New position: Senior Operations Manager
This is an exciting new Senior Management position to manage the ENNs operations. It provides an opportunity for an individual to take up a key role in shaping and managing an established,
growing charity. Based in Oxford, the appointee will join a team of eight ENN staff. About the ENN
The ENN is a UK registered charity based in Oxford, UK. The ENN’s purpose is to strengthen the evidence regarding effective nutrition interventions and to use this evidence to inform policy and programming. To do this, the ENN captures and manages knowledge, undertakes research and reviews, runs an online technical forum, facilitates and presents at ENN-led and other international meetings. Visit
www.ennonline.net
for more details.
The ENN is governed by a board of trustees and steered by four Technical Directors (specialists in areas of nutrition policy, programming and research). More information about the ENN (2013-15) at
http://www.ennonline.net/ennstrategy
The ENN is funded through international grants from governments (currently the governments of the USA, Ireland, UK and Canada), through partnership agreements with international
organisations (e.g. UNHCR, ACF, UNICEF) and through recurrent contributions from a variety of operational agencies.
The ENN has a small Oxford based office (administration, finance and management) and a soon to be established sub-office in London (knowledge management hub) as well as having a network of technical specialists comprising Technical Directors (senior staff responsible for the
implementation of ENNs projects), a nutritionist and a group ENN Associates (nutrition, research and public health specialists) who provide additional technical capacity on a project-specific basis.
Job Description
Job Title: Senior Operations Manager
Organisation: Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN) Reporting to: Technical Director
Responsible for: Management of ENN operations including project support, human resources, donor reporting, management of office staff and funding initiatives.
Base: Oxford, UK
Job Purpose: Ensure the smooth running of ENN operations to enable delivery on our strategic objectives.
Main responsibilities of the Job:
As a senior member of ENN’s management team, this appointee will be jointly responsible for contributing towards the achievement of ENNs strategic and operational targets, with day to day responsibility for overseeing all operational aspects of the organisation and directly implementing systems and procedures. This position is a key interface between the finance team and project operations staff.
The Senior Operations Manager will work closely with three Oxford based staff; one part-time Operations Assistant, a Senior Finance Manager and a Finance Assistant. This position will also support and manage a team of technical staff comprised of four Technical Directors, one
nutritionist (all UK home based) and a number of long term consultant working on specific projects (known as ENN Associates) in the UK and Geneva. The ENN team will expand in September 2015 to include a knowledge management specialist based in a new London sub-office, followed by a number of regional appointments in 2016.
The appointee will work closely with the Senior Finance Manager and the ENN Technical Directors to identify, coordinate and, where necessary, provide the operational support to ensure projects are delivered on time, in budget and in line with donor requirements. The appointee will have oversight of ENN systems, including Human Resources, IT and communications. The appointee will support the Technical Directors in identifying and securing additional funding.
Tasks
Project Support and Management
Provide and ensure the necessary operational, administration and budget management support needed by technical staff and project managers to implement projects.
Manage the admin/operations Office Support Team (currently two part-time staff). Delegate to and support capacity development of the Office Support Team as appropriate. Minimise the administrative burden of technical staff.
Implement (and develop as necessary) ENNs quarterly internal reporting schedule. Manage Project Managers as required to ensure projects are on track and within budget. Organise and facilitate regular meetings with the senior management team and other key
staff to help monitor and plan the organisation’s overall progress. Donor (Funder) Management
Ensure routine reporting systems are adequate and implemented to track project performance.
Maintain the donor reporting schedule for the ENN.
Ensure all donor reports are developed and submitted on schedule, coordinating inputs of the Senior Finance Manager, technical staff and office support team, as required.
Act as the key focal point for Project Managers to advise on and subsequently to liaise with donors, regarding administrative issues, e.g. grant modifications and clarifications.
Finance
Act as a critical interface between the Finance Team and the Project Implementation team. Work with the Finance Team (two part time staff) in the development and monitoring of
project budgets through provision of project-specific context.
Work with the Finance Team in developing costings for ENNs operations/project support. Provide approval and sign off on project and expenditure as required/agreed.
Human Resources (HR)
Oversee and direct the review and development of ENNs HR policy and procedures. Review and develop staff, consultant and partner agreements, including provision for
donor and project-specific requirements as they emerge.
Manage the performance review process for all ENN staff to ensure that annual reviews, and any other progress meetings, take place and that agreed actions are followed up. Monitor and oversee the administration of annual leave and other staff rewards (such as
pensions contributions), liaising with the finance team to ensure that they are implemented and administered according to staff job contracts.
Manage all necessary recruitment for the ENN including writing job descriptions, with input from relevant staff, advertising positions, coordinating interviews and setting up new job contracts for staff and consultants.
Initiate and coordinate staff team meetings, occasional away days and informal gatherings to facilitate good communication and team building.
Communication
Establish good internal communication systems within the ENN, including chairing regular office meetings, periodic meetings and calls with the ENN remote staff, and ENN Associates. Assist in the development of and oversee a new communications strategy for the ENN,
including better use of social media for knowledge capture and management. Fundraising
Partly guided by the Technical Directors, follow up on potential funding leads
Support the development of new proposals of work including narrative development, budget development, and submission of donor-specific paperwork.
Coordinate fundraising initiatives within the organisation, such as identifying new funding sources, maintaining a fundraising schedule and driving inputs from the Technical
Directors. General Operations
Appraise the adequacy of, develop and ensure implementation of information technology (IT), Human Resources (HR), project monitoring, project support, time management, communication and information management systems, policies and procedures.
Maintain the ENNs risk management register. Identify and manage risk in cooperation with the Senior Finance Manager and TDs.
Identify, help secure and manage in-house and external operational capacities needed to run the ENN operations.
Strategic role
Monitor and report on organisational performance to the ENN Board of Trustees.
Coordinate production and contribute to activity and organisational performance reports for ENN Trustee meetings (three times per year).
Anticipate and react to operational consequences of ENN strategic and project developments and input into operational aspects of ENN’s Strategy and planning. PERSON SPECIFICATION
Education/Skills Essential:
Minimum graduate degree in management, business or other relevant discipline Familiarity with international humanitarian or development architecture Excellent organisational and analytical skills
Excellent proposal development and report writing skills
Excellent capacity/team building/managing interpersonal and communications skills Fluent written and spoken English language skills
Strong attention to detail Good IT skills
Desirable:
Masters degree in management, business or other relevant discipline Experience required
Essential:
Minimum 10 years’ experience in operations/project management, design and implementation of reporting and monitoring systems
Proven experience of budget management and analysis involving multiple projects and funders
Proven experience in multiple donor reporting and proposal writing Proven experience of team management and leadership
Proven experience of project management Familiarity with quality management systems Desirable:
Experience in fundraising to secure and/or maintain funding streams in the international humanitarian/development sectors (ideally within non-governmental agencies working within nutrition, health or food security in development or humanitarian contexts). Special Skills, Aptitude/Personality requirements:
Motivated, takes initiative, innovates and drives progress
Very strong organisational skills, ability to manage a varied and changing workload Ability to work with a small team in a small office environment
Ability to manage staff both directly and remotely
Flexibility and willingness to take on new areas of work and responsibilities Strong interpersonal and communication skills
While this is an accurate description of the job at present, because the role may be expected to develop over time, the job holder may be expected to assume different duties. These will be agreed with the jobholder in advance and will be within the scope of the job salary and the jobholder’s capabilities.
Terms and conditions
Part-time position, fixed term contract (12 months initially,
very likely to be extended but
dependent on funding )
Four to five days per week (depending on person specification) Pay: £40,000-£47,000 (depending on experience), pro rata Location
This position will be located in Oxford. Applicants must have permit to work in the UK. Deadline for applications: Midday on 27th July 2015.
Application process: Submit cover letter and CV to: [email protected]
Informal enquiries: Marie McGrath, Co-Director, 01865 249745, 07737 996822, [email protected]
