Chief Operating Officer

JOB DESCRIPTION

Role title: Chief Operating Officer

Reports to :Chief Executive Officer

Hours: Full Time, 35 hours per week

Salary: £50k per annum

Location: Hybrid working between the DSWF Shalford Office (GU4 8JU) for a minimum of two days per week, and home with occasional travel

Annual Leave: Pro rata of 25 days per annum. Bank Holidays are also provided, and at DSWF’s discretion the office usually closes between Christmas and New Year (additional to annual leave)

ABOUT DSWF

DSWF is a wildlife conservation charity operating across Africa and Asia to end wildlife crime and protect endangered species in their natural habitat. The charity has ambitious goals for growth, having seen income grow steadily over a number of years to approx. £1.75m pa.

THE ROLE

This exciting role will focus on maximising DSWF’s impact on wildlife conservation by providing leadership and strategic vision and delivering operational excellence across the organisation. The position is ideally suited to someone with a broad skillset and range of experiences, who enjoys the variety that comes with managing a small / medium sized organisation, and can act as an accountable alternative to the CEO & CFO for decision making and financial management.

Working with a high degree of autonomy, albeit closely with the CEO, CFO and Board of Trustees, the COO will have responsibilities for much of the day to day running of the organisation, including the Fundraising, Marketing, Education, Art and Administration teams. As a fundraising organisation, key to the success of the role will be supporting the senior management team and other departments in the growth of income from fundraising activities and to ensure that the organisation delivers success across all three of its key strategic pillars – conservation, education and art.

The COO will ensure the effective and efficient operational health of DSWF to achieve its strategic objectives. They will also drive operational strategy and hiring needs accordingly.The role will be responsible for translating strategy into actionable goals across the organisation, as well as managing performance against those goals to achieve success. This will be done by creating an ambitious but highly inclusive and fulfilling culture and managing productivity and prioritisation of workloads.

The role has plenty of opportunity to pursue ideas and explore untapped opportunities, and breaks down into five distinct areas of responsibility, under the subtitles below.

There may be the potential for some international travel to DSWF funded projects, though this cannot be guaranteed.

MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSBILITIES

1.HR and Personnel Management

·Continual updating and implementation of HR policies, including maintenance of the HR Handbook

·Responsibility for all recruitment within the organisation, including job descriptions, advertising, interviewing and offering roles

·Employee contracts, onboarding and induction processes supported by the Office Manager

·Annual appraisals with all staff members, in conjunction with line managers, to review performance and establish KPIs by which to measure success

·Creation of a collaborative, ambitious and caring culture will be key to the success of both the role and organisation, ensuring employee wellbeing while generating the drive to succeed

·In partnership with the Office Manager, ensure training on key topics relating to HR, Health and Safety, Data Protection and Safeguarding are delivered to the team

·Responsibility to identify skill deficits and development requirements within the team, and arrange training and support accordingly

2.Fundraising and Marketing

·Line manager to the Head of Fundraising

·Responsibility to support the creation and delivery of a fundraising strategy

·Oversight for income from Individual Giving, including mid and major donors, appeals, adoptions, legacies, fundraising events programme, art competitions, challenge events, corporate fundraising, sponsorship and commercial partnerships, and Trust and Foundation grants

·Support the CEO and Head of Fundraising with stewardship of key relationships including major donors and art buyers, artists and high-profile ambassadors

·Line manager to the Marketing and PR Manager

·Responsibility to support the creation of a marketing strategy, including specific marketing channel plans and an organisational activity calendar

·Top level oversight for all marketing channels including ecommerce website, social media, email marketing, SEO, PPC, blogs and print

·Budgeting and management of costs for all fundraising and marketing expenditure in conjunction with the relevant managers

3.Education

·Line manager to the Education Manager

·Oversight for ongoing development of the UK Education Programme, including both strategy and delivery

·Support with budget creation and management, as well as bid writing for education funding

·Assist with the recruitment and management of freelance Environmental Educators

·Upon completion of training, the COO will be the Designated Safeguarding Officer for the organisation

4.Operations

·Line manager to the Office Manager / Executive Assistant

·Supported by the Office Manager, overall responsibility for all IT, including hardware and software specification, procurement and support, telephone systems, cybersecurity and budgeting

·Responsibility for the overall agreement with Raiser’s Edge, the CRM used by DSWF, including contract renewal, or a move to alternative supplier where necessary

·The COO will be the Data Protection Officer for the organisation, with responsibility for the Data Protection Policy, GDPR compliance and the Privacy Policy

·With the Office Manager, ensure appropriate risk assessments are in place for all aspects of the organisation, and major risks feed through to both the Risk Register, and the Business Continuity Plan

·Work with an Insurance Broker to ensure DSWF has adequate insurance cover in place for all activities, and negotiate best prices upon renewal each year

·With the support of the Office Manager, oversee ongoing maintenance and support contracts for the DSWF office, including service contracts and ad hoc repairs

·Oversight for the Head Lease of the DSWF office, with liaison and negotiation with the landlord and sub-tenants where relevant

·Responsibility for the review or creation of other organisational policies, including Data Protection, Health and Safety, Safeguarding and ESG, including ethical fundraising

5.Budget Management and Reporting

·Work with the CFO on the setting of the annual income and expenditure budgets for all areas of the organisation

·Review the monthly management accounts to ascertain performance, make management decisions accordingly, and review against long term strategy

·Responsibility for producing timely and accurate reports and papers, to be presented in person at the Board of Trustee meetings (c. three per annum)

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

·5+ years of senior management experience with natural leadership, team-building and motivational skills

·Experience in fundraising or sales, and creative strategies for driving income

·Marketing strategy experience in areas such as website, email and social media and marketing

·Direct demonstrable experience in creating and managing HR policy as well as recruitment and performance management

·Experience in creating and implementing strategies and business development initiatives

·Financial acumen to set budgets and review management information and performance data

·Strong interpersonal and communication skills to be able to engage and manage relationships with a variety of stakeholders, including but not limited to Major Donors, Corporate Donors, Trustees, Ambassadors and Conservation Specialists

·Strong organisational and project-management skills and the ability to work flexibly in a dynamic and busy environment, on multiple different projects at any one time

·Loyalty, confidentiality and commitment to supporting a small leadership team to accomplish ambitious strategic goals

Desirable

·Experience of the charity sector or charity governance

·Experience of the wildlife conservation sector, education sector or art world

HOW TO APPLY

Please email with your CV and a Covering Letter. Covering letters to be no more than 2x A4 pages explaining why you wish to work for DSWF and why you are appropriate for the role.

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