Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer
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Title
Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer
Reports to
Executive Director
Salary
Around £60,000 per year in the UK (our preference is that the post holder is located in the UK but see also below)
Location: The Deputy Director role must be an MRG employee, therefore located in the UK, Uganda or Hungary. In the event of an appointment not in the UK, the salaries would be adjusted for Uganda or Hungary.
Travel: Travel will be required for this role. If not UK based, the Deputy Director must spend a few months in the UK to begin with, and then regularly visit the UK as well as the other MRG offices. A UK-based Deputy Director would need to visit Kampala and Budapest as well as other potential locations for regional offices in the Middle East or Asia regions. We can sponsor a visa for the successful candidate.
About MRG
Minority Rights Group is the leading human rights organization working with ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, and indigenous peoples worldwide.
Millions of people miss out on basic rights because they are different. We support minorities and indigenous peoples in the defence and promotion of their rights – to the lands they live on, to the languages they speak, to the beliefs they practise, to the cultures they enjoy, to equal opportunities in education and employment, and to full participation in public life.
We work with ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, and indigenous peoples to secure their rights and promote understanding between communities. We are guided by the needs expressed by our worldwide network of over 300 partner organizations in more than 60 countries. Together, we challenge power structures that exclude and silence those who are different.
Minority Rights Group is an international non-governmental organization with an international governing Council that meets twice a year. We have consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and observer status with the African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights.
MRG is an equal opportunities employer and particularly welcomes applicants who have lived experience of being an ethnic, religious or linguistic minority. As a Disability Confident employer, we also welcome applications from people with a disability.
The role
This is a big role that, for the first time at MRG, brings together the operations aspects of running an international NGO. It has come about because one of our two current Co-Executive Directors is leaving and the other Co-Executive Director will become the sole Executive Director. We are therefore looking for a Deputy Director to take full responsibility for the support functions for the MRG group.
The Deputy Director will eventually serve as Company Secretary and lead the financial management and oversight function for the MRG group, and will line manage the finance team, Head of Partnerships and Development (Fundraising), the Operations Officer and HR Manager. The role includes responsibility for all administrative functions as well as security, GDPR and IT (including cyber-security). The Deputy Director acts on the authority delegated to the Executive Director by MRG’s governing International Council.
Finance
(The creation of this post will, after a period of transition, result in the voluntary redundancy of the existing Director of Finance and Administration which has been agreed in principle. The appointee will focus on non-financial job elements initially with work-shadowing and handover during a transition period).
This will involve drawing up budgets, monitoring expenditure, ensuring transactions are processed and producing financial reports. The Deputy Director will be responsible for ensuring that MRG meets all statutory regulations and donor regulations relating to financial transactions.
The Deputy Director will also be responsible for generating financial management information about past, current and future financial metrics to allow the Director and the Trustees to make well-informed decisions to ensure the organisation remains financially healthy and sustainable.
The UK finance team currently comprises two full time staff and one part-time staff member. (The finance staff in our other offices are line managed by the Heads of those regional offices.)
Fundraising
MRG has a well-established fundraising team, with a full time Head of Development and Partnerships, three part-time team members working remotely, and one full time specialist on monitoring, evaluation and learning. The Deputy Director will oversee and support the team although the Executive Director will remain involved in fundraising, recognising the need and potential to meet donors during external representation events and some donors expecting contact at the highest level. The Executive Director may also retain some involvement in framing applications, particularly those that are global in nature and which are not limited to one region or departmental function.
Human Resources
MRG has a staff complement of around 80 individuals, some are employees of our three registered offices (London, Budapest, Kampala). Others work on consultancy contracts in a variety of locations. Our HR function is currently overseen by an HR Manager working 0.6 in London, with some non-specialist administrative support in Budapest and Kampala.
Operations and Administration
MRG has staff based in over 20 countries, some of which are higher risk locations. Our staff also travel extensively for work reasons. Cybersecurity is a known and increasing risk. Administratively oriented staff are largely based within teams and do not report to this post. A full-time Operations Officer works remotely to support these central functions.
About you
We want someone with lots of experience and who fits our values and is committed to gender equality, anti-racism, decolonialisation of practice, disability inclusion, sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) inclusion.
Our ideal candidate will have the following experience:
- ACCA or CIMA qualified (or international equivalent) with experience of overall financial management of a charity or other non-profit, with operations in multiple countries and a turnover of at least £3,000,000 per annum.
- Experience of leading the preparation of draft accounts for audit to comply with UK Charities SORP requirements and UK Company law, or in a similar context.
- Experience of managing the complete accounting and payroll function.
- Experience of international charity finances involving many projects funded through co-financing by multiple donors, different currencies, and managing multiple donor financial budgeting and reporting systems.
- Experience of work involving support functions in an organization working internationally – including experience providing support in or for at least some global south contexts.
- Senior-level HR experience with international exposure
- Some experience of fundraising
- Experience supporting the development of security and cyber-security measures.
- Experience of organization-wide data management including data protection legislation and Customer/Contact Relations Management software packages.
- Experience of leading for an organisation on security, including working in contexts with significant risks and working on cybersecurity.
Our ideal candidate will have the following abilities and skills:
- Good communication and presentation skills including good written and spoken English
- Excellent numeracy and ability to interpret and analyse numbers.
- High level of competency in Excel.
- Problem solving mentality, flexibility, team player.
- Ability to prioritise work, meet deadlines and combine responding to urgent requests with longer terms tasks and activities.
- Ability to stay calm under pressure and to assess and absorb information quickly.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality.
- Ability and willingness to travel as required.
- Working knowledge of any out of French, Arabic, Russian or Spanish would be an advantage, as would the ability to converse in any language from a part of the world where MRG has projects.
MRG Values
Minority Rights Group International was established in 1969 to work alongside ethnic, linguistic, religious, racialized minorities and indigenous peoples to achieve the structural changes that will enable these communities to access their legally mandated human rights in preserving, promoting and realizing their inherent equality, dignity and worth. We aim to build a team of colleagues within (and outside) MRG who embody the following values:
- Empathy:
Our sense of service to a common purpose derives from engagement with disenfranchised communities across the globe. We value each of these communities as equally important and engage with them in a spirit of shared humanity and commitment to social justice for all, irrespective of their relative power.
- Shared Struggle:
As a global organisation, we recognise our relative privilege in relation to the immense struggle that minorities and indigenous communities face every day. We engage with humility and listen carefully, respectful of the views of, and ceding space to, those with lived experience of the issues we work on. All our work is grounded in, and inclusive of, the realities of communities we work with.
- Collaboration:
We seek to collaborate with an open mind with all other individuals, communities, organisations, institutions, and governments who are open to working with us and genuinely committed to the achievement of human rights, peace and sustainable development within climate and other environmental constraints.
- Professionalism:
As an organisation of trained and skilled professionals, we are committed to do our very best to serve our communities and mandate with diligence, integrity and humility. We maintain a stance of curiosity towards the world, keen to seek better outcomes and ways or working, while augmenting our skills in support of our mandate in a spirit of personal and professional development.
- Resilience:
We understand that there will be moments of disappointment or difficulty as well as successes along our journey. We work with the resolve to overcome difficult moments, being flexible in our methods in response to circumstances but maintaining our work to the degree that is safe and responsible. We undertake to take care of ourselves and colleagues with a view to being in the best position to support the ongoing struggle in the longer term.
Additionally, we expect the following attributes of MRG leaders:
- Courageous
- Charismatic
- Strategic
- Acting with integrity
- Open, learning, listening, approachable, transparency, consultative, inclusive
- Willing to be held accountable
The recruitment process
The interviews are planned for 2 April. Please keep this date free and let us know in a note attached to your application if you are unable to make it for any reason.
The interviewers will be Claire Thomas, the Executive Director, and two members of MRG’s international council.
We aim to complete due diligence checks and be ready to make a job offer by 8 April.
MRG can sponsor a UK, Hungary, or Uganda work visa for the successful candidate.