Operations Manager
MarAlliance is a dynamic, international non-profit that explores, enables and inspires conservation action for threatened marine wildlife – notably sharks, rays, and turtles – and their critical habitats with dependent human communities. In the face of declines in many populations of marine wildlife, these species need a strong, effective and science-based voice to represent them to help dependent partners shape management and conservation strategies and action to reverse declines. To this end, we design and conduct collaborative community-based research, education and conservation programs, that generate essential data on threatened marine wildlife populations, behavior and ecology to enable fact based conservation and management, often in the context of established or proposed marine protected areas with a goal of rewilding our oceans. We are registered in Belize, Panama, Cabo Verde, and the United States with additional programmatic bases in Honduras and Micronesia.
At MarAlliance, we owe our success to the efficiency of organizational processes. To help maintain and grow this standard, we’re seeking an experienced operations manager to oversee daily activities. The ideal candidate will have a sharp business mind and proven success in managing multiple country programs for maximum productivity and conservation impact. This person will be highly skilled in human resources, finance, and be able to further nurture an environment of trust, diversity, and inclusion within the MarAlliance team and with partners.
Position summary:
The Operations Manager (OM) will be an experienced professional, with a background in operations and program management that will supervise our teams conducting marine wildlife research, education and conservation work primarily focused in Central America and Mexico with other programmatic bases. They will be responsible to:
- Maintain constant communication with all Coordinators, staff, and partners to ensure proper operations of the organization.
- Develop, implement, and maintain a monitoring and evaluation program, internal quality assurance protocols
- Increase the efficiency of existing processes and procedures to enhance the organization’s internal capacity and productivity
- Formulate internal strategies and support external strategic planning, charting and improving staff performance, procuring funding and resources and securing compliance.
- Ensure that operational and programmatic activities remain on time and within budget
- Track staffing requirements, setting terms of reference, overseeing contracting and hiring new employees as needed across programmatic countries
- Oversee accounts payable and accounts receivable department.
Key responsibilities
Financial Operations (primary responsibility)
- Support the development of and manage the operating budget, including processing payments and reimbursements, creating donor and partner agreements, and with the Financial Controller tracking expenses, reconciling accounts, forecasting future scenarios, and frequently reporting spending activities to the Executive Director.
- Work in partnership with the Financial Controller (FC) and Country or Thematic Coordinators to ensure reporting and compliance expectations.
- Maintain internal controls and safeguards for receipt of revenue, costs, program budgets, and actual expenditures.
- Oversee payments and payment schedules.
- Coordinate the annual and monthly close process with reviews of balance sheets and P&Ls with FC.
- Support the FC with audit activities and audit firms.
- In partnership with the Executive Director, coordinate and lead the annual budgeting process; administer and review all financial plans and compare to actuals to identify, explain, and correct variances as appropriate.
Human Resources (secondary responsibility)
- Ensure compliance with local and federal/country organizational and tax filings, including, but not limited to all existing government and legal reporting requirements, and other relevant local and country labor laws.
- In collaboration with the Executive Director, plan, manage, and oversee organizational financial best practices, policies, procedures, guidelines, and tools to meet operational goals, identifying opportunities for improvement.
- In collaboration with the Executive Director and the leadership team, create a nimble monitoring and evaluation plan for use to assess programmatic success.
- Drive staffing requirements, create terms of reference, create interview panels or interview and hire staff.
- Collaborate with other team members and participate constructively in team meetings and project planning.
- Perform other operational duties, as needed.
Partnership Planning & Oversight (tertiary responsibility)
- Coordinate communication with organizational partners and plan effective strategies to grow partnerships
- Lead monthly meetings with partners
- Track performance of partnerships and report to Executive Director and Coordinator team
- Coordinate with Communications on strategies to grow partnerships
- Identify opportunities for new strategic partnerships with management team
- In partnership with the Leadership Team support the development of funding proposals or fundraising projects that strengthen partnerships and advance MarAlliance’s mission.
- Lead, motivate, and support a multicultural, remote and international team within a time
sensitive and demanding environment, including career development plans for direct reports and problem resolution - Manage data collection for the updating of metrics to achieve productivity targets, reduce cost per unit, eliminate errors, and deliver excellent customer service
- Work closely with legal advisors to ensure that activities remain compliant
- Oversee organization’s materials and inventory
- Conduct quarterly budget reviews and report cost plans to the Executive Director
Required skills and qualifications
- Five or more years of proven success in an operations management role
- Demonstrated skills in budget development and oversight
- Proven human resources and monitoring and evaluation skills
- Excellent organizational and time management skills
- Excellent interpersonal, diplomacy, facilitation and institutional capacity building skills
- Strong written, verbal and presentation communication skills
- Proficiency in conflict management and business negotiation processes
- Experience and knowledge of working with NGOs, governmental agencies, communities, and the private sector.
Preferred skills and qualifications
Our ideal candidate is/has:
- A minimum of 5 years of experience with a bachelor’s degree (master’s degree preferred) in operations management, business administration, or related field
- Capable of translating financial concepts to, and effectively collaborate with, colleagues who do not have strong finance backgrounds
- Successful track record in setting priorities; keen analytic, organization, and problem-solving skills which support and enable sound decision-making
- Excellent relationship building skills with an ability to negotiate and work with a variety of internal and external stakeholders and contractors
- A collaborative project manager who can manage multiple projects involving different individuals, teams, and partners to meet collective goals on time and with excellence
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information
- Experience supporting organizational budgeting processes for an evolving organization
- Must understand non-profit accounting with strong IT skills, including Quickbooks, Microsoft Suite and Zoom
- Passionate about the mission of MarAlliance. Must demonstrate a deep commitment to a vision of thriving marine wildlife in healthy seas stewarded by coastal communities.
- Ability to communicate fluently in English and preferably Spanish, with Portuguese and or French an asset.
- Any other related duties as assigned to support MarAlliance operations and the ED.
Duration
The position is full time and remote living in the US, and available for one year commencing June 3rd 2024, with possibility of annual renewal based on satisfactory performance.
Salary and benefits
The salary is competitive and based on qualifications and experience. Staff benefits include health insurance, international professional travel and capacity building opportunities, flexible hours, paid vacation, and a communications allowances.
Location and Oversight
The position is ideally based in the US, and will involve working remotely, with up to 20% travel to often remote or rustic field locations. The Operations Manager will report to the Executive Director, and maintain communications with relevant MarAlliance team members.
How to apply:
Please send CV, letter of interest and three references as one PDF package to info@maralliance.org stating “LAST NAME_OM-MAR” in the subject line by May 14, 2024