Position: Director of Operations-Uganda
Reports to: Country Director-Uganda
Supervises: Human Resources, Finance, Logistics and Procurement, and other operation departments.
Location: Kampala Office, with regular visits to the field
OVERVIEW
Building Tomorrow, an international nonprofit organization, working to provide literacy and numeracy for all children, is seeking an exceptional, values-aligned Director of Operations, who will oversee and drive the operational excellence of Building Tomorrow’s programs in Uganda. The DOO will ensure efficient and effective program execution, manage and strengthen financial and human resource operations, enabling the organization to scale its impact and achieve its mission.
THE ORGANIZATION
Started in 2006, Building Tomorrow supports community-powered learning in rural areas. Through over 500 Building Tomorrow Fellows and over 14,000 Community Education Volunteers, Building Tomorrow has enrolled over 164,000 out-of-school children and reached over 500,000 learners with our signature Roots to Rise (R2R) literacy and numeracy camps. Between offices in the USA and Uganda, Building Tomorrow has a full-time staff of over 240, just eight of whom work outside Uganda. Building Tomorrow has received funding and recognition for its innovative work from Echoing Green, Big Bang Philanthropy, Clinton Global Initiative, and Forbes Magazine. More information can be found online at: www.buildingtomorrow.org.
POSITION HIGHLIGHTS
The DOO will be responsible for overseeing core day-to-day operations and cultivating Building Tomorrow’s culture by embodying and promoting its core values: Unshakable Passion, Creative Ingenuity, Relentless Determination, and Collaborative Engagement. The DOO will be responsible for ensuring the operational effectiveness of Building Tomorrow’s Uganda programs by streamlining processes, managing resources efficiently, and ensuring alignment with organizational goals. The DOO will work closely with the Uganda Country Director, Uganda Director of Programs, the Global Chief of Staff and key Ugandan operational leads to support the scaling of programs and the achievement of key performance indicators.
This position is full-time and based in Building Tomorrow Uganda’s Country Office in Kampala. The DOO will supervise the HR, Finance, Logistics, and other operations departments. The Director of Operations reports directly to the Uganda Country Director and collaborates closely with other Senior Leaders in Uganda and internationally, to ensure the operational department and organization’s strategic goals are met. Join us in making a meaningful impact in education.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Strategic Planning and Implementation:
- Implement an operations strategy that aligns with Building Tomorrow’s mission and supports the scaling of its programs.
- Oversee the planning, budgeting, and resource allocation for all operational activities, ensuring cost-effectiveness and value for money.
- Lead the development and implementation of standard operating procedures to enhance operational efficiency and program delivery.
- Contribute to proposal-writing, reporting, monitoring, and other fundraising initiatives.
- Maintain a solid understanding of all processes that happen within the organization.
- Participate in strategic decision-making discussions to provide operational insights.
2. Financial Oversight and Management:
- Provide strong leadership to the finance team, ensuring that the financial operations are robust, transparent, and aligned with Building Tomorrow’s goals.
- Working with BT Global’s Chief of Staff and Chief Financial Officer, lead the overhaul and strengthening of the Uganda finance team, implementing best practices in financial management, reporting, and compliance.
- Oversee financial audits and ensure compliance with local and international financial regulations, donor requirements, and organizational policies.
Working with the Finance Manager;
- Monitor and manage cash flow, ensuring that financial resources are used effectively and that risks are mitigated.
- Ensure the accurate and timely preparation of financial statements, budgets, forecasts, and financial reports to support informed decision-making by senior leadership.
- Monitor financial performance, and ensure that Financial reports are prepared in a timely manner.
- Ensure compliance with financial regulations, tax, statutory obligations, and donor requirements.
3. Risk Management
- Identify and mitigate operational risks that could impact the organization's performance.
- Identify and mitigate operational and financial risks, ensuring that all activities are conducted safely and in compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
- Develop and maintain robust systems for tracking and reporting on operational and financial performance, ensuring transparency and accountability.
- Ensure that Building Tomorrow Uganda’s operations and financial practices are environmentally sustainable and socially responsible.
4. Human Resources
- Lead the overhaul of Building Tomorrow Uganda’s HR function, hiring key personnel and revising policies, processes, and practices that attract, develop, and retain top talent.
- Drive efforts to create a positive workplace culture, enhancing employee engagement, satisfaction, and performance.
- Oversee the recruitment, onboarding, and professional development of staff, ensuring that Building Tomorrow Uganda attracts and retains top talent.
- Lead efforts to enhance employee engagement, satisfaction, and performance, fostering a positive and inclusive workplace culture.
Working with the HR Manager;
- Design and implement an HR strategy that aligns with Building Tomorrow’s mission and supports its growth.
- Ensure that HR systems and practices comply with local labor laws and international best practices.
5. Departmental Leadership, Supervision, and Collaboration
- Supervise the HR, IT, Logistics, and Finance Department leads to develop clear operational goals, monitor progress, and provide regular feedback.
- Work closely with program teams to support the planning and execution of their activities, ensuring that operational and financial needs are met and that activities are aligned with overall organizational goals.
- Foster a collaborative and positive work environment, encouraging professional growth and development among team members.
- Collaborate with senior leaders to ensure smooth communication and coordination between departments and across offices.
- Identify opportunities for process improvement and cross-functional efficiency.
- Prepare regular operational reports for the Country Director and the Tomorrow Team.
6. Innovation and Technology
Working with the Innovation Team;
- Leverage technology and innovative practices to enhance operational and financial efficiency and program impact.
- Lead the adoption of new tools and technologies that can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Building Tomorrow’s operations and financial management.
QUALIFICATIONS, EDUCATION, BACKGROUND, REQUIRED SKILLS:
- A 10-year track record of achievement in leadership roles, including operations and finance. We're looking for candidates who have been part of organisations that have doubled or tripled in size during their time there and are skilled in building systems and processes from scratch
- Familiarity with nonprofit regulations, donor compliance, and ethical considerations.
- Strategic thinker with the ability to align operational activities with organizational goals.
- Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills
- A track record of having made and led strategic decisions as part of the growth of an organisation in Uganda.
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Finance, Accounting, or a related field, with preference to those with strong finance and accounting backgrounds like ACCA
- (Preferred) Master's or Post Graduate Diploma degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Operations Management, Human Resources, or a related field
- First-rate oral and written communication skills in English and at least one other local Ugandan language
WE WANT YOU TO APPLY IF YOU…
- Have an unshakeable passion for education equality, believing access to an inclusive, quality education is a basic human right.
- Possess creative ingenuity, being progressive in your thinking and approaching challenges old and new. You are intrapreneurial and unafraid to pilot new ideas.
- Are relentlessly determined, refusing to accept the status quo, persistently striving to create new opportunities to reach more children, allowing them to reach their maximum potential.
- Believe in collaborative engagement. You believe more can be achieved together than alone, believe in the power of cultivating relationships, and see everyone as an equal partner.
The compensation package includes benefits and will be commensurate with experience. This is a senior management position based in Kampala, Uganda.
If someone referred you to apply for this position, please provide his or her name in your cover letter.
Building Tomorrow maintains a dedication to promoting gender equity, diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion, and recruits, employs, trains, compensates and promotes regardless of protected characteristics. Building Tomorrow will not tolerate illegal discrimination or harassment under any applicable law in any jurisdiction where it operates.
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Last updated on Aug 25, 2021