Senior Project Manager, Strategic Communications at European Climate Foundation

The European Climate Foundation (ECF) was founded in 2008 as a major philanthropic initiative to help tackle climate change by fostering the development of a low-carbon society at the national, European and global level.

We support over 350 partner organisations to carry out activities that contribute to the public debate on climate action, drive urgent and ambitious policy in support of the objectives of the Paris Agreement and help deliver a socially responsible transition to a net-zero emissions economy and sustainable society in Europe and around the world.

As towns, cities and countries around the world declare climate emergencies, seas rise, forests burn, glaciers melt, increasing numbers of people take to the streets demanding urgent action and our societies begin to wake up to what the science has been saying for many years, there has never been a more important time to be working on climate change.

About the role

The ECF’s strategic communications team is the outreach unit of the foundation. Its role is to act as a centre of expertise for communication on climate change and to play an active role in helping create more political, media and public endorsement for action on climate change at an international, national and sectoral level. Team members deliver strategic advice, communications and outreach support to ECF’s programmes and its grantees, and work as part of a global network of communications experts to enhance the public debate on climate change and its solutions.

We are looking for a Senior Project Manager, Strategic Communications to take on the management of a complex organisational change project for the growing unit. In this role you will develop an in-house project team and lead the project from ramp up through to completion. The objective is the smooth transition to a new operating structure for the unit in 2022. As the person responsible for the overall project management, you will coordinate workstreams focused on defining and creating the legal, HR, governance, financial, IT, and infrastructure aspects of the new operating structure. You will build on an overall transition plan, taking over responsibilities from expert consultants. A key aspect of your role will be to ensure close coordination with the existing operations team and regular communication with stakeholders, including the wider Strategic Communications team.

The Senior Project Manager, Strategic Communications reports to the Operations Director, Strategic Communications. You will be a strategic thought partner to the Operations Director and will be accountable for delivering the transition and maintaining the integrity of the strategic intent, while minimizing any disruption to ongoing activities.

This project is a unit-wide strategic priority with structured engagement from the international Leadership Team and a dedicated Steering Committee of key stakeholders. This is an exciting opportunity that will suit a dynamic, organised and collaborative individual who understands the human side of change and enjoys navigating complexity and delivering results.

Key responsibilities

• Taking charge of the organisational change project, developing and executing the work plan from ramp up through to completion of the transition to the new operating set up;
• Directing the project team, including hiring and line management of a Jr Project Associate to support you and coordinating and guiding 5 workstream leads;
• Synthesizing workstream inputs into the overall integrated work plan, supporting workstream leads in defining milestones, deliverables and interdependencies;
• Sense-checking workstream plans and decisions to ensure quality, consistency and alignment with defined design parameters, and the overall values and culture;
• Tracking progress against work plan, project budget, identifying challenges and managing key dependencies and resource requirements;
• Providing project updates and progress reports on a consistent basis to key stakeholders, in particular the governing bodies;
• Identifying and escalating key risks and roadblocks to find adequate solutions;
• Ensuring effective team communications by setting meeting cadences, composition, and agendas for the project team;
• Managing and refining tools and templates for project management (such as work stream charters and dashboards, integrated work plan, management dashboard, etc.).

Experience and competencies

The ideal candidate will have:

• At least 8 years of relevant project management experience, some of which on organisational change projects such as setting up a new organisation, unit or department, rapidly scaling a team, spin-offs, mergers and acquisitions or similar, ideally in an international environment and for sizeable teams (100-500 people);
• An understanding of and experience with change management, as well as relevant project management methodologies and the ability to adjust and combine tools and methods in a tailored way based on the specific needs of the project at hand;
• Strong time and priority management, the ability to remain calm under pressure, and solve problems in a collaborative way;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and an ability to quickly build rapport with partners and colleagues while remote working;
• Familiarity with philanthropy or other non-profit organizations a plus;
• Excellent written and spoken English, other languages a plus;
• Familiarity with and affinity for IT tools such as MS Office 365, Asana, Monday.com, Mural, Zoom etc.;
• The disposition to work generously with colleagues in an international, multicultural community of peers, and the ability to work across international norms and values;
• The versatile and adaptable skills necessary to flourish in a fast-paced and wide-ranging work environment where remote work is the norm;
• A significant interest in climate and the environment;
• A passion for excellence.

What we offer

• The unique opportunity to work as part of a highly dynamic, international group of individuals who combine their passion to make a difference with a rigorous and results-oriented approach to professional activities;
• A flexible work environment and a space to develop and challenge yourself;
• A position with a consultant or employment contract (subject to location), for an initial period of 24 months. We are envisaging this as an 80-100% FTE role, and are happy to discuss hours with the right candidate.

Location

Flexible. Candidates must be located in a European time zone. Some travel may be required as and when possible. We may be able to provide co-working spaces in some locations.

Only candidates with the right to work in their location will be considered.