Organizational Excellence Lead

This position is hybrid requiring a few days per week in Bonn, Germany office; WRI Europe. Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission. WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position.

About the Program:

The Support Unit serves as the secretariat for the NDC Partnership and is co-hosted by the World Resources Institute in Washington DC and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat and United Nations of Project Services (UNOPS) in Bonn, Germany. The Support Unit team is comprised of nearly ninety people, based primarily in Washington DC and Bonn, with a cadre of remote staff around the world. We are proud of our diverse composition, with more than 30 nationalities represented on the team and with expertise in a wide range of disciplines.

Job Highlight:

Reporting to the Deputy Director, Outreach and Governance, you will establish a lean organization design practice in the Support Unit following operating model and organization strategy best-practices. You will be responsible for the continuous evolution of the Support Units Organizational model. Doing so, you will identify, prioritize, and lead pivotal transformation initiatives for the Support Unit, geared to maximize the team impact and unlock every employee’s full potential. You will establish an organizational metrics framework and effective approach to monitor health and derive actions as required. You will conceptualize and influence critical areas that have an outsized impact on organization effectiveness such as culture, leadership effectiveness, employee engagement, performance management, onboarding, etc. You will take ownership for cross-organizational agile collaboration driving joint solutioning and innovation.

What will you do:

Shape organization design capability and organization health (20%):

• Collaborate with Chief of Staff and Global Directors shape and develop the SU’s internal Org Design expertise responsible for operationalizing organization health and success
• Define key philosophy, methods, toolkits, and org design best-practices (e.g. Kates Kesler)
• Develop close relationships to the Management Team and critical employees throughout the Support Unit with the goal to be seen as trusted advisor for organizational ideas and issues
• Spread a systems mindset and organization design thinking lens across the SU including, advocating and training for an overall culture of continuous evolution, agility and collaboration, specifically shorting up these capabilities in the Office of the Chief of Staff

Identify and drive organizational transformation and evolution initiatives (40%):

• Work with Chief of Staff , Director of Operations and Management Team and with Support Unit staff to identify, validate and prioritize organizational pain points and opportunities
• Evaluate actionable solutions to these challenges and opportunities, the advantages and disadvantages of these solutions and the possible roadmaps to realize and sustain change
• Advance organization design and transformation projects from beginning to end including executing a process to determine the scope of ambition, propose design and solutions, and support discussions via cross-work area workshops, interviews and focus groups and regular feedback seeking
• Support transition and activation of new organization design by offering simulations, trainings, crafting people & knowledge development and transition plans, change management plans and iterative implementation roadmaps jointly with the SU’s Chief of Staff and Management Team
• Serve as key advisor to Chief of Staff and provide organizational insights and clear actionable recommendations on org development and performance
• Establish a well-informed set of potential solutions, a portfolio of short-mid-long-term ideas, to continually advance org transformation for the SU that aligns with our mission and strategic priorities

Lead, develop and orchestrate agile collaboration (30%):

• Lead and further develop agile collaboration & culture across the Support Unit in close coordination with Chief of Staff and Management Team
• Partner with Management Team on work area specific practices and frameworks to foster agile ways of working and ensure consistency across teams
• Act as facilitator and orchestrator of cross support unit forums (bi-weekly agile demand-capacity planning, quarterly agile strategy review)
• Identify blockers and accelerators for agile collaboration and derive recommendations to improve agility as well as provide trainings and simulations to foster successful adoption

Define and monitor strategic mechanisms & processes (10%):

• With Chief of Staff and Director of Operations, define org health metrics framework and establish effective continuous measuring and improvement approach
• Support innovation of, and through close collaboration with the Operations team, monitor critical organizational structures such as culture, community, employee engagement, leadership effectiveness, onboarding, performance mgt. and Strategic Workforce Planning
• Propose possible initiatives / programs to purposefully shape critical organizational structures with the goal to improve work experienced and create an environment where employees flourish and work is maximally aligned to the SU mission and strategy

What will you need:

• Education: You have completed a bachelor’s degree social in relevant field (Business, Political and Social Science, Organization Psychology, Psychology, Complex Systems, Strategic HR, or equivalent)
• Experience: You have 7 years full-time work experience in organization design, strategy, and transformation in global organizations, ideally fast-paced, high-growth and high-complexity environments e.g. scaling start-ups, global NGOs and social impact organizations, start-up incubators and accelerators, strategy consulting firms, product-oriented organizations and/or large-scale matrixed organizations with dedicated organization design departments
• Successful track record in leading complex strategic and/or organizational transformation programs and projects from start to finish
• Proven ability to build close and inclusive relationships with senior executives anchored in co-creative as well as cross-functional ways of working
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills, capable of engaging and aligning teams across the organization
• Experience in designing, optimizing and leading agile ways of working and cross work area collaboration at scale (knowledge of agile methodologies such as Scrum, Kanban and SAFe of advantage)
• Experience establishing metrics frameworks and lean approaches to establish, monitor and act upon KPIs
• Strong orchestration, facilitation and option-driven solutioning skills to lead cross-area workshops, focus sessions and drive effective decision making
• Prior exposure to strategic HR topics i.e. leadership effectiveness, culture and workforce engagement, best-practice performance management, onboarding, hiring, strategic workforce planning, etc. advantageous
• Interdisciplinary experience at intersection of company strategy and development, growth and innovation, workforce strategy, organization & operating models, leadership & culture, and digital transformation of advantage
• Experience with climate, environmental and social impact preferable
• Languages: Verbal and written English proficiency
• Requirements: Existing work authorization is required where this position. WRI is unable to authorize visa work authorization

Potential Salary: Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

How to Apply: Please submit a resume with cover letter by the date of 17 May 2024. We are unable to consider your application without a

cover letter.

You must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered.

What we offer:

• A competitive salary
• Access to the WRI global network with the opportunity to exchange with and learn from passionate colleagues working at the cutting edge of their fields across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the US
• The chance to have an impact and to develop your career within a mission driven organization with access to varied learning and training opportunities
• A workplace that strives to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work
• The opportunity to join and get involved in different working groups and affinity groups to shape the future of WRI
• Commitment to hybrid working model with flexible working hours
• Generous leave days that increase with tenure

About Us:

Founded in 1982, World Resources Institute(WRI) is an independent, nonprofit global research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity, and human well-being. We are working to address seven critical challenges that the world must overcome this decade to secure a sustainable future for people and the planet: climate change, energy, food, forests, water, sustainable cities, and the ocean. WRI has a global staff of over 1,800 people with work spanning 60 countries. We have offices in Africa, Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia and the United States, as well as a growing presence in other countries and regions.

The foundation of our work is delivering high-quality research, data, maps, and analysis to solve the world’s greatest environment and international development challenges and improve people’s lives. We work with leaders in government, business, and civil society to drive ambitious action and create change on the ground. Equally important, we bring together partners to develop breakthrough ideas and scale-up solutions for far-reaching, enduring impact.

Our mission and values:

WRI’s mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.

Our values are shared ideals that bind us together: Integrity, Innovation, Urgency, Independence and Respect.

Our culture:

WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well-being in our mission and applies this principle to our organizational and programmatic practices. We are committed to providing equal opportunities in employment; we embrace all diversity and encourage women, the LGBTQ+ community, persons with disabilities, Afro-descendants, and Indigenous people to apply. Recognizing our strong commitment to gender equality, WRI has also been awarded EDGE certification.

Our team in Human Resources carefully reviews all applications.