Operations Director

HelpAge and Strategy 2030 – delivering real impact for older people

HelpAge International works with partners and a diverse global network of more than 150 organizations across 85 countries, supporting millions of older people to live safe, dignified and healthy lives. Through our partnership and collaborations, we work to ensure the inclusion of older people across society and strive to deliver a just and fair world for everyone, whatever their age. Our work is driven by our desire to deliver real impact for older people, to be inclusive, to work in partnership and to learn from our shared experience.

Our 2030 strategy Ageing in a Just World sets out how we will work together to shape the future we all share. By working together, we aim to help inspire a movement for change and through ensuring all our work promotes older people’s wellbeing, dignity and voice, we can transform the lives of older people now and in the future.   

As part of our 2030 strategy, we have a continued commitment to inclusive humanitarian action, supporting older people and their families at a time of crisis.

HAI in Ukraine 

HelpAge has been present in Ukraine since 2014 and is one of the few INGOs based in country, with a total workforce of +700 people including staff and volunteers/contractors.  As one of the few INGOs with an operational presence in Ukraine, we are already responding with initial life-saving activities in the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions, with the intention to scale-up assistance in the Central and Western Regions of Ukraine.    In addition, we have also launched a programme to support arriving Refugees in Moldova, where we also already have a prescence and are currently investigating the option of a further response in Poland.  Our response plan includes cash assistance, food distributions, NFI distribution/ health and dignity kits, WASH, Protection and Mental Health and Psychosocial First Aid. 

We are now seeking passionate, professional and experienced candidates for a number of roles to support our response to the Ukraine crisis.  We are looking for talent which thrives in collaborating with others (inside HelpAge International and beyond) and who can work in agile ways and across boundaries. 

Key areas for impact/influence and responsibilities:

As a member of the Country Senior Management Team the Admin/Operations Director will provide leadership and management of the operations functions – Finance, HR, Procurement and Logistics and be responsive to the needs of older people and their families in HelpAge’s response in Ukraine.  

• Plan, integrate, coordinate, and monitor day-to-day operations to ensure all support services are delivered with high-quality in an efficient manner.
• Collaborate with programming leads to ensure appropriate project expenditures in line with financial plans and proper stewardship of material sources. Anticipate, identify and address challenges that affect the proper stewardship, risk, and optimal utilization of program assets and resources.
• Contribute to the HAI strategic planning and programming by providing input on needed investments in operations capacity – systems, processes and staffing – that meet HAI’ standards, donor requirements, and local regulations and support high-quality programming.
• With the Country Director and Finance Manager oversee the preparation of annual budget plans and grant/project budgets to ensure they reflect maximum operational efficiency and budgetary compliance and mitigate risks. Set and provide technical oversight of internal processes for approving expenses, monitoring spending, and making budget adjustments in line with operational and programmatic needs and with donor requirements.
• Oversee compliance with agency and donor requirements and local laws and regulations through periodic systems checks, review and assessment of HAI’s operations policies and procedures. Act as lead contact and responder to issues that emerge from internal and external audits and provide recommendations and guidance to implement improvements.
• Oversee the Ukraine country office operations, inclusive of office and facility operations, procurement, logistics.
• Oversee procurement and logistics, ensuring compliance with donor regulations, local law, and HAI policies and procedures.
• Establish and implement systems and procedures to ensure the smooth country and project-based operations.
• Prepare required donor and governmental operational reports, including VAT and inventory reports.
• Grow the efficiency of existing processes and procedures to enhance and sustain the organization’s internal capacity.

Let’s talk about you:  

You will be someone with:

• 7+ year of relevant and progressive professional experience, preferably in complex humanitarian settings including in rapid emergency responses.
• Master’s degree in a relevant field. 
• Experience working with national governmental agencies, international NGOs, and/or multilateral organizations.
• Experience managing budgets and preparing timely, complete, and accurate reports.
• Strong prior experience supervising finance, office operations, procurement, and logistics.
• The ability to effectively analyse complex problems and find solution that would have a positive impact on the lives of older people and their families.
• Fluent written and spoken English.
• Strong interpersonal and representation skills and previous experience of networking with other organisations involved in cash programming.
• Proven experience in capacity building. 
• Ability to work in a fast paced and stressful environment.

Desirable

• Experience in project cycle management including proposal development, budgeting and reporting, monitoring and evaluation.

At HelpAge International, we believe in the importance of empowering our people to be change makers and leaders at all levels. We expect our people to embrace and live our values, challenging themselves every day to identify issues that are most important to older persons and their communities, and to make an impact that matters.

In addition, as an HelpAge employee you are expected to:

• Work collaboratively, building mutual trust and respect, with external organizations and partners to achieve our strategic aims and objectives; being accountable for the work you do together
• Adapt to new directions or opportunities arising within the organization and in your work area; being flexible in your role, constantly using the feedback to learn more and evolve further.
• Lead behavioral and cultural change through embracing a supportive, collaborative and highly inclusive environment where everybody feels supported, respected and engaged
• Extend HelpAge’s reach and impact, by creating and identifying new business development opportunities and building relationships with new partners.
• Lead and promote a culture of including the voices of older people across our support, convening and thought leadership roles, in a way that is transformative, empowering and highly inclusive of those marginalized by gender, economic status, disability and other factors of discrimination.

Safeguarding

HelpAge International is committed to safeguarding the communities with which we work, our partners, staff and any others who we come into contact with.

Therefore you will also be responsible for:

• Preventing harm and abuse from our people, operations and programmes, to anyone that encounters our work;
• Reporting all safeguarding incidents you see, hear, hear about or suspect, using our internal reporting mechanism;
• Complying with all safeguarding framework policies and practices
• Completing mandatory training courses relating to our safeguarding policy framework and complying with HR vetting procedures.