About the Role
Great challenge is where there are great rewards — the opportunity to be the person who innovates across every step of multiple industrial value chains to succeed in radically altering the future of hundreds of thousands of children in the country. We are seeking a talented, motivated and adaptable individual to support the Country Managing Director and the senior leadership team as Chief of Staff. The ideal candidate is a multi-faceted individual who will work closely with the Country Managing Director in a job shadow capacity to gain knowledge on how to run a business. As a co-strategist, implementer, and trusted advisor, the successful candidate will lead execution of strategic initiatives for the Country Managing Director and leadership team and will also ensure streamlined activities within the organization to improve the daily management of the company based on the priorities of the Country Managing Director. This is a highly hands-on and analytical role, involving intense program management and broad technical knowledge covering financial management, supply chain and school operations management. The Chief of Staff should have proven track record of exceptional performance driving strategic initiatives and projects to completion.
The role location is out of Lagos
What You Will Do
- Assist the Country Managing Director in facilitating effective decision-making
- Coordinate the execution of strategic initiatives
- Prepare periodic business performance and market analysis, business trends and providing insight with a view to increase operational efficiency
- Monitor and review departmental spending vs. budget to ensure optimal spending and ensure funds are directed towards projects that generate highest return on investment (ROI)
- Assess inquiries directed to the Country Managing Director, determine the proper course of action and delegate to the appropriate individual to manage
- Ensure appropriate follow through on actions, decisions, and commitments made by the Country Managing Director by working with the parties responsible for implementation
- Deliver business planning processes (forecasts, budgets, long range plans) including analysis of variances with relevant commentary to support management decision making
- Attend functional team meetings to keep a pulse on the business and help connect dots with others across the company
- Create organizational dashboards and reports to support effective decision making and cross company communications of business performance status
- Translate business requirements to technical requirements. This includes using powerful analysis and modelling tools to match strategic business objectives with practical technical solutions.
- Other responsibilities as determined by Country Managing Director
What You Should Have
- Passion for Our client’s vision of democratizing the right for all children to succeed.
- A Master’s Degree in Business Administration or related field
- 8+ years’ executive level experience
- Impeccable managerial and interpersonal skills
- Proven track record of effectively interacting with senior management
- Ability to work strategically and collaboratively across departments
- Effective, versatile and action-oriented
- Excellent communication skills (writing and speaking) and the ability to multitask
- Strong logical structuring and analytical skills, be able to see patterns, be a fast thinker and a good decision maker
- Excellent organizational skills, with keen attention to detail and ability to follow up systematically on a broad set of initiatives and decisions
- Strong willed, a fast learner and able to effect changes fast
- Excellent presentation creation skills. Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
You’re also
- A detailed doer – You have a track record of getting things done. You’re organized and responsive. You take ownership of every idea you touch and execute it to a fine level of detail, setting targets, engaging others, and doing whatever it takes to get the job done. You can multi-task dozens of such projects at once and never lose sight of the details. Likely, you have some experience in a start-up or other rapid-growth company.
- A creative problem-solver – Growing any business from scratch comes with massive and constant challenges. On top of that, Our client works in often fragile, sometimes volatile low-resource communities and with complex government systems. You need to be flexible and ready to get everything done effectively, quickly, and affordably with the materials at hand.
- A relentless advocate – The children we serve and teachers we empower never leave your mind. You know them, get them, have shared a meal with them (or would be happy to in the future). You would never shrink back from shaking a parent’s hand or picking up a crying child, no matter what the person was wearing or looked like. Every decision you make considers their benefit, experience, and value.
- A malleable learner – You believe you can always do better. You welcome constructive criticism and provide it freely to others. You know you only get better tomorrow when others point out where you’ve missed things or failed today.
- A data-driven decision-maker – When making decisions, you don’t rely your intuition alone. You collect data, you analyze it and make decisions with clear justifications.
- A curious investigator – You ask why a lot. You don’t just take what you see and accept it. You wonder why it is that way, and are aware that the world we see is created by human choices and actions – and it could be different. You wonder, and see the world as wonderful even when you want to change a part of it that is unjust.