Job description

Do you want to join us on our mission to shape democracies for the digital age? Are you looking for an international and fast-paced, yet collaborative and inclusive environment to thrive in?

You have come to the right place.

CitizenLab, a global social impact scale-up with its European HQ in Brussels and presence in the US, works to make public decision-making more participatory, inclusive, and responsive. The SaaS platform is already being used by 300+ local governments and organizations in over 18 countries, facilitating two-way communication between governments and their residents. Since it was founded in 2015, CitizenLab has given 750,000+ community members a direct voice in local politics, has earned recognition as the ‘Best Social Impact Startup in Europe’, and was featured in outlets such as The New York Times and Forbes.

CitizenLab is looking for purpose-driven talent to join us on our mission to enable millions of people in cities across the globe to shape the future of their communities.

VP of Operations at CitizenLab

As our VP of Operations, your main objective will be to successfully guide CitizenLab through its organisational scale-up from 45 to 75 this year. You put adequate structures and processes in place in order to enable rapid international growth and a growing global impact. You will be a key member of our senior management team, working closely with the CEO in the day to day. We are therefore looking for a strategic mind to oversee operations across teams, while you take ownership over the organisational backbone: finance, legal, people and culture. Your main responsibilities will include:

1. Company Operations

• Shape CitizenLab’s operating system, incl. tools and processes, and oversee the daily operations.

• Lead and supervise the People & Operations team of 3-5 people.

• Report on company KPIs and leverage data to assess company performance.

• Help develop, communicate, and implement company strategies, in collaboration with the CEO and senior management.

• Support team leads in their planning and goal-setting processes, and facilitate cross-team collaboration.

2. Financial Management

• Manage our budgets from start to finish, ie. budget modelling, forecasting, and reporting.

• Optimise our finance management from invoice automation, over liaising with the accountants, to implementing cost-optimization strategies.

3. Legal & Compliance

• Develop our international legal and payroll structures to sustain growth.

• Own all our legal matters, from our SLA to trademarks, and liaise with legal advisors when needed.

4. People & Culture

• Promote our values at every step of our operations, and help us sustain an exceptional culture on our shared scale-up journey.

• Recruit and/or develop top talent in leadership positions, in collaboration with the Head of People.

Requirements

What do we expect from you?

• 4+ years of experience as a Head/Director/VP/Chief of Operations in a tech environment, preferably in SaaS. A proven scale-up track record, that’s what you’re bringing to the table.

• All-rounder with excellent understanding of all business functions, and Finance, Legal, and HR in particular.

• Exceptional competency in strategic and financial planning. Experience in fundraising and M&A processes is a big plus.

• Outstanding organisational and management skills. In line with our DNA, you believe in the value of participation and have a servant leadership style.

• Hands-on and flexible attitude. We’re a small yet fast-growing organization; you know when to do things yourself and when to delegate.

• Tech-savvy with a strong data analysis skillset. You are good at modelling business processes to identify inefficiencies, and leverage digital tools (e.g. Zapier, Google Sheets) to integrate data and seek automation where possible.

• Hungry to learn and teach. We invest heavily in making each other better.

• Experience working in/with multiple cultures and languages, including the United States. Your English is impeccable and it would be a plus if you speak Dutch too.

• Working from a European time zone. The ability to relocate to Brussels is a big plus.

• Most importantly, you can demonstrate a big appetite to improve the functioning of our governments and democracies!

An eagerness to learn, talent, and enthusiasm are more important than ticking all the boxes. If you don’t meet all of the listed requirements but are motivated and excited about the role, we want to hear from you!

What can you expect from us?

• Unlock your full potential and create social impact at scale through our open-source product. Day-to-day, we work with local government leaders across the world to help them connect with their communities.

• Become a key factor in our rapid growth as scaleup (75 employees), and contribute to our international expansion.

• Work in a fast-paced, collaborative, and supportive environment. We share a participatory culture of autonomy and ownership by everyone, not only by leadership.

• Be part of our dynamic, international team. We are as serious about our work in digital democracy as we are about having fun on our journey together.

• Enjoy an informal work vibe with open communication and full transparency on results.

• Participate in our various in-person and remote team events, inspiring team lunches, our company book club, bi-quarterly strategic town halls, and yearly global team retreats.

• Spend 10% of your time on personal projects and self-development for the long run. We’re committed to both collective and individual growth.

• Receive a competitive remuneration package (incl. management bonus) and stock options. Our benefits include 26 days PTO, a professional development budget, a collective bonus plan, your own laptop, full flexibility on working from home, and much more.

CitizenLab is committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace. Whilst we are proud of our cultural diversity and gender parity, we are aware of the limited racial diversity in our team and are committed to making a change on this. We strongly encourage people of different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to apply.