AquaAction -- Senior Director, Operations

Freshwater is precious and limited resource, and it is facing severe threats including pollution, climate change and toll from everyday activities.

With its unique role and reach, AquaAction is a North-Amercan charity filling up the critical gap of directly addressing freshwater issues by leveraging tech innovation and fostering company creation.

AquaAction is a registered charitable organization in the US and Canada with the mission to restore freshwater health in North America, by engaging talented young innovators, activating their technologies, and supporting them as they turn their ideas into on-the-ground impact.

Driven to disrupt the status quo with innovative ideas and to mobilize young entrepreneurs with a can-do mindset, AquaAction delivers three tech-focused programs : the AquaHacking Challenge, the AquaHacking Alumni Program and AquaEntrepreneur.

Since its inception, over 80 youth-led water tech start-ups have been established across Canada and continue to be active today.

Since 2015, AquaAction has been a catalyst for freshwater, their programs are fostering innovation and leveraging novel water-solutions.

AquaAction is helping talented young innovators take on real-life freshwater issues, offer concrete solutions, tapping into an extensive network of experts and mentors.

The organization builds upon one another to fill a gap in the continuum from water-issues identified by municipalities, communities, corporations, and NGOs, generating awareness, educating, engaging young action-oriented problem solvers caring about water sustainability and fostering their disruptive innovation solutions.

To do so, AquaAction partners with academia, private and public sectors and leaders who are making a difference in their communities.

Through their programs, young innovators are coached in entrepreneurship and supported as they develop their solutions ensuring their success through pilot projects and technology validation with municipalities and industry fostering readiness for business incubation.

Once launched these trailblazing entrepreneurs can deploy and commercialize their solutions locally and scale up internationally.

AquaAction is helping not only to establish Canada and the US as leaders in freshwater tech-based solutions but also helping to build companies that export their solutions abroad.

Job Description

Reporting to Chief Executive Officer will provide leadership for all aspects of AquaAction’s existing and future operations.

Internally, the Senior Director Operations will be responsible for the strategy, growth, and performance of AquaAction. Externally, this individual will support the Chief Executive Officer will be a public face for the organization, cultivating and nurturing excellent relationships with current and future programmatic partners, funders, and other stakeholders.

This role requires significant leadership experience, operational expertise as well as a passion for fast-paced, high-impact, multifaceted work.

AquaAction seeks an individual who works hard, has high standards for themself and others.

AquaAction also requires someone with the ability to build a positive culture and a performance driven mindset within the team.

The organization is looking for someone who will be able to coach the team toward personal development and implement an alignment between roles and responsibilities within the organisation.

The Senior Director, Operations, should be skilled in managing teams, proven solid coaching experience, provide feedback, be highly rated as a very effective team leader, formulate goal-setting and strategy creation, and galvanize the entire organization to ensure success.

Well-suited candidates are people (first) and data (second) driven, detail-oriented, appreciate learning from others’ feedback, and enjoy solving complex problems with creative solutions while keeping the human element in mind.

Key responsibilities

• Participate in the strategic planning process and implement strategic plan with the support of the Chief Executive Officer;
• Oversee all operations daily ensuring that all business operations are smooth and efficient;
• Establishes productive working relationships between and among the staff to ensure that AquaAction operates profitably and productively;
• Provide oversight for AquaAction's budget, development and external relations activities;
• Build and cultivate a high-performing team and play an active role in attracting, retaining and developing a best-in-class staff;
• Identify and implement cost-effective ways to deliver state-of-the-art programs to potential stakeholders;
• Conduct hiring and performance reviews;
• Direct, analyze, evaluate, and improve AquaAction’s operations to grow the organization’s impact;
• Cultivate and nurture excellent relationships with boards and committees, programmatic partners, and other stakeholders.

Candidate Profile

AquaAction is looking for an outstanding head coach, one who can take objectives and make them attainable via the proper coaching and mentoring of the team, as well as working effectively with all stakeholders, from private enterprises to NGOs and all levels of government.

This leader embraces the cause of solving freshwater challenges which is in synch with the need to address climate change;

she / he wishes the efforts and successes of AquaAction to be her / his legacy.

This team leader will be able to mobilize human, financial, and material resources in order to guide the organization in achieving the objectives defined in its strategic plan, and to lead AquaAction, in the years to come, in new directions in order to increase its notoriety at the national and international levels.

Experiences and Competencies

• A university graduate with a minimum of 10 years of leadership experience in a complex, multi-stakeholders environment providing strategic direction, anticipating, and managing risks, making decisions, ensuring a high-performance team and staff, and managing with fiscal transparency and stewardship;
• Experience in the management of non-profit organizations, preferably in the field of environmental;
• Proven leadership in building a strong organizational culture. Can develop, mentor, and motivate multidisciplinary teams in an environment of change and evolution.
• Encourages cross-functional communication and problem solving. A progressive leader who works collaboratively to maximize individual and departmental talent to achieve strategic goals and prioritizes the well-being of staff, students, and community members;
• Experience reporting to and working with a Board of Directors, preferably in a not-for-profit organization. Understands how to work effectively with a board to help achieve organizational objectives.
• They will have learned to interact with a board of committed and influential volunteers;
• Demonstrated ability to identify and access new growth opportunities. Must be future thinking and able to capitalize on advances in technology that benefit AquaAction and its external stakeholders;
• Proven track record of interacting with and advising senior level positions in organizations (CxO level);
• Exceptional networker, has the ability to effectively establish and manage relationships from industry and government;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Good understanding and experience in implementing best human resources practices;
• Entrepreneurial spirit dealing with social (philanthropy) issues (a self starter);
• Superior organizational skills;
• Ability to multi-task and highly detail-oriented.

Personal Characteristics

• Loves coaching members and appreciated by all previous teams she / he coached-led;
• Passionate about making a difference and leaving the world a better place;
• Sunny disposition : people enjoy meeting and working with her / him;
• Great judgment;
• Enjoys reading vociferously about the work they are embarked upon (i.e. constant learner).
30+ days ago