Permanent Policy/Research Jobs in Greater London
Job Description
The Head of Advocacy and Policy will be responsible for developing an excellent Advice Service and Retention Team to support and advise students effectively to enable excellent student experience and satisfaction.
This role will lead on the development of effective insights, representation and support initiatives/campaigns for students, across our three campuses at Greenwich, Avery Hill and Medway.
This role will enhance work with the diverse student population of the University of Greenwich and lead a dynamic team to ensure students have consistent and accessible services that contribute to positive student experience.
This role sits within the wider Membership Services department, together with other key areas consisting of; Activities, Sport, Academic Communities, Representation and Democracy, we provide a high-quality service for students, that they can shape, steer and be at the heart of.
This postholder will be part of the GSU Senior Leadership Team and will be expected to contribute to department and organisation wide strategic development.
The post holder will:
- Have expert knowledge in areas of in relation to Advice and Retention and policies and legislation relating to such activity
- Support and develop strong student-led communities and campaigns in areas of: Advice, wellbeing and retention so that members can thrive
- Provide line management support to staff so that the team have up to date, specialist advice skills, knowledge and understanding of University regulations, policies and procedures that may affect the work of the Advice service and oversee engagement across Greenwich’s 3 campuses
- Undertake casework and provide expert advice for the team on all aspects of Advice
- Lead on the project management of wellbeing/health promotion campaigns and initiatives throughout the year, as well as any external bids through bodies such as OfS
- Oversee the Retention and Wellbeing Project work, and other relevant projects with external partners
- Lead on insights work relating to retention, wellbeing and support
- Lead on responses to external consultation and enquiry responses, including but not limited to OfS, Department for Education, OIA and Universities UK
- Support elected officers to deliver on campaigning priorities
- Ensure the Advice service has the skills and is equipped to support the diverse needs of students at Greenwich and Kent at Medway.
- Provide regular insights and reports on the GSU Membership to inform our strategy and service provision
- Work with other Heads to develop relevant and modern Front of House services for each GSU campus ensuring ease of access and consistency for all members.
Key Areas
- Be an engaged and active member of the Senior Leadership team, contributing regularly and working collaboratively with peers
- Provide leadership, strategic direction and day to day operational management to the Advocacy and Policy: recruiting and inducting members of staff, motivating, supporting and developing team members to ensure they have the necessary skills and knowledge for their roles as well as manage performance
- Develop a proactive results driven culture within the team, ensuring agreed objectives and targets are delivered, whilst promoting a collaborative approach to working with internal departments
- Develop succession plans and identify training and development opportunities within the team
- Be accountable for the quality of outputs of the team
- Provide support to the Officer team helping and equipping them, particularly in their roles as representatives and providing pastoral support and guidance.
- Ensure the whole organisation is aware of and understands the work of the Advocacy and Policy Team and its contribution to our strategic objectives
- To maintain expert and up-to-date knowledge on sector policies and regulations relating to advice, retention and student success, providing relevant guidance to officers and staff as required.
- Develop and promote a culture of continuous improvement across the team to ensure we can adapt to changing students’ needs and priorities, as well as building on successes and preparing for the future.
Strategic Development
- Contribute to the strategic objectives of GSU, with a particular focus on advice, support and wellbeing in relation to the student experience
- Develop and oversee a new and innovative approach to proactive health and wellbeing campaigns that empower students to look after themselves and each other, as well as seeking support
- Lead on Access and Participation Plan Engagement, acting as the key contact on this area with the University.
- Build and maintain strong working relationships with relevant senior UoG staff and departments including Student Academic Services, Faculties and our partners at Kent Unio
- Develop and oversee the Advice service to support advocacy initiatives at multiple levels within the University, ensuring both students and University stakeholders view GSU as a credible and reliable source of information on the needs of students.
Monitoring and Evaluation
- Develop and oversee a structured approach to gathering, analysing and reporting on data relating to engagement of students with our services and to student views on key issues relating to retention and success
- Develop and oversee processes of collecting quantitative and qualitative data from casework to analyse trends and inform feedback for the SU and university
- Ensure evaluation mechanism are embedded in the teams working practises and that findings are shared and used to implement learnings with the goal of improving services
- Support Officers by preparing information, statistics and trends about key services to be shared within the University committee cycle
- Be responsible for the implementation of service standards for the Advocacy and Policy Team and to monitor and report on adherence to these standards
- Prepare materials to apply for any relevant quality mark accreditations for the service.
Budget and Financial Management
- Manage a budget relating to Advocacy and Policy including any restricted funds.
- Be responsible for the teams resources, ensuring these are effectively allocated, managed and controlled
- Review and establish processes, systems, polices and where appropriate standard procedures to maximise efficiency ensure deadlines are met and a positive return on investment
- Review and provide narrative for scrutiny at monthly management meetings with the Finance Team
Stakeholder management
- Collaborate with GSU colleagues, particularly the Student Voice and Engagement Teams to ensure we have a consistent approach to how we work with and support students
- Work with students through our representative structures and forums to ensure we shape services students want and need, taking into consideration the varying campus priorities
- Maintain strong relationships with key university staff to develop, deliver and evaluate collaborative projects and interventions supporting advice and retention
- Attend meetings relating to Advocacy and Policy as well as associated areas at both GSU, the University and externally, included, but not limited to regional networks
- Identify opportunities to share best practice and represent the work of GSU and your team to the wider HE community, through conferences and publication.
Personal Specification
Essential Experience
- Line management experience
- Relevant experience working in the youth, education, students’ union or other membership or advisory organisation
- Experience of leading a multi-functional team
- Experience of mentoring coaching staff/elected officers
- Experience of developing operational policies and procedures
- Experience of budget management, project management, and operational management
- Experience of working with a range of stakeholders and partnership working or strategic networking
Essential Skills and Abilities
- Ability to work with and lead a high performing team
- Ability to troubleshoot difficult situations, and deal with them calmly, efficiently and effectively
- Ability to produce confident, clear written reports and be able to write succinct documents on complex areas
- IT skills at a level that supports membership CRM systems, Advice Pro and other platforms
- Excellent time management and organisational skills with the ability to manage others to reach deadlines, within agreed budgets and to a consistently high standard
- Ability to write strategies and be able to effectively communicate vision and mission
- Ability to stay focused and efficient in the face on changing priorities
- Track record of successfully developing and implementing projects and operational change
- Able to draft policies and procures with an eye for detail and accuracy
Essential Knowledge
- Awareness of current issues within the higher education sector
- Knowledge of relevant external bodies and organisations including Advice UK, NUS, Citizens Advice, OIA, Ofs, Student Minds
- Knowledge of relevant health and safety legislation
- Knowledge of Safeguarding, advice legislation, risk assessments and GDPR
- Knowledge of providing 121 support
Education/Training
- No one specific qualification is required, but evidence of recent continuing professional development in a professional area relevant to the post is required. For example: ILM, City &Guilds etc.
Personal Attributes and other requirements
- Able to travel within the Borough and Region.
- Able to work some evenings and weekends and stay overnight where necessary.
- Works well in a team with a flexible approach to work
- Be eligible for a DBS check if needed
- A commitment to the principles and practices of equality and diversity
- An ability to apply awareness of diversity issues to all areas of work.
- Commitment to the values and ethos of GSU.
Desirable other requirements
- Visionary, creative, and innovative strategist
- A positive, solution focused leader – able to make ‘tough’ decisions; determined and resilient in order to cope with the demands of the role
- Empowering, authentic leader with high levels of emotional intelligence
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
About the opportunity
Fundraising is critical to delivering our mission and ensuring we can support as many children and young people facing disadvantage to open doors to their future. The Philanthropy Team as a whole has a combined target income for the current year (2023-24) of £1.83 million (growing to £2.35m as our target for next year), of which approximately £850k is from corporate donors and their foundations, £100k is from individuals, and the remaining from trusts and foundations. We have been successful year on year in increasing our fundraising base by building secure multi-year partnerships.
We are looking for a Fundraising Manager to work within our passionate Philanthropy Team to help grow our fundraised income and develop and maintain an effective, high-quality funding pipeline. Focussing predominantly on eliciting funding from trusts and foundations, and working closely with the Head of Philanthropy, CEO and Corporate Partnerships Manager, the Fundraising Manager will ensure the effective management of existing funder relations and take responsibility for ensuring Action Tutoring meets its reporting obligations. The Fundraising Manager will be responsible for the line-management and development of three Fundraising Coordinators, through which you and your team will prepare and submit grant applications and funding reports, alongside overseeing the development and growth of our individual giving activities and initiatives, including through expansion of our fundraising events and campaigns.
Closing date: Sunday 12th May 2024
Interviews: 20th, 22nd and 23rd May 2024
Start date: Ideally end of May/June 2024
Duties and responsibilities
· Work with the CEO, Head of Philanthropy and Corporate Partnerships Manager to ensure Action Tutoring’s fundraising targets are met and manage an effective pipeline across Action Tutoring’s different income streams.
· Manage and maintain existing funder relationships, including proactive and requested reporting to donors.
· Work closely with the Head of Philanthropy and Corporate Partnerships Manager to identify relevant opportunities for collaboration that promote generating income. Alongside your team, support, prepare and provide expertise on applications for corporate funding opportunities identified by the Corporate Partnerships Team.
· Working with your Fundraising Coordinators, research and drive new opportunities for multi-year commitments from trusts and foundations, sharing workload between the team.
· Lead on the preparation and submission of high-quality, effective applications, with support from the Fundraising Coordinators.
· Monitor when grants are due for renewal and proactively seek out renewal conversations, ensuring Action Tutoring has a healthy funding pipeline.
· Work with the Fundraising Coordinator for Campaigns, Events and Individual Giving to build Action Tutoring’s income generated from events, ensuring an attractive range of event options across the country. Manage the Fundraising Coordinator to ensure places are secured, participants are supported and engagement is expanded.
· Work with Fundraising Coordinator for Campaigns, Events and Individual Giving to build Action Tutoring’s income generated from individual giving, developing campaigns for driving more regular giving and building our strategies to cultivate, engage and thank individuals.
· Act as a system manager for fundraising platforms, databases and tools including Just Giving and the Giving Block, with support from Fundraising Coordinators.
· Oversee the development of the fundraising area of the website and fundraising pack to attract new funders and fundraisers to the charity, with support from the Fundraising Coordinators.
· Manage the Fundraising Coordinators, ensuring they are growing and developing, and that work load is shared fairly.
· Represent Action Tutoring at relevant meetings and events.
· Alongside your team, prepare applications for corporate funding opportunities identified by the Corporate Partnerships Team.
· Ensure accurate record-keeping of corporate partnerships and relationships on Salesforce and any other relevant systems.
· Any other ad hoc responsibilities as deemed relevant by the CEO.
Person specification
This role requires an ambitious, passionate and determined individual with outstanding written and verbal communication skills. Alongside your team you will be responsible for writing and submitting grant applications and reports, so an excellent understanding of the English language and a keen eye for detail are crucial for success within this position. Working to deadlines and line-managing three Fundraising Coordinators, exceptional time-management, prioritisation and organisation skills are essential. With a focus on developing our individual giving strategies, we’re looking for an individual with excellent interpersonal skills.
Qualifications criteria:
· A*-C in maths and English at GCSE (or equivalent experience).
· Right to work in the UK.
We are looking for some of the following attributes, though you might be more experienced in some areas than others:
· At least two years experience in fundraising (preferably within trusts and foundations fundraising).
· Proven track record in securing and stewarding 5+ figure partnerships.
· Outstanding written and verbal communicator with significant experience writing and submitting grant applications and reports.
You will be likely be more successful in this role if you have:
· You have a proven track record of securing and stewarding grants of 5+ figure funding.
· You have a passion for educational inequality/working within the Third Sector.
· Line management experience.
· Experience in event and campaign fundraising.
· Experience working within a charity with a turnover of £3M or more.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) provides its member institutions with timely advice and guidance on all employment and reward matters relevant to the higher education sector.
The UCEA Research team has an influential role in activities related to reward and labour markets, which informs the multi-employer pay negotiations in Higher Education. Working with the Head of Reward and Research and the wider team you will contribute to UCEA’s research strategy on employment matters and maintain our reputation for high-quality research, information and guidance on pay and employment matters in Higher Education.
As the Research Analyst you will support the provision and development of UCEA’s pay and workforce benchmarking services and a range of wider employment-related projects. You will have the opportunity to conduct in-depth quantitative and qualitative research, to communicate your findings to members and wider stakeholders. You will work with internal and external stakeholders to keep abreast of issues affecting the full range of employers across the HE sector.
You will communicate complex information clearly, both in writing and verbally. You will analyse sector data, e.g. Higher Education Statics Agency and ONS, and build and maintain benchmarking dashboards. This requires current intermediate level R skills, or clear aptitude for learning R to intermediate level, and intermediate or advanced Excel. Experience of using survey software to collect, analyse and report on bespoke quantitative surveys is essential.
We provide a supportive and stimulating environment where you will develop your skills through formal induction, a personal training budget, attendance at sector events, involvement in all aspects of our research and communication and exposure to senior stakeholders within the UK’s higher education sector.
This is a full-time, permanent role.
Find out more
If you think this role could be for you, please download the Information for Applicants pack, which includes the job description and person specification, or visit our website.
How to apply
Apply through CharityJob, submitting your current CV and a covering letter setting out what you will bring to this role.
The closing date for applications is Midday on Wednesday 01 May 2024.
Interviews are expected to take place during the week commencing 06 May 2024 and will be held in person at the UCEA offices at 20 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9HU.
All candidates must have proof of their right to work in the UK.
No agencies please.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Centre for London is London’s independent think tank, and a registered charity. As Research Director, you will lead Centre for London’s research team, developing new solutions to London’s critical challenges, securing funding for our work, preparing, publishing and promoting reports, supporting public events, and communicating our work to stakeholders and policymakers.
As a member of the senior leadership team, you will help develop and implement the organisational strategy; contribute to the development, fundraising and delivery of events and other projects; and promote the ideas of the organisation to build its influence in existing and new public and private arenas.
The recommendations of your team will make a difference to policy and practice – tackling issues such as housing, poverty and inequality, employment and skills, transport and the public realm, the climate and nature crises, community resilience, and London’s place in the UK and the world. You will be line– managed by the CEO and work closely with the External Affairs and Development teams.
This role would best suit someone with significant experience leading policy research programmes – in a think tank, consultancy, central or local government, academia or similar. You will have a strong understanding of policy in London and the UK, project management skills, and be able to credibly communicate complex ideas to different audiences – in meetings, in writing, through blogs and articles, and in speeches. You will have strong analytical skills, including a track record of qualitative and quantitative research. You will have experience in fundraising, will have managed budgets, and will be confident working with researchers at different stages in their careers. However, we are less interested in what you have done, and more in what you can do.
This is ideally a full-time role; however, flexible working is embedded within our culture. We would be open to applications from people who would like to work compressed hours, part time (0.8 minimum) or to people applying as a job share. We view London’s rich and diverse culture as a strength, and we want our team and trustee board to reflect the city we serve. We are keen to encourage applications from women, people from minority ethnic and/or less advantaged backgrounds, or from communities often underrepresented in urban policy.
Full details of the role can be found in the job description. If you meet the criteria in the person specification and are excited about this opportunity, we’d love to hear from you. The successful candidate must have permission to work in the UK by the start of their employment.
We are committed to reducing unconscious bias in our selection processes. Staff who shortlist applications will not see applicants’ personal information (including your name and responses to our diversity monitoring questions). For this reason, please create an application ID code (your initials, followed by two random numbers) and use that on your CV and cover letter instead of your name.
If you would like to speak with someone about this opportunity, please check our website for contact details to email Johnathan Tuck (Operations Manager).
For full details on how to apply, please check our application guidelines in our job description attached.
We will ask you to complete an online form with your CV attached.
- The form will ask you to upload a pdf of your CV.
- Your CV should be maximum 2 pages.
- The filename should be your initials and two numbers e.g. AA14. Please include this code as a header within the file too.
- Please remove any reference to your name, including your email address.
- The form will ask you to respond to the question: How do your experiences and interests make you a good candidate for this role? (400 words max)
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
This role will primarily sit within our Capacity Building and Standards (CB&S) function but will work closely with our Innovation and Practice (I&P) and Advocacy and Communications (A&C) functions.
The CB&S function aims to build capacity both inside and outside of public institutions to embed the processes, skills, structures and cultures needed for effective public participation in decision-making. The I&P function is responsible for the deliberative, dialogic and participatory projects and processes that we run. The A&C function aims to build political and public understanding of and support for making participation and deliberation an everyday, integral part of our democracy.
This role will have a thematic focus on public engagement in decision-making within the science, technology and data sectors. Candidates do not need an educational or work background in this sector, although it would be useful, but we would expect the successful candidate to take a keen interest in these topics.
Involve achieves its impacts by growing expertise in sector-specific areas where public engagement is important. Science and tech represent policy areas where citizen engagement on both principles and practice is vital and where public engagement can also open the door to broader deliberative democratic interventions and feedback loops. Technological advancement, including AI, presents risks and opportunities and will be an ongoing priority for government with five critical technologies likely to be central to UK policy for at least the next Government.
Involve has a significant pedigree and is well networked in the area of public engagement in science. Over the last 20 years we have been thought leaders in this space, in particular running the government’s science and tech engagement programme, Sciencewise. We have developed a reputation for best practice public dialogue, deliberation and capacity building.
Given the opportunity to grow this area, our reputation, and the important democratic need, we don’t want to stand still.
As Engagement Lead you will play a central role in leading Involve’s work, and building out our strategy, on public engagement in the science, technology and data field. The job will involve leading on our Sciencewise programme of public dialogue as well as supporting, growing and communicating our science and tech public engagement in general. You will be a proven project leader and strategic thinker looking to make your next move and develop your leadership and profile in this interesting and important area of public engagement in decision-making.
Reports to: Director of Research, Impact and Influence
Start date: ASAP
Location: London or Flexible Working (remote with weekly travel to London)
Contract: FT or 0.8FTE, Permanent
Salary: £50-57k per annum, skills and experience dependent (+6% employer pension contribution and sector-leading parental leave policy shared with all applicants)
Closing Date for Applications: Sunday 28th April 23:59
Person Specification
The Difference is looking for someone who can lead the team’s impact function as the charity goes through a really exciting period of growth and development. You will refine our monitoring and evaluation work in order to drive continuous improvement across the charity, and to shape future programme design. You’ll feed into the development of new tools for use by schools to better understand and respond to their own inclusion data. You’ll also play a key role in helping The Difference and its partner schools to understand the mechanisms for change in our programmes, and identify what supports and hinders change. Our programmes work with schools as they become more inclusive, support all of their students to succeed, and reduce the amount of learning lost to exclusions and absence.
You will have real ownership over your area of work, be happiest in a flexible and ambitious environment, and enjoy testing out new ideas. You will have experience in working on programme evaluation, impact measurement or applied research, and will combine strong data and project-management skills.
Essential knowledge, experience and skills
-
Experience of designing and carrying out both formative and summative evaluation understanding how to appropriately design, collect and analyse quantitative and qualitative data.
-
Organisation & project management skills, demonstrable through past work whether this was delivering a project independently or coordinating a team. You feel confident planning multiple workstreams, working to timelines and juggling deadlines.
-
Strategic communication – Confident in organising ideas and information to highlight the more salient and strategically significant elements, with internal and external audiences. Experienced in communicating with stakeholders from different backgrounds, from CEOs to service-users or young people.
-
Experience in contributing to organisational change processes - working with senior leadership to utilise insights from programme evaluation to support the evolution of programme design and using evaluation to identify areas for continuous improvement.
-
Values – A career (or voluntary experiences) which evidence shared values with The Difference - see these values below - plus a personal commitment to our mission to improve life outcomes for vulnerable young people.
-
Self-directed – Evidenced capacity to take high levels of ownership in your work and over your own development, proactively diagnosing skills and information gaps, and making use of others’ expertise.
-
Agile & solutions-focused – Ability to thrive in a fast-paced start-up environment, comfortable with making decisions in ambiguous contexts and casting a critical eye on systems, processes and practice.
Desired knowledge, experience and skills
-
Knowledge of the education sector and school data systems.
-
Experience in the start-up or small charity sector. An ability to thrive in the flexible, fast-paced and sometimes ambiguous context of start-up.
-
Quantitative data analysis skills. Experience using software to analyse large datasets (e.g. R, SPSS, Stata), and ability to interpret results, plus confidence in using Excel and other programmes to present this.
-
Insight through work or life into school experiences of over-excluded young people, including young people with experience of the care system, of mental ill health, of special educational needs, or racism.
Why Work for The Difference?
Schooling isn’t working for the children who need it most. Every week in England 109 children – equivalent to three full classrooms – are permanently excluded. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Since the pandemic, school suspensions have risen significantly, as has persistent absenteeism. 1 in 5 children are missing more than 10% of their time in school. Children who are excluded or persistently absent are much more likely to already be experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage. They are more likely to live in poverty, have additional learning needs, suffer mental health challenges, or experience a lack of safety outside school. Certain ethnicities are also disproportionately affected, notably Gypsy Roma Traveller and black Caribbean children.
Exclusion and high rates of absence can have a dramatic effect on life chances. These young people are more likely to drop out of education or employment, become vulnerable to long-term mental ill health, or be at risk of criminal exploitation. The Difference believes that children and young people deserve better and that the education system has to change.
Our Organisation
The Difference is a young education charity, founded to change the story on lost learning. By 2030, we want rates of exclusion and absence to be falling nationally and for schools to be better equipped to support all children, including those who may be vulnerable.
The Difference was born out of a year of research into school exclusions with think-tank IPPR. This research identified a lack of inclusion expertise in schools and proposed a new leadership development programme to fill this gap. In 2018, Difference founder Kiran hired the team who took this idea from concept to reality, beginning work with our first schools.
The Difference is now a 22-strong team delivering multiple school leadership programmes, alongside a growing research and policy arm. The team is supported by our Youth Advisory Board, made up of young people who have experienced exclusion and who provide their expertise and insights on how school inclusion work should be done. This work is needed more than ever. Effects of COVID-19, coupled with the spiralling cost of living, have substantially increased levels of vulnerability. Schools serving excluded pupils face under-funding. The Difference has had excellent early impact but there is work ahead to capture this, share learning with schools and policy-makers, and grow our capacity to lower exclusions across England.
The Task Ahead: Head of Impact
In 2022, The Difference established a Research, Impact and Influencing Directorate, indicating the growing importance of this work to our mission. We’re doing more to understand (and evidence) how school leaders who take part in our programmes are driving impactful inclusion in their schools. And we intend to use this to have a national impact on how schools are measured and driven to put pupil wellbeing, safety and belonging at the heart of their work. Improving our understanding of the impact of inclusion is key to successfully changing the story for students currently struggling in schools.
Key Tasks for this role include:
-
Strengthen our monitoring, evaluation and impact systems: using methods that are both qualitative (interviews, case-studies, roundtables) and quantitative (staff and student surveys, school data tracking), and collating and analysing the data collected to diagnose successes, challenges and opportunities within our work streams.
-
Act as an internal consultant with the team: bringing stakeholder feedback together in clear presentations for other staff members and acting as a “critical friend” during delivery and strategy planning. Identify insights that point to continuous improvement of our programmes and work with Programme Team to utilise insights.
-
Develop our qualitative framework to better track and measure whole-school inclusion. This framework will aim not just to support improved work for children in our schools, but to define what good looks like in the sector.
-
Progress our ambition to make inclusion more tangibly measurable: plan user-research with school partners to identify inclusion data needs and use these findings to develop impact tools that collate exclusion, attendance and demographic data. Work with others in the sector using innovative methods to measure inclusion through national datasets.
-
Expand our work on measuring school inclusion through student experience of safety, wellbeing and belonging. Grow the reach of our current survey tools and collaborating with others in the sector doing innovative work on student voice and inclusion.
Our Values
-
High Expectations - We are ambitious for excellence from young people, colleagues and ourselves. We don’t believe in writing off someone’s potential because of their identity or experience of crisis.
-
Strong Relationships - We prioritise genuine relationships over transactional interactions, and know that this requires deliberate relational practice. We see colleagues and partners as people first and their roles second; and know this greater trust allows us to take more risks, gain more feedback and have greater impact.
-
Internalised Locus of Control - We work hard to reframe difficult situations to discover what we have within our power in terms of solutions. We take it upon ourselves to walk towards challenges and can take a high level of ownership and agency in our work.
-
Pragmatism - We believe leadership means recognising current limitations and striving for improvements within and beyond them. We develop consensus and chart new ways forward, challenging false and extreme positions like “zero exclusions” or “no excuses”.
-
Scientific approach - We take a diagnostic approach to unpicking causes of problems. We are loud and proud of our failures, recognising failing fast and often is key to finding the best solutions. We test solutions and are willing to use data and feedback to make adjustments and choose new directions.
-
Not Squeamish about Structural Inequality - We believe patterns of inequality can and should be disrupted. We strive to be clear-eyed about these inequalities, and both the individual practice and system-changes required to address them. We push ourselves to overcome awkwardness in talking about this; and begin by acknowledging our own biases and blind spots.
-
Asset-based - We work hard to avoid deficit thinking and aim to start with what’s strong, not what’s wrong. We are careful not to frame our colleagues and stakeholders - particularly young people and families – as victims but instead to recognise their agency.
-
Wise selves - To both enjoy work and do their best, we want to make decisions and work with others in our “wise” - or regulated - selves. We also want to bring our compassionate self to those we work with, externally and internally, to support one another through challenging times.
How To Apply
To apply, please complete all sections of the application form by midnight on Sunday 28th April.
First round interviews will be held during the week beginning 13th May, over video call.
Please indicate if you would not be available to attend an interview during this week.
If successful in this stage, second round interviews (including a task to be completed the same day) will take place on the week beginning 20th May, at our office in Bethnal Green.
We are committed to building a diverse team and strongly encourage applications from under-represented groups in the charity sector such as people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, people with experience in the care system, non-graduates and first-in-family graduates.
As part of our commitment to fairer recruitment, all applications will be assessed with names and any protected characteristics redacted.
Please note that we're not able to sponsor work visas for this role and can only move forward with candidates who are eligible to work in the UK.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
About the Foundation:
The Avicenna Foundation was set up in 2023 to to support outstanding young British Muslims by providing them with scholarships for their undergraduate degree. The scholarships are mainly focused on awarding scholarships in the Social Sciences and Humanities for those interested in politics, policy-making and becoming agents of positive change.
Alongside the scholarship, the Avicenna Foundation runs a development programme for the scholars to expand their skills and abilities in various areas like leadership, communication and collaboration.
The Foundation has developed immensely in the first year with the launch of the charity; onboarding of it’s first cohort of 30 scholars and the development of a leadership programme. It now needs propelling into the next stage as the charity develops to ensure a robust charity structure and programme in place.
Key Responsibilities:
Operations:
- Manage the day-to-day operations of the charity, and manage changes required within programmes and activities as a result of changing external landscapes or contexts.
- Implement strategies for advertising the scholarships, receiving and reviewing applications, shortlisting candidates, conducting interviews, and making final selection decisions. Some of these things are already in place and may need reviewing and enhancing.
- Work with the Scholar Development Coordinator to oversee the leadership development programme, provide guidance and help the programme to grow.
- Maintain regular communication with the scholars, their progress, and address any issues or concerns that may arise.
- Ensure programme objectives and outcomes align with the overall strategy and aims of the Foundation, and are realistic and achievable within timeframes and budgets.
- Organise any events, programmes necessary to the scholars.
- Use data to track progress and drive improvement; proactively manage risks; and ensure effective use of the Foundation’s resources and budgets allocated to you.
Governance:
- Provide leadership and guidance to achieve consistency of governance across all of the Foundation’s activities, from development, delivery, measurement and evaluation and reporting perspectives.
- Regular communication and updates to the board, prepare board papers and contribute to Trustee meetings as required.
- Create, maintain and ensure continued adoption of governance frameworks, policies and templates.
- Ensure implementation and maintenance of risk registers for the charity and across all programmes.
- Manage finances, budgeting, reporting, and record-keeping
- Prepare the Foundation’s annual report.
External Engagement
- Lead on strategic communications by developing and implementing an integrated public affairs and communication plan that are consistent with the goals and values of the Foundation.
- Building and cultivating exceptional diverse reciprocal partnerships across a wide range of stakeholder groups, grounded in delivering impact through collaboration.
- Work with educational partners to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the scholarship programme
- Leverage messaging and networks to positively impact the growth and reputation of the Foundation.
- Strengthen our brand reputation to maximise our impact and reach.
- Help identify, create and develop meaningful opportunities for the young people the Foundation works with.
- Establish an alumni network and support continuous professional development for alumni.
- Produce briefings and critical information for internal and external stakeholders, and review reports, submissions, and letters where appropriate.
Experience and Skills
This is not a prescriptive list, and we do not expect applicants to meet every item outlined below. We recognise that it can be hard to find the ideal balance of knowledge and skills for this role. We are open to what this balance is, so if you are stronger in one or the other area but think you could do the job please still apply, and tell us why the role is right for you.
Required
- An appreciation and understanding of the Foundation’s values and vision.
- Outstanding communication skills, both verbal and written, combined with the ability to liaise with senior stakeholders.
- Experience in successful partnership working.
- Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build relationships, lead, influence and motivate others.
- Good financial acumen and experience of managing and working within set budgets.
- A proactive, flexible approach, and ability to progress work independently in a fast-paced environment.
- Diplomatic approach and highly self-motivated with a positive and energetic attitude.
- Focuses on what matters most, setting priorities and adapting them where required, with the right level of communication.
- Excellent attention to detail, accuracy and organisational skills.
- Takes satisfaction in delivering work to a consistently high standard, and programmes on time and on budget.
- Communicates clearly and confidently to senior team members, and presents information effectively, at the right time, with the right level of information.
- Plans ahead, anticipates and reacts to change and project needs, and remains flexible and adaptive in the face of change.
- Experience of working to tight deadlines without close supervision.
- The ability to identify personal strengths and weaknesses, and a willingness to develop, adapt and learn
- A passion and interest in developing work streams to support the development of young people.
- A high level of digital literacy to include MS Office, G Suite, social media and other online platforms.
Advantageous
- Knowledge and experience in effective charity governance, with experience working within the charity/non-profit space.
- Understanding of the policy and campaign landscape in the UK as it relates to issues impacting students, young people and Muslim communities.
- Expertise in project/programme management with proven ability to manage complex projects, including the ability to develop and manage budgets, timelines, and resources.
- Structured thinking when working through problems, overcoming hurdles, mitigating risks and dealing with issues.
- Confidence in, and experience in, liaising with a wide range of stakeholders and project participants
- Previous work within areas of young people, local communities, or further education is a plus.
- An understanding of effective safeguarding (training can be provided, but experience an advantage)
- An undergraduate or postgraduate degree in a relevant field.
Please note that this job description is a guide to the work you will initially be required to undertake, but does not cover all of the duties the post holder may have to perform. Responsibilities will evolve over time, in discussion with the post holder.