Based in the Friends of the Earth Europe office in Brussels, full time, to start as soon as possible.
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This job is an excellent opportunity to join one of the leading environmental organisations in Europe. Friends of the Earth Europe (FoE Europe) campaigns for sustainable and just societies and for protection of the environment. It unites more than 30 national organisations with thousands of local groups and is part of Friends of the Earth International, the world's largest grassroots environmental network.
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We are looking for an experienced Head of Operations to join our engaged and passionate international team dedicated to campaigning on environmental, climate and social justice issues. The role of Head of Operations is a senior position in our team of about 30 professionals and is essential for the management of the organisation, being a part of the Coordination and Management Team and working closely with the Executive Director on daily management of the organisation.
The purpose of the role is to enable FoEE to progress towards its vision and strategy, by ensuring smooth and efficient daily functioning and management of Operations (in the areas of HR, IT, Finance & Fundraising, Administration and Governance) and by the development and implementation of policies, systems and processes.
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The Head of Operations' role is to:
- Develop and implement optimal use of resources within the organisation, for maximum impact
- Ensure an efficient and well motivated Operations team
- Develop and implement clear, simple and meaningful organisational policies, systems and processes to enable the efficient and smooth daily running of the organisation
- Create and maintain optimal support for staff well-being and professional development through excellent management of Human Resources in the organisation
- Ensure compliance with the Belgian legal system.
Key Responsibilities
Operations Team Management & Leadership
We want you to:
- Ensure the organisation's Operations are designed and delivered in ways that meet key organisational objectives and support all staff in their functions in effective and smooth manner
- Lead, supervise and support specific Finance, IT and HR developments and implementation of policies, systems and processes
- Establish a good working relationship with team members, and ensure skilled line-management for an efficient and motivated Operations department
- Ensure the creation, delivery and evaluation of the annual and multi-year workplans in cooperation with the Director and other managers
- Ensure the smooth running of the office including managing internal communication, staff meetings, monitoring and seeking to minimise the environmental impact and footprint of FoEE's facilities and operations.
Human Resources
You will together with other Coordination and Management Team members to support organisational effectiveness and staff well-being.
More specifically you will:
- Keep oversight over HR strategies, programmes, and policies and ensure development, review and implementation of HR and administrative policies and procedures to meet legal requirements and to support organisational effectiveness and staff wellbeing
- Represent the Coordination and Management Team in meetings and negotiations with the Staff Council
- Ensure development, review and implementation of FoEE's trainings, appraisals and coaching and induction process
- Build capacity of and provide support to the Line Managers in the organisation, and support and oversee recruitment and hiring processes.
Resources and Finances
Your role will be to support and develop staff working on fundraising, finances and grant management and to monitor implementation of internal processes and ways of working. You will ensure that the organisation meets its financial obligations and legal requirements.
Specifically, you will:
- Ensure development and regular review of financial policies, procedures and systems so that they are fit for purpose
- Supervise and support the annual budgeting process including: eoordination of budgets that reflect FoEE's campaign and organisational priorities for the year; ensuring quarterly and annual financial and fundraising reviews
- Oversee and support the implementation of fundraising activities, including: making sure that all fundraising applications and grant reports are prepared according to internal policies and comply with donor requirements; draft, or delegate, external contracts including all necessary financial agreements e.g. for consultants and FoEE member groups
- Oversight of budgets and budgeting, including: drafting and managing the allocated general expenses budget, ensuring value for money; authorising payments/purchases up to the agreed threshold.
IT
Your role will be to support and develop staff working on IT by ensuring the review and implementation of relevant IT policies, an annual equipment purchase plan, IT-related development projects within the office and IT and security awareness trainings.
Administration and Governance
You will support FoEE to implement its legal requirements related to administrative and governance. Specifically, you will:
- Ensure that the Director, the Executive Committee (ExCom) and any duly delegated body receive the information they require, in ways and at times that meet their needs, regarding financial, legal and other relevant issues
- Support the Director in organising and delivery of the organisation's Annual General Meeting and the ExCom meetings
- Ensure that all relevant legal and regulatory requirements are met and function as the legal representative for the organisation.
Essential Requirements
- Committed to FoEE's vision, mission and values
- Able to demonstrate a personal commitment to sustainable development and environmental justice
- Excellent command of English, which is the working language for this post and fluency in French for communication with stakeholders
- Minimum 5 years of experience of operating as a senior operational services manager within a civil society organisation of comparable scale and complexity.
- Significant recent experience, at a senior level, of managing or overseeing an organisation's finances and fundraising
- Experience in HR management and development within the Belgian system, and preferably other countries' systems
- Proven ability to work with a multidisciplinary team comprising officers of specialist operational services
- A track record of delivering successful organisational change/development initiatives of varying scale
- Strong interpersonal communication skills and excellent negotiation skills
- Able to translate complex organisational data into clear and simple information for a range of audiences
- Able to work in the Brussels office on a daily basis
- Able to travel abroad, sometimes for trips of several days and to undertake occasional evening and weekend work
- Able to work with established HR, finance, budgeting programmes and tools
Desirable Requirements
- Have a professional background in the NGO sector or related voluntary activities
- Able to speak any other of the EU languages
- Demonstrable experience of managing successful and productive relationships with senior staff in European and national institutions and other NGOs
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The position will be based in Brussels (full-time, 5 days a week).
Remuneration: between €3808 and €5210 (gross per month), depending on experience. FoEE offers an attractive benefits package, including a 13th month, lunch vouchers, an additional 5 days of holidays per year, pension scheme, hospitalisation and comprehensive travel insurance. We also offer full coverage of train travel in case of commuting within Belgium.
Conditions are according to Belgian legislation; hence the position is open solely to persons with right to live and work in the EU.
FoEE adheres to Belgian law that prohibits discrimination on basis of age, sexual orientation, marital status, birth, fortune, religious, philosophical or political beliefs, language, present or future state of health, disability, physical or genetic characteristics, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, maternity, change of sex, nationality, alleged race, skin colour, ancestry, national, ethnic or social origin. FoE Europe strives to make our office as diverse as possible.
If you feel you meet our criteria, and feel inspired by the objectives and challenges of the position, please send a motivation letter describing your motivation and experience related to key responsibilities in English with a CV and contact details for two references to operations-recruitment@foeeurope.org by 12pm CEST on January 11, 2021, mentioning "Head of Operations" in the subject of the message.
Online tests and face to face or online interviews are planned for January 15th – February 15th 2021. The position starts thereafter. For this application only shortlisted candidates will be contacted – thank you for your understanding.
