CERRE is an internationally known though, human-sized think tank (+/- 10 staff in the secretariat plus 25 networked, senior academics) providing original analyses and policy recommendations on the regulation of the tech, media, telecom, energy and mobility sectors. Its 50+ prestigious membership list includes global corporations, regulation authorities and universities from Europe, the US and China. Its offices are located close to the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kameren and are therefore easily accessible by public transport. The organisation is experiencing a significant growth and is recruiting, at a senior level, a Head of HR, Finance & Administration to strengthen the team. This is a newly created position for a dynamic, solution-oriented, all-round manager. A successful job holder will rapidly develop towards a Chief Operations Officer’s position.
Purpose of the role
Reporting to the Director General, the Head of Finance, HR &Administration will oversee and coordinate the general operations of the structure with a specific focus on:
- HR: handling personnel administration, being the contact person for the staff for all HR-related questions/issues, improving and creating processes and procedures in order to comply with legal requirements and best practices, and to develop an HR culture, overseeing the employee life cycle (incl. assessments, training, career development, etc.)
- Finance: preparation of the yearly budget; setting-up and implementation of cost control processes
- Administration: overseeing all administrative activities, improving, and developing efficient internal processes, relations with members’ administrative staff and with external vendors/suppliers; overall coordination of the think tank’s work programme and activities,
Given the relatively small size of the organisation, this role includes many operational duties and ad hoc requests and therefore requires a flexible and hands on attitude.
Job description:
HR activities
- Defining job descriptions
- Defining and handling recruitment strategies and processes, recruitment, collaborating with external partners when necessary
- Being the contact person for the staff, answering their queries
- Managing personnel administration (e.g., payroll in collaboration with the social secretariat, employment contracts, etc.)
- Developing procedures for assessments, training, and career development
- Developing an HR culture (e.g., initiating social activities in the office in order to enhance a sense of belonging), developing procedures to comply with legal requirements (health and safety, work regulations, homeworking policy, etc.)
Administrative responsibilities
- Handling incoming collaboration contracts from potential members
- Preparing contracts
- Clarifying legal aspects with external law firms
- Handling and developing general administrative procedures, ensuring that they are properly abided to by all staff
Financial responsibilities
- Assisting the Director General in the preparation of the yearly budget
- Analysing costs, proposing cost cutting measures when possible
- Preparing accounting files for the external accountants (with the executive assistants)
- Negotiating with suppliers, rationalising order procedures
Profile:
- The ideal candidate has 10 years’ experience in a similar role (Office Manager, Operations Manager, Administration Manager, etc.) and in a similar environment (small to medium-sized think tanks, lobhies, public affairs consultancies, trade associations)
- You have an excellent level of English and French (spoken and written)
- You possess very good skills on MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook)
- You have excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- You are figure minded rigorous with a genuine eye for detail
- You have a sense of initiative and the ability to make relevant suggestions to improve existing processes and to create new ones when appropriate
- You are a genuine all-rounder with a hands-on approach
- You have convincing skills and are solution oriented
- A hard worker, you thrive on setting objectives for yourself and to reach them in order to help the development of the organisation
Offer:
- A permanent and full-time CDI or an independent’s contract
- Starting date: ASAP
- A very competitive compensation package
- The opportunity to work in a quality oriented and intellectually stimulating environment in very nice offices!
- This is a newly created position and as such its content will be developed in time