Chief Operations Officer London, England
Job description
Chief Operating Officer
Location: Preference for London, possibility for elsewhere in UK if frequent travel to
London feasible for at least 2 consecutive days a month, with more frequent time in London at
the beginning of the role.
Role: Full-time / permanent (subject to funding)
Salary: £90,000 plus 10% employer-contributed pension
Starting date: as soon as possible
About us:
Established in 2021, Opportunity Green is a fast-growing not-for-profit organisation that helps
to identify and unlock opportunities to tackle climate change. We build ambitious coalitions,
support climate vulnerable countries in international negotiations and find innovative legal
pathways to emissions reductions. We are now looking for a Chief Operating Officer (COO) to
lead on our finances, Human Resources (HR) and strategic planning.
What’s the role?
As COO, you will have the opportunity to shape a new, growing and ambitious environmental NGO.
You will be working closely with OG’s CEO, and be a key part of a newly created executive
leadership team. This is a senior position with scope to design and grow the role over time.
Key responsibilities:
Designing, supporting and ensuring the delivery of key functions across the organisation
Providing inspiring leadership and strategic oversight by heading up the crucial services
of finance, IT, HR, office management, and governance (e.g. trustee board management).
Ensuring OG is financially sustainable, compliant with all relevant employment or other
regulations, and has the office and organisational infrastructure it needs to support a great
organisation fighting climate change.
Building HR systems to attract, support, develop and retain talented people, including
leading our systems and culture (in conjunction with the existing Diversity, Equality and
Inclusion team) around equality, diversity and inclusion, performance management, learning and
development and internal communications.
Planning for and predicting the development of all required organisational resources,
processes, and management structures.
Providing oversight and support to the CEO and executive team on fundraising, especially on
ensuring all funder reporting requirements and requests are met and exceeded.
Personal Attributes:
We are looking for someone who can bring an inspirational, empathetic approach to
supporting a growing organisation so that we keep ahead of the curve on operational needs and
respond quickly to a changing business environment.
You will be vital to the organisation’s ability to deliver its mission of resolving the
climate crisis but ensuring the smooth running of the organisation.
A commitment to social and environmental justice is essential and the successful candidate
will have a key role in embedding our values of collaboration, good governance, and honesty
across the organisation.
Essential Competencies:
Demonstrable experience of being a proven strategic, creative and flexible leader, able to
identify and implement new ways of working, seize unexpected opportunities and encourage and
develop these skills in others.
Experience in organisational management and planning at a strategic level. You must be able
to demonstrate an understanding of the challenges of running a UK-based small charity.
Experience in financial oversight responsibility, with a strong understanding of non-profit
organisational financial management and reporting.
Comprehensive understanding of charity governance requirements, including risk management
and mitigation, and an understanding of key areas of legal operational compliance, e.g.
employment and data protection law.
Demonstrable experience of overseeing the development and implementation of strategic plans
and organisational change processes, especially supporting staff through such changes.
Extensive experience in project management, and the ability to provide project support and
oversight.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Demonstrable ability to think independently, critically and creatively, and to take
responsibility for decision making.
Experience in developing and managing key senior relationships with organisational partners
and stakeholders - including funders.
What we offer
We take our team’s well-being and professional development seriously. What we offer:
We are trialling the 4-day work week at 28 hours a week for 3 months from June. If
successful, it will become OG’s default way of working.
OG has fixed salary scales, with the possibility of step increases with strong performance.
When hiring we always hire at the bottom of a band and do not enter negotiations with new
employees as negotiations have been historically shown to disadvantage women and minorities.
A market-leading pension of 10% employer contribution.
A progressive parental leave policy, including 3 months of paid leave for all parents.
Lots of flexibility within a hybrid working arrangement, with regular opportunities to come
together as a team, or an office in London if you wish to work from there.
Support for your professional development as part of OG, with a budget to support your
learning & development plus opportunities to lead projects, publish content, learn from
experts, work directly with policymakers and stakeholders, and take part in conferences and
events.
A commitment to work/life balance, with generous holidays and the expectation that you
fully disconnect while taking them. We offer 25 days’ holiday per year (this will be adjusted
to 20 if we adopt a permanent 4-day week) plus bank holidays, and office closure that does not
count towards your holiday entitlement between Christmas and New Year’s.
Diversity and inclusion:
Diversity and inclusion are important principles at OG. We believe that diversity and inclusion
make teams stronger and more effective. We are committed to fair and equitable employment
practices and we are striving to ensure that a variety of voices and experiences are included
in our organisation. Our commitment to diversity and our parental leave policy are available to
view on our website, here.
We will consider all applicants who meet most or all of the essential competencies regardless
of their identity or background. That said, we know that diverse candidates may be reluctant to
apply for jobs where they don’t meet 100% of the criteria outlined in the job description, yet
we encourage anyone to apply who can demonstrate the variety of skills and experiences relevant
to meeting the requirements of this role.
We recognise that many diverse experiences and perspectives are not represented in our current
workforce, and are seriously underrepresented across the non-profit sector in general, and as
such, we particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, people of colour,
people from marginalised backgrounds, and members of the LGBTQIA+ communities. We will use
positive action under the Equality Act 2010 to appoint from these groups if two candidates are
equally qualified. We also value flexible working and are open to those who would want to work
part-time in this role.
If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments to the application or hiring
process that may better facilitate your participation, please send an email to
[email protected] and we will be happy to organise an informal chat with
you.
How to Apply:
Please submit your CV and a maximum two-page cover letter describing how you
meet the specific requirements of the role, with examples from your experience and why you
would be a good fit for OG. To minimise the risk of unconscious bias, we ask that applicants
remove the following from their CVs and cover letter:
Photos
Name – if needed, please use ‘applicant’, e.g., when signing off the cover letter
Age
Unfortunately, if you do not already hold the right to work in the UK and/or require
sponsorship to continue working in the UK, OG will not be able to consider your application at
this time.
The closing date for applications is Monday 3rd July 2023 at 9am UK time.
Please submit your application to [email protected] with ‘COO
Application’ in the subject line. Unfortunately, due to the expected volume of
applications, you will only receive a response if you are selected for an interview.
What Happens Next?
Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an online interview to discuss their experience and
suitability for the role. After this, candidates that are most suitable for the vacancy will be
invited for an in-person interview in our London office, for which there may also be a short
task. As this is a very senior role at OG, we will ask any final applicants to work in our
London office with the CEO and other key team members for a day before a final offer will be
made. Travel will be reimbursed for non-London-based applicants.
