Special Advisor, Planning and Delivery

Description

Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is one of the world's leading independent policy institutes with a reputation for tackling the hardest problems of international relations that stretches back more than a century. Based in London with a global outreach, we aim to help build a secure, sustainable, prosperous and just world.

To help us achieve our goals, we are now seeking a Special Advisor, Planning and Delivery to support the CEO and COO. This is a proactive role for someone who is highly skilled at creating and nurturing relationships, with excellent written and spoken communication skills and who can extend influence across an organisation. The role is about creating and sustaining momentum; the ideal candidate is someone with the ability to recognise the big picture but who enjoys rolling up their sleeves to get the job done.

You will work closely with the leadership of the institute, playing a role in the development and implementation of the organisation's strategy and supporting the overall management. You will support the leadership team through the regular cycle of management and planning meetings, preparing briefing documents and inputs from colleagues, and coordinating any follow-up and action points. You will also support the CEO to deliver her external activity, including events, policy engagement and fundraising.

Main Responsibilities

Delivery

• Coordinate initiatives that reflect the CEO's priorities, ensuring seamless execution and timely completion.
• Draft reports, speeches, presentations, briefings and agendas for the CEO and COO as required.
• Draft the Director's report to Council each quarter.
• Compile the Impact report to Council each quarter, drawing on communications data and collecting examples from across the House.
• Maintain meticulous documentation of strategic plans and reports, ensuring easy accessibility and clarity.
• Manage relationships with key external convening partners, including the Munich Security Conference, World Economic Forum and Doha Forum.
• Facilitate communication from staff to the CEO and COO as required, working closely with the Director's Office team.
• Support and facilitate fundraising efforts by the CEO and COO, collaborating with the Director's Office and Fundraising teams, ensuring new opportunities are sought and followed up.
• Support senior leadership meetings by managing agendas, developing presentations and keeping track of action points.
• Organise internal communications from the CEO and COO, helping prepare for staff meetings.
• Brief the CEO and other leaders for upcoming meetings.
• Support the Director's engagement with the Institute's governance structures, including Council and Panel of Senior Advisers.

Strategy

• Assist in discussing the organisation's overall strategy, and facilitating oversight by Executive Leadership Team and Council.
• Collate and analyse key data, to allow the executive team to make informed decisions.
• Actively contribute to the delivery of the Chatham House EDI strategy, ensuring others positively impact this in line with outlined goals.

People

• Collaborate across Chatham House to advance the institute's priorities.
• Help build a positive working culture for all staff to thrive, ensuring good practice is shared and Chatham House standards of behaviours are followed.
• Help create a working environment where all staff are protected from mistreatment, harassment, discrimination, exploitation, and humiliation. Staff across levels feel able to express their experiences, opinions, and concerns authentically and without fear of retaliation.

Person Specification

Essential Skills and Experience:

Skills:

• Excellent written communication skills, with a proven ability to engage effectively with diverse stakeholders.
• A passion for, and strong working knowledge of international affairs and Chatham House's role.
• A strong sense of organisational strategy and how to pursue it.
• A proactive individual who foresees needs before they arise.
• Trustworthy and discreet.
• Comfortable working autonomously (this is a standalone role).

Experience:

• Exceptional project management skills with the ability to handle multiple high-priority projects simultaneously.
• Experience of drafting clear communications and strategic documents.
• Demonstrable experience of working with high-level officials, policymakers and funders.
• Strong command of the MS Office suite (PowerPoint, Excel etc).

Benefits

Benefits include approximately 37 days annual leave (including public holidays and Chatham House closure days), pension salary exchange, employee assistance programme, parental leave, flexible working and other benefits designed to suit your lifestyle. All of this, in a professional, engaging and intellectually stimulating environment.

Salary: £54,000 per year.

Contract: Full-time, Permanent.

Location: Hybrid (Office/home), minimum three days in the office per week (flexibility is crucial - at times this may require more in person working and travel).

Application deadline: We are eager to fill this role and will review applications and interview candidates on a rolling basis. We encourage early applications. The final closing date will be Wednesday 5 March 2025. However, if an appointment is made before then, this date may change.