Operations Director- Mexico

Pure Earth seeks an experienced Operations Director (OD) to support its operations and program initiatives in Mexico. He/she is a senior staff member responsible for overseeing and facilitating all day-to-day operations and human resources, including recruitment and hiring, finance and budget compliance, administration, monitoring and evaluation, staff supervision, and required reporting on grants. He/she will ensure that programs meet stated objectives and are in line with Pure Earth’s strategy, and are implemented to the highest standards, on time, and within budget. He/she will continually assess, identify and address gaps and weaknesses so as to improve overall country program performance, efficiency, and effectiveness. He/she will build and maintain a close, collaborative and responsive relationship and frequent communications with Pure Earth’s team in HQ, including the development and communication team.

ABOUT PURE EARTH
Pure Earth is a leading international not-for-profit organization dedicated to solving pollution problems that affect public health (www.pureearth.org). The organization focuses on reducing exposures to toxic chemical pollutants resulting from industrial, commercial, or informal/artisanal activities. Pure Earth identifies and cleans up severely polluted places, advises governments and development agencies on related issues, and conducts groundbreaking research on pollution and its devastating impacts on public health and economic development. In addition to our field work, Pure Earth recently spearheaded two landmark reports that have advanced the global dialogue around pollution: a joint report with UNICEF on children’s exposures to lead titled The Toxic Truth: Children’s Exposure to Lead Pollution Undermines a Generation of Future Potential; and the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health – one of the most cited works from the world-renowned medical journal, The Lancet. Pure Earth recently completed a 10-year strategic plan to assess how the organization can have maximum impact in the next decade. Key recommendations include focusing on lead and mercury pollution in a select number of countries and building the capacity of those country offices. To that end, Pure Earth is launching a five-year, $40 million campaign, Project R.E.A.L.M.E., which will impact more than 100 million children in 12 countries, and will double the annual operating budget.

POSITION SCOPE
The successful OD will bring the following skills and attributes to the position: a commitment to teamwork; creative and resourceful approach to problem-solving, a passion for systems building and management; strong organizational skills, the ability to juggle several priorities, and a keen attention to details.

The position reports to Pure Earth’s Program Director in New York HQ. The position is based in Mexico City.

RESPONSIBILITIES
• Direct and oversee all aspects of strategic planning, organizational, operational and program objectives in Mexico.
• Supervise program team to ensure clear understanding of job requirements and obligations that include delegations of authority, accountability and ownership of high-quality program delivery and operations.
• Ensure the effective use of financial resources at all levels (including the utilization of budget tracking, expenditure analysis, and forecasting) to support program service delivery, holding fiduciary responsibility for Pure Earth/Mexico.
• Build, maintain, and manage effective and efficient organizational operating systems to support program service delivery such as finance, administration, IT, and HR.
• Regular field visits to project sites to understand the challenges of the work and ensure that field staff have adequate resources to carry out their work effectively.
• Mentor program staff to successfully deliver quality programs on time, within scope and on budget, and in accordance with donors’ expectations.
• Ensure overall audit compliance for program activities financial transparency through supervision of financial and administrative staff.
• Monitor projects to ensure they meet milestones and goals per their scope, timeline, and budget.
• Monitor and approve field office budgets and expenses, in collaboration with HQ program staff to ensure that expenditures remain within budget allocations.
• Ensure regular, timely communication and provide updates to Pure Earth’s HQ support office.
• Manage recruitment of program team and ensure that all internal administrative and HR policies and procedures are followed in accordance with established Pure Earth standard practices.
• With country director, manage relationships with donors, local ministries, community leaders, and civil society organizations.
• With country director, represent Pure Earth/Mexico to external audiences through conference/panel presentations, working groups, blog postings and other thought leadership opportunities.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
• Masters’ degree in international development, Business Administration, Social Science or related field is required.
• Requires at least 10 years’ experience in International NGO leadership, or minimum 7 years corporate executive leadership experience.
• Proven experience in overseeing large grants/contracts, major private donors and/or complex multi-sectorial development programs.
• Prior experience in country strategy development, designing and managing multi-year projects and annual budgets, donor engagement, risks management and organizational development.
• Exceptional leadership, management, supervisory, analytic and representational skills; the ability to identify and establish priorities and attend to all details in a professional manner.
• Anticipate potential problems and troubleshoot project problems and offer solutions and actively takes part to lead resolution of them with creative and immediate solutions.
• Interfacing and networking with government officials, international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and community representatives.
• Experience with successful business development activities capturing public and private donors’ funding.
• Excellent strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgement and decisions.
• Strong coaching, mentoring, and capacity strengthening skills.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills in English and Spanish (both oral and written) are required.
• Proven interpersonal and presentation skills.
• Ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally
• Excellent computer and O365 skills including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

BENEFITS
• Salary will be commensurate with experience
• Opportunities for national and international travel
• Annual holiday and paid leave in compliance with Mexican Law

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT
It is the policy of Pure Earth to provide equal opportunity for all qualified persons and not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, gender or gender identity, age, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation or any other protected status.

HOW TO APPLY
Please email a resume/CV and cover letter to [email protected]. Do not apply through an online job aggregator, as such applications will not be reviewed. Please indicate “Mexico Ops Director” in the subject line.

The start date is flexible based on the selected candidate’s availability. Applications will be reviewed and considered as received. Only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted. No phone calls will be accepted.