Country: Sri Lanka
Closing date: 02 Mar 2015
Responsible to: International Project Managers & Directors.
Responsible for: Local & International Project Coordinators, Volunteers.
Salary: £12,000 - £18,000. Accommodation & Flights Provided
Location: to travel to Sri Lanka. Colombo
Contract: Minimum 18 Months. 2 months training/handover in Sri Lanka.
Introduction:
SLV is a graduate led organisation that provides degree-specific volunteer placements in Sri Lanka.
Our placements offer people the chance to gain work experience in teaching English, coaching sports, working with children and with people with special needs. SLV also provide work experience for psychology students in the mental health sector.
SLV offers project and cultural awareness training, leadership opportunities, and encourages volunteers to contribute to the continued growth and development of the team and its projects. The SLV team strives to make a positive, responsible, and sustainable impact in the communities it volunteers in.
Summary of the Role:
As part of the Sri Lankan Project Management team you are responsible for delivering SLV’s placements in Sri Lanka. The role involves the day to day operational planning and management, including safety, logistics, transport, overall training, planning and delivery of specific sessions, managing volunteer staff and managing relationships with projects.
The jobholder will act as the link to London Head Office with regards the operation and delivery of the placements and events relating to it, including safety and security. The role is directly line managed by the International Projects Managers either in the UK.
Principal Accountabilities and Responsibilities:
• Run SLV placements recognising the SLVs vision, ethos and values maximising the experience for all volunteer coordinators and participants.
• Ensure placements meet agreed standards and any contractual obligations, whether they be with individuals, projects, partner NGOs or governmental organisations.
• Lead operational project planning, reporting and management under the guidance of the International Project Mangers.
• Maintain day to day delivery relationships with partner organisations to ensure the operational delivery of the placements.
• Lead organisation of training and contribute to the delivery of training for volunteers and volunteer managers as required.
• In conjunction with the International Project Managers for strategic decision making relating to all SLV programmes with emphasis on project level risk assessments.
Crisis Management
• Coordinate and control day to day management of the plan and response to incidents
Job Description - Operations Manager
• Take lead in managing and supporting the volunteer coordinators so that they can achieve SLV’s aims. This will include team building, briefing, providing advice and guidance, and giving practical and moral support and supervision.
Administration
• Contribute to and ensure effective, timely and efficient communications with UK Head Office.
Logistics
• Manage transport arrangements
• Lead on daily communication with volunteer teams
• Organise the weekly timetables for volunteers on placement.
Skills and Experience Essential:
• Strong people management skills and experience of managing groups of between 40 to 120.
• Strong project planning skills and a proven track record of project delivery
• A good understanding and experience of international development, environmental and sustainable development issues and the ability to enthuse others on the issues and contribute to strategic planning
• Proven ability to deliver high quality training and experiential learning in an effective and safe way for youth and adult audiences using a variety of media and styles to maximise learning and outcomes
• Experience of working with and motivating volunteers from different backgrounds, nationalities and ages.
• Experience of working in a different culture from that of your home nation.
• Experience of working with and developing young people.
• People focused with excellent communication, facilitation and diplomatic skills with the ability to lead by example, demand excellence and adapt their leadership style to the situation.
• Ability to motivate and support staff to achieve success consistently
• Have high levels of integrity and sound judgement
• Be a strong and flexible team player
• The ability to deal with conflict and overcome challenges
• Excellent planning and organisational skills with the ability to prioritise and organise a heavy workload, work autonomously on own initiative both reactively and proactively.
• Fluent in oral and written English
• Good IT literacy (Microsoft Office suite and databases)
Desirable:
• Previous experience of delivering community development of a similar scale to SLV.
• Previous experience either with SLV International or a similar organisation at volunteer manager/team leader level or of similar responsibility.
• Experience of working long hours required to achieve the aims and objectives of the role.
• Understanding and experience of managing groups in remote environments Any breach of SLV’s policy will be regarded as a serious matter and will be dealt with under our disciplinary procedure. In serious cases, it may be treated as gross misconduct leading to summary dismissal.
How to apply:
To apply online, please fill out this application form: http://slvolunteers.com/operations-manager-2/
After this, if you have the relevant experience, we will contact you to arrange an interview.
