Chief Operations Officer (COO)

COO at Happy Doggo

Location

Remote, based in the UK or EU (European time zone, GMT to CET)

Travel

At least one trip to Thailand per quarter

Contract

Full-time, permanent

Salary

Depends on experience

Reports to

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Works closely with

CFO, Managing Director (Thailand), Board of Trustees, Strategic Advisory Council

About Happy Doggo

Happy Doggo is an international animal welfare charity working to improve the lives of street dogs across the world. We launched in 2023 and have since grown to a team of 45 people and we’re on track to raise over $12M next year to support our charitable programmes in South East Asia.

We operate across several entities: a UK-registered charity, a US 501(c)(3), and a Thai company. Over the next few years, we will be expanding to include new charitable entities and new programme locations around the world. To grow effectively, we need someone who can bring the whole organisation together under one strategy, one set of standards and one culture–and that’s where you come in. 

The role

As COO you will own the systems that hold our organisation together: strategy and planning, performance measurement, governance, legal and risk, HR, and technology. You will also lead the special projects that will shape our next chapter, occasionally building small teams and getting them set up for independence. While this is an operations role, your people management responsibilities will be limited and your individual contributions will be paramount–but the ideal candidate will still be an excellent people manager and leader. 

You'll work across every Happy Doggo entity. You will make sure our policies are consistent and compliant in each jurisdiction, and that every team member, wherever they're based, has a comparable experience of working with us. This role suits a strategic thinker who is equally happy rolling up their sleeves, and who wants their skills to make a direct difference to animals' lives.

Key responsibilities

Strategy and measurement

• Set and track global OKRs, metrics and performance reporting, including non-financial and impact performance
• Build and maintain board reporting and dashboards
• Own the global organisational chart and hiring plans, with input from the Managing Director(s) of operational countries
• Plan and lead Board and Strategic Advisory Council meetings, both in person and remote
• Create and maintain company policies for every entity, ensuring compliance and consistency across the organisation

Legal, risk and governance

• Build and manage relationships with legal counsel in each jurisdiction
• Oversee all legal matters, including trademark and copyright, employee relations, fraud and harassment
• Own the global risk register, risk strategy and risk management
• Lead governance and compliance across all entities
• Own delivery of charitable grant-making across entities, including direct management of in-field grant managers 

HR and people

• Oversee global HR and employee engagement policies and practices. The aim is for every Happy Doggo employee, in every entity, to have a comparable experience of our culture, values and management.
• Align leave and compensation packages across entities for each seniority level
• Design learning and development programmes and align opportunities across entities
• Set up and manage cross-entity working arrangements, including secondments, time allocation and staff working across more than one entity

IT and systems

• Own IT policy and manage internal IT tools (e.g. Slack, Google Workspace,, Xero and AI tools) and external platforms (e.g. Donorbox)
• Act as the go-to problem-solver for cross-entity operational or technology issues

Special projects

• Plan, project-manage and resource major organisational projects, including:
• • New entity creation (e.g. charities in new countries, mergers and partnerships)
  • New programme locations (e.g. US operations, new operational countries)

This is a broad, hands-on leadership role. The COO will have ownership across a number of organisational functions and will use a combination of internal resources, external advisers and technology to deliver across these areas. The balance of time will vary depending on organisational priorities, with major strategic and organisational projects likely to form a significant part of the role.

About you

Essential

• Significant senior leadership experience in operations, strategy or a COO-type role, ideally in a charity or international non-profit
• Proven experience working across more than one country or legal entity
• Strong grounding in governance, compliance and risk management. Experience working with trustee boards is a big advantage.
• Confident managing external advisers, particularly legal counsel
• A track record of setting up planning and performance frameworks (OKRs, KPIs, dashboards) and making them stick
• Excellent project management skills, and the ability to lead complex, multi-stakeholder projects from idea to delivery
• Excellent people management and leadership skills with experience managing teams of 20+ people
• Comfortable with modern cloud-based tools, and curious about how technology and AI can help a small team do more
• Willing and able to travel to Thailand at least once a quarter
• Right to work in the UK or EU

Desirable

• Experience of charity law and governance in the UK and/or US (Charity Commission, 501(c)(3))
• Experience of setting up new legal entities, mergers or international expansion
• A background in animal welfare, veterinary or community programmes

The kind of person who will thrive here

You're organised and calm under pressure, and you enjoy turning messy situations into clear systems. You lead with warmth and build trust across cultures and time zones. You're comfortable with ambiguity and like the variety of a role where no two weeks are the same. And you care about dogs.

What we offer

• Remote working with flexible hours within a European time zone
• All travel and accommodation costs covered for Thailand trips
• Learning and development support
• The chance to shape a growing international charity at a pivotal moment, and to see the impact of your work on the ground