Senior Director, Trade Environment at Trade Mark East Africa

TradeMark (Trade and Markets) East Africa is an aid-for-trade organisation that was established in 2010, with the aim of growing prosperity in East Africa through increased trade.

Job summary
This is a critical leadership role in driving TradeMark Africa (TMA’s) objectives, to enhance market access by reducing barriers both to intra-Africa trade, and trade between Africa and the rest of the world. As Senior Director, Trade Environment, you will be responsible for the departments that provide TMA’s technical expertise, overseeing programme quality and ensuring that operations deliver to our Strategy 3 results. You will have oversight of three of TMA’s six technical portfolios – ensuring that trade policy and the trade regulatory environment responds to the challenges of the future, not least tackling Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) and positioning Africa as a pioneer in green trade; ensuring that national bodies and the private sector can respond in an agile way to formal and informal requirements from offtakers, driving harmonisation and helping exporters to navigate the financial and technical burdens of standards; and making trade processes and systems more efficient and better suited to trade through digitalisation and innovation. You will oversee direct programming, as well as ensuring that our country and regional programmes deliver best-in-class technical solutions.
Roles and responsibilities

Strategy development

Develop and frame programming within a coherent strategic context that answers to corporate results
Develop, review and revise trade environment technical strategies and oversee their implementation, including strategic planning, resources planning and allocation, project proposals and Project Appraisal Reports (PARs);
Continuously review programmes and projects within the portfolio and suggest refinements to TMA’s
Theory of Change in liaison with the Senior Management Team;
Contribute to fundraising initiatives, designing interventions, providing quality assurance, developing relationships with development partners, and overseeing proposals; appraise and undertake due diligence of potential investment opportunities.

Results delivery

Ensure that TMA programmes deliver systemic, sustainable results, while providing value for money
Oversee design and delivery of a large, complex portfolio at continental, regional and national levels to improve Africa’s trade environment. This will include programming that improves the trade policy environment, enhances the investment climate; provides innovative ICT4Trade solutions for public and private sectors; and increases harmonisation and reduces costs of compliance with necessary standards;
Ensure excellence from your teams across the whole programme management cycle, in order to deliver results: including procurement, project management, reporting, management information, monitoring and evaluation. Ensure that individual skills are sufficient, and maintaining effective systems for programme delivery;
Build load-bearing relationships with international partners, national stakeholders and the private sector, leveraging these to solve problems proactively and generate effective feedback loops to enhance programming;
Manage matrix interfaces with other technical and geographical delivery teams, in order to ensure effective delivery by others of corporate objectives within your technical area; and that technical teams contribute to emerging priorities in ensuring TMA delivers green trade solutions, and responds to inclusion and resilience challenges;
Ensure risk management, transparency, zero tolerance to fraud and corruption, and appropriate due diligence in all programming activities.

Drive technical excellence and thought leadership

Contribute to TMA impact with partners and on the global level through generating and disseminating high quality technical thinking
Carry out high level representation of TMA at various national, regional and international events and conferences, demonstrating TMA’s thought leadership and contributing to international debates;
Manage and nurture strong internal technical competences and knowledge management across the team, and through this ensure technical excellence of work streams to the highest standards;
Increase awareness and skills of the whole organisation in core technical areas, including designing and potentially delivery of training programmes;
Manage and lead the delivery of TMA’s Knowledge Management approaches and Communities of Practice under the organisation Trade Environment practice, contributing to knowledge generation and dissemination;
Maintain regular dialogue with TMA’s trade environment stakeholders through appropriate groups and networks: national and regional; development partners; implementing partners.

Team leadership

Structure, shape and motivate team to excel in delivering results
Ensure coherence between programming priorities, level and focus of team effort, and client needs, structuring team to best meet objectives in the short and medium terms;
Provide clarity of vision and leadership for divisions, managing, mentoring and motivating a strong team of Technical Directors and technical programme management staff, ensuring adequate capacity is developed for successful delivery;
Foster strong collaboration and integration between technical teams and others in the organisation;
Ensure that staff are resourced and equipped to perform at a high standard, including managing poor performance effectively, aligning L&D with individual and corporate development areas, and identifying and bringing on talent, both internally and externally.

Corporate leadership

Demonstrate collective leadership in contributing to TMA being an effective, collaborative and strategic organisation
As member of the Senior Leadership and Management Team (SLMT), help set TMA’s strategic direction; advocating for your objectives while shaping them to suit others’ objectives. This will include taking collective responsibility for leadership decisions; and setting a collaborative and results-focused culture;
Apply the highest standards of controls and risk management practices and behaviours and embed a proactive risk approach, through effective analysis and discussion of risk, timely mitigations and escalation, and implementation of all control measures;
Promote and adhere to TMA’s core values and ensure compliance with organisational policies and procedures;
Maintain zero tolerance to bribery, fraud and corruption, and ensure the immediate reporting of any corruption or suspect behaviour that threatens TMA’s reputation; and adhere to the safeguarding policies and procedures and immediately report any safeguarding concerns.

Requirements
Academic and professional qualifications

Undergraduate or Masters’ degree preferably in Economics, Development Studies, International Trade, Planning, Finance, Management or other related fields.
Trade Policy or International Trade qualifications are a distinct advantage.

Work experience

Undergraduate degree holders will have at least 15 years’ working experience, including seven years in senior leadership and management roles. Postgraduate degree will have plus thirteen years’ relevant experience including seven years of leadership and management experience.
A minimum of ten years’ experience in leading the development and delivery of complex development programming in the economic development and trade sectors, with preferably direct experience of trade policy, regional integration, ICT4 Trade and/or standards programming.
Significant experience and networks in West Africa, East Africa, Horn of Africa or Southern Africa.
Experience in working with both public and private sectors and civil society, using dialogue and data to bring them together to deliver common objectives.

Technical skills and behavioural competencies

Proven intellectual and strategic thinking skills with strong problem solving and analytical skills.
Strong strategy formulation and implementation skills including the ability to communicate strategy and results concisely and simply.
Excellent leadership and management skills with sound decision-making and judgement.
Demonstrable experience of managing and mentoring staff to excel at a senior level.
Strong portfolio building and fundraising skills.
Ability to deliver complex programming at pace and to budget, in evolving situations.
Adept at working with diverse teams, delivering change and demonstrating value for money.
Ability to influence others to achieve objectives and gain consensus and collaboration.
Excellent presentation, communication and personal effectiveness skills.
Risks associated with the position and additional background information

The role also requires:

Good understanding and grounding in the political economy and centres of power and influence that may
negatively or positively affect implementation of projects and programmes across different regions, sectors and industries in the continent and its regions.
Good understanding of trade policy context and regional integration in Africa and ability to postulate spillover effects that particularly affect vulnerable groups in the environment.
High acumen in detecting underlying influences and vested interests that may pose reputational risk to TMA’s corporate identity, programmes and partners.
Good understanding of the dynamics affecting trade policy at national, regional and global multilateral
levels, as well as excellent understanding of the multilateral trading systems and their implications on regional integration.
Significant knowledge of the trade and development needs of developing countries, and a good understanding of trade policy, trade facilitation, infrastructure and transport/logistics.