• Job Title: Chief Operating Officer (Interim)
  • Location: London (Hybrid - 2 day/week in office)
  • Reporting to: Executive Director
  • Responsible for: Leadership of the global support teams, legal, risk, compliance and strategy
  • Reports: 4 direct reports (14 staff indirectly)
  • Duration: 6 months (with possible extension to 9 months)
  • Salary: £85,000 FTE

Job Purpose

This role represents an unparalleled opportunity to use your strategic and operational expertise within an impactful and driven organisation committed to stopping violent conflict and creating more peaceful societies.

The Chief Operating Officer (Interim) is responsible for implementing and strengthening Conciliation Resources’ international governance and operational support across 6 offices. You will be overseeing global strategy and resource management, overseeing multi-jurisdictional legal and regulatory compliance and organisational systems and processes for over 80 personnel working across 12 countries. In addition to ensuring legal, safe and robust operational management across the global organisation you will lead the organisational support teams, currently comprised of Governance, Human Resources, Safety and Compliance, Facilities and IT.

The level of direct management is variable as some of these teams have Managers who provide day to day management and strategic direction which the COO (Interim)oversees and assists. The COO (Interim) will also be responsible for legal and risk management, reporting to the Board and Risk and Audit Committee. 

The COO (Interim) will work closely with the four Department Directors based in London, Addis Ababa and Melbourne focussing on governance, legal and compliance issues.

The COO (Interim) will help devise and implement strategies, including change management, to ensure Conciliation Resources is a dynamic, innovative and reflective organisation.

During periods of emergency that threaten the health of staff or the organisation, the COO (Interim) will lead the organisation’s immediate emergency response as well as the longer-term strategic response.

The COO (Interim) will contribute to the organisational leadership of Conciliation Resources as a member of the Executive Management Team and other senior management groupings, representing its core values, and continuing to develop the organisational structure and operating model to support the peacebuilding vision of Conciliation Resources. 

A key aspect of the role is making sure that individual organisational support teams develop their individual and collective strategies in a coordinated way through a multi-year Operational Plan, implement their annual plans and budgets and report on their impact and change and support others across Conciliation Resources to achieve this.  The role will devise and implement changes to systems and processes. They will provide leadership across the organisation and ensure that each team member is well supported and professionally managed. 

Person Specification 

Knowledge

  • Advanced practical knowledge of how to approach global organisational management and governance.
  •  Knowledge and practice of UK, Australian, Kenyan, Belgian and other relevant company and charity governance and broader legal environments is highly desirable
  •  A thorough understanding of, and commitment to, Conciliation Resources’ general aims and principles including a positive attitude towards equal opportunities principles and practice. 
  •   A comprehensive understanding of the external environment and the key issues faced by international non-governmental organisations and the practical application of these in relation to the organisational support teams and their work.

Experience

  •  Experience overseeing support teams across multiple countries, including in high risk locations
  •  Management and leadership experience, including delivering strategies and support across multiple global offices and working with multiple Boards of Directors and Trustees.
  •  Experience overseeing legal, risk and compliance matters across a global NGO or company, leading analysis and decision making in these areas.
  • Experience of working across the organisational support team portfolio, including safety and security, IT and Human Resources, and supporting and developing colleagues that lead their respective areas of work.
  • Experience of change management within complex and fast paced organisations
  • Experience of managing an annual departmental budget (current departmental budget £2 million) and contributing to strategic oversight of an organisational budget (currently over £11 million).
  • Experience in both facilitating and leading meetings and / or events.
  • Experience in finding practical responses to operational challenges and supporting others to do the same.

Skills/Attributes

  •  Proven ability to think and operate strategically
  • Excellent organisational leadership and management skills including strategic planning
  •  Excellent line management skills with the ability to work across a multi-disciplinary team of senior staff in multiple locations
  • Ability to support and encourage direct reports (and their respective teams) in their fields of expertise. Proven ability to provide mentoring and advice to colleagues.
  • Excellent verbal and written skills in English and proven ability to communicate effectively and sensitively and tailor communications to specific audiences.
  • Appreciation of the importance of inclusivity and diversity within the internal organisational structures and the role this plays in maintaining the same in our programmatic work and how it relates to our mission. 
  • Proven political judgement including an appreciation of how to handle sensitive and confidential issues.

How to apply

Downloads for this post: Job Description/Application form 1/Application form 2/CR Candidate FPN