Improving the Network Organizational Health, Capacity, and Resilience to deliver their mission.

About the European Climate Foundation

The European Climate Foundation (ECF) was founded in 2008 as a major philanthropic initiative to help tackle climate change by fostering the development of a low-carbon society at the national, European and global level. We support over 1000 partner organisations to carry out activities that contribute to the public debate on climate action, drive urgent and ambitious policy in support of the objectives of the Paris Agreement and help deliver a socially responsible transition to a net-zero emissions economy and sustainable society in Europe and around the world.

Context of the roles

The European Climate Foundation (ECF) has significantly expanded its network from 282 grantees in 2018 to 989 in 2023 to address urgent climate challenges amid growing geopolitical and environmental pressures. ECF’s grantees play a crucial role in advancing climate policy, adaptation, and sustainable practices, yet they face common challenges, including funding constraints, talent retention, and governance issues. To strengthen its network’s capacity and resilience, ECF introduced a 2023 strategy that enhances organizational health through its comprehensive Service Catalogue, which supports strategic planning, governance, people management, and operational sustainability. A core pillar of ECF’s approach is innovation and digitalization, with a strong local focus that empowers grantees to streamline operations, leverage data-driven decision-making, and foster collaboration across the network. This user-centered, digital-forward approach enables swift responses to emerging challenges, optimizes resources, and maximizes impact, creating a resilient, future-oriented network where organizations are empowered to drive sustainable, transformative climate progress toward a net-zero future.

Background

The European Climate Forum (ECF) is dedicated to fostering sustainable and impactful development within its network of Partner’s organizations across Europe. As part of this mission, ECF seeks to enhance the organizational capacities of its partner’s organizations through specialized Organizational Development (OD) services.

To support this initiative, ECF is constructing and developing a pool of experienced and engaged OD Consultants who will collaborate with the OD Service Manager to develop and implement a comprehensive catalog of OD services and providers.

This Open Call for Applications is for experienced consultants on

• Strategy & Governance
• External Relations & Advocacy
• Funding
• Operating Functions
• People Management

Objective

The main objective of this consultancy is to develop specialized OD services for the beneficiary organizations within the ECF network. This involves proposing, developing, and categorizing services and providers by technical area, ensuring the tailored needs of the organizations are met efficiently.

Scope of Service

The OD Consultants will be responsible for the following tasks:

Support diagnosis and design processes when required

Lead and deliver tailored interventions in their area of expertise

Develop and maintain training materials, tools and templates that feed the OD Service Catalogue

Areas and Categories of Responsibility

ECF has designed an OD Model based on four key organizational areas (Strategy, Governance & Culture; Programes; Operating Functions and; Environment & Resilience) with nine Categories, each containing subcategories

Geographical Scope

The geographical scope of the consultancy, particularly for market assessments, will cover all regions across Europe. This ensures that the proposed services and providers are well-distributed and accessible to all beneficiary organizations within the ECF network.

Deliverables

By the end of the consultancy, the following deliverables are expected:

1. Comprehensive OD Catalogue :

• A complete catalogue of OD services categorized by areas of expertise.
• Proposals for services and technical solutions, which may include external providers, corporate platform training services, or advisory services from ECF staff.
• Proposal and implementation of monitoring systems.

2. Organizational Diagnoses Review :

• A comprehensive review of the Organizational Health Diagnoses conducted on the beneficiary organizations.
• Identification of organizational weaknesses, establishment of priorities, and determination of target groups.

Specific Service roles & responsibilities

Strategy & Governance

The OD Consultant specialized in Strategy & Governance will provide services in a diverse team of consultants, taking a leading role in the following organizational Categories:

• Strategy: Refers to the organization’s long-term direction and priorities, guiding how it allocates resources and makes decisions to achieve its mission. This includes support in developing or refining the mission, vision and values, as well as strategic planning processes, theory of change development, business model design, and adaptive strategy reviews.
• Governance: Encompasses the structures, roles, and processes through which decisions are made, authority is exercised, and accountability is ensured. This includes board development, governance frameworks, clarification of roles and responsibilities, and the implementation of policies for transparency and accountability.

External Relations & Advocacy

The OD Consultant specialized in External Relations & Advocacy will provide services in a diverse team of consultants, taking a leading role in the following organizational Categories:

• Advocacy & Communications including website and Social Media management.
• External Relations Involving External Environment analysis, Networks and Relationships and Partnerships and Alliances.

Financial Health and Funding

The OD Consultant specialized in Funding will work in a diverse team of Consultants, taking a leading role in the following organizational Categories:

• Financial Health and Funding: Involves Funding priorities, Funding Capacity and Funding Diversification and will support other OD Consultants on Financial Sustainability.

Operating Functions

The OD Practitioner specialized in Operating Functions will work in a diverse team of experts, taking a leading role in the following organizational Categories:

• Operating Functions: Involves Grant Administration, Financial Systems and Controls, Budgeting Processes, Legal and Compliance and aspects related to Risk Management.
• Financial Health & Funding: Takes the lead on Financial Sustainability with the OD Service Manager and is involved in Funding related categories.

People Management

The OD Consultant specialized in People management will work in a diverse team of Consultants, taking a leading role in the following organizational Categories:

• Leadership: Involves leadership Models, succession planning and development and Diversified Leadership.
• People Management: Covers all aspects of people management, including talent attraction, development and retention, HR Policies, plans and guidelines, compensation and benefits and DEI
• Organizational Management and Culture: Takes the lead on organizational structure and culture together with the OD Consultant, and is strongly involved in change management and knowledge management

Consultants may be asked to support other Consultants in their tasks according to expertise and needs.

Qualifications and Experience

Minimum of 5 years of proven experience in Organizational Development, with a focus on developing and implementing OD solutions in their areas of expertise.

• Strong strategic vision and analytical skills
• Team management experience and collaboration skills
• Coaching or Mentoring experience
• Experience as consultant or independent contractor
• Client Service orientation, hands on service delivery style
• Skilled in facilitation and communication.
• Experience on change management and stakeholders management
• Ability to work effectively within a diverse and international network.
• Fluency in English; additional European languages are a plus

Highly Valuable experience:

• Think Tanks: experience in leadership, organisational development, or strategic consulting within think tanks, policy-advocacy institutes, or knowledge-driven institutions.
• Ecosystems and Networks: Experience designing and building networks or ecosystems across national, regional, or international levels, including convening, governance, or value articulation.
• Alliances: Expertise in developing alliances and partnerships to maximize impact of organisations (from the perspective of organisations within Non-Profit, philanthropy or profit sector).
• Civil Society / Democracy: experience in strengthening civil society, democracy-building, grassroots organising, or participatory governance.
• Startups, Strategy & Business Models: experience in strategic and organisational consulting or leadership within startups, including agile and adaptive strategies, business and operating models and scale-up strategies.

What we offer

· An initial three-month trial period contract to ensure mutual alignment and satisfactory delivery. Possibility of extension depending on performance, results achieved, and funding availability.

Location

· Home Based

· Availability to travel across the European region as required, with travel estimated at up to once monthly or 15% of the total service time.

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications including:

· A CV outlining relevant experience

· A cover letter detailing your motivation and approach to the consultancy

Important: Candidates will be invited to complete a brief questionnaire upon receipt of their CV and cover letter. Please check all email folders, including spam.

Only applications submitted in full, including the completed questionnaire, will be considered.