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Lie Detectors is looking for a highly organised, resourceful and clear-thinking Operations Director to lead the scaling up of our rapidly growing and evolving organisation.

Lie Detectors is an independent and award-winning news literacy project in Europe working to tackle disinformation and its corrosive effect on democracy. We do this by empowering young people and their teachers to sort fact from fiction online and understand how professional journalism works, and by advocating at international level for smart policies.

We are looking for an experienced Operations Director with a flair for problem-solving, strategic planning and setting up systems that will facilitate the expansion of our work on this timely issue. We are a motivated and competent team currently active in Germany, Austria and Belgium, with operations due to begin in further countries in 2021. We have developed a cutting-edge virtual format in response to the ongoing pandemic and this will facilitate the geographic reach of work long-term. For a sense of our work see coverage in the Financial Times, BBC, Spiegel Online, German broadcaster ZDF, the European Business Summit as well as our Covid-adapted work.

As Operations Director you will be a key member of the management team in this fast-moving start-up organisation. This critical post will manage all country teams, existing and future, to ensure that the support functions are fit for purpose, compliant in country, and consistent with global Lie Detectors requirements. It will also be responsible for ensuring appropriate risk management, for managing leases and related operational details for the Lie Detectors office in Belgium, and for supporting Programme Coordinators and Directors in other countries where Lie Detectors has operations currently and in the future. You will, among other things:

• Ensure the consistency of operations across our country programmes;
• Create systems across our areas of operations to manage logistics and relationships with educators, journalists and our international partners;
• Liaise with our legal teams on issues of HR, privacy/data protection & compliance, as well as risk management and governance;
• Manage our budget, accounting and HR systems, pulling together the strands also of our national budgets and accounts and presenting management accounts and financial reports to the CEO and Board;
• Have a pivotal role in identifying, commissioning and embedding robust data-management and IT systems to facilitate our expansion;
• The Operations Director currently oversees consultants and may eventually manage a small team;
• There will be some travel to the country programme offices once the pandemic is over.

This position will suit a strategic, highly organised and resourceful leader with a proven flair for creating systems and for the problems solving skills required for a dynamic and fast-moving organisation. You will have a successful track record in managing broad operational functions in a fast-paced and evolving environment. You will have demonstrated experience with budgeting and financial management, as well as managing HR functions in an international environment. You will be an experienced negotiator, and a strong, effective and supportive leader. You will have had experience overseeing corporate legal matters and coordinating with external legal providers. You will have an affinity for and commitment to the work of Lie Detectors.

You will have excellent verbal/written communication skills in English and proficiency in French and/or German. You will ideally have relevant postgraduate finance qualification (eg ACA, ACCA, CIPD, LLM, MBA), with post-qualification experience.

Lie Detectors currently has its headquarters in Brussels and country offices in several EU capitals. Given remote working has become more commonplace and we see an element of this continuing in our future, we are open to applications from candidates based outside Belgium (including outside the EU) so long as they have demonstrated knowledge of and familiarity with the EU. A successful candidate will be required to spend regular periods of time at headquarters and on location once the pandemic is over.

Salary will be commensurate with skills and experience.

To apply please send your CV and a cover letter in English outlining how your past experience equips you for the role by midnight CET on 15 March 2021 to jobs@lie-detectors.org.

Please note we are working on our recruitment with an external consultancy and they may contact you in the context of this application.

this job offer is not open for applications