Welcome Letter from the Chief Executive

Transcription

1 Welcome Letter from the Chief Executive Thanks very much for your interest in the position of Chief of Staff at Friends of the Earth. It was a great honour to become Chief Executive of this amazing organization in July I didn t want this job just so I could crank the Friends of the Earth machine for one more cycle. I wanted it so I could take Friends of the Earth to the next level; from good to great. Now I am looking to appoint a Chief of Staff to help enable me do that. Over the last 45 years, Friends of the Earth has run many powerful and successful campaigns that have resulted in lasting change, from doorstep recycling in every town, to the phase out of leaded petrol, protection for our best wildlife sites, the world s first climate change act, solar panels on more than 600,000 houses, five years without fracking, and much more besides. We ve also joined the dots across the issues to build a big picture narrative that helped make concern about the environment part of the mainstream. And we ve never been shy to tell truth to power. And yet, the vast majority of environmental trends are still going in the wrong direction, Too often, our amazing natural world plays second fiddle to short term market fundamentalism, political expediency and a can t do mentality. Too often, the poorest communities are those that suffer most from environmental problems caused predominantly by the richest and most powerful. Our vision is a healthy environment that provides a decent life for all generations to come. We re optimistic and ambitious about how fast we can reach our vision, but we can t fix everything instantly. So we ve just set a medium term goal to provide focus for everything we do: By 2030, the next generation will enjoy an environment that s getting better: a safer climate, flourishing nature, healthy air, water and food.

2 Friends of the Earth aims to make five step changes needed to deliver this goal, which are campaigning impact, great supporter experience, innovation and disruption, local to global networks and people. These step changes are led by an outstanding team of Directors appointed last autumn, each focused on one step change in particular but working together to ensure they work as a package, and with a Director of Finance and Regulatory Affairs to ensure this entrepreneurial phase of our history is underpinned by sustainable finances and effective organisational systems. The Chief of Staff will help facilitate delivery of the strategy through the provision of high level, effective and integrated support and advice to me, the Senior Leadership Team and the Boards. This role covers a broad terrain and will be responsible for ensuring that the areas of responsibility are delivered through effective management of the CEO/Executive office and coordinated working with others across the organisation. The successful person for this role will work closely with me, enabling me to shine in my role as Chief Executive. You will need to be comfortable working in a fast-moving environment where change is the only constant, and where you will enable the strategy and bring new ideas to life with your excellent organisational, coordination and interpersonal skills. You will need the passion and ability to bring fresh insight, successfully embed new approaches, and build trust with people across the organisation. If you believe you have the qualities and skills we need I would love to hear from you. Craig Bennett CEO, Friends of the Earth

3 Chief of Staff Reporting to: Reports: Chief Executive PA to the CEO (and, indirectly, 3 PAs) Grade: Strategic 1-3 (Reference point: Strategic 1) Salary: 49,330 Location: London, with some travel as required. Purpose of the role: This role will provide high-level effective and integrated support and advice to the Chief Executive, Senior Leadership Team and the Boards in delivering Friends of the Earth Strategy. The role also will ensure effective management of the CEO/Executive Office by anticipating needs, providing high quality advice, undertaking research, and problem solving to support the Chief Executive on a daily basis. In support of strategy and business implementation, this role will lead traffic management and support the integration of organisational priority setting, work-plans and cycle of meetings/decision making forums ensuring full alignment and flow across the vertical structure whilst ensuring effective join up between emerging priorities and dynamic planning. This role will also ensure support is provided for the organisation s external policy positioning, ensuring research and monitoring of policy issues and the holding policy positions. Key Responsibilities: 1. Set strong direction, high quality standards and pace for the CEO/Executive Office team. Have oversight of the function and proactively ensure it is delivering, using robust management and monitoring systems, as required both for the CEO and wider stakeholders internally and externally. 2. Lead and support initiatives or special projects on behalf of the Chief Executive or Senior Leadership Team (SLT), including facilitation, trouble shooting, stakeholder management and getting decisions made to move forward the CEO agenda internally. 3. Provide strategic support and external relationship management to the Chief Executive, including external and internal representation (in addition to that offered by SLT and other staff). 4. Supports the cultivation of new and ongoing external relationships and provides leadership to build relationships crucial to the success of the organisation, including with networks or coalitions.

4 5. Working with the Chief Executive and the SLT, in particular with the Director of Finance and Regulatory Affairs, lead Friends of the Earth business planning processes, quarterly reporting and manage SLT agendas aligned with planning and communications, enabling effective ongoing joinup between priority work and dynamic planning. 6. Provide advice and support to the CEO and SLT in delivery of the strategy, through regular horizon-scanning (using internal and external sources of expertise and knowledge) to identify risks and opportunities and changes in external circumstances that may have implications for its delivery, and advising on potential corrective action. Support Board sessions on strategy. 7. Ensure the Executive Office manages effective communication and liaison with the Board, managing Board and Committee agenda planning to ensure alignment with SLT strategy and business planning timetables. 8. Working closely with CEO and SLT, in particular with the Director of People, Culture and Inclusion, to develop and maintain an internal communication plan, to ensure clear and transparent communication from the CEO on the organisation s strategy, its progress and key organisational decisions and how it is translated into what the organisation needs to deliver in the business plan 9. Coordinate and monitor the analysis and advice on policy issues for the setting, by SLT, of Friends of the Earth policy positions, and ensure that policy positions are clear, maintained and communicated within the organisation. 10. Lead on and support the production of briefings, speeches and presentations for internal and external events for the CEO. 11. Champion ways of working and behaviour that is consistent with Friends of the Earth s values and support delivery of the identified strategic step changes. Ensure own and team s engagement in organisational initiatives, contributing directly as necessary and using organisational systems effectively. 12. Lead, develop and inspire staff: coach and support through setting objectives, monitoring, reviewing and addressing performance issues, to enable them to reach their potential and be most effective for Friends of the Earth. Expected Ways of Working: 1. Work in close co-operation with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and Strategic Project Leads as well as across the organisation (horizontally, diagonally, vertically) to maximise impact, and support staff processes that are collaborative and foster innovation. 2. Champion and model the cultural and organisational change needed to ensure effective working practices, shared ambition, distributed leadership, effective delivery, collaboration, solutions, flexibility and mutual respect. 3. Build and maintain proactive, supportive and effective communication and relationships across Friends of the Earth.

5 4. Be a proactive communication link between the CEO and key internal and external stakeholders, such as the Senior Leadership Team, Boards and critical partners to ensure smooth and timely information sharing. 5. Foster a culture of shared ambition, distributed leadership, effective delivery, collaboration, flexibility, solutions, mutual respect and co-creation. 6. Build strong, trusting relationships with key stakeholders, including staff, local groups, volunteers, supporters and donors, key coalitions and partnerships, Friends of the Earth Europe and Friends of the Earth International member groups and representatives, as appropriate. 7. Represent Friends of the Earth at the highest level. 8. Support and participate in developing an effective knowledge management culture and systems, sharing learning, promoting a culture of open reflection, experimentation and innovation and supporting the application of tools and processes for these purposes. Person Specification Essential Criteria: Strong organisational skills that reflect the ability to perform and prioritise multiple tasks seamlessly with excellent attention to detail. Strong knowledge and understanding of local, national and international social, political and economic trends and dynamics or ability to acquire and use this knowledge accordingly. Excellent communication skills, including strong expertise in written communication skills. Ability to build trust quickly and to be a team player. Ability to build and maintain a range of highly effective working relationships and communicate complex issues to a range of audiences. Excellent interpersonal, facilitation and negotiation skills; able to motivate and inspire both verbally and in writing. Experience of team management from recruitment and induction to performance management, coaching, and development. Demonstrable ability to assimilate and analyse information quickly and accurately, formulate decisions that are timely and take account of risks and benefits to develop innovative solutions to problems. Forward looking, an innovative analytical thinker, who actively seeks opportunities and proposes solutions. A collaborative approach and understanding of working in a consultative environment. A demonstrable commitment to improving organisational effectiveness and impact. Demonstrable commitment to the vision and values of Friends of the Earth. Ability to travel regularly within UK on a planned basis, to travel outside of the UK occasionally, and work outside of office hours occasionally to meet the demands of the role.