Senegal: CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER (COO)

TOSTAN
Tostan is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Dakar, Senegal and currently
operating in five West African countries.
Strategically, the organization is committed to continuing to develop its core competency of
empowering education and to documenting and scaling the sustainable impact it creates across
a range of issues. Tostan’s flagship model, the 3-Year Community Empowerment Program
(CEP), has already reached thousands of communities in both West and East Africa since 1991.
Outcomes in governance, education, health, economic empowerment, and the environment are
currently tracked, and Tostan has been particularly proud to play a significant role in the
large-scale empowerment of women and girls and the community-led abandonment of harmful
practices such as female genital cutting and child marriage.
New models for building partnerships with communities after the CEP, and for sharing Tostan’s
approach with a range of local and global audiences, have joined powerful additions to the
ever-evolving CEP to create a unique and exciting strategic moment.

POSITION
With a revised strategy in place for 2019-2022 and a clear opportunity to go to scale,Tostan is
now seeking a dynamic, inspirational, grounded and experienced leader in operations
management to serve as the Chief Operating Officer (COO), the second most senior position in
the organization. Reporting to and working closely with the Chief Executive Officer the COO
also serves as a member of the Executive Team.

The COO will lead, plan, implement, monitor, refine and evaluate all operational and
administrative aspects of the organization to help bring maximum impact to the communities
served. In particular, it is expected that the COO will ensure operational efficiency, creativity and
innovation in order to lead the organisation through the next stages of the scaling approach.
S/He will be responsible for overseeing the management of the Internal Audit, Administration &
Logistics, IT, departments and functional areas, in addition to managing the National
Coordinations (5) and the Tostan Training Center. As part of the senior leadership team, the
COO will be responsible for helping develop and implement the strategic direction of the
organization. The COO is also responsible for supporting effective relationships with Board
members, and other partners - mostly operational ones, as relevant. The COO will coordinate
with the Country teams and with the Finance, Global Mobilization and Program Departments at
Tostan International in the development and management of programs and annual budgets in
order to ensure that the services and programs provided meet the quality standards and fulfil
Tostan’s mission.
This position is located in Tostan’s headquarters office in Dakar, Senegal and some travel
(30%) is expected.

Responsibilities:
Operations Management

● Ensure that the mission and values of Tostan are consistently reflected in all policies,
practices and operations
● Drive key change and transformation initiatives to optimize operations systems and
practices
● Recommend and implement appropriate system of policies, internal controls, quality
criteria and standard operating procedures that align with the values and priorities of
Tostan
● Ensure that the organization complies with external and internal audit recommendations,
as well as with other contracting requirements including grants compliance (document
management, risk mitigation, and legal oversight)
● Facilitate the strategic planning, monitoring and reporting process for the organization
and ensure all operations are properly implementing activities in accordance with the
current strategic plan

Strategy & Executive Leadership

● Represent the operations of the organization to the Board of Directors
● Work with the leadership of each department to set impact-oriented objectives, KPIs and
required budget for the year that align with the strategic plan
● Oversee the systems of collaboration and timelines to ensure all departments are
delivering on organizational commitments with board, funders, CEO, government entities
and other stakeholders
● Advise on best practices, tools and latest innovations in his/her field of expertise and
give strategic direction to the CEO, Board, and Departments under his/her responsibility
to align operability and strategic ambitions.
● Provide strategic direction, communicate efficiently and take responsibility as part of the
executive team

Team Management & Leadership

● Mentor and train the various Tostan leaders under his/her direct responsibility toward
best-in-class teamwork and achieving their individual aspirations and potential
● Support the information technology, administration & logistics, internal audit
departments, National coordinations and TTC in ensuring the staff has the necessary
equipment, training and resources to excel at their positions
● Conduct regular meetings to support/coach for success and transform challenges to
meeting these objectives and fulfill strategic priorities

Qualifications:
All senior leadership team members:

● Passionate belief in and commitment to Tostan’s mission to empower African
communities to bring about sustainable development and positive social transformation
based on respect for human rights
● Deep commitment to and first-hand experience with participatory communities,
organizations, or education
● Shares our values and has leadership experience bringing similar values to life in
organizations and/or communities
● Brings some unique and aligned gift(s) that contributes to Tostan’s long-term success
● Skilful at communicating and bridging understanding to forward strategic priorities and
fulfill Tostan mission and vision
● Ability to work in a collaborative, co-creative team, bringing value to the team’s outcomes
enriching, respectful, beneficial
● Sense of humour
● Ability to learn and to receive feedback

Chief Operations Officer specifically:

● Master’s level required in the field of business operations, logistics or other relevant
domain. Master’s in Business Administration strongly preferred
● Understanding of project management in West Africa
● Experience with the operations of a complex international not for profit with diverse
funding sources and operations in multiple countries
● Deep industry and market knowledge
● Excellent interpersonal communications skills, networking with peers, detail oriented and
inspirational leader
● 15+ years of experience with at least 5 years in a senior management position and
supervisory role
● Experience in finance or accounting will be an asset
● Understanding of human resource management and ability to position as a
manager-coach with experience in talent maximization
● Proven track record of collaborating and maintaining relations with an engaged Board
● Capacity building know-how and ability to effectively mentor key staff
● Out-of-the-box thinking & ability to generate transformational conversations at various
levels of leadership within the organisation
● Ability to weigh alternative actions and to take decisions
● Fluent in verbal and written French and English (required) - language skills in an
additional local language of West Africa (preferred)

Reports to:​ Chief Executive Officer

Location: The position is located in Dakar, Senegal, at Tostan’s International Office. The post
will also require occasional travel to Thies, Senegal, as well to Tostan’s national and/or regional
offices in Tostan’s five countries of presence.

To Apply: ​ Send your resume, cover letter and 3 references to ​ search_COO@tostan.org
by July 21st, 2019