Operations Lead

Background 

Edinburgh Communities Climate Action Network (ECCAN) is a network of over 160 group members and over 300 individual members. We aim to engage and empower individuals and community groups in taking meaningful action to address the climate and nature emergency, working towards a just, thriving and resilient Edinburgh. Our membership is open to any community group and individual in Edinburgh. You can become a member here. 

ECCAN was launched by the Scottish Communities Climate Action Network (SCCAN) in 2022 and submitted a successful funding application to the Scottish Government in Autumn 2023 to establish the Edinburgh Communities Climate Action Hub. This is part of a strategic Scotland-wide network of regional Climate Action Hubs. 

At ECCAN, we aim to cultivate an organisational culture that is diverse, equitable, and fosters belonging. The post holder will play a pivotal role in supporting us to achieve this vision. 

The Role 

This is an exciting opportunity for an individual who is passionate about climate action, good governance and charity management to take a key supporting role in building the community-led network and ensuring its ongoing success.

This person will be an excellent administrator with a keen eye for detail, tech-savvy and able to support the organisation in achieving its aims and objectives, through the management of everyday operations.

This will include ensuring compliance with all policy and related expectations of a publicly-funded organisation, managing HR strategies and day-to-day finances such as payroll and expenses. 

As part of a fast-paced environment and collaborative team, there will be an opportunity for you to grow and develop in your role. While the role is focused on the finance and policies of the charity you will be able to contribute to the direction of our sub-networks or other activities you may have an interest in.

 Main Duties and Responsibilities 

• Deliver ECCAN’s organisational strategy and the smooth running of everyday operations of the charity including managing expenses, payments and payroll and dealing with technical issues related to our website, under direction from the Network Lead. 
• Administer and manage contracts related to funding, personnel, suppliers, service providers etc. 
• Manage compliance with statutory regulatory requirements such as GDPR. 
• Support the scheduling of internal and external meetings and logistics of ECCAN subnetwork events. 
• Act as secretary of the charity (in collaboration with named ECCAN trustee) - organising trustee meetings, taking minutes, managing policy and reviews, and setting up knowledge and document management systems. 
• Collaborate with the Network Lead to support the delivery of ECCAN’s fundraising strategy. 
• Collaborate with the team to support the integration of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, race and equalities agendas across all of ECCAN's planning and programming, promoting an inclusive and diverse organisational work culture. 

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Experience administering an organisation, business or large team / project. 
• Experience of and conversant in using the main IT systems (such as MS Office suite) and versatile in using new systems. 
• Experience of managing day-to-day accounting packages (such as Xero accounts) and preparing monthly narrative reports for the team / trustees. 
• Experience working with databases, particularly Excel. 
• Understanding of statutory regulatory requirements for charities. 

Desirable 

• Experience of managing personnel contracts and updating HR policies. 
• Experience of community climate action in a voluntary, professional or other capacity. 
• Background in working or volunteering for a charity 
• Knowledge and understanding of the climate crisis and nature emergency. 
• Experience with coding/programming/scripting, in Python or other languages 

 Skills and Abilities 

• Well organised, detail-oriented, and able to complete tasks to deadlines. 
• A team player, adaptable, agile, and responsive. 
• Warm, inclusive approach towards running and developing a vibrant network. 
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills. 

 Qualifications 

Educated to degree level or equivalent, with several years’ relevant work experience in areas such as managing voluntary organisations involved in sustainability and climate, community learning and development, social policy, social science, environmental protection, community planning, community-scale renewable energy or other relevant fields connected to climate action. 

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK. 

Equal Opportunities 

ECCAN values diversity and is committed to providing equal opportunities for all staff and applicants regardless of race, gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status or pregnancy and maternity. ECCAN makes hiring decisions based solely on experience, skills and the needs of the charity at the time. Please tell us if you have access needs for the recruitment process and we will try to meet your needs. 

We are actively seeking to recruit individuals whose background or lived experiences will bring extra depth and / or a diversity of perspectives into the ECCAN team. ECCAN is an equal opportunity organisation which aims to be family friendly. We encourage applications from under-represented sections of society, including but not limited to: people with disabilities, people of colour, trans and non-binary people, other members of the LGBTQI+ community, and women.

Interviews will be held provisionally on the week beginning 14th July 2025 at our office on Forth Street. 

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications for the role.

Edinburgh Communities Climate Action Network (ECCAN) is a registered Scottish Charity (SC052989) regulated by the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) www.eccan.scot