Senegal: Executive Director

As a leader in this space, SRI Executive has been retained by CORAF/WECARD to conduct a search for a suitably qualified/high calibre individual to undertake the position of Executive Director.

CORAF/WECARD is one of the four African Sub Regional Organizations (SRO) members of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). It presently comprises as members, the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) of 23 countries in West and Central Africa.

The general objective of CORAF/WECARD is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of small-scale producers and promote the agribusiness sector. For that reason, it puts the producers, private sector and end-users at the centre of research. The mission of CORAF/WECARD is underlined by the determination to meet the socioeconomic needs of the population in the sub-region. This is why CORAF/WECARD’s concern is to improve, in a sustainable way, agricultural productivity, competitiveness and markets.

Executive Director

The successful incumbent will be both a visionary scientist, a leader and an excellent manager.

The Executive Director is responsible for managing the Executive Secretariat and the Association’s operations in accordance with its strategic orientations. He/ She provides the overall leadership for the Secretariat and must ensure that the organisation’s outputs remain relevant and provides solutions to complex development issues.

This position reports to the Chairperson of the Governing Board, the Governing Board and the General Assembly.

More specifically, the incumbent will:

· Represent CORAF/WECARD as Legal representative, as delegated by the Chairperson of the Governing Board.

· Serve as the Secretary to the Governing Board: Ensure the smooth and efficient organization and management of the Executive Secretariat as well as the human, financial and physical assets and resources.

· Manage the relationship with key CORAF/WECARD collaborating partners and stakeholders, based on subsidiarity principles, within and outside the West and Central Africa Sub-region, in particular with FARA, other SROs, NARS members, African Governments, international donors and development partners.

· Develop rules, guidelines, regulations and procedures governing the employment of secretarial and other support staff of the Executive Secretariat for approval by the Governing Board.

· Recruit and appoint staff required for operation of the functions at the Executive Secretariat and assess their performance.

· Prepare CORAF/WECARD Annual Plan of Work and Budget and Financial Statements for approval by the Governing Board and the General Assembly.

· Prepare progress reports on implementation of CORAF/WECARD Operational Plan and Programs as well as other documents for presentation to the Governing Board and the General Assembly.

· Organize, plan and manage all meetings organized by CORAF/WECARD.

· Support NARS members by providing technical, research, development and intellectual leadership through commissioning and dissemination of technical and policy reports towards the realization of the vision and mission of CORAF/WECARD.

· Facilitate the articulation of new proposals, projects and initiatives in support of the research and development activities of NARS partners to respond effectively and efficiently to the evolving challenges and opportunities of agricultural development in the West and Central Africa Sub-region.

· Coordinate all team activities and provide team leadership.

· Ensure the implementation of all governance policy and procedure manuals.

· Perform any related duties as may be assigned by the Chairperson of the Governing Board and the General Assembly, for achievement of the vision, mission and goals of CORAF/WECARD.

Qualifications:

· At least fifteen (15) years of experience in the field of agricultural research management at the national, regional or international level;

· The ideal candidate must be a citizen of one of the 23 West and Central African countries whose national agricultural research system is member of this Association.

· PhD degree in an agriculture related topic and have produced many publications of high scientific quality;

· Be a leader and a visionary who is very aware of agricultural research, market oriented, and development issues in Africa; highly recognised scientist in international fora;

· Have gained experience working in a West and Central African National Agricultural Research System;

· Be capable of facilitating discussions and participating in debates on highly variable topics, relating to agricultural research and development ;

· Possess strong skills in the management of human and financial resources, organizational change and knowledge management;

· Possess strong experience in financial resource mobilization;

· Be an excellent communicator that perfectly masters the two working languages of the Association (French and English) ;

· Demonstrate strong involvement in agricultural research cooperation for development;

· Be able to maintain the Association’ diversified and multi-stakeholder partnership;

· Be capable of travelling extensively.

· Strong coordination skills / team management skills.

· Ability to supervise and implementation of all governance policy and procedure manuals.

· Strongly motivated candidate, demonstrating passion for CORAF/WECARD’s mission and vision.

· Portuguese will be an added advantage

Terms and Conditions

The Executive Director shall be based in Dakar, Senegal, where the Headquarters of the Association is located. The Executive Director is recruited with a four (4) year mandate renewable only once, and based on satisfactory performances and a positive assessment by the Governing Board.

The Remuneration is based on the internationally competitive and attractive salary scale of CORAF/WECARD.

Application

Expressions of Interest with a full CV and supporting statement, highlighting your experience and skills against the requirements of the role should be submit to Ms Carolina Mallari, Researcher, SRI Executive, cmallari@sri-executive.com on or before 15^th August 2015 17.00pm +8 GMT

For more details, click on the links below:

Role profile, Executive Director : http://coraf.org/documents/annonces-emplois/2015-07/Role%20profile_CORAF_Executive%20Director.pdf

Executive Brief, Executive Director : http://coraf.org/documents/annonces-emplois/2015-07/Executive%20Brief_CORAF_Executive%20Director.pdf