Program Director - 30 Cities Program

MISSION TO METRICS

The mission of The Ocean Cleanup is to develop and scale technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. To succeed, we both clean up existing pollution and prevent more plastic from reaching the oceans in the first place – the latter by intercepting it in rivers.

Our ambition is to, in the next few years, stop up to 1/3rd of global plastic pollution inflow by deploying Interceptors in the rivers of 30 of the most plastic polluted cities across Asia and the Americas (the 30 Cities program). This requires a steep deployment ramp and a deployment rate measured in number of deployments per week.

As Program Director, your role is to oversee the successful delivery of the 30 Cities program by supporting our functional teams, identifying and helping to resolve issues that challenge timely and on-budget delivery. Your success will be measured by the program’s completion within scope, schedule, and budget.

“The success of the 30 Cities program has the ability to directly transform more than a dozen waterbodies around the world and address up to 1/3rd of all plastic pollution from rivers. As its Program Director, you have the opportunity to materially influence the future state of our oceans.” – Boyan Slat CEO

THE ASSIGNMENT

The Program Director (PD) is responsible for ensuring the on-time and on-budget delivery of the 30 Cities Program. You will drive the program to meet the plan, manage recovery efforts if the program slips, and resolve challenges—particularly those involving team interfaces.

You will maintain an end-to-end overview of the river technology deployment process, synthesize key program information, and communicate updates through dashboards to the Management Team and the Supervisory Board. Additionally, you will develop new tools and processes to enhance the program’s effectiveness.

The PD is a key role within The Ocean Cleanup, reporting directly to the CEO.

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• While possessing a degree or higher-level qualification is advantageous, our primary focus is on individuals with strong intellectual capacity and quick thinking.
• Highly experienced in Project & Program Management (including risk management, budgeting, and scheduling).
• Project Management qualifications may be a plus, but demonstrable success in project/program management is more important.
• 5+ years of experience in managing large-scale, complex programs across multiple countries, ideally in technical environments (e.g. offshore, infrastructure, manufacturing).
• Familiarity with project management software (e.g., MS Project, Primavera) and dashboard software (e.g., PowerBI).
• Experience in managing external dependencies on a program (e.g., regulatory, commercial, partners, suppliers).
• Experience with overseeing technical development, innovation, and/or compliance with environmental/quality standards is a plus.

PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• Tenacious and creative problem-solver.
• Structured; process-minded without being bureaucratic.
• Skilled in negotiation and conflict resolution.
• Change management experience, especially in scaling organizations.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to manage stress and maintain focus/set priorities under pressure.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

• Reporting to Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO.
• We have a flexible/hybrid work style, but this role requires you to be at the heart of the organization; you will need to be in the office most of the time.