Chief Executive Officer at WDB Trust

Job description

The CEO of WDB Trust is expected to sustainably grow the impact of the WDB Programmes by skilfully mobilizing diverse resources and building enriching partnerships across the organisational value chain and broader circle of influence.

Key capabilities sought

The successful incumbent will be especially skilled in the management of a complex web of stakeholder relationships from government, to non-governmental institutions, large corporate institutions and a variety of community-based partners in rural South Africa. Being a Non-Profit Organisation, the leadership of the employees of the Trust with the right vision and inspiration is essential to ignite their own passion to support the achievement of the WDB Vision. The incumbent will be required to travel to rural areas in South Africa.

Key knowledge areas where the incumbent must show deep knowledge:

• Knowledge of the South African social development context, history and narrative;
• Knowledge of the South African social development legal frameworks, regulations and political landscape; and
• Knowledge of the South African corporate governance frameworks as is applicable to the management of trusts and not for profit corporations.
• Key skills acquired from experience which the candidate should demonstrate:
• A visionary to understand where the organisation is going;
• Strength of character and humility;
• A team player - incumbent to be able to address challenges on an operational level with an administrator mindset to drive systems and processes with attention to detail;
• Entrepreneurial and an institutional builder;
• Inspirational leadership of organisations in complex value chains and landscapes;
• Robust and agile stakeholder engagement in diverse relationships;
• Sincere empathy with the plight of women in South Africa, especially rural women caught in the cycle of poverty;
• Effective organisation of human and financial resources to deliver efficiently and with impact;
• A strategic thinker with insightful strategic perspective on the development of people and solving of rural societal problems;
• Balanced decision making in the face of complex and often ambiguous environments;
• Multi-faced communication style, reaching national leaders, business executives and rural women; and
• Accurate financial management analysis skills with the ability to deftly manage tight budgets and to maximize reach and impact.
• Business acumen in financial services and banking (specifically microfinance)

Qualification and experience requirements of the ideal candidate to ensure success:

• A Degree in the Social Sciences, Law, or similar field; an MBA or similar multi-disciplinary degree is considered a minimum requirement. A qualification in Microfinance will be an advantage;
• 10 years of experience in social development involvement in a leadership role is considered critical to create sufficient context of the complexity of the landscape;
• 5 years of experience in financial services management, product design or development will be advantageous though not essential;
• 7 years of experience in the leadership of an organisation, trust, institute will create the correct understanding of the importance of leadership in mobilizing people; and/or
• 5 years of elected office at local, provincial or national government will also be considered.
• Salary band is up to R1.2 million per annum (cost to company), negotiable to experience, qualification and fit to requirement.
• Candidates must be South African and a woman.