Location London
Job-type Permanent
Salary £65,000
Reference ACRE-12352

Acre is joining with Partner Africa to hire their Head of Advisory.

Partner Africa's purpose is to provide clients with premium quality social audits, advisory services, and training services that enable them to achieve the highest social and environmental standards in their organisations and supply chains in Africa. Headquartered in Nairobi with regional hubs in North, South and West Africa, Partner Africa is a leading NGO working across 50 countries in Africa and the Near East.

The advisory team works to deliver bespoke interventions to support clients to go beyond audits and deliver against their responsibility to respect human rights within their supply chains in Africa. The type of work they deliver for clients includes the development of policies and strategies, the delivery of training for buyers, suppliers and workers, the development of guides and frameworks, deep dive Human Rights Impact Assessments, the organisation of in-country supplier events, designing, implementing, and managing projects and support on ongoing monitoring and communication.

The department is currently a team of six based in the UK, Netherlands, Italy, South Africa, and Kenya and consists of a Head of Advisory, two Senior Consultants, a consultant and two Assistant Consultants. The team works with the other departments of Partner Africa and a network of experienced associates across Africa to deliver our work.

The Head of Advisory

If you are an experienced manager, a technical expert on Business & Human Rights, and a motivated individual, this role is for you! As the Head of Advisory, you will be a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) at Partner Africa, drive the advisory departmental strategy and contribute substantively to the wider organisational strategy.

Your responsibilities will include:

  • Business Development: Lead business development efforts for advisory and contribute to efforts for the wider organisation through attending events and conferences, engaging potential clients and partners through meetings and proposing new areas of work.

  • Organisational and Departmental Strategy: Drive the advisory departmental strategy and contribute substantively to the wider organisational strategy.

  • Client and Partnership Development and Management: Continue to develop PA's portfolio of clients and partners to develop strategic partnerships; manage key current client and partner relationships. Provide oversight to senior consultants and consultants managing client relationships.

  • Product Development: Enhancing current and building new products for the advisory department to offer clients based on emerging trends and opportunities.

  • Project Oversight and Quality: Provide quality control and oversight of all projects delivered by the advisory team, including the sign-off of projects at all major stages (proposal; project plan; methodologies/frameworks; reports). Provide expertise and technical guidance for the advisory team on the delivery of projects and leadership to encourage innovation.

  • Team Management: Effective management and growth of the advisory department. Manage team morale and communication and ensure opportunities for in-person engagement as much as possible.

  • Financial Management: Develop and manage the annual advisory department budget; own the overall financial reporting of the advisory team, ensuring project delivery is accounted for and profitability is maintained; lead on the implementation of efficient systems to track financial performance of the advisory team.

  • Project Impact: Build on current systems for monitoring project impact and implement effective monitoring and evaluation systems.

Through their Auditing and Advisory services, they positively engage with clients to identify, address and report on the salient environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks in their organisation and supply chains and adopt responsible business practices. Our work is guided by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and other international best practice standards.

To be successful in this role, you will have:

  • 5-10 years experience in Business and Human Rights / Responsible Business

  • Previously worked in an advisory/consultancy setting with fast-paced client delivery

  • A degree in a relevant subject (International Business; Development; Law; Human Rights)

  • Previous experience in managing a team or direct reports to deliver clearly defined objectives.

Partner Africa is based remotely in Europe (Netherlands, Italy and UK) and Africa (Kenya; The Gambia; South Africa).

This is a significant addition to Partner Africa's team, and the impact the successful candidate will be nothing short of remarkable. If this role aligns with you or you'd like to know more, please reach out to Gurmeet Chopra at gurmeet.chopra@acre.com.