Company Profile

MDF West Africa Limited (MDF West Africa) is a training and management consultancy firm that is registered in Ghana and commenced business on May 2009. MDF West Africa serves global and local clients in any of the West African countries and beyond. With a core staff of 28 professionals, supported by a network of 25 associated trainers/consultants, MDF WA is a multi-project organization implementing approximately 15 projects simultaneously.

MDF West Africa is a fully owned local subsidiary of MDF Training & Consultancy BV that has been building the capacity of individuals, organizations and networks since 1984 with the mission of ‘empowering people, creating impact’. The Global MDF has offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, Kenya, Ghana, D.R. Congo, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar and project offices in Rwanda, Uganda and Benin. MDF offers open-subscription training courses, tailor-made training and workshops and consultancy services in multiple sectors. MDF also provides support to organizations in the design and implementation of project monitoring and evaluation and learning (MEL) processes. 

Being part of the MDF Global network and being an independent Ghana-based regional management consulting and training firm, we bring the best of both worlds. We bring over 35 years of global experience in development intervention, project design and program management enriched with our locally gained expertise. We draw upon our extensive experience in implementation of both public and private sector initiatives in developing economies. MDF WA can draw upon expertise from other regions where MDF Global is operating. 

Job Description

MDF West Africa is looking for an experienced General manager, who will be accountable for improving business processes to achieve our strategic goals. As a general manager, you will be expected to set policies, plan, lead and control the daily operations, create and maintain budget and coordinate with team leaders to evaluate employees performance and efficiencies.

Main Task and Responsibilities

• Lead the Business Operations team and effectively manage all strategic operational processes and resourcing, and leading the organisation in order to achieve and maintain operational excellence;
• Handle a mix of administrative duties, strategic responsibilities and communicate with team leaders in order to facilitate projects and ensure performance meets goals consistently;
• Provide strong leadership to teams including developing and monitoring individual and team performance goals, and lead major change initiatives;
• Implement appropriate HR strategies and actions to recruit and retain a qualified and motivated team, manage and ensure all ongoing deliverables and projects are met and executed within agreed time and budget are integrated with other business related projects;
• Drive the performance base-lining and metrics reporting, improve processes, design and lead initiatives and programs focused on achieving best-in-class status and improving customer and employee satisfaction;
• Develop and implement communication and reporting mechanisms to manage issues, risks and timely delivery of results;
• Establish a  Service Delivery and Operations governance process and fulfil the role of quality manager, ensure effective finance and management information systems and lead and develop support teams of MDF (Finance & administration, IT and Secretariat).

Required Skills or Experience

• 10 to 15 years of experience in Service Delivery and Operations of which 5 years in a managerial position;
• Background in business thought leadership, as well as particular knowledge in the areas of leadership, organizational culture, change management, and managing people;
• Experience of managing large teams;
• Excellent oral, written, cross-functional and interpersonal communication skills;
• Excellent people manager, open to directions and collaborative work style and commitment to get the job done;
• Must have handled planning, scheduling and budgeting duties, including conducting meetings, coordinating budgets, meeting deadlines etc.;
• Strong business insight, with proven ability to leverage knowledge base to quickly come up to speed in new business areas and new types of projects;
• Possesses a thorough knowledge of the interdependencies among service operations business units and partners;
• Ability to lead and influence in a multicultural environment and can deal comfortably with other highly skilled senior experts;
• Excellent problem-solving skills and highly entrepreneurial;
• Expert process management skills and demonstrated ability to drive results required.

Personal/social

• Proven ability to multi-task with experience working in a fast-paced environment; 
• Leadership, management, time and project management skills;
• Communication, organizational and interpersonal skills and cultural sensitivities;
• Collaboration skills (able to build relationships, influence, manage conflicts and navigate through office politics in order to get things done);
• Pro-active/take initiative, business-driven, professional, service- and client oriented;
• Team player, flexible, goes the extra mile, not a 9 to 5 mentality;
• Strong communication skills (both verbal and written) on regional and international level  via email, phone and face-to-face i.e. respectful, business-oriented, a broad vocabulary, understanding culture and customs;
• Work independently, be and take responsibility to the team and clients, practical approach;
• Can deal with productivity and turnover targets;
• Fluent in English on an international standard;
• The French language is an advantage but not compulsory.