Chief of staff

Cohere is committed to providing equitable opportunities to candidates and welcomes all candidates to apply, without discrimination based on age, disability, ethnicity, origin, political belief, race, religion, sex or gender, sexual orientation, language, and culture.

Position: Chief of staff
Location: Kampala, Uganda
Type of contract: Full-time
Salary: 4,000,000 - 5,200,000 Million,Ugandan Shillings gross depending on experience.

Cohere particularly encourages candidates who have experienced forced displacement and who have experience in Human resource management or a closely related field to apply.

About us

Cohere is an international NGO of 50+ employees registered in Uganda, Kenya, and the United Kingdom that specialises in building holistic partnerships with Refugee-Led Organisations (RLO) in refugee-hosting areas. Currently, we operate in 5 different locations across East Africa and have partnered with more than 40 RLOs. We support RLOs in strengthening their professional capacity, establishing social enterprises, and accessing resources to implement, sustain and scale out humanitarian response activities. With our RLO partners, we aim to support refugees to lead fulfilled and dignified lives and transform the humanitarian and development sectors towards more community-led responses.

In recent years, refugee-led organisations have finally received some recognition for the critical work they do as first responders to refugee crises as well as crises faced by the wider community, such as COVID-19, Ebola, and famine. RLOs are also key actors in promoting the integrated development of refugee-hosting areas all over the world. Recognition of their work, however, and the number of new RLOs emerging as key players and humanitarian actors have not been enough to shift meaningful humanitarian funding to RLOs. RLOs still receive less than 1% of the international aid allocated to refugee responses. What is more, there are systemic barriers preventing refugees from playing a meaningful role within the refugee response as a whole, such as within humanitarian organisations, and within decision-making processes where decisions are made about the futures of refugee communities. Beyond allocating funding to refugee leaders there are numerous opportunities for reforming the humanitarian sector as a whole so that the way we respond to forced migration crises globally is more appropriate, effective, and sustainable.

Job description

Cohere experienced a strong period of growth as the direct result of increased efficiency and productivity. To continue this trajectory, we’re searching for a highly qualified chief of staff to work closely with our team. This person will have an immediate impact on our productivity by streamlining strategic initiatives and communicating objectives to the teams.

The ideal candidate will have proven success in a human resource management role.

Objectives of this role

• Oversee strategic initiatives under the guidance of senior leadership and department heads
• Support the development and implementation of HR initiatives and systems
• Be actively involved in recruitment by preparing job descriptions, posting ads, managing the hiring process and orientation of staff on policies and procedures
• Review, design, and execute improvements to organizational structure; find knowledge and skills gaps and help address them
• Improve current processes and optimize organizational procedures for efficiency and productivity

Responsibilities

• Serve as liaison with staff, leadership, and CEO regarding organizational culture, employee well-being, project updates, proposals, and planning.
• Oversee compliance with relevant regulatory bodies, URA, OPM, Local government and be the focal contact person for the organization.
• Assist the human resources department with new hires, staff workload including documentation and onboarding, and collaborate to address and resolve all employee concerns.
• Oversee daily operations in collaboration with programme leads and department leaders, and the leadership.
• Develop and build on relationships with all employees for increased efficiency and responsiveness of existing operations, and help define new operational strategies.
• Serve as a subject-matter expert, handling inquiries, developing action plans, and assisting with preparation and dissemination of communications

Desired/required skills

• proven progressive responsibility in a similar position.
• Experience in organizing and directing multiple teams and departments
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Cultural competence and intelligence, ability to work well in a diverse, multicultural workforce;
• Experience in planning and leading strategic initiatives
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Versatile abilities and extreme dedication to efficient productivity

Preferred qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience) in programme and human resource management or similar field
• Proven experience, with a focus on operations management and coordination
• Strong reporting, budgeting and accountability and skills

What we offer

• Working in an international team of visionary and motivated individuals
• Opportunities for personal and professional growth
• Health insurance
• Participating in extensive national and international networks within the humanitarian and development sector
• 25 days of annual leave
• Hybrid working environment

How to apply

To apply for this position, please complete and submit Chief of Staff Application Form. In addition, please submit your CV and use your name and the job title “Chief of Staff-Uganda'' in the email subject. Please note that only the CVs of short-listed candidates will be considered and therefore we ask you to include the most relevant information from your CV in the application form. If you are interested in applying for more than one position advertised by Cohere, please do so separately following the instructions in the relevant job application.

The deadline for submitting the online form and your CV is 22nd February 2023 at midnight (EAT) to jobs@wearecohere.org. As the selection of applicants will be conducted on a rolling basis, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. For more information about our work please visit www.wearecohere.org

This is a secure form and your application will only be accessed by Cohere’s selection panel for this position and the Cohere Human Resources department.