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The Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary is a growing and cherished part of our community, dedicated to providing a safe haven for donkeys and educating the public on their care and welfare. Our vision extends beyond equine welfare to creating an environment where our team, volunteers, and visitors can feel welcomed and enriched.
Position Summary
We are in search of a Chief Operating Officer (COO) adept at turning strategic visions into operational realities. The COO will oversee daily operations throughout the sanctuary, ensuring excellence in health and safety practices, and fostering high team performance and growth. As a key partner to the CEO, this role demands a leader skilled in operational management and strategy implementation, preferably with experience in the third sector and a deep commitment to animal welfare.
Objectives of the role
1. Strategic implementation and operational leadership - working in close partnership with the CEO to integrate strategic objectives into the organisation's day-to-day operations. This will include focusing on enhancing process efficiency, ensuring operational excellence and maintaining budgetary control connected to operational issues.
2. Developing high performing teams – driving team excellence through targeted recruitment, comprehensive onboarding, ongoing professional development, and robust performance management strategies, ensuring team cohesion and high retention rates
3. Ensuring regulatory compliance and safety - maintaining rigorous adherence to all relevant charity and health & safety regulations, proactively ensuring a safe environment for staff, volunteers, visitors and our equines.
4. Fostering a supportive culture - creating a work environment where commitment to our sanctuary's values and alignment with our vision and mission inspire and unite our teams.
5. Acting as a deputy for the CEO - representing the charity and making decisions in the CEO’s absence, ensuring leadership continuity and organisational stability.
Responsibilities
Responsibilities include:
· Evaluating internal operations to identify and implement efficiency improvements
· Developing and implementing policies (in collaboration with the CEO and Trustees) that support the sanctuary's goals and ensure operational alignment.
· Overseeing daily operations across the estate, including visitor facilities, barn and paddock maintenance, and health and safety compliance, ensuring a safe environment for staff, volunteers, visitors and equines.
· Directly overseeing the performance of our teams in Visitor Experience, Volunteering, Estates and Facilities, ensuring these areas not only operate efficiently but also focus on creating exceptional experiences for visitors and volunteers. This includes working closely with HR to foster successful recruitment, professional development, and other HR initiatives to build and sustain high-performing teams.
· Ensuring the sanctuary is ready and welcoming for visitors each day, effectively monitored and managed throughout the day and securely closed at night
· Health and safety leadership - spearheading safety initiatives and training a skilled team in safety protocols, ensuring a secure and safe environment for staff, volunteers, visitors and over 130 donkeys and ponies. The COO will work closely with the Head of Facilities and Estates Supervisor to enforce health and safety policies, address safety issues, as well as ensuring readiness and responsiveness for critical incidents, including fire and medical emergencies.
· Serving as the deputy for the CEO, including leading the sanctuary in the CEO’s absence, making critical decisions, and managing external relationships.
The above role encompasses an understanding that the sanctuary operates seven days a week and requires a willingness to work weekends and evenings as needed to ensure continuous leadership and operational excellence.
Reporting structure
Reporting directly to the CEO, the COO will have the following direct reports: Head of Estates, Visitor Experience Manager, and Volunteer Manager.
Required skills and Experience
· A strong ethical commitment to animal welfare, demonstrated through previous work or personal advocacy, with the desire to make a positive impact in the community and beyond.
· A track record of managing operations effectively, demonstrating the ability to oversee day-to-day activities
· Proven experience in translating strategy into actionable plans
· Proven effectiveness in managing diverse teams and working with volunteers, highlighting the ability to engage and inspire a wide range of contributors towards common goals.
· Experience in budgeting, data analysis and using performance metrics to guide decisions.
· Flexibility to adapt to changing priorities and the agility to respond to unforeseen challenges, particularly in animal welfare contexts.
· A collaborative approach to working with key stakeholders, including the CEO, to ensure alignment with the organisation's goals.
Desirable:
· Experience within a non-profit organisation and familiarity with the regulatory environment specific to the charity sector, including health & safety standards and compliance.
Why Join Us
By joining the Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary as COO, you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping the future of donkey welfare, leveraging your expertise to make a lasting difference. You’ll lead a dedicated team, drive operational excellence, and contribute to a cause that’s both meaningful and rewarding.
Battersea Operations is currently in the middle of an exciting transformation programme, and we are now at the delivery stage. We will be undergoing significant change over the next two years by transforming our intake and rehoming processes and improving our customer experience to help more cats and dogs. To be successful, we need to help frontline teams transition to new ways of working and take on a new CRM system, with minimal disruption to the day-to-day job.
Within this role, you will co-ordinate and embed the implementation of change projects and processes required to successfully deliver our operational change programme. The role is pivotal to ensure we manage this change effectively within our cat and dog frontline teams (over 300 people). We are therefore looking for someone with proven experience implementing change and collaborating with a range of stakeholders.
What we can offer you:
In return for your commitment to our cause and to recognise the value of our employees, Battersea offers a range of benefits to support the wellbeing of our employees. These include:
- 28 days of annual leave (plus 8 days paid public holidays) per year
- Discounted gym memberships and cycle to work schemes
- Employee Assistance Programme and access to Wellbeing Resources.
- Generous pension contributions – up to 10% employer contribution
- Free healthcare cash plan, where you can claim for a range of treatment including dental, optical, physiotherapy, chiropody and acupuncture every year.
- Annual interest-free season ticket loans
We are also committed to providing learning and development to our employees. During your time with us, we provide support for your professional and career development, including access to digital and in-person training programmes, leadership and management training, mentoring and much more.
Balancing collaboration with home working:
We operate a 50% onsite hybrid working model, with our office-based staff splitting their time between site based and home working. This enables our office-based staff to balance the benefits of home working, while allowing for collaboration and maintaining a connection to our cause that comes from being on site. In addition to this, our offices are in a great location within London, have modern facilities, offer great colleague socialising spaces and a discounted café.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
At Battersea, we are committed to providing equal opportunities and developing a diverse workforce and inclusive culture in all aspects of our organisation. We aim to ensure that this pledge, reinforced by our values, is embedded in our day-to-day working practices and our work together.
By hearing from and valuing different experiences, perspectives and contributions, we know we can provide the best expert care for every dog and cat who needs us. We particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities and from members of minority ethnic communities, who we know are currently under-represented at Battersea.
As a Disability Confident Committed employer, we're happy to discuss any support or personalisation you may need during your application and/or interview process as part of our workplace adjustments.
More about us
At Battersea, we aim to never turn away a dog or cat in need of help. We give each one lots of love, expert care and get to know their characters and quirks so we can find them a new home that’s just right for them. Join us and help us be here for every dog and cat, wherever they are, for as long as they need us.
Closing date: 21st April 2024
Interview date(s): TBC
For full details, please download our recruitment pack.
To apply for the role, please click the button below. All applications must be submitted before the closing date advertised. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a high volume of applications is received.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.