Senior Director Aviation, Shipping and Energy

Position description

Transport & Environment, Europe’s leading advocates for clean transport and energy, are looking for an exceptional leader to join our team as Senior Director (SD) in charge of aviation, shipping and energy.

T&E is an independent, non-partisan think tank and NGO working to decarbonise transport. Our vision is a zero-emission mobility system that is affordable and has minimal impacts on our health, climate and environment.

Through our advocacy activities, based on authoritative analyses and coalitions with a wide array of stakeholders, we have shaped some of Europe’s and the world’s most important clean mobility laws.

This unique opportunity comes at a time where the organisation is looking to expand outside of Europe and where decarbonizing the shipping, aviation and energy sectors has never been more urgent. The SD will be responsible for the overarching shipping, aviation and energy program strategy, with a special focus on energy. Depending on the candidate, the Senior Director would also supervise T&E’s (smaller) rail and climate teams.

Reporting to the Executive Director, you will lead a team of policy directors and issue leads, be a member of T&E’s Senior Management Team (SMT), therefore co-determine the organisation’s strategy, and work with T&E’s national offices and members to implement our strategy.

Key responsibilities

Strategy Development:

• Responsible for the overarching shipping, aviation and energy programs strategy, with a particular focus on energy vectors, as this is key to decarbonise aviation and shipping;
• Ensure that the team of Directors and the organisation deliver that strategy;
• Understand advocacy strategy, the importance of solid evidence and analysis to drive change;
• Ensure that the strategy is informed by external reality, and is in line with T&Es overall ambition as well as the short term programme goals.

Leadership:

The SD supports T&E’s Executive Director in partnership with the other members of T&E’s Senior Management Team (SMT) to ensure an efficient and agile management structure and environment. With an enabling and positive culture, and effective people to ensure the continuity and quality of T&E’s performance. The SD should lead by example both in their knowledge and experience but also in how they work with others.

Management:

Programme responsibility: The SD leads and directly manages a core team made up of 3 policy directors, and potentially two additional policy leads. The SD will create an integrated team culture that is focused, dynamic and works well together. They are responsible for identifying and leading strategic discussions and decisions among T&E management to achieve a high level of shared analysis, strategic alignment and orientation, and to nurture working relationships to benefit each part of the organisation.

Integrated Management: The SD has a collaborative working relationship with the National Offices, E-mobility, Analytical and Operations (Senior) Directors that helps ensure strong integration across these functions for the overarching success of T&Es programme.

Representation and stakeholder management:

The SD represents T&E as a senior leader, both internally and externally. They speak on behalf of T&E, representing the organisation with governments, other NGOs, funders, the media.

Finances:

The SD supports the Executive Director and Operations Director to ensure the strategic and prudent management of T&Es resources to ensure T&Es grants are allocated effectively. The SD is also responsible for ensuring the cluster is adequately financed and is proactive and efficient in their fundraising efforts. They ensure effective management and transparent and timely reporting of the budget and grants.

Qualifications

Our ideal candidate should have the following skills:

• At least ten years leadership experience, whereof minimum 5 years should be in a senior leadership position, preferably in an international environment;
• Experience in developing overarching advocacy strategies and their implementation;
• Knowledge of the European Union legislative processes;
• Deep technical knowledge of electricity, hydrogen and liquid fuels;
• Kind, humble and generous, willing to both give and receive feedback and committed to a work culture based on proficiency, accountability and collaboration;
• Strong leadership and team building skills and experience of leading and building high performance teams. Knows when to lead and when to create space for others to lead;
• Excellent communicator. Can communicate complexity simply; tell stories, both written and verbal;
• Good analytical skills. Ability to understand complex models, data and systems, and to direct analytical work;
• Negotiation, problem solving and networking skills;
• Financial control, and fundraising experience;
• Have a great commitment to T&E’s mission and in particular to decarbonising aviation and shipping sectors.

This is a full-time position based in Brussels, but other locations where T&E have national offices (Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, or Warsaw) can be considered for the right candidate. National and international travel is expected.

T&E offers a permanent contract and a competitive salary in line with the candidate’s experience.

T&E is an equal-opportunity employer and welcomes applications from candidates of diverse backgrounds and experiences.

If you join T&E, you will have the opportunity to dedicate your energy and creativity to solving one of humanity’s greatest challenges: combating climate change and defending the environment.

Application instructions

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