Operations Director

About the Climate Litigation Network

The Climate Litigation Network (CLN) is a non-profit foundation (stichting) that works with partners around the world to bring ground-breaking litigation against high-emitting actors to drive stronger climate action. CLN was established in 2016 following the historic Urgenda climate case in the Netherlands, which led to the first decision of a court globally to order a national government to increase its climate ambition.

To harness the ground-breaking legal strategy and expertise developed in bringing that case, the Urgenda Foundation set up CLN to inspire and strengthen climate cases brought by local organisations and affected communities who use the law to protect our future. Today, CLN provides communities all over the world with the legal tools, insights and strategies to push big polluters – both governments and corporations – to develop and implement emissions reductions plans that keep us safe.

CLN’s work is rooted in our values of excellence, partnership, climate justice, integrity, impact, balance and joy. These principles underpin our partner-led model: we work behind the scenes, in deep collaboration with local legal teams, to build trust, strengthen national ownership, and ensure that climate litigation is both impactful and just.

You can learn more about CLN on our website, and read about our impact in the Ten Years of Climate Litigation report.

About the Role

The Operations Director (OD) is a pivotal new leadership position at CLN, created to guide the organisation through its next stage of growth and provide support to the two Co-Directors. As a member of the Senior Management Team, the OD will build an operational model that is agile, values-aligned, and equipped to deliver as we grow.

The OD will lead strategic oversight of all operational areas — including finance, compliance, governance, HR, internal systems, and infrastructure — ensuring they are robust, future-facing, and grounded in CLN’s values. They will work in close partnership with the Co-Directors and Operations Manager to ensure that the organisation is well-positioned to support high-impact climate litigation globally.

We are seeking a leader who can bring vision, structure, and clarity to support and strengthen a small but mighty team as we scale to meet the evolving demands of our mission.

Organisational Development

• Lead CLN’s operations strategy and oversee its delivery by the operations team.
• Anticipate and plan for CLN’s future operational needs, helping to shape a resilient organisational structure that supports planned staffing growth in the next 3 years.
• Oversee and continuously improve CLN’s organisational infrastructure — embedding efficient, secure, and scalable systems that support day-to-day operations and long-term growth.

Strategy and Governance

• In collaboration with Co-Directors, ensure alignment of operations with CLN’s evolving strategic priorities and provide strategic input into CLN’s long-term strategy.
• Provide timely and high-quality reporting to the Co-Directors and Supervisory Board on CLN operations to support informed decision-making and good governance.
• Support in identifying, building, and maintaining strategic partnerships.
• Play a critical role in supporting the Co-Directors in decision-making, internal communications, and management.

Finance

• Act as the lead strategist on CLN’s financial health — working with the Co-Directors to set and implement the financial strategy for long-term sustainability.
• Oversee the operational and financial systems for fundraising, working with the Co-Directors to align these with CLN’s long-term fundraising strategy.
• Ensure that the Co-Directors receive regular and consistent support on forecasting, budgeting, capital management, and cashflow.
• Oversee the transition of core financial systems and processes in-house, and the implementation of modern, user-friendly financial systems and tools to streamline internal processes and support decision-making.

Risk Management and Compliance

• Oversee organisational risk management, including identifying and managing legal, cyber, and operational risks; ensuring appropriate insurance coverage; and maintaining compliance systems and business continuity planning.
• Ensure legal, regulatory and tax compliance across two jurisdictions (Netherlands and UK).

Team, HR and Organisational Culture

• Foster and role model a culture that reflects CLN’s values — including excellence, professionalism, balance and joy — and create space for healthy feedback and learning.
• Oversee CLN’s people strategy across its locations, ensuring HR systems are values-driven, legally compliant, and structured to support a thriving international team and continuous progressional development.
• Oversee all talent-planning and recruitment processes to support CLN’s sustainable growth.
• Maintain and evolve internal delivery systems (project tracking, internal communications, meeting rhythms) to ensure strong alignment and clarity across the team.

We’re looking for a strategic and pragmatic leader who thrives in dynamic environments and brings structure, clarity, and confidence to growing organisations.

Essential

• Extensive senior operations and organisational leadership experience.
• Proven experience developing and executing impactful operations strategies, ideally within a scaling organisation.
• Strong planning, prioritisation and organisational skills, with experience managing cross-functional teams and workstreams.
• Demonstrated ability to assess complex organisational challenges and make strategic decisions that drive impact at both team and organisation-wide levels.
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong relationships with a diverse group of stakeholders.
• Proven experience managing organisational change, from stakeholder influence and buy-in, through to project engagement and driving desired outcomes.
• Tech-savvy and forward-thinking in adopting systems that support efficiency and team wellbeing.
• Experience with Dutch legal and financial frameworks.
• Based in the Netherlands, with the right to work.
• Ability and willingness to travel internationally as required.

Desirable

• A specialism in either finance, HR or governance
• Dutch language (fluent or advanced)
• Experience in NGO or social enterprise sector

Note – We recognise that no candidate will meet every requirement listed, and we strongly encourage applicants who bring significant strength in some areas — and curiosity and willingness to grow in others.

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