Chief Executive Officer

About The Donkey Sanctuary

The Donkey Sanctuary was founded by Dr Elisabeth Svendsen in 1969. Since then, the charity has steadily grown into an international animal welfare organisation at the forefront of transforming the lives of millions of donkeys and supporting the people who care for them. Dr Svendsen’s legacy now stretches over fifty years and has helped incalculable numbers of donkeys around the globe lead a better quality of life.

The breadth and depth of our work means that no one in the world knows more about donkeys. We also know our passion for donkey welfare is shared by many others. It is a privilege that the public and our staff, partners and supporters trust us to make ethical decisions for donkeys. We estimate that there are more than 60 million donkeys and mules in the world and we work across the globe, tailoring our approach to meet donkeys’ unique challenges in different regions.

In the United Kingdom and Europe, we maintain a network of farms, sanctuaries and holding bases ready to help provide direct care. Our headquarters in Sidmouth, Devon has been at the forefront of donkey welfare for over 50 years and is not just open for visiting but is also a vital educational centre.

We also operate specialist veterinary care centres at our donkey hospital in Devon and donkey clinic in Lamu, Kenya and we help design and fund expertly designed programmes that directly support donkeys and make our resources and expertise available to donkey-owning communities. The Donkey Sanctuary supports projects in many countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, sharing expertise, training harness makers and vets to help improve donkey welfare.

Sadly, the biggest crisis facing donkeys today is the global trade in donkey skins. We are urgently leading calls for national governments to take immediate steps to halt the trade until it can be proven to be humane, sustainable and safe. Good Donkey welfare has a powerful impact on peoples lives and the organisation sees that ensuring this impact of peoples lives are maximised. In many countries they provide draft power critical to poorer communities and their impact is disproportionately felt by vulnerable groups in societies; such as women, children and the infirm. Donkeys’ lives intersect with people’s lives in a manner that means the welfare and livelihoods of both are intrinsically linked.

Ultimately The Donkey Sanctuary is a powerful voice and protector for donkeys everywhere.

Vision

A world where every donkey has a good quality of life.

Mission

Improving the lives of donkeys every day.

Job Summary

The CEO is responsible for the development of and implementation of the approved strategic plan and operational leadership of The Donkey Sanctuary and protecting our unique status as a world leader in donkey welfare. The CEO will be accountable for the delivery of the plan, while maintaining day to day leadership of all the charities activities. This requires excellence in leadership, operational oversight and continual improvement. The CEO will be key to ensuring the charity’s compliance with laws, regulations including the approved policy framework and acting at all times in the best interests of The Donkey Sanctuary.

Leadership

• Leading by example, supporting and inspiring all employees and volunteers of The Donkey Sanctuary at home and abroad and securing their loyalty and commitment to the charity’s aims, objectives and ambitions;
• Working with Senior Leadership Team to ensure the effective contribution of all staff to the delivery of the charity’s objectives;
• Promoting a working environment that is healthy, safe, flexible, creative and welcoming to attract, retain and support high calibre staff able to deliver consistently excellent achievements;
• Promoting an inclusive, ambitious and supportive culture;
• Seeking out, developing and maintaining effective working relationships with all relevant organisations and individuals to promote the work of the charity and facilitate the implementation of its strategic objectives;
• Being a guardian of the reputation of The Donkey Sanctuary;
• Uniting staff under a ‘one Donkey Sanctuary’ culture and taking responsibility for ensuring that the social, cultural, working and animal welfare environment of the charity is fit for purpose;

Strategy

• Working with the Board in relation to the development of the charity’s strategic vision and be responsible for leading the implementation of it;
• Ensuring that in aspects of life with The Donkey Sanctuary, our activities and our actions adhere to our values;
• Seeking out and implementing opportunities for innovation and ensuring that The Donkey Sanctuary remains at the forefront of positive change at home and abroad;

Resources and Budgets

• Promoting the sound financial management of The Donkey Sanctuary’s financial resources to ensure the continued availability of surpluses for investment into core mission;
• Advising the Trustees on the distribution and/or utilisation of resources and having responsibility for the management of these resources;
• Holding executive accountability for the financial leadership of the charity, including forecasting and strategic budget leadership;

Communication and Influence

• Developing, maintaining and promoting the profile of The Donkey Sanctuary at home and abroad;
• Connecting the organisation internally to ensure that all staff and volunteers are on the same journey by engaging, and being seen to engage, with all levels within The Donkey Sanctuary;
• Ensuring effective communication of the charity’s objectives and activities both internally and externally, at home and abroad;
• Developing strong relationships internally and externally including collaborations and partnership working with like-minded organisations and policy makers;

Governance and Compliance

• Liaise with the Board to ensure that the charity’s overall governance structure, policies and procedures are appropriate and effective, taking remedial measures and implementing changes as necessary;
• Attend all meetings of the Board and the formal sub-Committees of the Board. Prepare a written report in advance of each Board meeting detailing matters of interest and concern regarding the charity’s activities during the previous period; the Board works on the principle of “no surprises”;
• Ensure that effective operational policies and processes in all the charity’s functions are developed and maintained. Review and update scope and content to meet legal, regulatory and best practice needs;
• Oversee the development and practical application of all organisational policies and procedures e.g. with regard to health and safety, equality and diversity, and safeguarding;
• Ensure that the charity complies with best practice in all areas of operation including inter alia: Safeguarding, Health & safety, Employment law, Data governance, and Financial and tax laws;

Essential

• Proven track record of leadership, fundraising, financial management and successful delivery of strategic plans in international environments;
• Track record of team building and management at a senior level and a commitment to continuous improvement;
• Experience of the not-for-profit environment;
• Understanding of the issues and policy context in which The Donkey Sanctuary operates at home and abroad;
• Ability to communicate, influence and persuade to stakeholders at all levels and build persuasive arguments based on data, logic and objective merits of solutions;
• Ability to build and sustain professional working relationships with a wide range of people both inside and outside the organisation;
• Compassion, empathy and respect for donkeys and mules, and for those who work with them;
• Positive, pro-active and dynamic;
• Committed to best practice and with a drive for continuous improvement;
• Maintains performance, professionalism and composure when under pressure;
• Personal resilience required for a global CEO NGO role.

Desirable

• Experience as a not-for-profit CEO;
• Existing network of contacts within key stakeholder organisations including government at home and abroad, aid agencies, NGOs, and other relevant corporates;
• Awareness of contractual and legal issues relating to funding, employment and charity status;
• Empathy with a grass-roots bottom up approach to animal welfare and promoting a sustainable environment;
• Pre-existing pride and passion for The Donkey Sanctuary recognising its achievements;
• Change management experience.

Candidate Profile

The board of The Donkey Sanctuary are seeking a new CEO to lead it through its next evolution. The successful candidate will be an experienced leader, comfortable in operating within an increasingly global organisation. They will oversee an organisation with a make-up of overseas programmes and physical facilities that require different approaches to oversight. They will understand how to get the best out of staff and build and be able to demonstrate the approach of compassionate leadership and help drive ambition and inspiration through the organisation. Critically they will be able to quickly understand the organisational model and build a strategy for the next five years, gaining the remit from the board to do so.

The right individual will be adept at operating and communicating at the nexus of sectors and issues that relate to the welfare of donkeys. Key to this existence at the nexus of sectors is a high degree of competence as a networker, able to generate leads and deliver results against them. They will be a good orator and be able to mobilise and inspire audiences, ensuring that the organisation is seen as the voice for donkeys globally. They will be principled, passionate and able to sell a strategic vision and communicate this to different stakeholders internally and externally. They will be able to build bridges and deploy diplomacy as well as be able to communicate hard truths and negotiate effectively. Self-aware and culturally attuned, they will be comfortable in global forums and working internationally.

The individual will be able to inspire staff and take them on the strategic journey with global ambition. Equally the new CEO should be able to shepherd all of the organisations stakeholders through the next strategic period. Of critical importance is tying together the organisation culture overseas with the one based in the UK and providing coherence and unity between the two. They will understand how to foster accountability across the leadership team of the organisation. They will be on-site, visible, available to staff and collaborative.

The organisation benefits from a stability of income and as such the future strategy will be evolutionary in nature; essentially maintaining trajectory and improving in quality and professionalism, while providing the stability of a mature organisation. The key strategic change will be toward more impact in low to middle income countries where donkey welfare requires attention.

The right individual can come from any sector or background as long as they are credible in the role. They need to be passionate about animals and their place in society. The individual will have a track record of working successfully with boards and have an enthusiasm in working with them to steward the organisation. The organisations interaction with the board revolves around committee work as such the CEO should feel comfortable in this environment. In return, the CEO can expect a level of autonomy, but must also be comfortable with the board engaging more broadly with the executive if needs require.

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