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At the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, we work with political leaders around the world to drive change. We help governments turn bold ideas into reality so they can deliver for their people. We do it by advising on strategy, policy and delivery, unlocking the power of technology across all three. And by sharing what we learn on the ground, so everyone can benefit. We do it to build more open, inclusive and prosperous countries for people everywhere.

We are a global team of nearly 800 changemakers, operating in more than 30 countries, across five continents. We are political strategists, policy experts, delivery practitioners, technology specialists and more. We speak more than 45 languages. We are working on over 100 projects, tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. We’re all here at TBI to make a difference.

In a world of ever more complex challenges, we believe diversity of background and perspective is a strength. We pride ourselves on a culture that values and nurtures difference. We are dedicated to unlocking potential, not only for the countries we work in but also for each of our team members. No matter where you’re from or who you are, if you’re passionate about the transformative power of progressive politics, we invite you to build a better future with us.

Role Summary

TBI continues to grow its work in Africa. As a result of this growth, we are searching for an outstanding candidate to provide effective and efficient support to the TBI teams within the Africa region, and to ensure smooth administrative and operational delivery. This includes administrative, operational and business setup support to the TBI management and other staff members.

The role reports in to the Africa regional headquarters in Kenya, and will work closely with our Advisory and Internal Operations teams across the region, as well as our global Internal Operations teams, and will work with a wider cohort of Operations Assistants.

The postholder will deliver excellent logistical, operational and administrative support to our people and work closely with our teams on the ground. In terms of reporting lines – this role reports into the Head of SRTO Africa with dotted line reporting into the Kenya Country Director who holds duty of care for all staff in Kenya.

Key Responsibilities

The Operations Manager, Africa will be either directly responsible for implementing the tasks below or will provide oversight of staff and departments that perform these functions.

• Lead all aspects of the management and maintenance of TBI properties in Africa. This will involve ensuring our offices are of TBI quality including office branding , IT equipment, no of seats and meeting rooms based on staff in country. This role will also run projects to reduce office costs working closely with Country Directors and Ops assistants. Create an Africa facilities SOP.
• Ensure standardization of operations in all our countries of operations in Africa. This will involve working closely with the Ops assistants in countries, standardizing JDs with the country directors, reviewing OKRs for the Ops assistant role and upskilling them as needed.
• Support in setting up appropriate office locations. Conduct and document security assessments of new buildings. Ensure a facilities list is kept up to date for all offices in Africa.

Ongoing Business Support Functions

• IT: liase with central IT support and HR onboarding teams, to ensure that all staff have adequate and functioning IT equipment.
• HR and staffing: liase with central HR teams to manage onboarding of new staff, advise country staff on HR and staffing policies, support team members in country with ongoing work permit/visa queries.
• Admin: support the Managing Director, EA Regional Director and country leadership team with logistics support
• Legal and Finance teams: liase with those teams ensure adequate documentation and support with ad-hoc requests related our corporate entity in Kenya (currently undergoing registration and activation)
• Coordinate in country moves outside of core locations
• Support arrival procedures of international staff and visitors to the Kenya programme and EA/Africa Headquarters

Office Operations

• Onboard and oversee local vendors including cleaners, office service providers etc. Ensure that we provided standard support across all Africa offices.
• Ensure the Kenya government and company policies are being followed regarding protocols and procedures
• Liase with the Global Security and Operations Team to ensure protocols are followed and identify and flag operational risks to the Country Director and Head of SRTO, Africa
• Support projects with leadership visits and events as needed in the region with the logistics coordination between the teams involved
• Participate in the crisis management team in the event of a medical or security emergency.

Finance

• Manage financial activities in compliance with TBI policy and procedures. Ensuring that all countries that require contingency cash is also requested in advance and maintained appropriately.
• Support the Country, Regional and Managing Directors and team in central financial management including preparing requests for advance of funds and/or direct payments; monitoring budget expenditures and maintaining a proper record of budgets and spending.

Safety, Security and Access

• With support from the Global Operations and Security team, develop country level security SOPs that are contextually appropriate to the risk to TBI staff and activities in country
• Maintain an active network with other agencies as well as key interlocutors to ensure that TBI understands the security context. Notify the Managing/Regional/Operations Directors, Global Security and Operations Team when the political or security situation may impact TBI’s staff or activities
• Ensure that any violation of safety and security rules as well as security incidents are reported to the Managing Director and Global Operations and Security team
• Work with the Director of Operations & Head of SRTO to enable safe access for TBI staff to new areas and identify key stakeholders and interlocutors relevant to the area of operation
• Ensure that all TBI locations are compliant with fire regulations and equipped with firefighting equipment where necessary
• Act as the point of contact in country to carry out security tasks as directed by the Global Security and Operations team
• Maintain an up to date country Flap sheet and communications tree.
• It is also expected that the postholder will cover any other duties as required where capacity and availability permits. These duties will be communicated in advance and agreed with the Country Director and Head of SRTO where possible.

Closing Date:

2024-08-15