European Coordinator

About the Break Free From Plastic movement

Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) is a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. Since its launch in September 2016, over 3500 organisations from 186 countries have joined the movement to demand massive reductions in single-use plastics and to push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. In Europe, the movement counts 127 members in 33 countries, coordinating their work to achieve systemic change. Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) hosts the coordination team of the European chapter of the movement.

About you

You are passionate about addressing plastic pollution and its root causes, and experienced with the coordination of groups, networks and/or projects. You enjoy solving problems and empowering collective work at the service of systemic change.

You are good at anticipating challenges, jumping on opportunities, and quickly finding creative solutions, with a particular appetite for strategic thinking and building synergies, and are capable of running different tasks simultaneously.

You excel at personal relations and enjoy team management; and you like working in an agile international environment with colleagues across the globe.

Job summary

The BFFP European Coordinator provides strategic and operational leadership to the BFFP Europe coordination team, overseeing the delivery of the European strategy across its key pillars. The role involves line managing senior staff, guiding collective planning and evaluation, and ensuring that the team works cohesively towards shared goals. The European Coordinator cultivates relationships with key external stakeholders, and raises the visibility of BFFP in European public life. A significant part of the role involves leading fundraising efforts, overseeing budgets and grant reporting, and maintaining strong funder relationships. The European Coordinator also plays a central role in connecting and aligning European work with BFFP’s global strategy, and contributing to wider global work and team leadership.

Key responsibilities

Coordination and management of the BFFP European coordination team

• Lead the European coordination team, including oversight of collective and individual planning and evaluation processes

• Line manage three to four members of the team and support other line managers

• Co-lead the recruitment of new staff and oversee their onboarding and offboarding as relevant

• Support the Senior Manager, People & Operations in setting and updating team policies and processes

• Update on a regular basis the European Support Team (governance body) about team and movement development, and seek their input as relevant

Coordination of the effective implementation of the BFFP Europe strategy

• Oversee implementation of the different pillars (e.g. narrative, advocacy, movement building) of the European Strategy and support synergies building between pillars and projects, and between BFFP European movement and its policy arm the Rethink Plastic Alliance

• Support the development of European-wide or joint campaigns or activities, notably through support to BFFP Task Force leaders and liaising with the Rethink Plastic Alliance Coordinator

• Facilitate a collaborative evaluation of progress made collectively towards the achievements of the BFFP European strategy

Support the resilience of the European movement

• Co-lead the organisation of the BFFP European Meeting (typically every two years), along with the Senior Manager, People & Operations

• Develop and maintain relationships with key external stakeholders as relevant (allies, change agents, decision-makers, funders)

• Pursue opportunities to raise the visibility of BFFP in public events, ensuring that BFFP members can represent the movement or representing it directly

• Support cross-regional work and contribute to BFFP wider team processes

• Ensure that the European strategy aligns with and supports the achievement of the BFFP global strategy

• Provide input for, contribute to planning, agenda setting and follow up, and participate in the Team Leads Forum (the movement’s deliberative body comprised of team members who oversee main teams)

• Input to strategy & impact review processes on global level and to initiatives focused on resilience building

• Coordinate fundraising efforts with those of the global team and of other regional teams

• Identify and enhance synergies and complementarity between the work in Europe and in other regions or globally

Fundraising, budget and grant management

• Implement and lead BFFP Europe coordination fundraising strategy and oversee its implementation

• Maintain strong relationships with funders

• Oversee all BFFP Europe coordination related budgets

• Oversee funding proposals, narrative and financial reporting

• Support the Senior Manager, People & Operations, finance consultant, and key staff at the fiscal sponsor, in financial compliance and reporting

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Experience in movements or networks

• Substantial experience in coordination of groups, networks and/or projects

• Experience in people management

• Experience with budget and grant management

• Strong understanding of issues associated with plastic along its supply chain

• Experience in fundraising

• Experience in working with people from different cultures and nationalities in a way that facilitates an intersectional approach

Desirable

• Deep knowledge of the BFFP movement

• Experience in advocacy, at national, EU and/or international level, notably on plastic policies

• Experience in team management

• Experience in building partnerships

Knowledge, skills and understanding

Essential

• Strategic thinking, with the ability to leverage opportunities and synergies

• Excellent command of English, and the ability to communicate complicated messages clearly and appropriately to different audiences

• Ability to manage and as relevant mediate differences of opinion or disagreements

• Appetite and skills for facilitation and holding groups

• Commitment to wellbeing, work-life balance, and a healthy team environment

• Strong networking and team building skills appropriate for a multicultural and multidisciplinary environment

Desirable

• Passion for social and environmental justice

• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail

• Solid IT competences with collaborative tools (Google Drive, Slack, Asana, Zoom, Google Groups)

• Other languages, apart from English, are a plus

Personal qualities

Essential

• Empowering leadership approach built on clear communication, effective delegation, feedback, mutual trust, and a strong commitment to well-being

• Excellent interpersonal skills and team player

• Excellent listener and communicator

• Impact driven, solution orientated, and resilient

• Organised and able to prioritise

• Capacity to run different tasks simultaneously

• Appetite for working in an agile European and international environment

• Willingness to work with flexible schedule, as required

• Willingness to travel internationally, as required

Location, Compensation and Work Environment

This is a full-time position (38 hours per week) based in either Belgium (hosted by our fiscal sponsor, Zero Waste Europe) or Germany (hosted by our member, a tip: tap e.V.)

A valid working permit to work in either Belgium or Germany is required. The contract will be a permanent one, dependent on funding, with a trial period of 6 months.

For Belgium, we offer a gross starting salary of €4941 - €5560 per month, which will be calculated according to your transferable years of experience, and the skills and knowledge you bring. In addition to this, we offer benefits such as lunch vouchers; a 13th month salary payment proportional to your time worked during the year and holiday pay.

For Germany, we are unable to offer similar benefits, but we have calculated the equivalent monetary benefit and can offer a gross starting salary of €6263 - €6980 per month.

BFFP Europe team members also benefit from 26 vacation days plus additional leave between Christmas and New Year, progressive discretionary leave policies, travel insurance and a 4 day working week (team members are expected to work 90% of their hours for 100% of their pay, and encouraged to do so between Monday and Thursday).

We take pride in our ability to support one another’s work in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect; and look forward to introducing the successful candidate to our welcoming and highly motivated team and movement members.

To apply

Please follow this link where you will be asked to fill in your basic information and upload a CV and motivation letter. Both documents should be provided in English and in one single PDF file.

At BFFP Europe, we understand that not all individuals have the same opportunities to engage in paid work or studies both within and outside of the movement. We highly value passion and experience in addressing plastic pollution, environmental, social, health and human rights justice. We are open to receiving applications from those who may not fulfil all the required skills but have the interest, passion and lived experiences to fulfil the role. In this respect, we encourage people from a diverse intersection of backgrounds to apply.

Please contact Alexander Colling, Senior Manager, People and Operations (BFFP Europe) at alexander@breakfreefromplastic.org if you have any questions, or if you would like to tell us about any particular support needs or adjustments we can consider putting in place to ensure you have equitable access to this recruitment process.

Please note that applications via email will not ordinarily be accepted: please apply using the link above.

Timeline

Deadline for applications: 7 May 2026, 18:00 CEST

First round interviews (online): 12 and 13 May 2026

Second round interviews (in-person in Brussels): 22 May. Please note that there will be a short assignment to work on between 13 May and 20 May. BFFP Europe will aim to reimburse candidates for their travel expenses to/from the second interview.

Starting date: We hope that the successful candidate will be able to start 1 July 2026. If feasible, we would be delighted to welcome the successful candidate to our BFFP European Members’ Meeting in Bulgaria (22–26 June), whether for the full duration or part of the event. Accommodation, subsistence and travel would be fully covered, with working time compensated with time off in lieu.