Impact & Philanthropy Chief Operating Officer

Steyn Group seeks a Chief Operating Officer for its Impact & Philanthropy initiatives in Johannesburg, South Africa. The COO will enhance operational, governance, and financial frameworks for wildlife protection and human rights advocacy. Key responsibilities include strategic leadership, program oversight, financial stewardship, risk management, and fostering organizational culture. The role supports the Executive Director in achieving institutional excellence and accountability.
Overview of Steyn Group:

The Steyn Group is a global single family office platform that specialises in private market investments in the United Kingdom, United States and South Africa. Steyn Group has a broad investment mandate and are always seeking new ways in which to leverage resources to tackle some of the key problems in the world.

Aligned with this mission, the EMS Foundation, established in 2014, is a leading philanthropic organisation advancing the rights and welfare of wild animals, children, elderly persons, and other vulnerable groups across South Africa and the African continent. The Foundation works to alleviate suffering, challenge systemic inequality, raise public awareness, empower communities, and promote dignity through advocacy, litigation, and programme delivery.

Purpose of the role:

The Chief Operating Officer is responsible for building and strengthening the operational, governance, financial and risk architecture necessary to sustain high-stakes wildlife protection and human rights advocacy.

Working closely with the Executive Director, The COO ensures that:
• Institutional systems support complex litigation and policy interventions
• Financial controls protect donor confidence
• Risk frameworks mitigate legal, reputational and political exposure
• Operational systems enable scalable justice impact
• Organisational resilience matches advocacy ambition

This role is critical in enabling the Executive Director to focus on strategic leadership, external engagement, and fundraising, while ensuring institutional excellence, resilience, and accountability.

Key Responsibilities and Duties:
• Strategic & Operational Leadership
• Translate organisational strategy into clear, executable operational plans
• Align programmes and functions around shared priorities
• Develop executive dashboards to support Board oversight and decision-making
• Operational Delivery & Programme Oversight
• Oversee day-to-day operations across all programmes, including Policy & Advocacy, Litigation, Wildlife, Community Development, Communications, and Finance
• Implement integrated project and programme management systems
• Establish clear KPIs and performance tracking mechanisms
• Financial Stewardship & Sustainability
• Ensure robust financial management aligned with organisational priorities
• Strengthen internal controls and maintain audit readiness
• Oversee budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis
• Monitor litigation costs and ensure donor compliance
• Governance, Legal & Risk Management
• Maintain and evolve the organisation’s risk management framework
• Ensure compliance with relevant non-profit, labour, and tax regulations
• Develop crisis management and institutional protection systems
• Produce high-quality, Board-ready governance and reporting materials
• People, Culture & Organisational Development
• Foster a high-performance, justice-driven organisational culture
• Implement structured performance management and accountability systems
• Develop leadership pipelines and staff capability
• Embed wellbeing and resilience practices across the organisation
• Monitoring, Evaluation & Impact
• Establish systems to track organisational and programme impact
• Develop dashboards capturing litigation outcomes, policy influence, and operational performance
• Enable data-driven decision-making and adaptive learning
• Support Board-level visibility of institutional performance
• External Representation
• Represent the Foundation in operational, sector, and funding forums
• Build and maintain strong institutional relationships
• Enhance credibility within philanthropic and advocacy ecosystems

Essential Qualifications & Experience
• Postgraduate degree in Management, Law, Public Administration, Business, Environmental Governance, or a related field
• 5–7+ years’ experience in a senior operations or executive leadership role
• Demonstrated experience in both:
• Wildlife conservation, biodiversity governance, or environmental protection
• Human rights, social justice, or public interest sectors
• Proven experience operating in politically sensitive or high-risk advocacy environments
• Strong understanding of South African non-profit regulatory frameworks

This is a rare opportunity to shape and scale the operational engine of a bold, high-impact organisation tackling some of the most urgent issues of our time. You will work at the forefront of wildlife protection and human rights, helping to build an institution capable of delivering lasting systemic change.