Operations Manager – Citywise. at Sanergy

The role:

The Citywise team needs a strategic, organized, and detail-oriented person to provide critical operational leadership as we continue to grow our advisory business and expand our geographic footprint. The Operations Manager is responsible for enabling the Citywise team to consistently deliver exceptional results by ensuring that all systems and processes run smoothly. We’re looking for someone who can leverage their experiences to identify points of inefficiency, and design and execute appropriate system and process improvements – and can tackle ambiguous situations with confidence and precision.  The Operations Manager will have a birds-eye view of the Citywise portfolio, as well as a strong understanding of organizational systems and processes beyond the Citywise team. The Operations Manager will engage with the Citywise team, consultants, Sanergy support teams (i.e., Finance, Procurement, Talent, Legal) and Citywise clients to ensure Citywise is able to continue efficiently leveraging Sanergy’s expertise to accelerate progress toward delivery of safe, sustainable and cost-effective full value chain sanitation services. Broadly, the role will focus on three content areas:

• Legal and Contract Compliance
• Coordination and Planning 
• Systems and Process Adherence and Improvement 

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

The Operations Manager is responsible for achieving compliance for timely, exceptional completion of all projects through development and maintenance of systems and relationships. The Operations Manager will lead efforts to improve and maintain core systems and processes to better position Citywise for future growth, while effectively identifying and addressing current “pain points”. Key responsibilities include:

Legal and Contract Compliance 

• Identify and address legal, contractual, and administrative requirements related to new engagements (e.g. registration, legal counsel, banking, HR/payroll, immigration, etc.)
• Conduct thorough reviews of all legal and contractual documentation, identifying and tracking potential organizational risks or conflicts with requirements of existing agreements
• Ensure consistent use of approved templates for employment, contracting, vendor, and other partner agreements; create/adapt new templates where templates do not exist, or existing templates must be adapted for use 

• Support Citywise Director in negotiation of contracts and agreements; document decisions and manage communication with external counsel, as necessary
• Manage creation, signature and archiving of agreements with consultants and clients
• Ensure compliance with all legal and contractual requirements
• Support Citywise team and consultants and work with Sanergy Finance team to ensure expenditure and revenue is documented as required for project reporting 

Systems and Process Adherence and Improvement

• Oversee operational systems and processes while looking for opportunities for improvement or revision

• Maintain a master calendar of activities, deliverables, and reporting requirements to ensure full compliance with contractual requirements
• Lead consolidation and standardization of time tracking across Sanergy teams as required for reporting on Citywise engagements
• Ensure consistent adherence to knowledge management and internal communication processes; continuously improve processes based on challenges 
• Support long-term planning and performance monitoring, reporting progress and challenges 
• Liaise with Sanergy support teams (i.e., Legal, Finance, Procurement, Talent) to understand policies and the values on which they are based

• Create/adapt/document policies as required for compliance with partner requirements; liaise with Sanergy support teams to ensure alignment with existing policies and core values; document and communicate changes and rationale to key internal stakeholders

Coordination and Planning

• Lead communication with clients and consultants on legal and financial matters (i.e., contracts, invoices)
• Regularly liaise with Sanergy support teams to understand any changes to their systems and to report changes with Citywise systems in order to ensure continued smooth communication
• Clearly and promptly communicate requests for input from other teams for client deliverables, ensure timely receipt, review and integration of inputs
• Centrally track deliverables and commitments and liaise with relevant stakeholders to ensure timely completion
• Liaise with Sanergy support teams, clients and consultants to ensure invoices are created, processed, and paid.

Desired Qualifications:

• 2-5 years experience, with experience across role components (experience in a single role covering all components not required)
• Bachelor’s degree 
• Strong ability to establish and maintain structure and organization 
• Strong track record of effectively managing operations across multiple projects 
• Demonstrated ability to identify opportunities for improvement, propose solutions, and overhaul processes
• Demonstrated ability to establish respectful, collaborative relationships while maintaining firm expectation of adherence outside of direct reporting relationships 
• Excitement to iterate on processes and systems until they work – desire to understand stakeholder experience and needs in order to design improvements 
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including ability to adapt communication style based on stakeholder needs
• Customer service orientation
• Familiarity with legal processes and terms
• Familiarity with accounting processes
• Familiarity with international donor requirements and reporting (e.g. USAID, FCDO, World Bank)
• Fluency in English required; French or Swahili language skills a plus

Character Attributes

• Flexibility
• Ability to take initiative with little guidance
• Proactive, self-driven individual
• Independent, self-starter
• Genuine curiosity and desire to learn 
• Attention to detail
• Patience