Responsible for the management and oversight of general operations for the foundations Africa offices in Abuja, Nigeria, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Johannesburg, South Africa. This includes leading short to long term strategic space planning, budgeting and financial management for the offices; direct management and ongoing maintenance of office facilities; and ownership and administration of operation vendor contracts. The Operations Manager, Africa will also serve as an advocate and a coordinating point-of-contact to operations and program teams on all operational and procedural issues including regulatory and operational compliance and the cost-effective and efficient delivery of IT, HR, Events, Transportation and Security services. The Operations Manager, Africa will also provide relevant input on business processes, policies, and infrastructure in support of the office, program and foundation strategy and goals. Ideal candidate will be located in our Johannesburg Office. This role is highly matrixed and will report directly to the Deputy Director of Strategy, Planning, and Management on our Africa team, with dotted line reporting relationships to various functions throughout operations.
- Strategic space-planning, budget and financial management
- Responsible for ensuring the effective use of the Africa office through short- and long-term strategic space planning and moves, space standards, benchmarks and metrics
- Annual budget forecasting for Africa offices operations cost centers
- Ongoing local financial and expense management
- Office maintenance and facilities management
- Coordinates and manages key vendors supporting office operations including transportation, physical security, facilities, maintenance, janitorial, reception, etc. in conjunction with the core Seattle teams
- Acts as key point of contact for space planning and infrastructure improvements
- Ownership and management of operations vendor contracts
- Partners with the core Seattle teams and those teams’ regional representatives for specific priorities, contract management, metrics, and reporting.
- Coordinating point-of-contact on all operational and procedural issues
- Regulatory and operational compliance: Works closely with the Seattle-based Legal team to ensure timely completion of all compliance tasks related to facilities, health, safety, and labor laws and regulations, and connects this with Foundation goals and mission to provide a healthy and safe working and hosting environment
- IT operations support: Acts as local point of contact on IT related initiatives. Helps drive requirements, set priorities, and advocate on behalf of local staff related to IT needs and IT change adoption. Partners with foundation IT to understand and leverage, where appropriate, best practices and approaches.
- HR operations support: Engages regularly with the Africa team’s HR point of contact to provide regional and local input on HR policies, programs and practices.
- Provides guidance on operational policies and procedures and needed infrastructure while developing and maintaining ongoing relationships with key stakeholders and Seattle-based counterparts for all operational areas.
- Provides key input, resources and local execution assistance as related to global operations initiatives such as IT upgrades, financial reporting and analysis, implementation of financial controls, roll out of new financial systems, budgeting and performance management implementation, etc.
- Extensive organization management knowledge and experience in facilities operations and vendor management, including broad knowledge of finance, and human resources.
- Broad knowledge and understanding of legal, regulatory, cultural and best practice issues as they relate to business abroad.
- Familiarity with foreign and USA business norms, and prior experience working for an entity with North American operations and personnel.
- Experience developing guidance, standards and procedures and creating and implementing operational excellence programs.
- Experience of developing, monitoring and reporting on budgets, and of sound financial management.
- Knowledge and experience of project management and change management.
- Excellent leadership, interpersonal, analytical, quantitative and written and oral communication skills.
- Innovative mindset
- Experience in MS Office, Sharepoint
- Experience providing support in a fast-moving organization,
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate and work with flexibility, efficiency and diplomacy both individually and as part of a team effort
- Ability to exhibit a high level of customer service while multitasking and working on multiple projects
- Excellent oral and written communication skills in an environment requiring diplomacy and judgment in managing interactions with individuals at all levels both inside and outside of the foundation
- Demonstrated effectiveness meeting deadlines in a role requiring continual attention to detail
- Experience establishing organizational systems to improve efficiency and functioning in a changing environment
- This role is responsible for high-quality interactions and clear and consistent communications with operations partners
- Able to handle confidential and sensitive information with the upmost discretion, and to sensitively manage difficult conversations and situations.
- Organizational curiosity, critical thinking and a mindset of continuous learning
- Systems thinking, the ability to recognize the entire eco-system and clearly identify key points of integration for success