The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online supporters. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. For two decades, NRDC has been a thought leader and trusted adviser to our partners in China. With a highly effective team of more than 30 people based in our Beijing office, NRDC China Program have worked hard at both the national and local levels to recommend, develop, and help implement innovative laws, policies, technologies, and market tools that conserve natural resources, curb pollution and accelerate China's transition to a clean, low-carbon economy. NRDC's Beijing Representative Office is registered under the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau and supervised by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration of China.
Position Summary
NRDC is seeking an Operations Manager to work with the Coal Cap team in our Beijing office. The Operations Manager will support the team with budgeting, grant management and reporting, compliance, and other operations and administrative tasks. We require a detail-oriented, highly organized, independent individual. You will manage multiple projects with varying deadlines and be adaptable to rapidly changing priorities.
This is a full-time consultant position. The selected candidate will be offered for an initial term of one year, with the potential to extend based on program needs and funding availability.
Responsibilities
Budgeting and Financial Management (50% of time required)
Support team leaders to prepare and manage the China Coal Cap Project’s annual overall budgets as well funder-specific budgets, including monitoring monthly expenses and updating budgets on a monthly basis.
Review and track monthly expenses and staff labor hours.
Coordinate and lead monthly, quarterly, and annual financial review meetings.
Work closely with the accounting and development departments to ensure successful collaboration.
Identify and mitigate risks in funding and financial management.
Oversee expense reports, invoicing, and other transactions, in conjunction with program assistants.
Comply with all internal NRDC budgeting and contract processes and deadlines and identify and implement changes to improve operations efficiency and effectiveness.
Grants and Contracts Management (30% of time required)
Coordinate with team members to ensure efficient and effective preparation of sub-grant and contract agreements with partners and vendors. Create and update contract templates, guidance, and checklists. Coordinate with team members to ensure timely and accurate collection of progress and financial reports.
Assist the team leader in ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of grant and subgrant contracts, including preparation and timely submission of funder financial and narrative reports, collection and payment of subgrant contract and vendor invoices, and adherence to other funder requirements.
Ensure that the China Coal Cap Project complies with funder-specific and NRDC financial requirements and best practices.
Assist in tracking contract deliverables to ensure that they are submitted within the required time frame and coordinate the submission of invoices.
Operations and Administration (20% of time required)
Support team leaders in staff and intern hiring and on-boarding.
Lead in the use of project management and knowledge-sharing software, e.g., Concur and SharePoint, including rolling out expanded and consistent use across teams.
Explore and develop innovative approaches in project management, with support from the team leaders.
Assist Program staff with administrative tasks such as managing schedules, coordinating meetings, providing logistical support for events and meetings, weekly reporting and other administrative duties as needed.
Document operations processes and procedures in order to provide clear guidance to team members and facilitate institutional knowledge transfer.
Qualifications
Minimum of 3 years of relevant, full-time work experience.
Master’s degree in business/public administration, management, finance, international development, or a related field (or bachelor's degree with 2 additional years of relevant experience).
Assertive, detail-oriented, strong organization skills with a strong interest and talent for effective program operations/coordination, budgeting and financial management, and administrative work. Prior financial management and accounting experience is a plus.
Self-motivated with an ability to juggle multiple priorities, handle assignments independently, and work under tight deadlines.
Demonstrated capacity to work well under pressure with competing demands.
Patience and perseverance in understanding and explaining issues to partners and contractors, particularly with regard to grant compliance and monitoring.
Strong process orientation with sensitivity to quality and accuracy.
Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
Strong writing, database management, and proofreading skills.
Excellent communication skills, including the ability to work well in a team.
Strong computer skills including high level of comfort with Microsoft Office (e.g., Outlook, Word, Excel, SharePoint, PowerPoint, etc.), web-based communications (e.g., BlueJeans, Microsoft Teams, etc.), and Internet research.
Staff management experience preferred.
Commitment to NRDC’s values and mission.
NRDC is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, both in our work and in our workplace. We believe that celebrating and actively welcoming a diversity of voices and perspectives is essential to solving the planet's most pressing environmental problems, and we encourage applications from candidates whose identities have been historically under-represented in the environmental movement. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate in hiring or employment.
We offer competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and commensurate with skills and experience.
To apply, please visit www.nrdc.org/careers and upload your resume and cover letter, in which salary expectation and availability are stated, through our online portal. We would like you to upload any additional papers or project work that you think would showcase your abilities. Due to the high volume of resumes, only qualified candidates will be contacted. Please no phone calls, emails, faxes or in-person resume drop-offs. Please reference where you saw this posting. NRDC is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
If you are having technical difficulty while applying, please send an email with the position title in the subject line to hr_bj@nrdc-china.org.
For further information about NRDC, please visit www.nrdc.org and www.nrdc.cn.
