The Consumer and Environmental Affairs Director is based at PlasticsEurope’s offices in Brussels, Belgium and reports directly to the Executive Director.
She/he will ensure the professional management of the Association’s work program. She/he will need to understand and anticipate the policy landscape in Brussels and across Europe and will contribute the necessary "content” to the association’s messages.
Key Relationships
Reports to: Executive Director
Direct reports : 15 staff located at 5 offices of PlasticsEurope
Budget: 4 million EURO
Major Responsibilities
• Develop strategic objectives and goals for the association’s work program, taking into account both internal and external factors as well as the organization’s overall strategy.
• Understand and prioritize the issues and activities of all relevant stakeholders (politicians, legislators, NGOs, press, etc.) in Brussels and across Europe as they impact or present opportunities for plastics.
• Identify opportunities for successful lobbying and provide technical information and recommendations to support selection of lobbying campaigns.
• Develop and lead the association’s technical team that brings together expert resources form the regions.
• Work with Regional/Country Directors to gather information and to help understand any local nuances needed to support successful local implementations.
• Maintain a healthy network of member companies’ technical experts. Build effective mechanisms to provide technical information and interpretation services to members.
• Work closely with the Advocacy and the Communications Director as well as the Program Directors (for "Energy Efficiency and Climate Protection”, "Resource Efficiency”, "Consumer Protection”) to develop effective materials for political and technical communications.
• Work with the Executive Director and Leadership Team on issue management and crisis management.
• Manage projects through to successful completion, capturing and recording knowledge on the way and drawing in the skills of ‘experts’ from appropriate external organizations or company members.
• Propose resource budget for Consumer and Environmental affairs.
• Represent PlasticsEurope and its members on policy issues by participating in meetings with policy-makers and in public forums.
Ideal Experience
• Several years of professional experience and recognized performance having developed the professional skills to work without direct supervision against agreed objectives.
• Be technically credible in the area of plastic materials (through background in technical marketing, new product development or any other function that would have given sufficient exposure to plastic material questions and interested in forward looking, market and customer relevant issues).
• Successful track record with her/his current organization working in positions that have contributed to a solid technical know-how around plastics.
• Proven effectiveness in prioritizing and managing a number of complex issues over time.
• Leadership experience in multi-cultural and preferably trans-national teams.
• An international perspective and working knowledge, ability to work within different cultures. Experience working in a multinational, multifunctional, complex organization, ideally with some time working abroad in several countries and cultures.
• Experiences serving in roles that have required her/him to represent the organization at senior levels and with a variety of internal and external constituent groups.
• Personal interest in looking at the broader industry issues at a macro-economic level while remaining very concrete in the issues details.
• Very strong academic background (chemistry, chemical engineer).
• Fluent in the English language – both written and spoken.
Other Personal Characteristics
• Strong, visible and positive charismatic leadership and management skills, able to structure and populate a team, refocus and motivate them towards a new set of goals. Able to manage senior, capable directors and relate to people at all levels. Demonstrates an ability to lead across multiple teams and reporting lines or within matrix structures. Delegates comfortably whilst maintaining control.
• A high energy individual who is driven to success. Bold and positively aggressive but aware of and sensitive to others and the need to work with them.
• Politically aware and sensitive, given the large number of constituent groups with which the Director must relate.
• A bright, intelligent executive with strong analytical and process skills. Possesses a strong intellect and an ability to absorb input from multiple internal and external constituencies and translate into effective and actionable initiatives.
• Inspiring confidence, a personality that leads counterparts for balance and advice.
• A business oriented individual who is clearly focused on the definition and achievement of specific goals and objectives. A strong focus on results and an ability to get things done. Takes charge, with a "can do” attitude, leads by example and strives for excellence and total quality in all endeavors. A self-starter with initiative.
• A strong team-player. Able to secure common ground and ensure alignment in various contacts, both among the membership and across other organizations.
• Builds collaborative and productive relationships with others both inside and outside the organization.
• Possesses the political "savoir faire” to be able to deal fairly, diplomatically and discreetly with members, other related organizations and government representatives.
• Possesses good verbal and written communication skills and is able to articulate complex issues in simple terms, crisply and convincingly.
Applicant should send:
• A curriculum vitae summarizing positions held in the past, responsibilities involved and personal achievements
• A letter of motivation
• A detailed summary of projects, which the applicant has led, that demonstrates the following:
- Knowledge of the plastics industry
- Experience in project design and management
- Business skills other than project management