Advice and information team leader jobs in Belfast

Prospectus is proud to be partnering with our client, a small, specialist health charity dedicated to improving the lives of everyone affected by Dravet Syndrome.

Dravet Syndrome is a rare, life-long and life-limiting form of epilepsy that affects approximately one in every 15,000 people in the UK (around 2-4,000 people in total). It is a complex epilepsy syndrome so as well as severe, difficult-to-control seizures, people with Dravet Syndrome live with intellectual disability and a spectrum of associated difficulties including with speech and language, mobility, behaviours, eating and sleep. It is also common to have a co-diagnosis of autism and/or ADHD.

Founded in 2008 by a group of parents seeking support and information, DSUK has grown significantly over the past 17 years. Today, DSUK supports nearly 600 registered families across the UK and reaches over 2000 people in total, including parents and carers, siblings and bereaved families. As an organisation they deliver a range of impactful services aimed at improving the lives of beneficiaries through family support, professional education and medical research.

At a time of continued growth for the charity, and as medical advancements in the field continue (including clinical trials for the first gene therapies in rare epilepsy), DSUK are now looking to recruit a strategic, collaborative new CEO to help shape the next stage of their journey.

As the organisation’s new CEO, you will provide inspiring, values-driven leadership across the organisation, holding overall responsibility for the day-to-day operations and long-term growth. You will work closely with the Board of Trustees to develop and deliver the organisation’s next five-year strategy, steering organisational priorities, strengthening culture and ensuring the charity continues to grow, both in terms of scale and in impact. You will lead a small, dedicated, cross-functional team across family support, fundraising, communications and research, driving collaboration across all teams. You will also lead on impact and quality, embedding a culture of learning and continuous improvement. A key part of your role will involve developing and building strong relationships with a range of stakeholders, including families, professionals, researchers, pharmaceutical companies as well as other charities and funders. You will also represent DSUK at relevant conferences and sector events, both in the UK and occasionally internationally.

This is an exciting opportunity to shape the strategic direction of a small, specialist, growing organisation providing life-changing services. To apply for this role, you will be a confident, collaborative leader with significant senior leadership experience in the charity or not for profit sector (experience of working in a rare disease, health, disability or patient advocacy charity is desirable). You will have demonstrable experience of scaling an organisation, and navigating the complexity that growth brings. You will be a skilled communicator, confident at building relationships across health, care or community sectors. You will be resilient, adaptable and comfortable with the breadth and pace of working as a senior leader within a small charity.

If you are interested in applying for this exciting position, please submit your CV in the first instance. Should your experience be suitable, we will send you the full job description and will arrange for a call to fully brief you on the role.

At Prospectus we invest in your journey as a candidate and are committed to supporting you with your application. We welcome all candidates to apply, regardless of age, sex/gender, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, marital status or pregnancy/maternity. If you have any disability and require reasonable adjustment/s to any part of the process then please contact Victoria Savva at Prospectus.

Please note, this will be home-based with regular travel across the UK (and occasional international travel). Working hours are Monday to Friday, 09:00–17:30 (however some flexibility for evenings and weekends is required).

Recruitment Timetable:
Deadline for initial CV interest – Wednesday 20th May
Deadline for applications – Tuesday 26th May
First stage interviews - Monday 8th, Tuesday 9th or Thursday 11th June
Final stage interviews – Friday 26th June

Bowel Cancer UK is the UK’s leading bowel cancer charity. We’re determined to save lives and improve the quality of life of everyone affected by bowel cancer. We support and fund targeted research, provide expert information and support to patients and their families, educate the public and professionals about the disease and campaign for early diagnosis and access to best treatment and care.

We currently have employees working across four nations in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we’re in a privileged position to be able to deliver our ambitious new strategy, On a Mission. There are huge challenges facing bowel cancer patients across the UK and our community needs us now more than ever. We’re building a strong and united team to bring us closer to a world where nobody dies of bowel cancer.

Job Summary

This role forms a key part of a new Strategy & Insight Team at Bowel Cancer UK, which seeks to build core capabilities to enable us to be as effective as we can be for people affected by bowel cancer. The Audience Insight Specialist will be an internal leader, building our capability to understand our core audiences and the people we need to reach to achieve our strategic goals. You will support a cultural shift in how the charity takes an audience-led approach to planning, decision-making, and communications, as our CRM, data infrastructure, and Strategy & Insight functions continue to develop. Making best use of internal and external sources, you will distil data into meaningful insight, tailored to different audiences. You will support a consistent approach to audiences across the organisation, while flexing to meet the needs of different teams, ensuring that any understanding of audience is rooted in evidence.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and at Bowel Cancer UK we are committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Successful candidates may be subject to either a satisfactory basic, standard or enhanced DBS check from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) dependent upon the role.

What does it take to lead the national voice for special schools at a time of real change?

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – National Association of Special Schools (NASS)

National – home-based, with regular travel across England and Wales, particularly London

£90,000–£110,000 per annum

Full-time, permanent.

About NASS 

The National Association of Special Schools (NASS) is the membership association for special schools in England and Wales. We bring together independent special schools, non-maintained special schools, special academies, maintained special schools and multi-academy trusts with specialist provision.

We exist to inform, support and represent our members, helping specialist schools improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND and secure the place of specialist provision within the wider education system. NASS is known for being accessible, responsive and personal, combining national influence with practical support that members value as timely, human and trustworthy.

This is a pivotal moment for the organisation. In February this year, the Department for Education published a major white paper on SEND reform which will require NASS to both influence national policy on behalf of our members and children and young people, as well as support them to navigate the changes. Our new CEO will need to review our strategy while building on our strong platform and momentum to further deepen our influence and strengthen our internal capacity.

As our next Chief Executive, you will:

• Strategy & Impact: Lead NASS through a period of policy and structural change, ensuring the organisation remains clear on purpose, responsive to members and influential in the SEND landscape.
• Governance & Finance: Work closely with the Board of Trustees to provide strong governance, prudent financial stewardship, robust risk management and clear strategic oversight.
• Operational Leadership: Provide confident leadership to a small, remote team, strengthening collaboration, accountability, resilience and a positive, high-trust culture.
• Income Generation: Oversee budgeting, planning and reporting while developing thoughtful opportunities to diversify income through membership, partnerships, events and related activity.
• Community & Partnerships: Build and sustain trusted relationships with government, parliament, regulators, sector bodies and member schools, ensuring NASS remains relevant and well connected.
• Member Services: Protect and enhance the practical offer to members, from briefings and special interest groups to conferences, webinars, training and peer-to-peer learning.
• Brand & Profile: Act as a credible public ambassador for NASS, helping to modernise communications and broaden the organisation’s voice beyond a founder-shaped model.
• Future Growth: Shape a distributed leadership profile and support a more varied, accessible and engaging approach to membership, advocacy and communications.
• A seasoned senior leader with experience in a charity, membership body, education or public sector setting, and a clear track record of leading through change.
• A strong strategic thinker, able to absorb complex information quickly and translate it into clear, practical direction.
• A confident communicator with the gravitas to represent NASS with members, staff, trustees, MPs, peers, media and national partners.
• A politically astute relationship-builder, comfortable navigating a complex and fast-moving external environment.
• Experienced in governance, with a sound understanding of working with boards or trustees and supporting effective decision-making.
• Numerate and commercially minded, with experience of budgets, financial planning, income generation or partnership development.
• Credible, approachable and resilient, with the emotional intelligence to lead well in a high-profile, remote and sometimes uncertain context.
• Direct SEND experience would be a significant advantage, alongside understanding of specialist education or similarly complex stakeholder environments.

Why NASS?

• This is a chance to lead a respected, member-led organisation with a strong national reputation and a clear public purpose.
• You will help shape the future of specialist education at a time when SEND reform is high on the agenda.
• NASS has a loyal, experienced and collegiate remote staff team, supported by an active Board of Trustees.
• The organisation offers a genuinely influential platform, with strong connections across the sector and with government.

Application

For full details of the role including how to apply, please download the full appointment brief. For an informal and confidential conversation about this position, please contact Jenny Hills at Harris Hill via apply button with times to speak and (optional but appreciated) a CV or professional profile which will be treated with the strictest confidence.

Closing date for applications: 9am, Monday 8th June 2026

As leading charity recruitment specialists and a certified B Corp, Harris Hill is committed to high and ever-improving standards of equitable and inclusive recruitment. We actively welcome applications from all sections of the community regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion, sexuality and other protected characteristics.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a thriving national charity, as part of a high-performing, ambitious Business Development team. You will use a wide range of commercial and interpersonal skills to develop the way our services support children, young people and families. The core area of your work will be working with teams of Barnardo's colleagues to produce compelling proposals to commissioners and partners. As such, you'll be able to demonstrate:

∙ Strong organisational skills

∙ Attention to detail

∙ The ability to elicit and articulate great ideas

∙ Strong written and spoken communication.

You will need to be a good writer, communicating ideas effectively on paper with an ability to analyse large volumes of information to develop clear and compelling responses to tenders. It is critical that you can build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to support the development of proposals and service design. You will manage all aspects of proposals and tenders, leading the development and delivery of bids, working to deadlines, ensuring that we present strong business cases and bids that underpin successful outcomes. In addition, there will be the opportunity to help us develop new services and innovations in priority growth areas, monitor market intelligence, assess commercial and contract risks and work alongside operational colleagues in Children's Services.

Your project management skills may have been developed in any sector, and may need further development, but your commitment to the work we do will be demonstrated by your enthusiasm and ability to learn. In Business Development we are a supportive team, with stimulating and challenging work and extensive opportunities to learn and to help Barnardo's transform the lives of the UK's most vulnerable children.

This is a full-time role (36.25 hours per week) within Business Development. The role will operate on a 'Work from Anywhere' basis, meaning that you can work both from home and/or from an office 'hub that's nearest to where you live. Some travel may be required.

Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

Please note previous applicants need not apply. 

Pay & Reward Framework

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values.  We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people. 

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay. 

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours.  More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application. 

Benefits

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

About Barnardo's

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.