Job Description

Job Title: Executive Director
Location: Aden
Reporting to: Resonate! Yemen Foundation’s Board of Trustees.
Duration of Contract: 1 year (renewable)
Type of contract: Full-time
No. of positions: (1)

ABOUT Resonate! Yemen

Resonate! Yemen Foundation (Resonate!), is a not-for-profit civil society foundation contributing to inclusive and local sustainable development through the provision of institutional development and local community empowerment programs to diverse groups of development stakeholders including Youth, CSOs and local Authorities. Resonate! believes in community-based interventions as a main source of local sustainable development.

General Position Summary

The Executive Director is to lead Resonate! Yemen Foundation towards effective implementation of its vision, mission and strategy; this includes: Planning, Program Development and Fundraising, Financial, Administrative, and Operations Management, S/He is responsible for developing the overall strategic direction for programming in cooperation with Resonate! Yemen Foundation’s board, senior
management team and local and international partners. S/He is also responsible for developing and
implementing systems, policies and procedures for Resonate! Yemen Foundation’s operations in Yemen. S/he is a skilled communicator, able to develop and utilize strong relationships with team members, partners and donors,
The Executive Director represents Resonate! Yemen Foundation at the highest level and is able to develop, articulate and deliver a strategic vision in line with the rapid evolution of the context and the strategic decisions made by the Resonate! Yemen Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

Essential Job Responsibilities Strategy & Vision

• Responsible for strategic planning to ensure that Resonate! Yemen can successfully fulfill its vision and mission.
• Formulate and plan, in consultation with key stakeholders, a clear vision of present and future program goals and strategies which can be clearly communicated to team members, beneficiaries, local & international partners, governmental counterparts, and donors.
• Set direction by prioritizing and organizing actions and resources to achieve Resonate!’s goals and objectives. 
• Provide overall guidance and direction to support Resonate!’s units to achieve agreed targets and long-term strategic objectives.
• Coordinate with partner organizations and program staff on proposal development and design, including gathering information for concepts and proposals and serving as primary drafter/editor of proposals.
• Ensure Resonate!’s strategy is understood throughout the team and guides decision-making.

Team Management

• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Establish leadership and personal credibility with the Resonate! Team, and implement by example an organizational culture of accountability, responsibility and quality of services.
• Institute a disciplined culture of performance management and regular feedback between supervisors and their direct reports.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews;
• Provide team members with information, tools and other resources to improve performance and reach objectives;
• Contribute to team-building efforts, help team members identify problem-solving options and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.

Programs Delivery, Operations, and Compliance

• Oversee program quality and impact by ensuring programs are based on sound design principles and utilize Resonate and donor required M&E systems.
• Oversee and implement appropriate resources to ensure that the operations of the organization are appropriate.
• Responsible for ensuring compliance to legal requirements, and Resonate!’s internal procedures and guidelines, as well as any donor requirements in all operations of the foundation.
• Ensure synergies between support units and program unit, effective planning, regular communication and anticipation of program needs.
• Ensure projects and programs are able to meet donor and internal obligations on scope, time, and budget, including efficient coordination of program, operational, and financial issues;
• Engage program leadership in ongoing context analysis that enables programs and teams to adapt to significant changes in the conflict environment;
• Identify and evaluate the risks and possible threats associated with support activities and take appropriate action to control the risk
• Oversee the establishment of systems, policies, and approaches necessary to ensure and demonstrate the quality of programs.
• Ensure that all the staff have received training in line with their level of responsibility and receive technical support relevant to their programs.
• Ensure program implementation is on time, target and budget, using effective M&E systems to reach desired impacts.
• Build and maintain operational structures that ensure proper segregation of duties between programs, finance, administration, HR and other units.
• Build and maintain an environment of collaboration among program, finance, operations team members resulting in optimal support for program activities.
• Create and maintain systems ensuring effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with donor and Foundation policies and procedures.
• Maintain oversight of overall program budgets ensuring appropriate allocation of resources to meet program objectives;

Financial Management

• Responsible for the financial integrity to include annual external auditor reports, submission to the Board of Trustee a proposed annual budget and regular financial statements which
• accurately reflect the financial condition of the foundation, as well as submitting annual reports to the Board of Trustees at the end of each year.
• Responsible for financial management that generally anticipates operating within the approved budget, ensures maximum resource utilization, and maintenance of the organization in a positive financial position.
• Responsible for fundraising and developing other resources necessary to support Resonate!’s mission.

Partnership and Grants Management:

• Ensure that local partners and sub-contractors are implementing project activities in-line with Resonate! and donor rules and regulations;
• Support proposal design and review processes to ensure that partnership and capacity building strategies are in alignment with program guidelines and standards;
• Strengthen management and follow-up systems with partners for monitoring and reporting purposes;
• Standardized ways of working with partners and build partners capacity in work-planning and program cycle management;
• Influence & Representation
• Maintain productive relationships with key stakeholders such as partner civil society organizations, local authorities, partner international NGOs, donors, and local communities.
• Anticipate needs, understand donor mechanisms and contribute to shaping donor’s views and understanding of priorities in Yemen.
• Represent the Foundation with national and international media and participate in community activities as appropriate;
• Ensure that Foundation maintains a high degree of risk awareness and impartiality;
• Respect and understand cultural and political differences and nuances and have the ability to navigate between them, recognizing the complexities involved;

Supervisory Responsibility: HR& Admin. Manager, Finance Manager, MEAL Manager, Programs Manager, Project Managers, Research & Studies Manager

Accountability

Knowledge and Experience

1-    Bachelor’s degree in social science, management, or relevant discipline. Master’s Degree is preferred;
2-    Minimum of 8-10 years of experience in senior management, or leadership positions with preference to experience in the development sector;
3-    Experience in successfully managing institutional partnerships and collaboration with local partners, INGOs, authorities/government, and donors;
4-    Significant experience in strategic planning, strategic analysis, review, and developing programming strategy;
5-    Experience of solving complex issues collegially, defining a clear way forward, and utilizing best practices in management to ensure shared success; Outstanding analytical and strategic thinking skills, with a focus on results and impact;
6-    Strong analytical skills and ability to think strategically, and proven experience of building, leading and managing large complex diverse teams;
7-    Leadership qualities and people management expertise to provide direction and support;
8-    Strong interpersonal awareness, including diplomacy, tactics, respectful communication, negotiation, influencing, coaching, being able to work effectively with others, cultural sensitivity and respect for confidentiality
9-    Fluency in English and Arabic (spoken and written) required.