Chief Operating Officer

FULL TIME JOB VACANCY Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer Executive Division Multiple Locations Considered Application Deadline: Open Until Filled The Role The Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer (COO) reports to the Executive Director and is responsible for ensuring that HRW’s mission is implemented efficiently, effectively, and with maximal impact by managing day-to-day internal operations, translating strategy into action, optimizing processes, managing resources, and ensuring highly effective and professional internal communications throughout the organization. By driving internal organizational operational excellence, the COO will enable the Executive Director (ED) to focus on external-facing and strategic matters, including fundraising, high-level advocacy, partnerships, board and stakeholder engagement, and long-term strategic planning. The COO works in close collaboration with the Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director-Chief Program Officer as a senior member of the Executive Committee, ensuring operational excellence consistent with HRW’s mission, vision, and values. The COO, together with the rest of the Executive Committee, will ensure that HRW operates as a high-impact complex organization, with a strong commitment to sustained excellence, financial discipline, and a positive collaborative culture built on respect and trust. The COO will directly supervise the following organizational functions Finance & Accounting, Global Financial Operations, Information Security & Technology, General Counsel, People& Culture, Real Estate, and Security. In addition, they will have oversight authority to ensure HRW’s compliance with the highest organizational management standards, including rigorous budgetary and financial accounting processes; professional conduct at all levels; and a deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as the personal and professional growth of staff. Together with the Operations Leadership Team (OLT), which comprises the leaders of all the operations functions, the COO will ensure effective, transparent, and inclusive communication processes, including seeking input and feedback across HRW on the design and implementation of organization-wide policies and initiatives. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Establishing a close partnership with the Executive Director and leading a clearly articulated operational strategy in support of HRW’s short- and long-term goals; 2. Focusing on outcomes and improvement to ensure that the management, staffing and culture of the organization’s operational backbone are aligned with HRW’s mission and values; 3. Working closely with the Executive Committee and senior leadership to ensure a culture of open and direct communication in a positive, fair and accountable workplace; 4. Ensuring consistent application of policies and practices, aligned with best practices, with the authority to assure appropriate accountability across the organization; 5. Working closely with the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Programs Officer (CPO) and Chief Development Officer, ensuring strong communication and collaboration between the operations, programmatic, development teams and implementation of all structures, systems and processes; 6. Optimizing resource allocations to drive organizational priorities while managing long-term financial stability of the organization, including investments; 7. Supporting the development and delivery of a technology strategy that delivers for both programmatic and operational needs in a cost-efficient manner; 8. Overseeing a modern and agile financial architecture to facilitate the optimization of annual financial planning; 9. Being accountable for leading the identification, evaluation, monitoring, and mitigation of organization-wide risk; 10. Ensuring that the organization attracts, supports, and retains a skilled, diverse, and high performing workforce. Special emphasis will be given to implementing H