Executive Programme Manager

We are seeking a highly organized, strategic, and tech-forward Executive Program Manager / Chief of Staff to work directly with the Director of the Clean Cities Campaign. Sitting at the center of the Clean Cities’ team leadership, you will serve as the Director’s operational right hand: prioritizing attention, strengthening communication flows, translating strategy into executable plans, and ensuring that key initiatives across the organization run smoothly and on time. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in dynamic, mission-driven environments and who excels at amplifying the effectiveness of senior leaders, improving systems, and delivering seamless execution across a wide range of strategic, operational, and communications activities.

Key Responsibilities include

• Executive Support & Leadership Enablement
  • Manage the Director’s digital communications: prioritizing messages, drafting responses, and ensuring timely follow‑up.
  • Oversee complex calendar and meeting management with foresight, coordination, and strategic awareness.
  • Track commitments and follow‑through from meetings; ensure actions are delivered across teams.
  • Serve as a trusted liaison between the Director, Clean Cities teams and T&E departments.
  • Maintain confidentiality and support the Director in navigating sensitive personnel and organizational matters.
• Project & Workflow Management
  • Lead and coordinate cross‑cutting projects on behalf of the Director; from scoping and planning to implementation and milestone tracking.
  • Support annual strategic planning cycles, including synthesizing priorities, creating timelines, and monitoring progress.
  • Build simple, effective systems for workflow management, information flow, and process improvements across the organization.
  • Develop dashboards, trackers, and reports that support data‑driven decision‑making and help the Director focus on what matters most.
  • Identify bottlenecks early and propose solutions to increase team efficiency and reduce friction.
• Grants Management, Funders & Budget Coordination
  • Oversee administrative aspects related to grants, budgeting, and organizational processes, ensuring clarity and compliance.
  • Support grant management: tracking deliverables, coordinating reporting timelines, and preparing narrative or budget inputs, as needed.
  • Ensure smooth collaboration with T&E Finance on compliance, invoices, subgrants, and forecasting.
  • Monitor budget utilization for key initiatives, flag variances, and support the Director in anticipating resource needs.
• External Communications & Social Media
  • Draft high‑quality social media content, blogs, op‑eds, speaking points, and presentation materials for the Director.
  • Support management of external engagements, including event logistics, preparation materials, and follow‑up communication.
  • Prepare high‑quality briefs, agendas, slide decks, speeches, and talking points for internal and external engagements, when necessary, based on input provided by experts on the team.
  • Support the Director’s public profile in collaboration with the Clean Cities’ communications team, ensuring consistent and impactful messaging.
• Technology & Systems, Admin Support
  • Optimize use of digital tools: project management platforms, workflow automation, shared drives, dashboards, and communication tools.
  • Introduce or refine systems that improve team‑wide visibility, priority setting, and information flow.
  • Maintain shared documentation, templates, trackers, and archives to support continuity and institutional memory.

About You

• You have a minimum of 5 years’ experience working in advocacy, campaigning, public affairs or NGO sectors, ideally in a role where supporting a senior leader was a part of the job.
• You have proven experience in executive support, project management, operations, or a similar role or you have transferable skills.
• You embrace a service mindset and take pride in enabling the success of others.
• You excel at project management, time management, and cross‑team coordination.
• You communicate with clarity, honesty, professionalism, and warmth; both in writing and speaking.
• You like making documents, slides and communication material beautiful.
• You thrive in fast‑moving, ambiguous environments and enjoy managing multiple priorities at once; you love being “a spider in the web”.
• You handle confidential information with discretion and maturity.
• You demonstrate strong judgment, ownership, and follow‑through.
• You are tech‑literate, systems‑oriented, and always looking for ways to improve efficiency.
• You are a team player and a people person with high energy and enthusiasm who loves receiving and giving feedback.
• You are happy to travel for work.

Why This Role Matters

This is a unique opportunity to work at the center of Europe’s leading urban mobility organization, amplifying impact and shaping strategic change across the continent. You’ll be part of a dynamic team, making cities cleaner, healthier, and more livable, with a direct hand in supporting the Director’s leadership and effectiveness. This is a full‑time position (although 0.8 FTE is possible) with a flexible working schedule. The location of the position is London, (UK) or Brussels (Belgium). We have an office in central London and close to the European Parliament in Brussels (in Ixelles), we expect our team to work from the office 2–3 days/week.