Head of Operational Enablement

The Head of Operational Enablement serves as  centre of excellence for operational integrity, governance, and execution discipline,
ensuring the institution operates with consistent standards, reliable controls, and audit-ready processes across all core operational domains in
support of  regional scale ambitions.
The role enables and strengthens the work of program, partnership, and functional teams by developing, maintaining, and continuously
improving the operational standards. processes, governance frameworks, workflows, controls, and quality assurance mechanisms that underpin
legal compliance, people, processes, grants operations, and risk management, embedded within  digital backbone rather than operating
as standalone policy artifacts.
The Head is the accountable owner of operational enablement outcomes, coordinating inputs from Smart Systems, functional teams, and
external resources to ensure institutional coherence, scalability, and disciplined execution .
The role does not duplicate enterprise architecture ownership, which remains with the SVP, but ensures operational governance is consistently
embedded within that architecture. The role translates enterprise governance standards set by the SVP into system-integrated operational
practice, ensuring compliance is embedded in workflows, data structures, and approval chains and not managed as a parallel administrative
layer.
The role operates in close partnership with the Head of Digital Architecture & AI Systems, who owns enterprise digital architecture, platforms,
data models, and AI strategy. Success in this role is measured by operational consistency, continuous process improvements, audit resilience, proactive risk mitigation, governance discipline embedded in daily practice, and the absence of recurring control failures across core operational domains.

Enterprise Operational Standards & Governance
• Lead the development, maintenance, and continuous improvement of operational standards, policies, workflows, templates, and escalation protocols across legal, people, grants, and governance domains.
• Support the SVP in promoting consistent adoption of operational standards across distributed teams and geographies.
• Monitor adherence to operational frameworks and escalate risks, inconsistencies, or control gaps as appropriate.
• Ensure alignment with AGF’s institutional governance, audit, and risk requirements.
• Ensure all operational standards are translated into system-ready specifications in coordination with Smart Systems, preventing divergence between policy and platform.
 Operational Enablement & Functional Support
• Enable program, partnership, and functional teams through clear operational frameworks, guidance, and tools designed for remote execution.
• Streamline operational processes and documentation to improve clarity, efficiency, and consistency across asynchronous workflows.
• Support teams in navigating complex operational requirements without diluting compliance or governance standards.
• Act as a reference point for operational interpretation, escalation, and resolution.
• Identify recurring friction points across Legal, People, and Grants domains and convert them into systemic improvements rather than case-by-case fixes.
Smart Systems Integration & Process Digitization
• Serve as the primary operational interface to Smart Systems, defining operational requirements and ensuring disciplined adoption of systems and tools.
• Ensure operational processes are translated into system-ready workflows, data definitions, dashboards, and reporting requirements.
• Support the implementation and adoption of Smart Systems–enabled workflows, automation, and tracking mechanisms, in coordination with Smart Systems.
• Monitor system usage and data quality, coordinating refinements with Smart Systems as required.
• Maintain visibility over operational data integrity, ensuring risk registers, grants controls, and compliance records are consistently captured within AGF’s digital architecture.

Governance, Risk, Compliance & Quality Assurance
• Ensure operational documentation, records, and evidence are complete, accurate, and audit-ready.
• Conduct quality checks on operational deliverables prior to escalation or external review.
• Track operational risks, compliance gaps, and recurring issues, ensuring appropriate escalation and corrective action.
• Strengthen internal operating procedures to improve reliability, traceability, and control in a remote operating context.
• Maintain an integrated operational risk view across Legal, People, and Grants domains, escalating systemic exposure to the SVP where institutional impact is material.
Functional Leadership & Quality Assurance
• Provide functional leadership, prioritization, and quality assurance to Senior Specialists across operational domains.
• Ensure clarity of scope, accountability, and performance standards within the operational enablement function.
• Foster collaboration across specialist roles to prevent fragmentation and duplication.
• Support capability development and consistency of practice across a distributed team.
• Escalate structural capability gaps, resourcing constraints, or governance vulnerabilities to the SVP with recommended mitigation actions.
Cross-Functional Coordination
• Coordinate operational inputs and dependencies across Smart Systems, Finance, Programs, Partnerships, and Knowledge teams.
• Ensure operational requirements are integrated into planning, delivery timelines, and reporting cycles.
• Support governance reviews and institutional reporting with accurate, timely operational inputs.
• Represent the operational enablement function in cross-functional forums where governance, risk, or system design intersects with program and partnership delivery.

• Organizational Contribution & Leadership Expectations
  • Acts as the institutional steward for operational integrity, governance discipline, and execution quality across AGF.
  • Exercises leadership through standards, prioritization, quality assurance, and escalation rather than direct delivery ownership.
  • Enables teams to operate effectively at scale by embedding clear operational frameworks and disciplined ways of working.
  • Contributes to organizational resilience, audit readiness, and institutional credibility through consistent operational practice.
  • Operates in close partnership with Smart Systems leadership, ensuring operational requirements are clearly defined and reliably adopted.
  • Reinforces AGF’s capacity to scale across the Arab region without governance fragility, protecting institutional reputation and funder.
  Operational Systems & Data Accountability
  Owns operational system requirements and ensures translation into system-enabled workflows in collaboration with Smart Systems.
  Accountable for operational data standards and completeness within operational domains
  Measures outcomes:
  1-Reduction in recurring governance issues
  2- % operational workflows digitized
  3-Audit findings trend
  4-Operational cycle-time improvement
  5-System adoption metrics
  6- Strong understanding of digital workflows, CRM/ERP-enabled processes, and automation-driven operational environments.
  7- Accountable for operational enablement outcomes within agreed governance boundaries and in coordination with functional owners.

Skills:-

Bachelor’s degree in in Business Administration, Law, Risk Compliance international law, digital strategy, or a related discipline

Strong expertise in enterprise architecture frameworks (TOGAF, Zachman, or equivalent).
• Solid understanding of process improvement methodologies like Service Design
• Strong expertise in standards and frameworks driving operational excellence (EFQM, Lean Six Sigma)
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft ecosystem including Dynamics 365 (CRM and FinOps), Azure cloud services, Power Platform (Power
BI, Power Automate, Power Apps).
• Understanding of enterprise reporting environments and business intelligence platforms.
• Experience with system design for compliance-driven environments (data protection, audit readiness, financial systems).

10+ years experience in enterprise architecture, digital transformation, or large-scale systems design roles.
Demonstrated experience building operational frameworks that support effective program delivery, strong monitoring and evaluation (M&E) practices, and data-driven decision-making in nonprofit or philanthropic organizations