About Porticus

Porticus is an international organisation that manages and develops the philanthropic programmes of charitable entities established by Brenninkmeijer family entrepreneurs. Their work builds on the heritage of the charitable engagement of Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer, two brothers who founded the clothing retailer C&A in 1841.

Porticus collaborates with partners around the globe to foster human dignity, social justice and sustainability. Working within Porticus’ sectors of caring for the earth, strengthening societies, building future generations, and fostering vital faith communities, the Foundation aims to contribute to systemic social change by combining their global expertise with their grassroots networks all over the world. Porticus currently operates twelve offices in five continents.

About the role

The Faith Sector affords Porticus an opportunity to build on the many years of its work in the church and faith sectors. The sector also provides a unique opportunity to consolidate Porticus’ place as a premier foundation that fosters vital faith communities. 

The Catholic Church is flourishing in many parts of the world, but like all organisations in this time of significant human development, it has to adapt and grow to best meet the needs of its members in the years to come. For many Catholics living in more secular societies in parts of Europe and North America, faith is becoming a private matter and some have become increasingly distant from the Church. In the Global South, where the number of Catholics is growing significantly, the Church is adapting and embedding itself in local cultures and traditions, responding to each new context. The four most recent popes have all characterised the Church's need to evolve as "urgent" and their work within Vital Church Communities builds upon this desire to explore new ways to renew and approach the Christian faith in a modern context.

Porticus deepens its focus on its objectives where they have established a strong network of partners and a history of successful impact. The objectives are thought-leadership on the themes mentioned above and focus on expertise and resources to support the revitalisation of the Church. The principles of Catholic Social Teaching provide a framework for all interventions and will guide Porticus’ approach at every level. Porticus’ interventions align with the global footprint across the different portfolios; especially, Catholic Spiritual Formation, Catholic Higher Education, Laudato si’, and Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue and Child Protection. 

Purpose of the Role

In this role, you will be responsible for developing and maintaining the vision of your department and the strategies of the portfolios in the programme. You will provide leadership to accomplish the long-term vision of social change in accordance with the organisation’s core values. You also will be in charge of the implementation of the strategy of the Faith Sector. 

Further, you will be maintaining contact with members of the Sector Investment Committee and other stakeholders across various other committees within the organisation. You will serve as a personal and professional sounding board to the Faith Sector Committee and its Chairman.
 

Duties and Responsibilities

• Ensure that the sector vision is clearly aligned with Porticus’ mission and vision. Build and implement the vision around Faith and curate the strategy around Faith portfolios on an ongoing basis.
• Build community awareness, in the organisation and the sector.
• Lead by example whereby Porticus’ values are lived and embraced.
• Strengthen the capabilities of Porticus in its advisory roles as well as the capabilities of staff to ensure the objectives of Porticus are met. 
• Be responsible for the overall planning and organisation of the organisation’s Faith portfolios and programmes to ensure that the available resources are most effectively used to meet the philanthropic objectives of the organisation.
• Create and encourage a collaborative work environment, with and through people, where trust, integrity and open communication are valued.
• Work closely with the ‘Effective Philanthropy’ unit and the Portfolios to explore/establish appropriate Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning tools for philanthropic activities in the faith space.
• Inform the Faith Sector Investment Committee on current issues and trends in the field.
• Manage an effective collaborative team within the matrix organisation. Continue to unlock and develop the potential of staff.
• Maintain and expand a network of partners. Create a high level of collaboration across all stakeholders.
• Contribute and support an outstanding organisational culture with heart, authenticity, and professionalism.
• Build a well-oiled department with the ability to advise on systematic change and impact.
• Create a solid reputation as a diplomatic and effective catalyst.
• Lead well-defined functioning portfolios, with the sector committee running smoothly.
• Align the portfolios within the sector and across sectors.
• Successful stakeholder management with partners, co-funders, foundations, and other related parties.

Skills and Experience

The ideal candidate will bring:

• Authentic and engaging leadership.
• Ability to function in a complex and constantly dynamic environment
• Entrepreneurial drive and passion for the mission of the family.
• Grounded experience in a Catholic Church environment, including the Vatican and other major religious organisations. 
• Ability to deal with complexity and has the skills to condense ideas and concepts into easily understandable summaries. 
• Experience in leading multidisciplinary, international and virtual teams.
• Strong verbal communicator, as well as good listening skills.
• Strong conceptual and analytical skills
• Deep passion for human dignity and social justice.
• Real interest in people.
• Transparency and walking the talk.
• Small ego but self-aware and self-confident.
• Fluent in English (written and spoken). Given the nature of the relationships of the association, the ideal candidate is multilingual.