GLOBAL FUND LAUNCHES PROCESS TO SELECT NEW ED

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Download PDF Two of the four short-listed candidates must be women The Global Fund has initiated the process to recruit a new Executive Director (ED). The Fund wants the position filled by the time of the November 2012 Board meeting. The Secretariat is currently being led by General Manager Gabriel Jaramillo, who started a one-year term in February 2012. According…

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ABSTRACT The process to recruit a new Executive Director (ED) is underway. The Fund wants the position filled by the time of the November 2012 Board meeting. The Fund decided that two of the four candidates on the short list for the position must be women.

Two of the four short-listed candidates must be women

The Global Fund has initiated the process to recruit a new Executive Director (ED). The Fund wants the position filled by the time of the November 2012 Board meeting. The Secretariat is currently being led by General Manager Gabriel Jaramillo, who started a one-year term in February 2012.

According to a press release from the Global Fund, there will be four people on the short list of candidates for the ED position, at least two of whom must be women. Since its inception, the Global Fund has had two EDs, both men.

At its meeting in Geneva, the Board established an Ad-Hoc Nominating Committee (AHNC) to coordinate the selection process. The AHNC will have nine members, of whom six will be from Board constituencies (serving in their personal capacities) and three will be independent outside experts. The Board appointed Don Baxter, Agnes Binagwaho, Karlo Boras, Nils Daulaire, Mireille Guigaz and Masaki Noke to fill the Board delegation seats; and authorised the AHNC to appoint the three independent members.

The Global Fund said that the inclusion of independent members on the AHNC will bring improved awareness of potential conflicts of interest, and increased diversity in opinion and experience.

The AHNC will engage an executive search firm to assist with the selection. The Committee will produce a detailed selection action plan by 31 May, and will propose to the Board revised terms of reference for the ED position by 15 June.

The Global Fund said that a consensus was reached at the Global Fund Board retreat in March 2012 that leadership of the Secretariat should be retained in one individual who reports to the Board and who is responsible for managing all of the Global Fund’s administrative functions. There had been discussions earlier about the possibility of moving some of the ED’s responsibilities to the Board Chair and perhaps making the Chair a paid position. The Fund has decided not to go that route.

In filling the ED position, the Global Fund said that it is seeking someone who is, first and foremost, an exceptional manager of people and systems; who is a proven leader and a visionary, preferably with strong prior engagement with the global South; and who has strong public relations skills in his or her field, preferably in international development or international health.

Information for this article was taken from the Board’s Decision Points document (see DP8) available at www.theglobalfund.org/en/board/meetings/twentysixth; a Board paper on the ED selection process (GF-B26-04), which should be available shortly at the same site; and a press release available here.