Senior Manager, Ethics and Business Conduct Policy and Governance

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Date Published: 28 August 2026

Closing Date for Applications: 30 September 2026 at 4pm CEST.

About CGIAR

CGIAR has an ambitious agenda to deliver science and innovation and advance the transformation of food, land, and water systems to deliver diverse, healthy, safe, sufficient, and affordable diets, and ensure improved livelihoods and greater social equality. CGIAR operates as a matrix with each Center having its own governance and leadership structure operating alongside the integrated governance and leadership arrangements of CGIAR as a whole.

About the position

The Compliance Senior Manager provides senior technical leadership to support the Integrated Partnership Ethics and Business Conduct (EBC) Executive in implementing and continuously improving the CGIAR Ethics and Business Conduct Framework. The role serves as the principal governance and policy advisor to the EBC Executive and leads the development of governance arrangements, operational guidance, reporting standards, capacity-building initiatives, and framework implementation activities across the Integrated Partnership. The position does not undertake case management, investigations, disciplinary decision-making, or employer-of-record responsibilities, which remain with Centers and the System Organization in accordance with the Escalation Framework.

The primary purpose of the role is to lead the design, governance, and operationalization of the Ethics and Business Conduct (EBC) Framework across CGIAR’s Integrated Partnership, establishing clear standards, procedures, and reporting approaches that ensure consistency, accountability, and effective oversight; drive policy development and continuous improvement, build capability across stakeholders, and ensure timely, high-quality governance materials inform decision-making by senior bodies and leadership.

Duties and Responsibilities

Purpose

• Lead implementation and continuous improvement of the EBC Escalation Framework, ensuring coherent, replicable, and comparable approaches across the Integrated Partnership.
• Design and maintain EBC governance structures, operating models, procedures, and standards to strengthen accountability and alignment with CGIAR-wide governance arrangements.
• Serve as principal technical authority for EBC policy and procedural development, drafting and maintaining standard operating procedures, guidance notes, reporting protocols, escalation tools, and governance procedures.
• Establish and maintain classification frameworks, reporting taxonomies, escalation decision matrices, and functional operating standards that enable robust analytics and oversight. · Provide strategic advice to the IP EBC Executive on governance risks, implementation challenges, and policy gaps, recommending solutions that strengthen effectiveness and integrity.
• Lead priority EBC strategic improvement initiatives and benchmarking reviews, ensuring recommendations are actionable and embedded into functional practices.

Engagement

• Coordinate and prepare high-quality governance reports and briefing materials for senior bodies (e.g., Integrated Partnership Board – Audit, Finance and Risk Committee; Audit and Oversight Committee; System Council; Group Leadership Team — please confirm official names), ensuring content reflects risks, trends, system maturity, and framework implementation progress.
• Coordinate the EBC function meetings, facilitate collaboration among Center EBC Leads, and promote consistency in interpretation and application of framework requirements.
• Engage governance and assurance stakeholders to align EBC processes with broader CGIAR governance arrangements and combined assurance expectations.
• Represent the IP EBC Executive in technical and working-level forums, as delegated, advancing shared understanding of policy and governance requirements.
• Build and sustain networks and communities of practice to share lessons learned and emerging good practice in ethics, compliance, and governance.

Delivery

• Deliver aggregated reporting, governance dashboards, maturity assessments, and implementation status reports, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and accessibility for decision-makers.
• Develop and roll out training strategies, materials, and outreach initiatives; support onboarding of EBC Leads and governance stakeholders to strengthen capability.
• Plan and manage strategic projects, including scopes, timelines, budgets, risks, and consultant deliverables, ensuring outputs meet quality standards and add value.
• Maintain authoritative repositories, tools, and templates for EBC policies and guidance, ensuring document control, traceability, and version integrity.
• Track and report progress on recommendations arising from governance and framework reviews, enabling continuous improvement and accountability.

Requirements

Education, Certifications and Training

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field; Master’s degree is preferred.
• Formal professional membership or accreditation in governance and ethics or related field is desirable.

Experience

• Progressively responsible experience in ethics, compliance, governance, policy development, risk management, oversight, or related functions within an international or similarly complex organization is required.
• Demonstrated experience preparing governance reports, briefing materials, and presenting recommendations to executive leadership, boards, committees, or other senior governance bodies is required.
• Experience working with boards, governing bodies, audit and risk committees, or comparable oversight structures in an international organization is desirable.

Key Competences

Core competencies

• Accountability: Takes accountability for actions and their impact on organizational success, ensuring timely and high-quality delivery of team, project or program outcomes. Shapes organizational policies to uphold and reflect high ethical standards.
• Collaboration and Communication: Expresses ideas clearly and confidently, tailoring messages to the audience, adapting responses based on verbal and nonverbal cues to ensure mutual understanding. Actively seeks participation and collaboration promoting dialogue and shared understanding in discussions. Encourages cross-functional collaboration in shaping plans and decisions.
• Respect and Inclusion: Builds a positive, inclusive work environment through proactive communication and cultural sensitivity. Leads initiatives to enhance engagement and inclusion, fostering healthy relationships and maintaining perspective in challenging situations.
• Results and Impact Orientation: Establishes high-performance standards and commits to quality, excellence, and continuous learning and adapts strategies as needed. Develops, plans and implements strategies, sets realistic goals, and leads cross-functional teams to achieve organizational goals.

Functional and Technical competencies

• Analytical, Critical and Systems Thinking: Delivers strategic recommendations, leverages systems thinking to foster innovation and adaptability, and integrates complex interconnections across functions and programs.
• Knowledge Management: Fosters a culture of knowledge sharing and continuous learning, leads knowledge management initiatives, and measures and evaluates the success of knowledge management initiatives on organizational performance, gathering feedback and curating insights to strengthen the work.
• Monitoring and Reporting: Prioritizes critical monitoring information needs and designs integrated monitoring solutions using various tools and platforms; provides actionable insights for decision-making and leads the writing of comprehensive reports that integrate diverse insights and data.
• Compliance and Quality Assurance: Addresses policy or compliance gaps, ensures compliance with new legislation while maintaining a strong understanding of (donor) policies, compliance requirements, and organizational sustainability; establishes, implements, and monitors quality standards.
• Problem Solving: Effectively identifies risks, facilitates collaborative problem-solving and evaluates diverse solutions while remaining open to alternative approaches.

Leadership and Management Competencies

• Managing Team Dynamics: Uses emotional intelligence to build trust and positive relationships with team members and stakeholders, handling challenges with empathy. Mentors and supports colleagues by fostering a safe space for learning, setting and assessing clear performance goals aligned with organizational growth and providing constructive feedback to support professional development. Encourages and promotes personal and team responsibility for well-being, health and safety in the workplace, inspires proactive action to ensure safe and inclusive practices, building mutual trust.
• Strategic Leadership: Builds trust and respect by actively engaging with stakeholders, responding to their needs, aligning innovation strategies with stakeholder priorities, keeping them informed of developments, and driving collaborative efforts. Leads and supports change initiatives by inspiring adaptability, addressing barriers, monitoring progress and using proactive consultation and engagement approaches. Anticipates and evaluates risks within team(s) or function(s), ensuring alignment with business goals and compliance requirements, implements proactive risk mitigation strategies. Demonstrates commitment to the organization’s vision and mission by aligning contributions with organizational goals and balancing short- and long-term objectives in decision-making and introducing and adapting to emerging technologies.

Languages

• Fluency in English is essential to communicate in writing and speaking.
• A working knowledge of an additional language is an advantage.

Term of Employment

Reports to: Integrated Partnership Ethics and Business Conduct Executive

Grade: CG11

Benefits

The compensation package includes a competitive salary with advantageous tax conditions, comprehensive insurance coverage, a retirement plan, and an education grant. The relocation and repatriation package covers a lump sum allowance, temporary living expenses, shipping allowance, and travel costs for staff members and their eligible dependents.

Staff are entitled to 30 working days of annual leave and 22 working days of medical leave per year, as well as parental or other special leave as applicable. The organization observes 10 official holidays annually and offers flexible work arrangements.

Counselling and well-being support are also available upon request.

System Organization appointments are typically for a fixed term of three years, with a possibility of renewal subject to effective performance, operational needs, and funding.

Please note that the CGIAR System Organization has a mandatory retirement age of 65 years, which may affect the duration of an appointment.

Submitting Your Application

All applications must be submitted online by clicking the “Apply” button below. If you require assistance or encounter any issues when submitting your application, please contact [email protected] and include the position title in the subject line. Please note that applications sent to this email address will not be considered.

Please ensure that your resume and cover letter are in English and do not include your marital status, age, or photograph. Documents submitted in any language other than English will not be reviewed.

CGIAR is committed to building fair, safe, and inclusive workplaces. We believe that diversity drives innovation, strengthens excellence, and is fundamental to our mission. We offer a multicultural, multigenerational, and multidisciplinary working environment, with a competitive salary, excellent benefits, and flexible working arrangements. We are intentional about creating an inclusive organization that reflects our global character and our commitment to gender equity.

We therefore encourage applications from individuals of all cultures, races, ethnicities, religions, national or regional origins, ages, disability statuses, sexual orientations, and gender identities. If you require an accommodation due to a disability, please email [email protected] with “Diversity and Inclusion Accommodation” in the subject line.

Candidates should ensure that all communications with CGIAR are sent only to email addresses ending in cgiar.org. CGIAR staff will never charge fees or request payment from candidates at any stage of the recruitment process.