SECTION FOUR: The division of roles and responsibilities Section four: The division of roles and responsibilities • The president or chairperson or chief commissioner in a commission-model institution or the ombudsperson in an ombuds-model institution is the head of the institution. The institution head is the NHRI’s most senior leader internally and its public face externally. • The other statutory leaders are those specific positions named in the founding law. They can be appointed with general responsibilities or have specific responsibilities assigned to them by law. They can also have specific responsibilities assigned to them by the institution head. • In a commission-model institution, the chief commissioner and all the other commissioners meet as a collective body, the commission. The commission is the supreme decisionmaker in the institution. • The position of SEO is the most senior staff position in the NHRI. It is located as the pivot within the institution, between the top leaders and the staff. • The SEO leads the staff, working most closely with the directors and managers who report directly to the SEO. Together they constitute the staff leadership team. • The division of roles and responsibilities within the top leadership group, between that group and the SEO, and between the SEO and the other staff leaders needs to be clear and documented. 1. The institution head The president or chairperson or chief commissioner in a commission-model institution or the ombudsperson in an ombuds-model institution is the head of the institution. The institution head is the NHRI’s most senior leader internally and its public face externally. In a commission-model institution, the head of the institution typically • convenes and chairs meetings of the commission • sets the agenda for meetings of the commission • is the principal spokesperson for the NHRI as a whole • is the NHRI’s principal point of contact with the government and the parliament • oversees the NHRI’s external partnerships, including with civil society organisations and academics • is the person to whom the SEO reports directly, even where the SEO is formally accountable to the commission collectively • has closest oversight of the NHRI’s staff and the budget • is the person who ensures that the NHRI operates according to the highest standards of integrity, equity and equality, with a strong operational commitment to gender mainstreaming in its policies and procedures. 19