Director, Human Resource Management and Administration (GMG/SEG 4)

Job Purpose

Under the general direction of the Chief Executive Officer, the incumbent is responsible for providing leadership across the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) and ensuring that internal governance, change/transformation initiatives, planning, policies, supporting strategies, procedures and systems enhance Authority capability and capacity to deliver client focused, efficient, effective and value for money services. 

The Director also plays a critical role in helping to shape and guide the future growth and development of the Authority and the wider Medical Cannabis Industry. 

Key Responsibilities

Technical/Professional: 

• Leads and directs the work of cross-cutting activities as agreed with the CEO and provides support and guidance to those leading these activities; 
• Leads, advises and provides guidance to the portfolio of functions across the Authority, negotiating budgets, setting performance expectations, and monitoring and evaluating performance outcomes to contribute to achievement of Authority objectives and outcomes; 
• Provides programmatic leadership and input for all strategic and annual planning decisions and processes with the CEO and Authority senior leadership, to develop and execute annual Operations Plans, as well as Unit/Divisional Budgets, and works with Department teams in support of the Authority’s Corporate Mission, goals, objectives and service outcomes; 
• Co-ordinates and collaborates on the: 
  • Development and review of policy recommendations to the Board, that will facilitate policy approval and/or revision (including amendments to legislation and regulations as necessary); 
  • Implementation of policy decisions and procedures of the Authority across its Divisions/Units, including ensuring the adequacy of required resources (human, physical/infrastructural, financial and systems); 
  • Finalisation, submission and implementation of annual Corporate Plans and budgets; 
  • Tracking and recording of success in effectively and efficiently meeting goals. 
• Ensures strategic objectives shaped at the senior leadership level are translated into tactical Business Plans with mechanisms for key measurements in place to monitor progress; 
• Monitors, evaluates and reports on the implementation of required actions arising from Board decisions, as well as the effective implementation and compliance with legislative requirements and policy; 
• Evaluates, reviews and reports on organisational performance against clearly defined objectives and performance targets, as well as reallocate resources across different areas (e.g., budgets), within overall approved resources for the year based on agreed action plans to close gaps; 
• Facilitates the achievement of performance standards by effective leadership and collaboration with the CEO and Authority senior leadership to agree, set and monitor of performance standards of the CLA and the industry; 
• Initiates and communicates high level priorities for the Authority to achieve government outcomes. Communicates effectively with Authority senior leadership, directors and stakeholders to enable timely dissemination of information to the Board Chairman, senior leadership/directors and staff, as well as stakeholders, as necessary.

Determine the structures, roles and processes required to deliver services in line with corporate priorities and ensure that appropriately skilled and motivated resources are deployed to expedite corporate and service objectives achievement: 

• Takes overall responsibility for the aggregate plan and delivery of systems, operations, properties and maintenance and the general operating model of the Authority, to enable organisational architecture to be aligned to the Authority’s mandate and respond to changes over time; 
• Enables and sustains the development and/or continual improvement of robust operational management structures and systems; 
• Engages in strategic workforce planning and strategic resource utilisation, to ensure achievement of both the Authority’s aims and goals and Government’s objectives for the cannabis and hemp industries; 
• Guides and monitors corporate actions that safeguard the consistent and effective application of the legislative and regulatory frameworks across the Authority;
• Co-ordinates the efforts of the different operational areas under management to ensure minimal duplication of efforts, maximum efficiency and to maximize value for money;
• Analyzes effectiveness of processes and systems in use in general for the Authority and recommends and/or oversees corrective action or automation; 
• Benchmark productivity of the Authority against industry standards and creates measures to improve productivity; 
• Promotes and embeds a culture of: 
  • Learning and innovating, responding to the needs of stakeholders and customers, in order to drive continuous improvement in service delivery; 
  • Industry awareness, ensuring that services develop the acumen to identify and develop revenue generating opportunities; 
  • Achievement, fostering on-time and on-budget quality outcomes in the Authority. 

Develop and implement plans for business continuity and emergency preparedness for the Authority, ensuring the Authority fulfils its statutory responsibilities:

• Leads the development and implementation of business continuity and emergency planning activities including Risk Assessment of issues and development of plans to support these; 
• Ensures effective and robust plans and systems are in place to deal with external and internal incidents, including comprehensive and relevant training programmes for all key staff, including Board members when appropriate; 
• Advises the CEO and the Board of Directors on its statutory responsibilities, ensuring any changes are effectively communicated in a timely manner; 
• Provides reports to the CEO and the Board of Directors on the level of control and compliance within the Authority as necessary. 

Provide technical advice, guidance and support on governance, quality and risk management issues: 

• Promotes a culture of collective responsibility for the corporate governance of the Authority by: 
  • Adding value to, and promoting the success of the Authority; 
  • Providing leadership to the Authority within a framework of prudent and effective controls; 
  • Contributing to the strategic direction, ensuring management capacity and capability, and monitoring and managing performance; and, 
  • Safeguarding values and ensuring the Authority’s obligations to its key stakeholders are met. 
• Challenges constructively the decisions of the Board where necessary and facilitates proposal development on priorities, risk mitigation, values, standards and strategy;
• Works with the Internal Auditor to facilitate internal and external audits, as required. 

Support licensing compliance and enforcement operations through effective and efficient oversight of the day-to-day activities of the CLA: 

• Manages the review and approval of new and updated operational and enforcement policies and procedures; 
• Resolves issues and obstacles faced by staff with customers and/or other external Agencies and bodies in collaboration with licensing and enforcement technocrats;
• Analyzes and proposes intergovernmental operations with all relevant entities that may expedite the timely approval of licenses; 
• Oversees the formulation, maintenance and improvement of effective internal controls which promote efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of core services and enable compliance to internal policies and procedures. 

Management/Administration: 

• Provides expert advice and recommendations to the CEO on strategic and day to day operational imperatives including the implications of major policy decisions, Authority resourcing and performance, and strategies for managing critical incidents; 
• Directs effective communication mechanisms with other Directors and divisional staff in order to ensure a corporate approach to the delivery of operations and all other aspects of the portfolio, and be a strong corporate business partner and advocate within the Authority; 
• Oversees the provision and management of IT and business services to support and drive the Authority’s management and technical operations; 
• Develops and maintains effective working relationships with a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders and nurtures effective strategic partnerships to identify changes in client base and demands and new industry developments which impact on the strategic positioning of the Authority and achievement of both short and long- term goals; 
• Represents the Authority, developing and sustaining positive proactive relationships with key public, private, community and/or industry stakeholders and cross-jurisdictional networks regionally and internationally, as well as serve on external committees where applicable, in order to identify trends, leverage knowledge and intelligence, and fully inform Authority strategic decision-making processes; 
• Deputises for the Chief Executive Officer during periods of absence, and in relation to specific matters, issues or elements of Authority operation as delegated from time to time by the CEO, ensuring a consistency of approach and decisions which align with the Authority's objectives; 
• Manages departmental budgets, including signing off on invoices and quotes within mandate, escalate out of budgets items to the CEO for approval, and ensures that the team obtains all necessary tools and equipment to effectively execute their duties; 
• Establishes and manages sound guidelines and practices for Authority procurement, external contracting and partnership relationships to pre-determined standards as per Government Procurement policies and regulations, as well as ensure full compliance with procurement legislation; 
• Manages and co-ordinates the systematic review and submission of reports, in keeping with required timelines to external bodies in keeping with Jamaica’s international obligations. 
• Leads the transformation agenda across the Authority, working closely with all partner organizations. 

People Management/Leadership: 

• Oversees the ongoing review and delivery of a workforce development strategy for the Authority, to align workforce resources and talent with organisational priorities and refine roles and responsibilities over time to achieve better business outcomes; 
• Reviews and approves new and updated policies and procedures for hiring, developing and training, rewarding, transferring, promoting, appraising and terminating staff;
• Implements performance development frameworks to align workforce capability with the Authority’s current and future priorities and objectives; 
• Establishes systems to ensure all staff are able to identify direct connection between their effort and organisational outcomes, and provides clear direction on strategic goals, and how to translate and prioritise these into business and performance measures; 
• Ensures that managers create effective workforce plans and recruitment demands plans for their areas, and review performance improvement reports to determine effectiveness of interventions; 
• Takes steps to enable participation by staff on organisational climate or staff satisfaction surveys, and that action items together with the management team of the Business Units are finalised and executed; 
• Monitors the strict adherence to governance and high standards of professionalism across the functions as per Authority Standards and Code of Conduct and Accountability;
• Translates change initiatives into practical strategies and explain these to staff and their role in implementing them and assist others to address emerging challenges and risks and generate support for change initiatives; 
• Implements structured change management processes to identify and develop responses to cultural barriers, clarify purpose and benefits of continuous improvement for staff, and provide coaching and leadership in times of uncertainty; 
• Demonstrates leadership by example and motivate employees to perform their duties with transparency, respect, probity, integrity and accountability; 
• Leads, inspires and coaches a team of high calibre professionals; recognising talent; developing team capability; encouraging professional development and continuous learning; creating succession to key roles; and ensuring that effective management and performance systems are in place, thus enhancing Authority management capability; 
• Provides strong leadership to support to all direct reports through objective setting, appraisal, talent management review and the agreement of personal development plans. Provides timely, constructive and objective feedback to direct and indirect reports; and, address and resolve team and individual performance issues, including serious unsatisfactory performance, in a timely and effective way. 
• Executes other duties that can reasonably be expected of a Director as may be required by the CEO from time to time. 

Required Knowledge, Skills and Competencies

• Advanced analytical and business management skills, with the ability to understand and think strategically and take ‘holistic’, systemic overview of the business and its contribution to the successful achievement of Government objectives; 
• Well-developed leadership and stakeholder management skills and emotional intelligence, with the ability to initiate, establish and maintain relationships with key people, both internally and externally; 
• Excellent communication skills – ability to communicate key messages across on complex issues clearly and persuasively to diverse publics and at all levels within and without the Public Sector in writing and in person and under pressure; 
• Strong advocacy and influencing skills to drive and promulgate the CLA’s vision, mission, mandate and strategic objectives through corporate management, sound resource utilisation and managing conflict to achieve business outcomes within tight timelines; 
• Strong client, achievement and results orientation and the ability to identify and incorporate the interests and needs of customers in business process design;
• Demonstrable personal accountability and experience in promoting high accountability culture and developing and maintaining effective systems for the establishment and measurement of accountabilities, and evaluate ongoing effectiveness; 
• Sound knowledge and understanding of government machinery, systems management and performance monitoring for regulatory bodies in Jamaica. Experience in managing licensing authorities would be advantageous; 
• Sound knowledge and understanding of corporate and general management;
• Sound knowledge and understanding of key legislation and regulations (particularly the Dangerous Drugs Amendment Act for the CLA), governing CLA management and operations; 
• Sound knowledge and understanding of the sensitive global issues concerning medical marijuana and its impact on societies; 
• Sound knowledge and understanding of government procurement and contract management; 
• Sound knowledge and understanding of planned change management techniques. practices and applications; 
• Thorough understanding of and ability to review and assess financial reports to determine discrepancies and/or areas of opportunities for efficient financial management and revenue generation; 
• Ability to: 
  • identify and analyse trends, review data and evaluate business options to ensure business cases are financially sound, manageable and viable 
  • improve morale and productivity by offering clear directives about expected outcomes and by extension lead by example 
  • innovate, to recognise challenges, analyse problems and apply effective solutions
  • lead change management and influences change within the organisation
  • manage relationships well among key local and international organisations that create long term networking benefits 
  • successfully lead negotiations and explore solutions that minimise conflict and build strong partnerships that will promote the success of the CLA 
  • think strategically without losing touch with day-to-day service delivery
• High personal energy and resilience; 
• Demonstrable confidentiality, diplomacy, discretion and integrity at all times. 

Minimum Required Qualification and Experience

• Post graduate degree in Strategy Management, Governance, Business Administration or related field; 
• Seven-eight (7-8) years’ work experience, with at least four (4) in a Senior Management position; 
• Practical experience of leading successful change in government setting; delivering demonstrably high-quality services against challenging performance targets; managing and working through others to achieve outcomes; and managing large budgets; 
• Experience in Government organizations, particularly in a regulatory or monitoring capacity, would be an asset.

Special Conditions Associated with the Job

• Long and unscheduled work hours to meet critical deadlines, including on weekends and public holidays; 
• Stressful working environment and fair exposure to emotionally charged situations (e.g., tense negotiations with interest groups and staff associations); 
• Occasional exposure to situations where personal safety and security may be at risk;
• This position requires that the post holder be on call 24 hours per day;
• A valid Driver’s Licence and ownership of a motor vehicle is required for this post. 

Please note that only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.