Manager – Place-Based Resilience (Barcelona)

• Location: Barcelona Metropolitan Area. This is a locally focused delivery role, working on a hybrid basis: mostly from home, with on-site presence in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area as required. Some international travel is expected. You must have the right to work in Spain and be based within regular traveling distance of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area.

• Reports to: Lead – Resilience & Health

• Direct reports: None

• Contract: Open-ended contract through Employer of Record arrangements; the program is funded until 2029. Full-time (40 hours per week)

• Salary: EUR 35,000 to 45,000 gross per year for 40 hours per week, depending on experience, plus benefits.

• Start date: as soon as possible.

• Closing date: Monday, 23 November 2026, 10:00 CET. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

About R-Cities

R-Cities is a global network of cities, Chief Resilience Officers (CROs) and partners working to scale urban resilience solutions. Embedded in city governments, CROs shape how cities plan, invest and act. Through R-Cities, they share what works, test new approaches and connect city-led action with global investment.

Building on more than a decade of experience, we support over 100 cities across more than 40 countries to withstand challenges, adapt to change and thrive. R-Cities operates through a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit and a Netherlands-based Stichting.

About the team

Resilience for Communities (R4C) is R-Cities’ largest program, and it’s where our work turns into real change on the ground. In neighborhoods in Boston, Houston, Greater Manchester, Melaka and now Barcelona, we work side by side with residents, local partners and city governments. Together we understand the climate risks people face, design solutions with them, and make those solutions happen, from cooler, greener public spaces to stronger community networks. R4C is part of the Urban Climate Resilience Program (UCRP), a global initiative of the Z Zurich Foundation delivered with partners including C40, ICLEI, IFRC and Plan International across ten countries. That gives us a rare combination: hands-on local work, backed by a global community of practitioners to learn from and contribute to.

R4C sits at the heart of R-Cities' new strategy, which sees place-based resilience as a key pathway to scale and puts people and their wellbeing at the center of resilience practice. You'll join a small, international team that leads this work, shares ideas across cities and enjoys working together. In Barcelona, the program works at both community and metropolitan level with the AMB, so what we learn in two communities can shape resilience planning for more than three million people.

The role

This is a program manager role at the heart of R-Cities' work in Spain. R4C Barcelona is a three-year program backed by the Z Zurich Foundation, Zurich Spain and other partners, that helps communities in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area prepare for climate risks such as extreme heat and flooding.

You'll get the program off the ground together with the Lead – Resilience & Health. That means building trust with communities and local partners, finding where the work can plug into city and metropolitan policy to reach scale, and turning resilience assessments and co-design into changes people can see and feel in their neighborhoods. You'll keep it running smoothly: plans, partners, workshops, monitoring and reporting, and a highly engaged Zurich Spain team and its volunteers.

Barcelona is also where R-Cities will test what comes next. Heat is a health risk as much as a climate one, and this program is a chance to show that resilience pays off in people's lives, in communities that are healthier, more connected and happier. You'll help build that evidence and shape how R-Cities grows locally led resilience work centered on people, equity, health and wellbeing. It's a role for someone who enjoys building something new and is equally at home in the detail of making it work.

What you will do

Program delivery and coordination (25%)

Owns:

• Program plans, delivery trackers, milestones, and action logs across both sites, kept current and accurate.

• Delivery against agreed deadlines, with risks to timelines identified and escalated early.

• Program meetings, including scheduling, agendas, papers, minutes, and follow-up.

• Program files, records, and shared systems including Airtable, maintained so that knowledge does not sit with individuals.

Contributes to:

• Program planning, the inception phase, and annual work plans and budgets owned by the Lead.

• Selection of communities and local implementation partners, led by the Lead.

Partners and communities (25%)

Owns:

• The day-to-day operational relationship with local implementation partners, including onboarding and practical and administrative running of partner working at both sites.

• Monitoring of partner delivery against agreed specifications, work plans, and timelines, with issues raised early.

• Coordination of community resilience assessments and action planning, together with partners, including logistics, facilitation, and follow-up.

• Design, facilitation, and follow-up of workshops and community engagement, with particular attention to reaching groups that are less represented in formal processes.

• Application of safeguarding, data protection, and informed consent procedures in community activities, including work with schools and young people.

Contributes to:

• Relationships with the AMB, participating municipalities, the City of Barcelona, and other institutional partners, owned by the Lead.

• Design and delivery of community resilience interventions with municipalities, schools, and partners, including permits, procurement, and long-term maintenance arrangements.

• Support for local and community-based organizations to raise funds and attract further investment, so that resilience work can continue beyond the program.

• Partner capability building across the Place-based Resilience portfolio, sharing what works in Barcelona with other R4C cities.

Monitoring, evaluation, and funder reporting (20%)

Owns:

• Coordination of monitoring, evaluation, and learning data, including baseline data, partner data returns, and impact data for the Z Zurich Foundation.

• The quality, completeness, and timeliness of program data, with consent and data protection requirements met.

• Assembly of funder reports and Steering Committee updates, including inputs, deadlines, and supporting documentation.

Contributes to:

• Funder relationships and reporting narrative, owned by the Lead.

• Community Baseline Reports and Community Action Plans.

• The program's monitoring, evaluation, and learning framework and external program reviews or evaluation.

Facilitation, events, and corporate engagement (20%)

Owns:

• Day-to-day coordination with Zurich Spain's Corporate Responsibility team, including the engagement plan agreed during inception and regular progress updates.

• Employee volunteering: designing activities with partners and communities so that they respond to community priorities, briefing volunteers, delivery on the day, and follow-up.

• Program events end to end, including the launch, community activation events, and learning visits: logistics, coordination, and delivery on the day.

• Collection of stories, quotes, photos, and other material for program communications, with appropriate consent.

Contributes to:

• Zurich Spain's technical contributions and the engagement of its customers, brokers, and business partners.

• Program communications, coordinated by R-Cities' communications team.

Policy, knowledge, and fundraising (10%)

Owns:

• Discrete workstreams and improvement initiatives assigned to the role, taken forward with limited supervision.

Contributes to:

• Policy and knowledge products at local, national, and global levels, including research, drafting, and production.

• Fundraising for the program and the wider portfolio, including proposals and supporting materials.

Percentages are indicative and may change as the role develops.

What you bring

You're excited about urban resilience and about building it from the ground up, together with communities. You can hold a program together operationally and also run a room, with credibility in front of residents, partners, and corporate volunteers. You build trust and lasting relationships with community organizations and local government alike, and you're at ease moving between the two. You communicate clearly in writing and in person, take ownership of your work, and prioritize well. You have a problem-solving mindset and an appetite to grow into wider responsibility, and you're comfortable in a fast-paced, distributed organization.

Essential:

• A bachelor's degree in a relevant field, such as economics, political science, sociology, geography, architecture, business administration, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.

• A minimum of four years of professional experience, including at least two years managing or coordinating programs or projects with several stakeholders.

• Experience coordinating delivery by funded or subcontracted partners, including monitoring progress against agreed plans, deliverables, and timelines.

• Experience working with communities and local government or public institutions, with the ability to build trust, facilitate participation, and navigate competing priorities.

• Facilitation experience, including designing and leading workshops or community sessions.

• Experience with monitoring and evaluation and data collection.

• Experience producing written reports for funders or senior stakeholders.

• Based within regular traveling distance of Barcelona and able to work on site, with the right to work in Spain.

• Fluency in Spanish and professional fluency in English.

Valued:

• A master's degree in a relevant field.

• Experience planning and running professional events end to end, including logistics and delivery on the day.

• Experience working with Barcelona's communities, institutions, or delivery landscape.

• Experience delivering community development, regeneration, resilience, climate, health, or public sector programs.

• Experience directly contributing to funding bids or proposals.

• Experience with funder reporting or grant compliance.

• Experience contributing to policy or knowledge products.

• Working knowledge of Catalan.

Additional information

You will join a small, collaborative team helping communities and cities build resilience from the ground up. The role involves occasional travel within Spain and internationally, and flexibility to collaborate with colleagues and partners across time zones.

R-Cities offers a competitive salary commensurate with qualifications and experience. You will be engaged through a local employment arrangement in Spain and receive the statutory benefits that apply there, alongside additional benefits supporting wellbeing, professional development and flexible working.

How to apply

Please submit your CV and a short cover letter explaining your interest in the role and R-Cities' mission. In your cover letter, name at least one program or project where you coordinated delivery with communities or partners, and describe your role.

Apply by Monday, 23 November 2026 at 10:00 CET. We review applications on a rolling basis and encourage early applications.

The selection process may include interviews, a practical exercise and reference checks. Due to the volume of applications, we will contact shortlisted candidates only.