Chief Executive Officer at Busara Center

POSITION SUMMARY:

• The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is responsible for the overall success, growth, and development of Busara. They will be responsible for giving the proper strategic direction as well as creating a vision for success.
• The CEO must be a prudent manager and a supportive leader. The ideal candidate will have a business mindset and will be able to see the “big picture” in a variety of settings. They will take actions to enhance the company’s position and branding while keeping the mission front and center. As an organization with behavioral science in its DNA, the CEO should be the foremost supporter of the practice and frontiers of behavioral science.

This role reports to the Board of Directors.

RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• The CEO has overall responsibility for creating, planning, and implementing the strategic direction of the organization. Primarily, the CEO will be responsible for managing the leadership teams of each functional area, setting their division strategies, and holding teams accountable for execution of the strategy.  More specifically, the CEO will:

Develop the strategy of the organization by setting annual targets and ensuring clear, functional harmony on priorities for the organization. 

• Recruit, manage, and coach a team of functional heads to set function area strategies and develop teams to deliver on their strategies.
• Regularly convene the senior management team, setting organizational strategy, holding functional heads accountable, and making senior hiring decisions.
• Actively collaborate with the board of directors to refine strategy and ensure mission alignment.
• Oversee the company’s fiscal activity, including budgeting, reporting, and auditing.

The CEO is also responsible for setting the market position externally for the organization.  To achieve this, they must regularly engage with industry and academia to develop fruitful partnerships, and in this exposure identify new service lines to keep Busara competitive.  More specifically, the CEO will:

• Build and maintain strong relationships with key partners, stakeholders and funders.
• Maintain a deep knowledge of the behavioral science community and upcoming trends to position the organization.
• Oversee all operations and business activities to ensure they produce the desired results and are consistent with the overall strategy and mission.
• Directly champion our overall fundraising efforts to support our growing individual portfolios and to secure unrestricted funding to invest in new areas of growth.
• Create thought leadership and voice that enhances Busara’s reputation and furthers the strategic objectives of the organization.

Lastly, the CEO is ultimately responsible for setting and driving the culture at Busara.  To achieve this, they must set a strong example, identify critical staff members to shift culture, and manage internal communications.  More specifically, the CEO will:

• Provide inspired connections company-wide and be an example in culture-setting activities.
• Utilize strong interpersonal skills to recruit, manage and support teams who practice and enhance Busara’s organizational culture.
• Build strong internal communication channels between leadership, management, and execution teams to ensure harmony and strong morale at all levels.
• Be a culture-carrier for practices big and small, living and demonstrating Busara’s core values of Act Together, Act with Curiosity, Act with Purpose, and Act with Respect.

LOCATION AND TRAVEL:

• The CEO should be based in, or relocate to Busara’s headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.  Travel is anticipated to be 15-30% depending on the type and level of engagement, with particular emphasis on visits to our other country offices, and fundraising, networking, and events. 
• Busara offices are currently on a hybrid work schedule with at least 1 day in office per week for employees. During your time in Nairobi (or where Busara maintains an office), the CEO should be in office as much as practical to encourage attendance to organizational events, collaboration and team building.

QUALIFICATIONS: 

• The ideal CEO candidate has likely served in a comparable senior or executive role at a behavioral science or evidence-based organization. More specifically, we are seeking a CEO with the following qualifications and experience. However, we realize that it is unlikely that the right candidate will have all of these qualifications and experiences (and have additional ones not enumerated below). If you feel that you’d be a good fit for the CEO of Busara, we highly encourage you to apply, even if you don’t meet all of the qualifications.

Location and focus

• Based in or excited to move to Nairobi.
• Commitment to building behavioral science as a field in the Global South and to nurturing the next generation of behavioral scientists from the Global South.

General skills & experience

• An entrepreneurial mindset with outstanding organizational and leadership skills.
• Extensive experience managing and mentoring senior staff (10+ years).
• Excellent communication and public speaking skills.
• Experience managing diverse teams across multiple locations.
• Strong previous experience designing and implementing organizational strategy (internally or externally).

Specific experience

• Strong understanding of and experience applying behavioral economics, social psychology, and consumer-centric design principles.
• Strong understanding and application of rigorous, experimental research methods.
• Strong previous experience in a client-delivery role (e.g. management consulting, internal innovation team etc.).
• Demonstrated ability to develop high-level, strategic relationships with partner organizations.
• Extensive experience in the global development sector.
• Demonstrated ability to personally guide fundraising for a $10M organization.
• In-depth knowledge of governance and financial accounting for non-profit companies.

The following qualifications are desirable in a CEO candidate, but not required:

• Extensive previous work experience in the Global South.
• Technical development in a quantitative social science field (such as economics, psychology, or political science), particularly in experimental design, or statistical analysis. These skills are often developed in PhD programs in these fields.
• Strong previous experience growing an organization through a mature stage.
• Experience applying behavioral science in the public sector.
• Experience developing collaboration models with other individuals or organizations to jointly pursue impact.