General Manager, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, Geneva

About the Agency:

A new agency, the Aga Khan Agency for the Habitat (AKAH), works to ensure that people live in physical settings that are as safe as possible from the effects of natural disasters, that residents who do live in such high risk areas are able to cope with disasters in terms of preparedness and response, and that these settings provide access to social and financial services that lead to greater opportunities and a better quality of life. The new agency merges the activities of the Aga Khan Planning and Building Services, with its prize-winning water and sanitation programmes and low-cost habitat products, such as smoke-free stoves; the humanitarian arm of AKDN, FOCUS, which promotes disaster mitigation and resiliency and intervenes after disasters; the AKDN’s Disaster Risk Management Initiative, which focuses on disaster preparedness in remote areas; and the environment- and habitat-related activities of the Aga Khan Foundation, including the Prince Sadruddin Fund for the Environment and the Foundation’s highly regarded rural support programmes.

Role:

Based in Geneva, the GM will be responsible for ensuring the successful set up of the new Agency, provide strategic and operational leadership to AKAH’s field units in different countries, review budgets, monitor and evaluate programmatic interventions and for develop contemporary approaches to the strategic outlook.

The GM’s tasks will include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Ensuring the successful set up of the new Agency;
• Ensuring that the planning, design and implementation of the Agency’s habitat programmes are in compliance with global technical standards and best practices;
• Ensuring that the Agency’s work in the field of emergency management is guided by state of the art knowledge related to the occurrence of, and preparedness for, natural disasters; ensuring close collaboration with AKDN’s financial and resource institutions in order to establish internal funding mechanisms and financial products to support home ownership in built environment projects;
• Developing, nurturing and maintaining strong relationships with governments, bilateral and multilateral development agencies for the purposes of improving building practices in geographical areas of interest and for creating funding and knowledge-sharing partnerships internationally;
• Working closely with the field units and their governance structures to ensure effective implementation of programmes and strategic development of the units;
• Ensuring the sustainable development of the field units from financial, technical and human resource perspectives, through support and critical oversight of their plans;
• Being responsible for the development and implementation of detailed, annual work plans of the field units and the head office; and
• Ensuring that the budgets of the field units and the head office are critically reviewed before approval and then rigorously adhered to during the operational period.

Profile:

The successful candidates will be an experienced leader with 15 years of experience at senior management level and possess demonstrable financial acumen and budgetary skills. Credible experience in organisational change management, organisational development is important. Experience of working in high mountain areas, will be an advantage, particularly in the regions of Central and South Asia. The GM will be experienced in the field of emergency management to ensure that the Agency’s work is guided by knowledge related to the occurrence of, and preparedness for, natural disasters. S/he will ensure close collaboration with AKDN’s financial and resource institutions in order to establish internal funding mechanisms and financial products to support home ownership in build environment projects. The post will require travel to project sites. Fluency in English, both written and oral, is a must.