Operations Assistant

Location: Preference for London, possibility for elsewhere in UK with minimum 3 days per week in our London office

Role: Permanent

Salary: £30,000 plus 10% employer-contributed pension

Reports to: Chief Operating Officer

About us

Established in 2021, Opportunity Green is a fast-growing not-for-profit organisation that helps to identify and unlock opportunities to tackle climate change. We build ambitious coalitions, support climate vulnerable countries in international negotiations and find innovative legal pathways to fight climate change. We are now looking for a highly organised individual to join our Operations Team to help the organization run smoothly as we grow.

What’s the role?

As the Operations Assistant, you will work closely with the Chief Operating Officer (COO), playing a vital role in keeping Opportunity Green running smoothly. The role supports a broad range of functions including finance, office management, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) systems, risk and governance, as well as working with the People & Culture Manager on HR and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).

The operations team is there to ensure the efficient running, growth and development of Opportunity Green, providing the team will the tools and infrastructure they need to perform at their best. This is an exciting and wide-ranging role for someone who wants to work in climate change and is happy to turn their hand to many different tasks within operations.

About you

You’ll be a team player who likes variety in their day to day work and getting hands-on across multiple areas. Ideally, you will have some experience of ICT and supporting a team in an office environment although there will also be plenty of scope to learn on the job. You will be practical yet professional and able to communicate and build good relationships with staff, Trustees and external stakeholders. You will understand the importance of maintaining confidentiality around sensitive information. Finally, you will bring a passion for stopping climate change and advancing climate justice, as well as a strong commitment to our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion values.

Key tasks

Office / People and Culture support

·      Ensure the smooth day to day running of the office, including managing equipment, work areas and office supplies

·      Help with room bookings, meeting space and other admin support for the team as needed

·      Be the friendly face of OG to welcome any visitors

·      Support with recruitment administration as needed

Operations

·      Support the COO on developing OG’s ICT, always looking for improvements to the way we work and how we manage information, and ensuring compliance with statutory legislation

·      Equipment procurement/disposal, and set up for new and existing members of staff

·      Be the main point of contact with the building management, external IT and other contractors/providers

·      Help manage OG’s filing (digital and otherwise) and maintain OG’s asset register

Finance

·      Assist the COO to collate, code and upload invoices for payment

·      Maintain secure and accurate financial records as needed

Governance

·      Support the preparation for Trustee meetings, including invites, agenda coordination and content for meetings

·      Help maintain the risk register and conflict of interest register

·      Support the COO on insurance, health and safety and other aspects of compliance

Skills and experience

We do not expect any candidate to have all skills and experience listed below but rather we look for transferable skills and potential as well as past experience.

·      Experience of performing a variety of high level administrative tasks in a fast paced environment, with good time management

·       Good working knowledge of Microsoft 365, project management tools and other software in an office / administrative environment; skilled user of Excel or similar for data inputs and analysis

·      Self-motivated, able to work on your own, and to assess and prioritise key tasks and workload

·       Great interpersonal skills, able to build good relationships with internal team members and external providers and partners

·       High level of written and verbal communications skills, with great attention to detail

·       Relevant IT, cyber security and data protection training

·       Understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion and a commitment to climate justice

Diversity and inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are important principles at OG. We believe that diversity and inclusion make teams stronger and more effective. We are committed to fair and equitable employment practices, and are striving to ensure that a variety of voices and experiences are included in our organisation. Our commitment to diversity and our parental leave policy are available to view on our website, here.

We will consider all applicants who meet most or all of the essential competencies regardless of their identity or background. That said, we know that diverse candidates may be reluctant to apply for jobs where they don’t meet 100% of the criteria outlined in the job description. We encourage anyone to apply who can demonstrate the variety of skills and experiences relevant to meeting the requirements of this role.

We recognise that many diverse experiences and perspectives are not represented in our current workforce, and are seriously underrepresented across the non-profit sector in general, and as such, we particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, people of colour, people from marginalised backgrounds, and members of the LGBTQIA+ communities. We will use positive action under the Equality Act 2010 to appoint from these groups if two candidates are equally qualified. We also value flexible working and are open to those who would want to work part-time in this role.

To learn more about our application process and receive advice on how to prepare in such a way as to showcase your full potential, please find our Application Guide here.

What we offer

The successful candidate will be offered an annual salary of £30,000 plus 10% employer-contributed pension. Please note that OG has fixed salary scales, with the possibility of step increases with strong performance. When hiring we always hire at the bottom of a band and do not enter negotiations with new employees as negotiations have been historically shown to disadvantage women and minorities.

We take our team’s wellbeing and professional development seriously. In addition to a competitive salary, we offer:

·      A commitment to work/life balance, with a 4-day work week at 28 hours

·      A generous holiday entitlement of 20 days holidays per year, plus bank holidays and office closure between Christmas and New Year’s that does not count towards your holiday entitlement (and expectation that you fully disconnect when taking time off)

·      A market-leading pension of 10%

·      A progressive parental leave policy, including 26 weeks paid leave for both parents

·      Flexible working with plenty of opportunities to come together as a team.

·      Support for your professional development as part of Opportunity Green, with a budget to support your learning & development plus opportunities to lead projects, publish content, learn from experts, work directly with policymakers and stakeholders, and take part in conferences and events.

However, it is important to note that while this role is permanent, employment is always reliant on Opportunity Green continuing to receive philanthropic support from our funders, which we expect every member of the team to play their part in working towards.

How to apply:

To minimise the risk of unconscious bias, we ask that applicants remove certain identifying elements from their CVs. If you do not remove these details, we reserve the right to withdraw your application from review.

·      Photos

·      Name – if needed, please use ‘Applicant’

·      Age

·      Email and/or phone number

Unfortunately, if you do not already hold the right to work in the UK and/or require sponsorship to continue working in the UK, OG will not be able to consider your application at this time.

The closing date for applications is 5th June, 2024 at 9:00am UK time.  

We will close this recruitment early if we receive a sufficient number of applications.

What happens next?

Shortlisted candidates may be contacted for a short screening call w/c 10 June. In person interviews will take place at our office in London will likely be Monday 17 June. Travel will be reimbursed for non-London-based applicants.

We reserve the right to ask for references during the recruitment process and to change the timelines as needed.

We actively encourage applicants to reach out if there are any reasonable adjustments we can make to help them demonstrate their full potential in the hiring process.

Please get in touch at recruitment@opportunitygreen.org and we can discuss how to best make the recruitment process as accessible and comfortable for you as possible.