Deputy President

Position: Deputy / Acting President (Continuity Lead) — The Global Centre for Risk & Innovation (GCRI) / Nexus Governance System
Type: Strategic continuity and escalation governance role (non-executive; strictly non-executing)
Board: Council leaders are considered for Board nomination after joining and serving in good standing
Location: International (distributed, hybrid)
Term: 3 Years
Time commitment: Typically 20 hours per month (build-year cadence; surge leadership during escalations/events)
Apply here: https://therisk.global/work/job/deputy-president/

Context and Purpose

Modern risk governance fails most often during stress: when information is incomplete, time is short, and institutional pressure is high. In those moments, systems drift—records slip, handling rules loosen, due process is bypassed, and “temporary” exceptions become precedent.

The Deputy / Acting President (Continuity Lead) exists to prevent that failure mode. This role is the continuity backbone of the Nexus governance system—ensuring leadership redundancy, escalation control, and operating discipline across cycles, absences, and high-tempo events. The role maintains readiness posture, ensures decisions remain validity-by-record, and protects the strict firewall between public-good governance and regulated execution. This is a governance leadership role—not execution. It does not underwrite, place, broker, custody, operate markets, steer procurement, select vendors, or imply endorsement.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintain continuity plans for leadership coverage, delegated authorities, surge staffing, and acting protocols across national/regional/global assignments.
• Ensure meeting cadence, decision throughput, and closure discipline do not degrade during transitions, travel, or crises.
• Act as President/Chief Steward when required, chairing sessions and executing the leadership playbook with the same integrity posture.
• Operate the escalation “front door” for integrity, safety, disputes, grievances, and operational blockers.
• Triage and route escalations to the correct control functions (Records/Register, Security/Handling, Safeguards/Remedy, COI/Ethics, Due Process), with clear clocks, owners, and outcomes.
• Maintain a disciplined escalation log: what happened, what was decided, what was deferred, and what must be corrected.
• Enforce that high-stakes actions proceed only when the record is complete: authority chain, quorum/votes, recusals, rationale, outcomes, and distribution completion.
• Prevent informal or side-channel decisions; ensure all “exceptions” are time-bounded, documented, and reviewable.
• Sponsor corrections and supersession discipline; prevent silent edits and reputational drift.
• Guard the non-execution boundary, especially under stress: no endorsement, no procurement steering, no vendor selection, no implied approvals.
• Ensure operational urgency does not become “execution by governance.”
• Maintain handling posture across controlled sessions and sensitive materials: least-privilege distribution, controlled rooms, disciplined recording and publication posture.
• Ensure external references remain public-safe and correctly disclaimed.
• Monitor seat readiness and participation health; ensure deputies/backups exist for critical roles and that continuity gaps are closed.
• Partner with Secretariat and Competence/Membership functions to maintain roster depth and rapid onboarding for urgent vacancies.

Compensation, Remuneration, and Expenses

• Governance authority is not paid. Compensation is never linked to votes, approvals, recognition decisions, enforcement actions, or outcomes. No success fees and no pay-to-influence dynamics.
• Operational workload may be compensated (where permitted). If sustained continuity operations are required (e.g., escalation management, surge coordination, crisis governance operations), compensation may be provided only for clearly defined operational services—scoped, deliverable-based, independently approved, and auditable.
• Expenses may be reimbursed. Reasonable, documented, pre-approved out-of-pocket expenses necessary to perform the role may be reimbursed in accordance with policy and handling requirements.
• Standing and independence apply. Continued service depends on good standing, disclosure compliance, and independence consistent with integrity requirements.

Opportunities for Leaders to Join

• Real institutional leverage: build the continuity spine that prevents governance failure modes under stress—one of the most valuable and rare functions in high-trust systems.
• Apex view across the system: direct exposure to every council function—records, safeguards, handling, ethics, due process, membership—and the ability to strengthen interfaces and performance.
• Credibility through discipline: leadership in a system that treats corrections, due process, and handling as strengths rather than bureaucracy.
• Pathway to senior stewardship: strong performance naturally positions leaders for deeper governance responsibilities, including chairing and board consideration (without implying entitlement).

Candidate Profile

We are seeking senior leaders (typically 12+ years) with demonstrated experience in one or more of:

• Executive operations, chief-of-staff, governance secretariat leadership, or continuity management in complex institutions.
• Crisis governance, incident management, or high-stakes escalation systems.
• Administrative process, compliance, and records discipline under public scrutiny.
• Multi-stakeholder coordination requiring neutrality, confidentiality, and procedural fairness.

Capabilities and Mindset

• Calm under pressure: steady judgment, high discretion, and disciplined prioritization.
• Process-exact: treats records, handling, and due process as non-negotiable operating requirements.
• Closure-driven: converts ambiguity into a tracked decision path with owners, clocks, and outcomes.
• Integrity-first: willing to stop the line, escalate breaches, and insist on correction.
• Neutral convenor: can coordinate stakeholders without dealmaking or execution behavior.

Eligibility, Membership, and Independence

• Holds a primary full-time role outside the council seat and can sustain the expected cadence and surge demands.
• Willing to fully disclose relevant interests and abide by conflict-of-interest and recusal requirements.
• Not placed in a situation where service creates unmanageable conflicts or compromises neutrality.
• Accepts strict confidentiality, handling discipline, and communications integrity expectations.
• Commits to remain in good standing (participation, disclosures, and applicable contribution obligations).