CGAP announces its search for a new CEO

March 24, 2010    

Position Summary

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CGAP will be directly responsible for providing strategic direction and leadership to the CGAP Team and to CGAP stakeholders. The CEO will provide leadership and vision, and will oversee CGAP’s activities and results against the vision ensuring that CGAP’s work remains at the highest level of quality with the maximum efficiency. Working closely with the Executive Committee, the member donors, the World Bank Vice President of Financial and Private Sector Development, and the CGAP Management Team, the CEO will ensure that CGAP remains on the leading edge of the field, is fiscally sound, and strategically managed with realistic goals and objectives.

With increased and growing attention to financial inclusion, the CEO will serve as an official spokesperson on important microfinance issues, offering an objective but strong voice as it relates to divergent opinions in the sector. The CEO will have the trust and confidence of a committed and active Executive Committee and Council of Governors, so that its programs and initiatives, fund-development and visibility are optimized. For the broader network of governments and policy-makers, donors and investors, and other strategic partners in microfinance, the CEO will serve as an important resource and ally in advancing the case for access to financial services for the world’s poor. The CEO will work most closely of all with the Senior Management team of CGAP, guiding decisions, building consensus and providing oversight.

This is a four-year renewable term appointment.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Provide the vision and leadership to catalyze the microfinance industry to achieve financial access by the poor. Advance an agenda for CGAP to bring new insights and ideas to the rapidly changing field of microfinance.
• Promote and safeguard a strong vision for CGAP and its role in advancing access to finance. Serve as CGAPs principal spokesperson by clearly articulating the organization’s broad goals and objectives.
• Inspire CGAP’s broad stakeholders and collaborate with external players to meet the challenge of scaling up and deepening access to finance.
• Act as a strong, but objective voice on key issues related to poor people’s financial access, which will require taking strong and sometime unpopular stances on issues.
• Provide strong and supportive leadership to the CGAP organization and foster a culture of excellence, trust, integrity and innovation. Motivate staff to deliver high quality results, and exceed expectations on client relationships.
• Work closely with CGAP Executive Committee and World Bank Leadership on strategic decisions – mission, governance, policy, and strategy. Lead implementation and evolve, as needed, the 5-year strategy (2009-2013) for CGAP, as approved by the Council of Governors (CG) in June 2008.
• Ensure that resources (people and capital) are allocated to their highest and best use. Manage CGAP’s financial performance, productivity, efficiency, and internal controls.
• Proactively forge relationships across all disciplines, regions, and actors that can influence poor people’s access to finance.

Key Relationships

Stakeholders are: Council of Governors, Executive Committee, Staff, World Bank

Position reports directly to: Vice President of Financial and Private Sector Development of the World Bank. It is also accountable to the Excom and through it to the CG

Direct reports:
Deputy CEO
Manager, Operations
Manager, Communications
Manager, Information Technology
Team Leader, Data, Analytics and Research
Team Leader, Government and Policy
Team Leader, Donors and Investors
Team Leader, Market Infrastructure

Qualifications

• Deep knowledge of the structure, issues and trends of financial inclusion/microfinance coupled with an understanding of broader financial sector issues.
• Deep familiarity with the structure of the development sector.
• A track record of impact demonstrated throughout a career spanning the private, financial and public sectors.
• Proven record of management in a senior executive capacity and ability to effectively lead and manage teams of talent.
• Success in managing multi-national staff and stakeholders.
• Strong background in board and complex stakeholder management.
• Record of encouraging a culture of innovation, shared learning, risk taking, and accountability.
• Strong academic credentials. Advanced degree is highly preferable.
• Excellent communication skills in English and, preferably, in a second language.
• Experience working in a developing country context.
• Familiarity/comfort with new media (e.g. web 2.0, blogging, multi-media).

Critical Competencies for Success

Strategic Thought Leadership: In a highly influential organization that is recognized as a leader for the field of microfinance, provide an inspirational voice that builds intellectual and technical capability on a range of issues related to financial inclusion. Demonstrate a strong awareness of trends and developments in microfinance/financial inclusion and the strategic implications of those dynamics and utilize that knowledge to articulate a clear and distinctive vision for the future of the sector.

External Engagement: As the leader of a highly visible organization that has been the leading intellectual resource for the microfinance sector across social, political, and economic systems, serve as a public advocate for CGAP by:
• Being a public-facing leader with the personal presence, intellectual capacity and professional stature that will command the respect of CGAP’s various constituents;
• Demonstrating the capability to leverage his/her own network and reputation in support of CGAP’s mission;
• Serving as the chief marketing and communications officer for the organization, disseminating CGAP’s contributions to the field of microfinance, to current and potential partners, supporters, clients and users, and;
• Managing and leveraging its relationships with the World Bank and with CGAP members to ensure continued core financial support.

Organizational Management: The CEO of CGAP will lead, together with the Deputy CEO and management team, the advancement of the organization’s capabilities, assets, and reputation in a growing and increasingly competitive environment by:
• Building the infrastructure (people and processes) to support and sustain an entrepreneurial organization that has grown to become a medium-sized, global enterprise;
• Designing the systems that will drive institutional excellence and efficiency intellectually, administratively, and financially;
• Retaining and attracting talent whose knowledge and experience will forward CGAP’s mission and agenda;
• Inspiring and developing a highly self-directed team to work as part of a whole;
• Encouraging a culture of innovation, risk taking, accountability and commitment to high-quality intellectual output; and
• Commitment to appropriately balancing CGAP’s independence with its role as center of technical expertise within the World Bank Group.

Other Desirable Characteristics

• Commitment to the mission and belief that financial inclusion can be a major force for social and economic improvement.
• Exposure to and comfort with other cultures and the ability to operate comfortably and effectively in various cultural settings.
• Superb communication skills including public speaking.
• An inherently collaborative approach and appreciation for entrepreneurialism.
• A deep sense of ethics and highest professional standards.
• Visionary and dynamic leadership style.
• A strategic thinker.
• Energetic and passionate.
• Open to diverse viewpoints

The closing date is April 24th. Applications should be sent to:

cgap@spencerstuart.com
SpencerStuart
1455 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20004
United States
Telephone: 202-639-8111

About the Organization

The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) is a policy and research center dedicated to advancing financial access for the world's poor. It is supported by its members – over 30 development agencies and private foundations who share a common mission to alleviate poverty. Housed at the World Bank, CGAP promotes standards in the field of access to finance, conducts research, provides data and analytics, develops innovative solutions and offers advisory services to governments, donors, investors, mobile banking operators and other stakeholders. CGAP is a creative cross between a think-tank, advisory body and an idea incubator. Over the last 14 years, CGAP has developed a distinguished reputation as a thought-leader, consensus builder and standard setter.

CGAP’s main offices are in Washington, DC. There is also a satellite office in Paris, France and five CGAP representatives in Africa, Asia and Russia. The organization has 55 full-time staff, approximately 100 consultants, and an annual operating budget of $19 million (with $28 million in current commitments). CGAP’s operating budget is funded through multi-year core contributions from its members – a range of bi-and multilateral development agencies, ministries, private foundations, and development finance institutions. CGAP is not an independent legal entity, but a group of trust funds managed by the World Bank. Bilateral trust fund agreements between CGAP members and the World Bank govern CGAP. These agreements delegate to the World Bank the role of execution and oversight of CGAP. Since CGAP is simultaneously a unit within the Financial and Private Sector Development Vice Presidency of the World Bank Group, and a membership organization of donors and investors, it has a unique governance and reporting structure to the World Bank Group, its 10-member Executive Committee of donor and industry representatives, and member donors (its Council of Governors or CG).

CGAP works toward a world in which poor people are valued clients of their country’s financial system. Its mission is to help build efficient, deposit-driven local financial markets that serve all poor people with convenient and affordable financial services. To achieve its mission, CGAP organizes its work on three priority areas/client groups:

Financial Market Infrastructure: CGAP’s goal is help build a more efficient financial market infrastructure to enable poor people to make small value financial transactions. This includes experimenting with new service delivery channels, like mobile phones, that can process small transactions at low cost. It also means developing financial and social reporting standards to improve transparency and the performance of financial institutions operating within the financial system.

Government and Policy: CGAP’s goal is to contribute to more supportive policy environments that balance increased access to finance, financial stability, and the protection of poor clients, especially depositors. This includes defining consensus standards for regulation and supervision, convening policymakers to enhance their capacity to work toward improved policies, advising on regulation for branchless banking, and exploring the appropriate role of governments in promoting financial inclusion.

Donors and Investors: CGAP aims to improve the effectiveness of funding for access to finance. This includes improving the transparency and the quality of public and private sector funding through annual surveys, promoting good practice standards, providing advisory services, and building staff capacity.

CGAP is currently in its 14th year of operation. It is in the second year of a five-year strategic plan. A recent evaluation in 2007 observed that CGAP is a powerful and pivotal force in the field. It plays a critical role in building inclusive financial systems and it produces high-quality, high-value work that is universally respected. Going forward, CGAP is in a position to build on its strong reputation for thought leadership, high quality publications, and for its ability to attract and retain passionate, entrepreneurial staff.