Approves the overall results strategy for TMEA with programme (country and regional) teams (with the Impact Director) • Oversees development of programme delivery models, staffing structure, financial and fiduciary management, and institutional governance to deliver TMEA’s medium- and longterm strategy. • Integrates on-going Development Partners’ support for regional trade and integration activities over the corporate strategic plan period, where aligned to TMEA’s goals and objectives.
• Oversees development of regional and national programmes strategies as part of TMEA’s overall activities and impact; and • Defines corporate priorities and overseas production of an annual business plan outlining inputs, activities and outputs required to achieve the business plan for approval by the TMEA Board of Directors.
Fundraising & Resource Planning • Responsible for delivering TMEA’s Corporate Fundraising Strategy and allied annual fundraising plans; • Leads on donor engagement and proposal development with the Chief of Programmes. • Works entrepreneurially to create funding and partnership opportunities to achieve TMEA’s Strategy. • Actively leads approaches that create a balanced approach to TMEA’s funding basket given external risks and different funding sources, for example between donors, foundations, and multilateral organisations; • Leads corporate engagement with TMEA funders, and delegated approaches with the Senior Management Team;
TRADEMARK EAST AFRICA CEO
6
Roles and Responsibilities • Actively leads resource and financial planning with the Director, Corporate Resources and Head of Finance; and • Tracks annual expenditure and cost management approaches to delivering TMEA’s strategy.
Strategic Partnerships & Representation
• Leads high level representation of TMEA at international conferences, Parliamentary engagements, and corporate events; • Leads on high level engagements with African partners and stakeholders at Presidential and Ministerial levels and develops an effective engagement strategy at regional and national levels across TMEA’s countries of operation, and with RECs and the ACFTA Secretariat; • Creates and leads building of partnerships and networks to support TMEA’s Strategy development in Africa and internationally; • Oversees corporate communications with stakeholders on regional trade and integration and corporate issues; • Establishes and maintains strategic relationships and partnerships with key donors, international partners, and investors to support the development of TMEA programmes
in trade and regional integration within Africa; and • Works, and contributes, as a thought leader in the field of aid-for-trade internationally.
Portfolio Management & Fiduciary Oversight
• Oversees effective and impactful implementation of the TMEA programme in line with strategic and annual objectives; • Identifies new investment opportunities in support of TMEA’s Strategic plan with the Chief of Programmes and Senior Management Team; • Appraises potential investment opportunities through the internal TMEA Quality Assurance Peer Review Group and oversees submission of project appraisal reports (PARs) to the TMEA Board of Directors for review and approval respectively; • Oversees preparation of funding agreements and disbursements to facilitate implementation of projects approved by the TMEA Board of Directors; • Provides on-going strategic input and technical support to investments to maximise developmental returns;
• Provides strategic input into programmes to support the AFCFTA and regional economic communities (EAC, IGAD, COMESA, SADC / SACU, and ECOWAS); • Oversees monitoring and evaluation of investments to ensure effective tracking of institutional performance and sound fiduciary management; • Oversees development and institutionalization of appropriate fiduciary policies, reporting mechanisms, accounting systems, procurement, and other operational procedures to ensure efficient accounting and compliance to the TMEA Regulations, other corporate policies, and laws; • Approves development of annual and quarterly financial budgets and cash-flow forecasts, and required authorisation for payments and disbursement requests; • Liaises with the TMEA Director of Corporate Resources to ensure that project partners, consultants and other suppliers comply with TMEA Regulations, provisions of the funding agreements and contracts; • Oversees timely suspension of disbursements/payments in the event of under-performance or other noncompliance to funding agreements
or contracts with the Chief of Programmes; and • Oversees effective exits from investment relationships including identifying and liaising with potential new institutional investors.
Governance and Leadership
• Leads on engagement with, and reporting to, TMEA’s governance structures (TMEA Board and Council); • Oversees efficient and effective operations of TMEA in line with TMEA constitutional documents, Articles of Association, funding agreements, TMEA Regulations, defined policies, procedures, and applicable laws; • Oversees quarterly and annual management reports for submission to the TMEA Board of Directors; • Ensures TMEA operations are in full compliance with TMEA’s ethics, values, and environmental and social standards; • Provides excellent ethical and strategic leadership of TMEA to obtain the optimal performance from its staff and financial resource and manages TMEA’s Senior Leadership and Management Teams; • Exhibits strong personal ethics and values as a leader and manager.
7
TRADEMARK EAST AFRICA CEO
Qualification, experience, and skills Academic and professional Qualifications
• Minimum of a Masters degree, preferably in Economics, Development Economics, International Trade, Customs or Management
Work Experience
• A minimum of 15 years’ experience (5 of which should have been in Southern and East African countries) in leading and managing major economic development co-operation programmes preferably in regional integration, trade facilitation, customs and investment climate reform, corridor development, and/or institutional reform for international donor organisations such as the European Commission of the European Union (EU), US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Netherlands, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and/or other development partners. • Knowledge of donor policies and funding modalities (especially EU and USAID) are critical for this role, as are strong programme cycle management, monitoring, and evaluation skills.
Additional Skills
• Excellent leadership and people management skills; • Strong strategy formulation and implementation experience and ability to work at scale; • Outstanding communications, writing and interpersonal skills; • Self-starter and ability to work entrepreneurially with multiple stakeholders; • Ability to establish and maintain strong collaborative partnerships/ relationships with development partners, high ranking government officials, civil society, and private sector organisations; • Strong technical knowledge of the African regional trade agenda, trade facilitation, and major multilateral and bilateral trade agreements which affect East African countries; • Sound decision-making, judgement capabilities and strong ethics; • Well-developed problem solving and analytical skills; • Ability to work independently under pressure, and to tight deadlines; • Professional and practitioner qualifications / experience in customs and trade facilitation an advantage; • Language skills in French or Kiswahili would be an added advantage
TRADEMARK EAST AFRICA BOARD MEMBER
8
How to Apply All correspondence, at this stage, should be via Oxford HR. To apply for this post, click on the “Apply” button on the job advert page, complete our online application form, and submit your CV and cover letter in two different documents, which should be prepared before applying as they will be considered in the application process. The cover letter should be no more than two pages long and explain why you are interested in this post and how your skills and experience make you a good fit. The document should be saved in MS Word in the following format: Your First Name-Your Last Name-Document Name-Date (mmyy) e.g., Pat-Jones-CV102021-TMEA or Pat-Jones-CoverLetter102021-TMEA Timeline Closing date: 22nd December 2021 First stage interviews: Week of Jan 24 or 31st
Final panel interviews: March 8 -10 Equality statement Equality and diversity are at the core of TradeMark East Africa values. Staff are expected to work collectively and individually to promote a constructive and sensitive approach to others from a variety of backgrounds, where the work of others is valued and respected. Selection process All candidates will receive an update regarding their application after the closing date. We advise candidates to add the role email to their safe senders list and regularly check their spam folder. Queries If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information, or would like to have an informal discussion, please email at nbo-ceo@oxfordhr.co.ke in the first instance.
9
TRADEMARK EAST AFRICA CEO
About Oxford HR Oxford HR operates globally - mainly within the international development and charity sectors. We carry out retained executive search mandates at board and senior management levels. We also offer human resource and organisational development consultancy. Oxford HR has many years of experience in search as well as an extensive network of international development, social sector, corporate, public sector, and academic contacts from across the world. We carry out comprehensive and often international searches designed to meet the specific needs of our client.
TRADEMARK EAST AFRICA CEO
OXFORD
LONDON
AMSTERDAM
NAIROBI
46 Woodstock Road
Three Tuns House,
Korte Schimmelstraat 12
Watermark Business Park
Oxford
109 Borough High Street,
1053 SZ
Cove Court, 1st Floor
OX2 6HT
London
Amsterdam
Ndege Road off Langata Road
SE1 1NL United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The Netherlands
Kenya
+44 (0) 1865 985 457
+44 (0)20 7939 7451
+31 (0) 621 153 452
+254 (0) 797 233 217
www.oxfordhr.co.uk | Company No. 6456325
10