Job Description
Upon the invitation of H.E the President Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi, TBI is looking to set up a new project to support the Government of Zanzibar to strengthen its delivery mechanisms to expedite the implementation of its MKUZA III strategy (2021-2025) aligned to the Zanzibar Development Vision 2050 (the Project).
Building on the success of the Zanzibar Development Vision 2020 (achieving the status of a lower-middle income status) ZDV 2050, and the Mkuza III envisages the transformation of the livelihoods of Zanzibaris through sustainable and inclusive development, based on 4 pillars : economic transformation, human captial and social services, infrastructural linkages, and governance and resilience.
The Project will include a delivery function in the Office of the President, but may also support other parts of the Presidency (e.g. Private Office, Strategic Communications, FDI Promotion, Resource Mobilization). The Project aims to demonstrate results in a short period (<2 years).
In addition to strengthening delivery in the Presidency, the Project will seek to strengthen coordination with other key ministries and agencies, both in the centre (the 2nd Vice President’s Office and the Ministry of Finance and Planning) as well as key sector Ministries.
Potential Ministries the delivery bureau will work with include the Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries, Ministry of Health, Social Welfare, Elderly, Gender and Children, the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communication and Transport, and the Ministry of Tourism and Heritage.
Our team in Zanzibar (which includes a Senior Governance Advisor and Delivery Associate) will focus on supporting the Office of the President and the wider centre of government functions.
TBI’s embedded associates provide technical, analytical and administrative support to advisors whose focus is on delivery, which is a specialised approach to designing, managing, and monitoring the implementation of government priorities that are intended to have a significant effect on development outcomes and is an anchor function of the Centre of Government.
It supports the systems and structures that channel the leader’s authority throughout the rest of government, reinforces their priorities, and gets them the right information at the right time to drive progress.
The post-holder(s) will be assigned to work with the Office of the President to support operationalization of a delivery mechanism to drive implementation of H.E. the President’s priorities.
The Associate will work closely with the Senior Governance Advisor, and with relevant stakeholders to ensure that there are strong management systems and practices in the centre of government teams, identifying any capacity gaps to ensure a highly effective team focused on the implementation and coordination of the President’s priorities.
They will support the Senior Governance Advisor to engage senior government officials, working shoulder-to-shoulder with the government teams on a daily basis.
Key Responsibilities
- Support the design of a Delivery Bureau in the Office of the President
- Engage with officials from the Presidency, and other relevant centre of government institutions to assess critical delivery challenges and expectations
- Map and assess current decision-making processes in the Presidency, including recommendations to improve prioritization, strategic planning and performance management
- Undertake a needs assessment of critical resources (human, technical, financial) required for the effective implementation of the proposed delivery architecture, including recommendations to develop capacity and strengthen institutions
- Lead the design of additional delivery processes, including:
- A reporting system, building on existing information systems;
- An issue identification, prioritisation and resolution framework;
- A two-way escalation and feedback mechanism between the Delivery Unit and the President’s Private Office; and
- Quality control systems to validate data inputs and ensure coherence with government reporting systems
2. Providing quality assurance and oversight on delivery programming
- Work with Government of Zanzibar counterparts and project colleagues to plan, sequence and deliver the right interventions at the right time
- Assess progress against project delivery plans, highlighting key risks to delivery, proposing mitigation measures and escalating to decision-makers where appropriate
- Support M&E processes with detailed analyses, working with counterparts to address findings
- Provide briefings and assessments of progress – whether thematically or on a project and programme basis – for a range of senior audiences
3. Relationship Building/Management
- Develop strong collaborative networks and effective communication with main counterparts, and other relevant agencies and organisations within the Government of Zanzibar
- Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders within implementing agencies to facilitate issue resolution and unblock issues delaying implementation
4. Support the coordination of project oversight between the Centre of Government, implementing institutions and other stakeholders such as the private sector
- Support government-to-government and government-to-private sector coordination, engage stakeholders and synthesise inputs
- Develop thematic workstreams as directed and in response to requests from counterparts
5. Other internal TBI responsibilities
- Contribute to wider TBI activities including strategy development, reporting, organisation-wide coordination and engagement
- Support the TBI Zanzibar Senior Governance Advisor to participate and collaborate with other TBI projects, sharing knowledge and supporting thought leadership efforts
In all these areas of work, the Associate will be expected to work closely with the members of the TBI’s Senior Governance Advisor for Zanzibar and global teams to seek strategic direction and technical inputs.
Person Specification
The successful candidate will thrive in an environment where the importance of personal initiative coupled with teamwork is critical.
Above all they will build effective relationships, win trust, and help shape and influence change in government.
With a good knowledge of delivery principles and processes, the postholder will have a grounding in business development, programme management, policy reform, and capacity building.
Successful candidates will be able to demonstrate the majority of the following:
- 4-6 years of experience in management consulting or centre of government/delivery work in Africa
- Relevant educational background in political science, policy, economics, business or other related fields (Master's degree or equivalent is preferred)
- Confidence, experience, and credibility to operate at a senior level in a government operating environment. Excellent political judgement and discretion is essential
- Highly developed analytical skills that can be deployed in a range of contexts
- A proven track record of delivery – whether policy, operational or functional – is essential, as is relevant experience of working in a project and programme environment. Familiarity with portfolio management approaches would be valuable
- Policy and/or programme delivery experience in one of the areas of the President’s Priority Sectors (Blue Economy, Tourism, Infrastructure, Education, Health, and Women and Youth Empowerment) will be an advantage
- The ability to work in the face of a range of competing views and priorities, possessing highly developed communication and negotiation skills
- High quality communication, drafting and presentational skills are key
- Prior experience working with or for the Government of Zanzibar or other governments within the East African Community would be an added advantage
- Fluency in English and Swahili is required (oral and written)
