Managing Director

---

Job description

About openDemocracy

openDemocracy is a non-profit global media outlet producing high-quality journalism which challenges power, inspires change, and builds skills, capacity and leadership among groups underrepresented in the media. Its headquarters are in London, with team members across four continents.

You'll be joining our team during an exciting period of growth - building on a strong recent record where our journalism has triggered legal changes, parliamentary probes, lawsuits, criminal investigations, and has lifted a rich diversity of voices and perspectives from across the world. We often take voices otherwise excluded from the media to larger audiences, and we campaign on some of our key stories, pushing for a more open, democratic, and egalitarian world. Our journalism frequently gets picked up across the global media, including by The New York Times, Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Daily Mail, CNN, BBC, Deutsche Welle, Al-Jazeera, el Pais, Mail & Guardian, and many more. Our site attracts more than 13 million visits per year, and we provide a vital space for analysis, comment, and debate on issues ranging from democracy and human rights to economics and climate change. We have projects publishing in Russian, Arabic, Spanish, French, and Portuguese, as well as English.

Recently, we've been nominated for and won a number of prestigious journalism prizes, from the Gabo Award to the Paul Foot and British Journalism Awards. We are a mission-focused organisation, which means we always think about the impact our journalism can have.

About the role

Following the appointment of a new editor-in-chief in September 2021, openDemocracy is seeking to further strengthen its senior leadership by appointing an ambitious and enterprising managing director. The MD will be a key partner and critical friend to the editor-in-chief, responsible for ensuring the organisational performance and sustainability of openDemocracy, and focused on optimising its business, operations and impact at an exciting moment of growth.

The MD will play both critical internal and external roles. You will oversee operations, HR, finance, fundraising, and business development - ensuring effective facilitation of our strategic objectives, as well as providing an essential voice in defining the future direction, strategy, and income streams of the organisation. Day-to-day, you will report to the editor-in-chief, and you will also be a member of the board of directors, accountable to the board for the operational performance of the organisation. Externally, you will represent openDemocracy to a wide range of stakeholders, in the UK and overseas, including donors and strategic partners.

As a proven leader, you will be experienced in the creation and delivery of effective organisational infrastructure, necessary to support a dynamic organisation with multiple workstreams, a global reach, and freelancers, contributors and fellows based around the world. You will have excellent interpersonal and communication skills and will be comfortable engaging proactively and inclusively with colleagues within the context of a progressive organisational culture. You will be enterprising, solutions-oriented, and pragmatic, able to engage constructively with the operational complexities of a mission-driven organisation which has undergone a period of rapid growth and development.

One of openDemocracy's core strategic priorities is to build and foster a more inclusive international media ecosystem and we are keen to boost diversity in our organisation, too. We strongly encourage applications from all groups that are underrepresented in the media.

Person specification

Essential

• Senior leadership experience in an organisation of analogous scale and complexity, with experience of managing people and resources, and of operationalising strategy. Change management experience gained within a growing, mission-driven organisation would be particularly valuable.
• A proven track record in managing values-motivated, diverse, and sometimes challenging colleagues with emotional intelligence, ambition, and optimism
• An unwavering commitment to openDemocracy's mission to challenge power and inspire change
• A strong commitment to practising a non-judgemental and empowering approach to support diverse women, LGBTIQ people, people of colour, and other groups under-represented in the media
• A demonstrable track record of building and leading core operational functions of an organisation or large business unit
• Keen business and financial acumen and understanding of relevant HR, risk and legal compliance issues
• Experience working with boards
• Strong interpersonal skills, empathy, and ability to communicate effectively and proactively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to oversee and manage multiple workstreams in a pacy organisational context, solving problems and responding swiftly and on deadline to new or unplanned demands

Desirable

• Experience working in an international, globally dispersed organisation, ideally with experience of leading teams and/or projects across time zones.
• Demonstrable track record of successful fundraising, donor engagement, or enhancing organisational income generation
• Experience in feminist and anti-racist organisations
• Experience in campaigns or digital marketing
• Experience in journalism or news organisations
• Experience working with trade unions

How to apply

To apply for this role, please submit a CV and cover letter outlining your motivation and suitability for the role to: . The closing date for applications is Friday 26 November.

Jago Channell is our retained executive search consultant advising on this appointment.

More information on this role, including a full job description, can be found at:

<!– job description page –>