CIVICUS Operations Manager Jobs in South Africa
About Us:**
At CIVICUS our focus is simple: to strengthen civil society and citizen action for a more just, inclusive and sustainable world.
We do this by defending civic freedoms and democratic values; strengthenging the power of people to organize, mobilise and take action; and empowering a more accountable, effective, and innovative civil society.
We strive to promote marginalised voices, especially from the Global South, and have more than 4000 members in more than 175 countries.
We work for civil society, protecting and growing ‘civic space’ by which we mean; the freedoms of expression, association and assembly – the fundamental freedoms on which rest peoples’, citizens’ and organisations’ right to speak out, organise and take action.
We know that this is a time of big global challenges for civil society and the world, but we also know that our members and partners have big responses.
Our role is to connect, amplify and scale these responses and, in doing so, strengthen the contribution of citizen action and civil society.
Drawing on over 25 years of experience, we are working to build on our strengths while also exploring new ways of working.
CIVICUS’ Strategic Plan 2017 – 2022 sets the strategic direction for the secretariat and alliance.
It articulates who we are, what we strive to achieve, how we work and how we define our success.
How we make a difference:
Given the nature and extent of the challenges facing humanity, it is our responsibility to take bold and brave action, and to strengthen citizen action and civil society by:
Building solidarity among civil society across borders and at scale
Supporting civil society to connect with others
Producing timely and world-class knowledge and analysis
Advocating for open spaces and systemic change
Amplifying voices of those usually not included
Promoting resourcing of diverse and resilient civil society
Innovating and incubate bold initiatives
Promote, model and disseminate civil society best practice
CIVICUS Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
CIVICUS positively promotes diversity and inclusion across all areas of the organisation. CIVICUS ensures that its policies and practices do not discriminate on the basis of gender, family status, marital status, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability or race. Furthermore, CIVICUS ensures that its recruitment policies are designed to enable candidates from under-represented regions, with diverse educational backgrounds and with diverse language skills to access employment opportunities with CIVICUS.
Role Overview:
The Operations Manager will support improvements to systems and procedures, ensuring that they are fit for purpose and that programs operate with due regard to compliance, quality and consistency.
The role would involve managing a complex and multi-faceted workload covering all key areas of operations within an international organization. Working closely with the senior Leadership Team (SLT) cluster leads and budget holders in the design and implementation of operational systems ensuring compliance with organizational/donor/statutory policies, procedures and guidelines.
As part of the role the post holder will directly manager the in-house travel team and be responsible for managing the relationship between CIVICUS and the Travel Management Company (TMC) as well as ensuring that travellers have all the information required before and during their travel.
The role participates in Health & Safety (SHIELD) initiatives of the Johannesburg Office (JHB Office).
Areas of Responsibilities
Key Activities
Governance and Operational Policies
Develop, implement and updating (on-going) an operation manual for CIVICUS incorporating key operational policies and procedures to maintain a robust environment across the organisation.
Develop, manage and enhance effective governance processes and systems
Agree, communicate and review all CIVICUS operational policies and procedures in cooperation with the relevant stakeholders
Create alignment of the above operational policies and procedures and identify opportunities for best practice to be applied across offices.
Evaluate, recommend and implement new technology to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operational processes.
Regularly monitor compliance with CIVICUS operational policies and where necessary recommend strategies for improvement
Risk, Compliance and Finance
Support the COO in assessing and managing the organisation’s risk and ensuring strategies are in place
to mitigate them
Work with the SLT to develop and implement compliance strategies to deal with problems before they jeopardise the organisational regulation or staff safety.
Responsible for maintaining and updating the organisation’s risk register
Engage with legal and professional advisors to ensure that CIVICUS as an organisation always remains compliant
Work closely with the Financial Manager ensuring that statutory returns are prepared and submitted in a timely manner
Advise Cluster Leads and Project Managers on how to ensure that donor and organization compliance is an integral part of their program delivery
Carry out donor compliance training sessions with key staff
People Management
Build and mentor an effective team within the unit as well as with the wider Finance and Operations Cluster
Conduct probation, performance management according to HR timelines ensuring high performing staff
Monitoring the team’s performance against the agreed organisational standards and ensure the problems are identified and resolved
Supporting both the professional and personal development of staff, ensuring they can be proactive on all matters thus maximising and integrating the effectiveness of the service they provide
Health, Safety and Security (JHB)
Actively participate on the SHIELD committee which looks at Health & Safety
Promote and ensure that all health and safety measures are implemented, communicated and monitored.
Premises/Facilities Management and Sustainability
Oversee premises and lease management for JHB Office.
Develop and promote a sustainability agenda for the JHB Office and if required develop/update an environmentally friendly policy for CIVICUS.
Travel and Visitor Management
Oversee the planning and management of international visitors, organising inductions and orientation visits for the JHB hub.
Oversee and provide support for logistics and coordination of large events, meetings and conferences hosted by JHB hub.
Establish a travel management system to track travel trends, carbon reporting, staff movement and cost management.
Assess the standards of local accommodation and travel providers and manage these relationships to ensure high quality service and standards.
Provide on-line advice to staff about travel documentation and health requirements.
Ensure up to date Visitor’s Guides are in place for the JHB office and other offices if required.
Person Specification
Education, Language & Qualifications
Relevant degree or diploma in Business Administration / Hospitality / Logistics Management or any equivalent combination of education and experience that provides the knowledge, skills and abilities to do the work.
Fluent in written and verbal English and another language highly desirable
Essential Knowledge, skills and Experience
Substantial work experience in relevant sectors and context, ideally in an international not for profit organization
Experience of managing or supporting the delivery of large multi-year, multi-country grant funded programmes
Substantial experience and knowledge of donor regulations and compliance requirements.
A strong track record of successful leading projects with multiple workstreams and a complex range of stakeholders
Substantial experience of premises/property management, with associated responsibility for budgets and sound financial acumen.
Substantial experience in administration, office management or related roles.
Substantial experience of office management, including office automation and managing service providers.
Experience in dealing with health and safety legislation in the South African context
In depth understanding and experience of issues relating to organisational insurance provision.
Exceptional interpersonal skills with a strong customer ethos.
Ability to communicate well at all levels with a developed skill of tact and diplomacy.
Excellent judgement an ability to think through different courses of action and make pragmatic, practical decisions
High degree of computer literacy with proficiency in Microsoft Excel, word and PowerPoint
Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work in the team
Approachable, authoritative with excellent listening and influencing skills. Able to hold the line when needed.
Upholds ethics and values, acts with professionalism absolute integrity and clear personal values consistent with the CIVICUS mission and values
Desirable Knowledge, skills and Experience
A working understanding of Carbon Accounting.
Experience in working with international NGOs.
Experience in a multi-cultural organisation.
Qualified Health and Safety Officer or First Aider.
How to apply
Please send your CV and motivation cover letter to jobs@civicus.org on Friday 31st August 2018.
