Chairperson

Simavi is an independent international non-profit organisation. With effective projects, Simavi encourages girls and women to claim their human rights to water and sanitation & equity, resulting in a physically, mentally and socially healthier society for everyone. We believe decolonisation is a positive trend, including localisation of aid, devolving resources and decision-making to partners in the South and giving voice to women and girls. In a fast-changing world confronted with climate, health and human rights crises, we apply three lenses to our work within our broad WATER and WOMEN framing: equality, climate and power. Here we believe we can create the most impact through our programmes, advocacy and campaigns.

Simavi is an ambitious development organisation with headquarters in Amsterdam, and with local representation in most countries where we work. The organisation is characterised by an agile, non-hierarchical, and open workstyle with teams of specialists working together. Dieneke van der Wijk, the managing director, leads the organisation of approximately 50 employees in Amsterdam, with more than 100 partners in the countries where Simavi is active across Africa and Asia.

The role

The Supervisory Board is looking for a new purpose-driven Chairperson with a strong affinity with Simavi’s mission and strategy, and more specifically with a strong belief and experience in ‘Shifting the power’. A person who is well-grounded in, and familiar with international development (especially in Africa and Asia). A person who embraces shared global leadership and is available to assist the Managing Director in Simavi’s mission: to fight for equality and overcome barriers for women and girls to claim their human rights to water and sanitation.

 As Chairperson you will

• Ensure strong teamwork of the Supervisory Board – providing leadership, safeguarding governance and creating overall conditions for all board members to perform and be effective as a team.
• Act as an external spokesperson on behalf of the Supervisory Board (as necessary).
• Set the agenda for meetings of the Supervisory Board, in consultation with the Managing Director.
• Act as Chair at meetings of the Supervisory Board and ensure the Supervisory Board meetings progress in an organised and efficient manner.
• Provide advice and maintain a productive relationship with the Managing Director.

About you

Our next Chairperson will have the following competencies and experiences:

Sector knowledge and experience

• Affinity with Simavi’s objectives, its WASH-focus areas (equality, climate and power) and the human rights-based approach.
• Experience in international development in general and specifically in women and girls’ rights, water, sanitation and climate adaptation issues in Africa and Asia.
• Broad societal interest and access to relevant networks (in the Netherlands and ideally also in Africa and Asia) that can contribute to the objectives and mission of Simavi.
• Environmental awareness – understands the culture and specifics of Simavi and the charities sector.

Strategic vision and governance

• Ability to move from vision to strategy to implementation.
• Understands situational supervision and switches wisely and flexibly between the role of supervisor, employer and sounding board of the Managing Director.
• Experience as a Supervisory Board member and preferably as Chairperson.
• Ability to understand and critically evaluate the strategic and/or organisational matters presented by the Managing Director (while keeping an adequate balance between involvement and distance).
• Ability to have a systemic view on issues.
• Performance and risk management.

Leadership style

• Attention to and understanding of inclusiveness/diversity.
• Natural authority, empathic, listens carefully, respects everyone’s opinion and ensures timely and well-considered collegial decision-making.
• Ability to delegate and give fellow board members the confidence to fill in their own areas of attention.
• Is socially competent and has a connecting and collegial work style.
• Acts independently and with integrity and can separate the role as a board member from personal priorities and interests.
• Determined and decisive – has the ability to lead in difficult circumstances whilst at the same time leaving the Managing Director at the helm.
• Commitment and adequate availability of time in executing the position.

Terms and conditions

The remuneration of members of the Supervisory Board is limited to an expense allowance. Supervisory Board members are appointed for fixed-term periods of four years. A person may be appointed to the Supervisory Board for a maximum of two four-year terms.

How to apply

Closing date: 25th September 2022 @ 23:59 BST

Interviews with Simavi: from 17th October 2022

We invite you to download a copy of the full candidate pack at the link below:

Candidate Pack – Simavi Chairperson

If you would like an informal conversation with our consultant Tim Wingrove before applying, please write to: [email protected]

Please click on the ‘apply for job’ button above to submit your application. For this role, kindly submit a MS Word version of your CV and a cover letter detailing your motivation and how you are suited to this role.

Please name your submitted files with the following reference: SIM_CP

Red Sea is committed to meeting the standards set out in their Equality and Diversity recruitment policy; this includes not discriminating under the Equality Act 2010 and building an accurate picture of the make-up of the workforce in encouraging equality and diversity.