Operations/Office Manager

Start date: 1st April 2023
Job type: 4 or 5 days a week (your choice), permanent
Salary: $800/month FTE
Location: Lviv
Application deadline: No fixed deadline - we are interviewing on a rolling basis

About the job

We are looking for an experienced Operations/Office Manager to support our teams in London and Lviv with day-to-day operational and delivery support, as well as improving and optimising our business practices, and overseeing our finances.

The role will include:

• CEO and team diary management (including Board meetings, and team socials)

• Supporting the CEO with idea development, including reading and researching, finding speaking and media opportunities 

• Management of our CRM system

• Enforcing meeting protocols (e.g. all meetings must have an agenda)

• Managing client entertainment and travel (booking accommodation and plane/train tickets, client lunches/dinners)

• Financial management - issuing invoices on Xero, and chasing late-paying clients

• Budget management - regular reviews of project budgets, holding consultants to account on their profitability

• Organising client-focused marketing events in London

• Managing the Lviv-based office (when we set one up again - to be discussed)

You will be someone who can quickly build relationships, has a keen eye for detail, and is able to anticipate issues before they become problems. You’ll have a sense of urgency about you, and not be afraid to muck into the most mundane of jobs.

You’ll be proactive, and intentionally seek ways to improve our processes and the way we do business. You won’t be afraid to say what you think and to hold colleagues to account. On a day-to-day basis, you’ll work with the CEO and senior management team. You’ll be comfortable taking top-level direction from them and running with it to make it your own. You’ll take pride in reliably delivering high-quality work.

What we are looking for

Must haves:

• Fluent English - both spoken and written

• An interest in politics and policy - this is important 

• Diary management experience

• Invoicing and finance experience, ideally on Xero

• Event planning and research experience

• General research experience - including in-depth research on complex topics, for example, you may have completed a research Master's degree

Nice to have:

• Experience with Xero, Monday.com, Slack, Harvest, Wise

• Background in a communications or advertising firm

• Previous work for a British or American firm

• Awareness of best practices in terms of business management, and ideally some experience of accreditations like B Corp

About us

We’re a London and Lviv-based communications consultancy that helps public policy experts shape conversations that strengthen democracy.

We want to see robust democracies, with people better engaged with the decisions and policies that affect them. Using data, strategy, and design, we build powerful campaigns that give big ideas the impact they deserve.

We work with NGOs, think tanks, and university research centers to better connect policy expertise to the audiences that matter — to craft policy ideas into human-shaped stories, and breathe life into them.

We are active in our support for Ukraine in light of Russia’s invasion. We’ve raised and donated some ?20,000 for Ukraine, and our colleagues have appeared on BBC, ITV, and on various websites to talk about their experiences and help shape the narrative towards Ukraine in the UK. Our CEO is currently training to cycle the 2,000km from London to Lviv in 14 days in May 2023, hoping to raise another ?20,000 that will fund landmine removal in the east. You can read more about that at ridetoukraine.com.

What we offer

• All expenses for annual work trip to London (when possible);

• Flexible working hours and opportunity to work in an office one day per week;

• Friendly, supportive working environment, and budget for team activities;

• Company laptop and $200 contribution towards kitting out your home workspace;

• An annual professional development allowance to support your growth;

• 25 paid days off per year plus Ukraine bank holidays;

• Enhanced parental leave after you’ve been with us for 18 months.

Company website: castfromclay.co.uk