COO Cordaid, Member of the Executive Board at Cordaid

Cordaid

Cordaid and ICCO have joined forces and have continued as a single organisation since January 2021. It is unique that two of the largest players in the field of international cooperation in the Netherlands have joined forces. Cordaid is traditionally Catholic, having emerged from the missionary work of Memisa, among others, and ICCO stems from the Protestant churches. Bringing together two large international organisations with hundreds of employees and local offices in the most remote areas of the world is not an easy task. But ultimately this integration of two organisations should lead to considerable cost savings and greater efficiency. It is estimated that the new Cordaid will be able to save five to ten million euros a year, money that will go directly to combating poverty.

Cordaid offers the entire spectrum of humanitarian aid and development cooperation: from working on resilience for vulnerable communities, to strengthening health care, food and education, to supporting enterprise and creating economic prospects. The new organisation focuses on the poorest people in the poorest countries. Cordaid has a total staff complement of 1150, almost 1000 of whom work abroad, and a turnover of more than 170 million euros. The Dutch activities are concentrated in The Hague.

Governance

Cordaid has a collegial management model of three members: a CEO, COO and CFO. All members are directors under the articles of association. All the directors intrinsically reflect the foundation’s identity and accompanying values. A single Supervisory Board was formed from the Supervisory Boards of both organisations. The Supervisory Board recruits, appoints assesses and dismisses members of the Executive Board, and determines their individual responsibilities and the division of mandates. The Supervisory Board involves the individual members of the Executive Board in this process in advance, with the 360-degree feedback from the other members of the Executive Board serving as input for the assessments. **

The Executive Board is responsible for the direction, development, fundraising and performance of the activities and the results of the organisation. They individually manage both line and staff departments and monitor their mutual coherence. These line managers are fully responsible for the performance and control of the activities within the mandate assigned to them in their field of competence. The Executive Board has collegial final responsibility, with each director having his own functional responsibility towards the country directors. The COO bears the country directors’ line responsibility. The heads of staff lead the head office’s departments and, functionally, the country organisations. They are responsible for policymaking, quality, support and consolidation. **

The Executive Board consists of a chair with the strategy, external relations, communication, HR, integrity and institutional and private fundraising portfolios (CEO), a director responsible for the entire operation in the country organisations and the programmes (COO) and a director with the finance, ICT, procurement and facility management portfolios. All three directors play a role in visiting the countries where Cordaid operates.

The current COO has announced his departure, resulting in a vacancy on the Executive Board. The new COO plays an important role in the transition to a single organisation, both at the head office and in the country organisations, in conjunction with a move towards decentralisation in the coming years. Against this background, Cordaid’s organisational and governance model will be evaluated after three years in consultation with the Supervisory Board. Partly for this reason, the future make-up of the Executive Board will be discussed at that time. For that reason, the COO will initially be appointed for a period of four years.

COO

The prospective director will, together with two fellow directors, be collegially responsible for the entire organisation. Together with his two colleagues, the director plays an important role in steering the attainment of Cordaid’s ambitions. The director is responsible for the successful operation (both substantively and financially) and further development of the field offices and head office within Cordaid’s mission and preconditions. The director creates a culture in which taking responsibility and calling each other to account for their responsibilities and arrangements is a matter of course.

This director will be responsible for all of Cordaid’s operations and, consequently, for the majority of its staff and resources. In addition, the managers of the programmes department, the operational excellence team and the Global Security Advisor report to this director.

The COO plays a crucial role in shaping the integration and professionalisation of the country organisations and achieving economies of scale. Close attention will be paid to operational excellence within the primary process. Reliability, clarity and continuous optimisation of the process are part of this strategy, with digitisation – part of the CFO’s portfolio – being an important factor for the envisaged changes.

As a portfolio holder, the director is also responsible for safety in the countries where Cordaid operates. In addition, the director – in coordination with colleagues – develops and maintains a relevant international external network with key stakeholders who are relevant to the operation, including other NGOs, public and private cooperation partners.

The director, together with his two colleagues, is responsible for transparent communication and interaction with the Supervisory Board and ensures that this takes place in a timely and complete manner.

Candidate profile

General knowledge and experience

The following job requirements have been drawn up for the Executive Board as a whole:

· Academic thinking and working level.

· Managerial experience in organisations in positions bearing or sharing final responsibility, also with remote teams.

· International experience (with working across borders) and working in a multicultural context.

· Experience with complex internal organisational and cultural change.

· Affinity with development cooperation through work experience in developing countries and/or NGOs.

· Christian philosophy of life and/or driven by Christian values.

· Fluent in English and working knowledge of French.

· Passion to improve the world, illustrated by a thread through professional and leisure activities.

· The Executive Board has a diverse make-up.

COO’s experience

You have demonstrable experience in designing and implementing transitions in a complex organisation of professionals. You have gained experience on the question of what should be organised centrally and what should be decentralised. This experience may have been gained in the private or a social sector. You have an international scope and can quickly master the complexities of international development cooperation. You have a sound business background, have experience with operational excellence and see opportunities to optimise processes. You are comfortable with the rapidly changing external environment in which Cordaid operates and can build up an international network relevant to Cordaid. You are demonstrably socially involved. With your experience and personality, you are able to quickly familiarise yourself with the complex issues Cordaid deals with.

Personality

You are a solid director with a keen eye for the risks and safety issues that an organisation such as Cordaid faces. You set a clear course when it comes to the operation, create focus, make choices and know how to enthuse others for this. You have implementation power. You know how to translate Cordaid’s strategy into the primary processes in the countries. You are a people-oriented and enthusiastic manager, who trusts and gives space within the set framework. You are tenacious in achieving a result for Cordaid in the longer term. You keep track, delegate easily, make clear arrangements, and ensure a clear prioritisation and division of responsibilities. You are consistent, can be critical when necessary and take decisions. You hold others accountable for the results to be achieved and monitor progress. You function well under pressure and can handle a large workload.

You show empathy, listen well, are genuinely interested in others. You are easily approachable for employees and ensure that you know what is going on in the countries. You can put things into perspective, celebrate successes and create a positive team spirit with your enthusiasm. You are a collegial director, who can make himself vulnerable and does not have a big ego.

Terms of employment

With regard to remuneration, Cordaid complies with “the regulations for directors of charitable organisations”. **