The search for a new Executive Director of the Global Fund

The search for a new Executive Director of the Global Fund is officially under way. Earlier this year the Global Fund Board created the 2012 Ad-Hoc Nominations Committee to assist the Board with its selection of the next Executive Director of the Global Fund. The aim is to select a new Executive Director during the Board Meeting on 13–14 November 2012, which would allow for an adequate hand-over period before the departure of the current General Manager, Mr Gabriel Jaramillo, in February 2013.

Executive Director

The Global Fund now has a clear strategy that will build on its first ten years of success, and a talented individual is required to lead its realization in the context of evolving epidemics and changing financial dynamics. Ensuring high performance of the Secretariat team will be at the heart of the Executive Director’s role. This person will therefore bring exceptional leadership and managerial experience of people and complex systems. Reporting to the Board, the Executive Director will carry responsibility for the Fund’s effective use of its resources. This will require proactive anticipation and management of diverse risks. A gifted communicator and relationship builder, she/he will carry authority based on relevant, substantive, expertise and experience. This will include a track record of working with implementing partners in the global South and funding partners worldwide, as well as substantive experience in working in the areas of international development and/or global public health. The Global Fund is committed to diversity in its workforce, and excellence in the way it interacts with grant recipients and its broad range of partners. The woman or man selected to lead the Global Fund in its next phase of achievements will therefore be an accomplished and respected contributor to the global development community, from the global South or global North, who can grow the organization in a way that moves its goals and vision forward.

Terms of Reference for the Executive Director

Devex notes in this post that recently a team of experts from US-based Center for Global Development has identified a number of major challenges which “threaten the Fund’s vision, impact on disease, and fundraising potential, and must be addressed head-on by the new executive director.”

• Distribution of the Global Fund’s resources across the three diseases it helps address.
• Lack of clear definition of what constitutes a “highest-impact intervention,” as well as of publicly available expenditure data classified by service delivery.
• Need for a better approach to performance-based funding and measurement of results.