Possible job locations:

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Vienna, Austria - London, United Kingdom

At Porticus, we’re working towards a just and sustainable future where human dignity can flourish. Through our partnerships in education, society, faith and climate we enable changemakers to create societies and systems that work for everyone.

We strive to understand the complexities of the systems we seek to change, assessing where we can make the most impact and engaging the skills and knowledge of broad coalitions of local and global partners to tackle the root causes of problems.

Porticus professionals develop and manage grants and programmes in more than 90 countries. Lasting solutions are not achieved quickly or lightly, but we believe that together we can make a fairer, more sustainable world a reality.

The Head of Vital Catholic Thought (VCT) provides strategic leadership for a global thematic challenge that has developed content and relationships for many years within the Faith Sector. The role drives the design, implementation and learning of the Challenge strategy, which focuses on institutional partners; building key thought-leader talent for the future and driving discernment a through academic interdisciplinary research that serves the Church and its contributions to society. The role ensures alignment with Porticus' mission, values, wider Faith Sector ambition and strategic priorities. Working closely with Regional Directors, programme managers, the Strategy and Impact team, senior leaders and governance stakeholders, the Head of VCT brings together the Challenge Team to deliver coherent programmes, steward resources and partnerships, manage risk and strengthen learning across regions. The Head of VCT is part of the Porticus Management Council and contributes to organisation-wide initiatives when requested.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy and delivery 

• Lead the design, development and implementation of the VCT Challenge strategy in line with the wider Faith Sector ambition and Porticus strategy. 

• Translate strategy into clear priorities, objectives, roles and decision-making arrangements, and provide the global and regional context needed for informed choices. 

• Oversee coherent programme development and implementation across the full grant lifecycle, ensuring quality, efficiency, accountability and strategic alignment. 

Challenge Team leadership 

• Lead and facilitate the VCT Challenge Team, bringing together programme managers across regions without direct line-management responsibility. 

• Create clarity, foster inclusion and constructive challenge, and enable effective co-ownership and collaboration. 

• Collaborate closely with the Heads of other Faith Sector Challenges and contribute to cross-sector and Porticus-wide priorities. 

Financial stewardship, evidence and learning 

• Coordinate Challenge budget development, monitor expenditure and delivery, and ensure accurate narrative and financial reporting. 

• Lead Challenge-level monitoring, evaluation and learning with the Senior Advisor and Strategy and Impact team. 

• Use evidence and learning to assess progress, inform decisions and strengthen future strategy and programming, while connecting regional learning with global priorities. 

Governance, partnerships and representation 

• Build trusted, transparent and accountable relationships with staff, governance, family and other relevant stakeholders. 

• Engage Investment Committee members and other governance audiences on strategy, implementation, learning and significant developments, and prepare relevant materials for senior forums. 

• Represent Porticus in senior Church, partner, donor, academic and stakeholder forums, and build relevant professional and intellectual networks. 
• Identifying and building trusting relationships with current and future academic leaders, providing advce and mentorship where appropriate with regard to academic content, formation and institutional leadership

Risk and safeguarding 

• With Programme Managers, identify, assess and manage grant, partnership, safeguarding, ethical and reputational risks. 

• Advise senior stakeholders on complex or reputationally significant matters and support sound, timely decision-making. 

• Promote strong safeguarding and child-protection practice across strategy, partnerships and programmes. 

Supervisory Responsibilities

• The role has no direct reports but leads and facilitates the VCT Challenge Team through a dotted-line relationship and, together with Regional Directors, contributes to objective setting, performance reviews and the professional development of Programme Managers working on the Challenge.

Key Qualifications:

• Must have full working rights and be based at a commutable distance from one of the three cities the role is open in (Amsterdam, Vienna, London).

Professional and academic background 

• Advanced academic and/or professional qualification relevant to the Challenge; PhD is preferred, or equivalent demonstrable credibility in academic and professional environments. 
• Extensive relevant experience and a broad record of achievement across different geographies and complex institutional settings. 
• Strong knowledge of Catholic theology, Catholic Social Teaching and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition.

Faith and contextual expertise 

• Global understanding of the Catholic Church, including its terminology, governance and structures across diverse regions and contexts. 
• Understanding of ecumenical approaches, inter-religious dialogue and the Church’s wider social mission. 
• Substantial understanding of higher-education systems, particularly Catholic higher education and related intellectual ecosystems. 
• Ability to anticipate emerging intellectual, theological and societal issues relevant to the Church, and to support Church institutions while acting as a constructive critical friend. 
• Understanding of safeguarding and abuse prevention evidence, policy and practice, including underlying causes, prevention, accountability, case-related awareness and implementation in a Catholic context.

Leadership and functional skills 

• Strong strategic, analytical and synthesis skills, with the ability to turn complex evidence and diverse perspectives into clear choices and concise communication. 
• Excellent written and verbal communication and senior-level stakeholder engagement skills, including with Church leaders, academics, theologians, governance stakeholders, donors, partners and internal audiences. 
• Ability to lead distributed teams, clarify roles and accountability, enable healthy disagreement and maintain momentum without direct line authority. 
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and complex, multi-million budgets, supported by appropriate data, reporting and portfolio-management tools.
• High cultural sensitivity, adaptability, integrity and sound judgement, including the ability to navigate ambiguity and manage ethical and reputational risk. 
• Curiosity and a broad subject matter interest, with high tolerance for ambiguity.
• Patience with long term horizons needed to effect change, and yet a practical and entrepreneurial sense enabling short term ambition and urgency.
• Ability to function at the highest decision-making levels in both Church and academia.
• A collaborative, low-ego and mission-driven leadership style, with the ability to identify and develop talent, partnerships and professional networks. 

What we offer

By joining our team you will become part of this remarkable journey. You will work in a fun and highly dynamic environment and have the opportunity to collaborate with, and learn from expert colleagues. Of course, it is a two-way street, this means that we offer not only a competitive salary but we believe in a healthy work-life balance. This is what you can expect from us: 

• Hybrid working opportunity: we have a great office for you to work in and believe you can also be effective at home. We aim for a 40/60 office/home office balance.
• Take advantage of our Flexible Working Guidelines and work up to 10 days per year from abroad, anywhere in the world
• A yearly personal development budget to all our global staff.
• We offer 4 volunteering days per year in addition to personal time off. 
• A global minimum standard of 6 months paid parental leave for all parents – regardless of gender, family structure, or path to parenthood.

This role can be based in one of 3 offices. Salary ranges and holidays vary per location - we offer the following:

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

• 31 days of annual leave in addition to national holidays
• A yearly salary between 97.826€ and 122.000€ (including holiday allowance and 13th month) for a full-time, 40-hour contract - final offer depending on experience and skills.

Vienna, Austria

• 25 days of annual leave in addition to national holidays
• A yearly salary between 94167€ and 122.000€ for a full-time, 40-hour contract - final offer depending on experience and skills.

London, United Kingdom

• 25 days of annual leave in addition to national holidays
• A yearly salary between 68.839.£ - 110.000£ for a full-time, 40-hour contract - final offer depending on experience and skills.

How to apply

Please upload your CV and cover letter in English. The application deadline is 15 December 2026: you can expect an update on your application after the deadline. A written assessment may be part of the interview process. Reference check and background check are part of the final hiring procedure.

We stand for equal opportunities and are deeply committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse team in an equitable and inclusive environment. We strongly encourage applications of people with lived experience, as well as of candidates coming from any minority or underrepresented groups.