General Manager - Fairseat Foundation

Position: General Manager

Company: Fairseat Foundation

Location: Nairobi, Kenya | Reporting to the Board

The opportunity

Fairseat Foundation is a respected not-for-profit retirement community in Nairobi, providing cottages, apartments and rooms within a green and welcoming environment that residents can genuinely call home. Fairseat is looking for an exceptional General Manager to lead the organisation through its next chapter. This is a rare opportunity to use strong commercial, operational and people-leadership skills in a role where good management has a direct and deeply human impact.

This is emphatically not a gentle pre-retirement posting. It is a full, demanding general management role requiring energy, sound judgement, resilience and a willingness to remain closely involved in daily life at Fairseat.

The role

• Reporting to the Board, the General Manager will have overall responsibility for Fairseat's leadership and day-to-day management. The role covers finance, operations, residents and families, staffing, facilities, care services, catering, risk and future development.

• The General Manager will lead the heads of Finance, Care and Nursing, Catering, Housekeeping and Laundry,

• Maintenance and Facilities and other functional teams. They will ensure that these areas work effectively together and that Fairseat remains disciplined, well controlled and responsive.
• Working closely with the Chief Accountant, the General Manager will oversee budgets, income, expenditure, cashflow, reserves, procurement and internal controls. They will make sure that practical policies and procedures support finance, record-keeping, health and safety, security, housekeeping and maintenance. They will identify problems early and deliver sensible improvements to services, facilities and staff working conditions.

Residents and community

• The General Manager will protect Fairseat's character as a home rather than an institution. They will be visible and approachable, listen to residents and take practical action when something needs attention.
• Working with the care team and the Board, the General Manager will oversee admissions and resident reviews. As residents needs change, they will help families and the team make thoughtful decisions that protect individual safety and dignity as well as the comfort of the wider community.
• The role requires mature and sensitive communication with residents and families, including those living overseas.
• At times, the General Manager will need to guide people through difficult changes, serious illness and bereavement with clarity and compassion.

People and culture

• The General Manager will lead a diverse team of managers and frontline staff. They will set clear expectations and ensure that job descriptions, appraisals, objectives and fair performance management become part of normal working life.
• They will plan staffing with functional heads as resident numbers and service needs change. They will also create an environment in which staff can raise concerns and trust that management will respond sensibly and within reasonable timeframes.

Strategy and governance

• The General Manager will work with the Board on Fairseat's future, including how the community can support residents through changing levels of independence and care. They will consider opportunities to expand respite care and other suitable services and develop relationships with doctors, hospitals, clubs and community groups.
• The role will include identifying additional income streams that strengthen long-term financial sustainability without compromising Fairseat's purpose.
• The General Manager will provide clear and timely reporting to the Board on operations, finance, occupancy, risks, incidents and resident matters and will take responsibility for implementing Board decisions.

Who Fairseat is looking for:

• Fairseat is open-minded about sector background. Direct experience of retirement living, healthcare or social care would be useful but it is not the only route into this position. The most important skills are highly transferable from commercially focused, operational and service-led organisations.
• Seven and ten years relevant professional experience, including proven responsibility within a senior operational or general management role.
• Candidates may come from hospitality, property, healthcare, professional services, the not-for-profit sector or another environment where they have led people, managed budgets, improved operations and taken responsibility for the quality of service delivered to customers or communities.
• Strong financial and commercial judgement is essential. Candidates must be comfortable reading and challenging budgets and management accounts and should understand cost control, procurement, internal controls and the practical realities of running an organisation.
• Substantial people-management experience is equally important. The successful person will have led managers and frontline teams and will know how to set expectations, hold people accountable and build fair, workable systems. Experience of working in Kenya is required, together with an understanding of local employment practices and the sensitivity to lead people from different backgrounds.
• The General Manager must have genuine empathy and respect for older people without avoiding difficult decisions. They will need warmth, authority, discretion, emotional resilience and a strong sense of personal responsibility.
• Fairseat needs someone energetic and proactive who notices what is happening, asks the right questions and follows matters through. The successful person must be comfortable moving between a Board discussion, a financial review, a staffing concern, a maintenance problem and a conversation with a resident or family member.

Above all, Fairseat is looking for someone who wants a purposeful and demanding leadership role and who will take pride in protecting the character of the community whilst improving the way the running of the Foundation.