Director of Operations

VACANCY NOTICE Ref. No: EED/2

 DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

1. Main functions of the post:

• coordinating and managing the operations of the EED and its budgetary policy;
• mapping and matching of possible sources of funding (grants from the UE and other international governmental and non-governmental donors, contributions from interested parties, etc.);
• providing strategic guidance to the funds management, legal, HR, administration and IT;
• preparing agenda and coordinating documents for the EED governing bodies meetings; deputising for the Executive Director when requested.

 2. Duties and Responsibilities:

Director of Operations reports directly to the Executive Director of the EED and shall be responsible for (in addition to the above-mentioned):

• managing the development of the EED operations;
• overseeing, managing and providing strategic guidance to the budget planning, funds management, HR, administration and IT;
•  researching and advocating for new funding opportunities and preparation of the EED Executive Director for meetings with key stakeholders;
• providing input for speeches and other relevant activities of the Executive Director and the Director of Programmes;
• advising the Executive Director on the EED operations across the geographical area of its activity and, in this regard, planning and ensuring that the EED activities will meet financially budget lines;
• cooperating closely with the Director of Programmes on the financial aspects while approving projects to be granted;
• developing and maintaining contacts with high level government officials, representatives of  the EU institutions as well as relevant international organisations and non-governmental organisations to ensure information exchange and synergies;
• managing the EED’s HR activities (recruitment, training, staff administration, medical care, welfare and career development);

• advocating with EU institutions and EU policy makers, including the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament, and other international donors for EED’s priorities and programmes, in order to influence policy development and find new funding opportunities, generating resources to support EED programmes and operations;
• developing and implementing the strategy to increase funding for EED operations from the external instruments of the European Commission and the European Development Fund;
• providing sound information and solid advice to the Executive Director concerning the availability of EU funding instruments, with a view of developing new opportunities to access funding beyond the traditional actions;

• ensuring that all stages of EU and other donors contract management (proposal development and submission, negotiations, reporting, monitoring and contract liquidation) are carried out in a timely and accurate manner with the full involvement of the EED Secretariat and staff responsible, in order to ensure the credibility of the organization with key donors, and assuring continued resources for EED’s activities and programmes;
• monitoring multilateral and bilateral activities in the area of the democracy agenda in order to seek synergies with EED’s activities and avoid duplication;

• initiating and implementing HR policies, guidelines and structures to respond to the EED’s mandate, its internal rules, regulations, procedures and practices as well as those under the Belgian law;
•  leading training of EED staff on EU donor relations, EU institutions, funding opportunities and procedures in all phases of contract management (proposal development and submission, negotiations, reporting, monitoring and contract liquidation);
• performing other tasks for the Executive Director as required.

3. Key eligibility and selection criteria

a.      Conditions for eligibility:

• be a national or having permanent residence permit of one of the EU/EEA countries or Switzerland;
• be entitled to his/her full rights as a citizen;
• have completed any obligations imposed on him/her by the laws concerning military service;
• produces the appropriate character references as to his/her suitability for the performance of his/her duties;
• be physically fit to perform his/her duties;
• hold, or be in a position to obtain, a valid Personnel Security Clearance Certificate (national or EU PSC at CONFIDENTIAL and/or EU SECRET level).

b. Essential selection criteria:

Level and type of formal education

• master’s degree in International Affairs, Public Administration, Political or Social Science, Law, International Development, Non-profit Management, Finance or related discipline;

   Professional experience

• at least twelve (12) years of proven full-time professional experience in grants administration/ management or proposal development for an international development organization, foundation, NGO or donor agency; proven experience in a senior management of staff, budget and administration, preferably in the international environment;

• professional experience and knowledge in EU relations and policy advocacy, preferably in Brussels or in the field with relevant contextual experience with the EU external action/delegations; operational experience in EC DG DEVCO would be an asset;
• advanced training and/or demonstrated on-the-job skills on EU policy development, focusing on external action, EU donor relations and contract management work;
• demonstrated experience in political networking and advocacy, with specific contacts and networks already developed among EU policy makers, including the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament;
• demonstrated experience in setting up and conducting trainings for field offices in the areas of EU political advocacy, fundraising, donor relations and contract management modalities.

Functional competencies

• good knowledge of grant-making and democracy support procedures;

• substantive understanding of political issues and trends in the EU Neighbourhood as well as EU policies towards the region;
• thorough knowledge of English and French is required; satisfactory knowledge of Russian and/or Arabic to the extent necessary for the performance of duties would be an asset;

• solid ICT skills;
• ability to keep full confidentiality about all assigned tasks and related documentation as well as able to exercise confidentiality, discretion and tact when dealing with diverse groups of people;
• high degree of communication skills and excellent interpersonal skills;
• ability to develop strong working relationships internally and externally at all levels;
• thorough understanding of social media, its purpose and exploitation;
• high personal and professional culture;
• ability to work in multi-ethnic and multi-national environment;
• readiness for frequent duty travel;
• provide at least five (5) references as to the suitability for the performance of duties.

4. Application

Please make sure you meet all required qualifications and experience. Application must include a CV in the Europass format, cover letter, contact information for five (5) references and your net monthly salary requirements.

Failure to fully comply with one of the required information (CV, cover letter, references together with contact information and net monthly salary requirement)  shall result in the exclusion of the applicant concerned from the selection procedure.

Application should be made online using “apply for the job” panel. After successfully submitting your application you will receive an automatic email confirming receipt of your application.

In addition to it please send a copy of your CV as an attachment to email address:vacancies@democracyendowment.eu, with reference number and Director of Operations in the subject line. Please no phone calls/emails/letters.

 Applications should be submitted no later than 15 April 2013, 12 noon (Brussels time)

The applications will not be returned to candidates but will be kept on file by the EED. The information provided in the applications is subject to EU legislation on protection of personal data and confidentiality of information.

5. Terms of contract

Two-year fixed term contract (with the possibility of its extension) plus decent set of personal benefits.

Expected take up duty date: ASAP (no later than 1 July 2013).

Working place: EED HQ located in the centre of Brussels, Belgium.