Chief Operating Officer

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Reporting to: Travalyst CEO

Location: Remote first. UK or within two hours of GMT/BST time zone. Regular travel to London, periodic international travel also required

Term: Permanent role

About Us

Travalyst is a not-for-profit organisation working to identify – and help bring about – the systemic changes needed in order for sustainable travel to be taken out of the niche, and into the mainstream.

We believe tourism can, and must, play a key role in achieving a sustainable future for our world; so we’re convening the key players, and catalysing the necessary action, to change the impact of travel, for good. We are committed to being a driving force that redefines what it means to travel, helping everyone explore our world in a way that protects both people and places, and secures a positive future for destinations and local communities for generations to come.

We were founded in partnership with Booking.com, Expedia, Google, Skyscanner, Trip.com Group, Tripadvisor, and Visa. The Travalyst Coalition now includes eleven of the world’s leading companies and brands associated with travel working with us to make travel more sustainable.

Travalyst provides supportive, independent and neutral governance, empowering our Coalition of some of the biggest – and occasionally competing – travel companies and service providers to share data and accelerate change. The goal is to bring credible, consistent sustainability information to the mainstream, helping both travellers and travel companies make better, greener choices.

About the role

Travalyst is recruiting its first full-time COO. This is a broad role, supporting Travalyst’s CEO and a growing Executive Leadership team to enable delivery of this first-of-its-kind global initiative. Now in its 5^th year, the Travalyst team and organisation is scaling quickly to drive progress and accelerate impact.

About you

You will be able to demonstrate a track record in successful organisational design and implementation, including the development of effective but adaptable systems and processes and their roll-out across a complex organisation with multiple partners and stakeholders. You will manage and lead on finance, governance and risk, ensuring that Travalyst is run according to the highest standards for a UK not-for-profit organisation. 

Proven scale-up operational experience, in a sustainability-focused organisation and/or a UK not-for-profit, is essential. Strong project management skills, enabling effective prioritisation and decision-making and excellence in delivery, would be of huge benefit in the role. 

Areas of responsibility 

Governance, Legal & Risk:

• Be accountable for governance structures and processes, including reviewing and revising governance documentation annually
• Ensure compliance with UK statutory and legal obligations 
• Support the Travalyst Board and CEO to ensure effective risk management and mitigation 
• Support CEO with preparation of Board packs and attend Board meetings as an Observer 
• Act as Company Secretary 
• Provide oversight of legal discussions and documentation, working with pro-bono legal team where needed

Financial Management:

• Oversight of financial management and administration, including near and longer-term financial planning, modelling, and cash flow management
• Manage outsourced Finance Director, bookkeeper accountants and auditors for budgeting, statutory accounting, audit, payroll, and tax - and evolve the Finance function as the organisation scales
• Support the CEO on funder management, leading on financial and operational aspects of fundraising, including leading grant application processes, budgeting and grant reporting

HR and Organisational Design

Oversight of HR management and administration, including resource planning and recruitment:

• Managed outsourced HR and recruitment consultants on professional development, culture & engagement, employee lifecycle management and recruitment initiatives
• Evolve HR function as the organisation grows
• Oversee workforce planning and recruitment for new hires supported by outsourced HR
• Ensure compliance of all existing legal/ contractual agreements with employees, consultants and suppliers

Operations and Strategy:

• Support the CEO on the development of Travalyst’s annual strategic planning and lead on the accompanying operational plan
• Support the CEO in managing Travalyst Coalition Partners, including acting as the relationship lead where required
• Lead on Travalyst’s procurement process and manage key supplier relationships including all contracts, policies, and procedures
• Support the team to evolve Travalyst’s operating model, develop and manage systems and processes to ensure successful delivery of ongoing workstreams and new projects or initiatives

Resourcing & Project Management:

• Lead on development and implementation of project management and delivery processes, ensuring excellence in delivery across project teams
• Lead weekly touchpoints to prioritise resources and workload, and track progress against milestones
• Focus and role model excellence in delivery through strong project management skills and ways of working 

IT:

• Lead the roll-out of new internal technology to support effective delivery 
• Act as data protection officer (DPO) for the organisation, providing oversight and following best practice and regulation with regards to information, governance, data protection and adherence with UK GDPR
• Provide oversight of IT and data security 

How do we work?

We are brave and humble, showing a willingness to embrace challenges head-on. We try new things, take risks, make educated guesses and move quickly to deliver impact. We are rigorous yet adaptable in the face of evolving challenges and opportunities. Most of all, we work closely and collaboratively showing care for each other and the planet we share, so excellent communication and collaboration skills are a must. We all work remotely, so rely heavily on video calls and other technology. We are not perfect, and pride ourselves by learning every day.

Essential skills we’re looking for:

• Travalyst is a not-for-profit organisation, working at the heart of a global, corporate sustainable travel coalition. Therefore, a strong understanding of not-for-profit business operations is required, ideally alongside experience of either the sustainability or travel sectors
• Strong leadership in an operational role
• Experience of leading and managing fast-moving teams and diverse stakeholders, and exceptional relationship management skills 
• Demonstrable project management experience within a complex operating environment, driven by cross-functional collaboration
• Proven financial planning and management experience, including strong analytical skills
• General legal and HR experience 
• Strong governance experience, including working with Boards 
• English language fluency and excellent communication skills (both verbal and written)
• Experience in supporting a progressive, inclusive and forward-thinking culture that fosters collaboration and creativity
• Demonstrable commitment to sustainable travel, climate action or sustainability goals 
• A desire to work in a fast-paced, results-driven environment with varied responsibilities
• Ability to diagnose problems and formulate effective actions plans to resolve issues.

An ‘Open to All’ employer, Travalyst warmly welcomes everybody to the team. People of colour, LGBTQIA+ people, neurodiverse people, individuals with impairments, and parents are encouraged to apply. We encourage you to notify our team of your pronouns at any stage of your application. We also welcome applications from people who come from communities that are directly affected by the impacts of travel and tourism.  We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process as required. Please add any adjustment requests to your application.

Find out more about Travalyst by visiting us atwww.travalyst.org and through our short informational videos for industry and travellers.