Business strategy and governance officer jobs

GoodWork is a youth employment and social mobility charity, creating fairer opportunities for young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. This is an exciting opportunity to join GoodWork at a pivotal moment in our growth. Founded in 2022, we’re a fast-growing organisation with real impact and big ambitions to drive systemic change for the community we serve. 

About the role 

This is a key strategic hire for GoodWork. As our Operations Manager, you'll play a central role in how the organisation runs, grows and delivers impact. Reporting directly to our CEO and joining our Leadership Team, you'll bring structure, pace and clarity across GoodWork, helping turn our strategy into effective day-to-day delivery.

You'll be the only person at GoodWork dedicated full-time to operations - plugged in to what's happening across every team, helping the CEO, trustees and staff connect the dots and making sure GoodWork runs coherently and efficiently. This is a broad, stretching role, but as we’re a small organisation, a lot of the job is rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck into the work yourself, and we're looking for someone who finds real satisfaction in both the bigger picture and the detail.

You'll have real ownership and influence across the organisation, including:

• Keeping GoodWork running brilliantly day to day, creating the conditions for our team, volunteers and young people to do their best work
• Leading core business operations across finance, planning, reporting and controls, working closely with our CEO, Treasurer and external accountants
• Helping shape how we work as a growing organisation, from people processes and onboarding to policies, culture and staff wellbeing
• Strengthening governance, risk and compliance - including Charity Commission and data protection requirements - and supporting the CEO and Chair to ensure the Board has the information, structure and assurance it needs
• Improving the systems, tools and ways of working that help GoodWork operate efficiently and professionally as we scale
• Driving cross-organisational projects and priorities, helping unblock issues, connect teams and make sure important work moves forward
• Contributing as a member of the Leadership Team to organisational strategy, annual planning and key decisions about GoodWork's next stage of growth
• Growing, over time, into a guardian of GoodWork's team culture as well as our operations - going beyond process and systems to help shape how it feels to work here

We’re a small team, which means we need everyone to pick up some admin. For this role, this will include managing our Shared Mailbox, processing DBS checks and keeping the office well stocked and organised. As GoodWork grows, we expect this role - and the wider operations function - to grow and evolve too, including the potential to build a small team around you in time.

As our first Operations Manager, you'll be building this function from the ground up. We'll work with you to prioritise what matters most, but we'll also expect you to bring initiative, judgement and high standards from the start.

What we're looking for

We're looking for someone who's excited by the chance to help build the operational engine of a growing, ambitious charity - someone who enjoys making organisations work better, brings structure, judgement and pace, holds a high bar for quality and follow-through, and is willing to roll up their sleeves to get things done.

You'll need to be a self-starter with a proactive, hands-on attitude who wants to get stuck in and solve problems as they arise. You don't need to have experience solving every issue that comes up, but you should be a generalist at heart, comfortable with uncertainty and learning as you go. A growth mindset is essential.

• Significant, hands-on operations experience in a small or growing organisation, ideally with exposure across finance, people, governance, systems and organisational planning
• The ability to take ownership of a broad brief, bring order to complexity and turn ideas into clear priorities, strong processes and tangible progress
• Good commercial and financial judgement, comfortable working with budgets, reporting, data and digital tools
• Excellent organisational and communication skills, including the tact, discretion and attention to detail needed to work with sensitive information, senior stakeholders and Board-level engagement
• A proactive, resilient and resourceful approach, with the maturity to be the operations lead in a small, fast-moving team
• A fast learner, able to build knowledge quickly, solve problems and move easily between strategic priorities and practical delivery

Just as important as your experience will be how you work. We're looking for someone who's motivated by mission, energised by growth and comfortable playing a visible, trusted role at the heart of the organisation. You won't need experience in the early careers, youth or education sector, but you will need to connect with GoodWork's purpose and show real commitment to helping us increase opportunity for young people from underserved communities.

We work with a diverse group of young people from underserved communities. We particularly encourage applications from minoritised ethnic candidates and those who have lived experience relevant to our programme, particularly non-graduates and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Key Info

• Full time (37.5 hours per week).
• Permanent contract, ideally starting by mid to late October 2026.
• Salary: £39,520 annually with 4% employer pension contribution.
• Hybrid (London), 3 days a week in-person with the team at GoodWork HQ, Warren Street.
• 25 days holiday per year, plus Bank Holidays and additional leave during our annual Winter Break between Christmas and New Year.
• Appointment is subject to Enhanced DBS Check. GoodWork operates in line with safe recruitment practices and adherence to our Safeguarding Policy is essential.
• We are unable to sponsor visas, applicants must have the right to work in the UK.

Life at GoodWork: 

Making GoodWork a great place to work is hugely important to us, and as a small charity we’re continuously working to improve our offer. For now, our team benefits from:

• Personal training budget to invest as you’d like, as well as access to more in-person and online training through our membership of London Youth and the Charity Learning Consortium
• Access to individual coaching to support professional development with qualified coaches, through our corporate partners
• Quarterly official team socials and ad hoc team social activities, recent highlights have included a team Iftar, pottery painting, a Monopoly Deal and Pizza Night and team crafting lunchtime
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme with Health Assured
• Enhanced Maternity and Shared Parental Leave, after a year’s service
• A dog-friendly office 
• The option to work up to two weeks a year ‘super remote’ (from anywhere)
• A values and mission driven team (find out more about our values here) and the opportunity to be part of shaping a rapidly growing organisation

Please apply via our website no later than 9am on 19 August 2026.

Job Title:

Victim Support Casework Team Lead 

Salary:

Actual salary is £27,200 per year (FTE £34,000). 

Contract/Hours:

Permanent. 4 days per week / 0.8 FTE. The normal working week is 30 hours.

Annual Leave:

FTE annual leave entitlement is 23 days pro rata plus public and bank holidays. 

Location:

NUM delivers its services UK-wide through a combination of digital resources, remote services and in-person hubs. Staff work on a hybrid basis, with the balance of home and location-based working depending on business needs. This role is primarily remote, with occasional travel possible for meetings, events, and outreach. If you are based in one of our hubs, Glasgow, Manchester or London then this is desirable.

About NUM:

National Ugly Mugs (NUM) is a UK-wide charity which delivers a holistic safety, wellbeing and economic support model for sex workers, combining digital harm prevention, specialist casework, mental health support and pathways to economic stability. Activities are delivered UK-wide via a digital platform, remote services, and in-person hubs. We run a wellbeing drop-in service in Glasgow and other in-person services and events in Manchester and London. We have developed Vocational Support Services for those exploring careers both in and outside of sex industries and we run a Racial Justice project and Youth Justice project that makes visible the lived experiences of harm among racialised and young (18-25) sex workers towards systems change. 

NUM values those with lived experience in sex industries and work with them to shape services and responses, conduct research, develop education packages, and participate in policy advocacy to change the conditions that lead to survival sex work, gain rights and recognition, and improve the safety of UK-based sex workers. 

Background and Responsibilities:

The casework team is at the heart of NUM. We provide vital support from assistance through the criminal justice journey to essential emergency financial support. We are looking for a Casework Team Lead to lead our casework team. If you are driven, have a keen eye for detail, can effectively motivate others in a demanding and emotive area of work with the ability to support people in an empathetic and trauma informed way then this could be the role for you. 

This role will specifically focus on the day-to-day running of the casework team alongside carrying your own caseload. The work involves utilising and monitoring our digital platform and CMS maintaining and monitoring the documentation of cases and coordinating responses to ensure sex workers received the high standard of support they deserve, to prevent and recover from violence as well as seek justice and recourse. The Victim Support Casework Team Lead is responsible for maintaining high standards for all digital, individualised and in-person support provided by the casework team. All responsibilities can be grouped under five umbrella categories. The successful candidate will evidence suitability for the role based on the strength areas below:

1) Management: Manage the operations and administration associated with victim and vocational support casework. 

2) Leadership: Lead and motivate the team of national case workers towards service excellence. The best leaders can also be led. The successful candidate will value the lived and learned experiences on the casework team and ensure that everyone works to their strengths and strives for the best outcomes for sex workers. 

3) High Standards: Support good performance and quality outcomes for sex workers.

4) Creative and Innovative: Ability to strategise and problem-solve. Sex workers experience forms of violence before and after accessing support. At NUM, our principle of 'Sex Workers First' means that we work with them to achieve the outcomes that they desire. Sex workers are in control of their healing and recovery, and it will be the successful candidate's job to ensure that lives are improved as a result of contact with NUM. 

5) Well-being Focused: Provide care for the health, safety and welfare of the case work team and the sex workers we serve. 

Day-to-day tasks include but are not limited to the following.

• Managing your own caseload, providing individualised support to sex workers alongside your leadership role ensuring that sex workers are put at the forefront of all services offered. Maintaining our high standard of support.

• Continued monitoring and development of the NUM platform backend functions to find efficiencies and boost productivity. Develop and update Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) based on new policies and service priorities, new platforms/ procedures, and new innovations or services. 

• Problem-solving to ensure the smooth and efficient operations of the casework team eg, managing resource and rota’s including leave and absences, delegation of task where appropriate to the casework team.

• Audit overview and quarterly reporting to Operations Manager with responsibility for data management and the production of case studies. 

• External communications with practitioners to ensure best practice of utilising NUM service, promoting NUM membership where possible and attending external meetings as a NUM representative where required. 

• Host or contribute to the ongoing meetings of the National ISVA/SWISVA forum and continue to foster useful and productive spaces for SWISVAs (specialist sex work ISVA’s) throughout the UK to share experiences, insights towards delivering quality support services to sex workers with maintaining high service standards and prioritising self-care. 

• Deliver weekly operations meetings, keep them short and concise to discuss operational updates NUM wide/internal. Analyse statistics and case work trends and discuss any issues or take aways with the Operations Manager to inform Casework Team strategy.

• Communicate and collaborate with other work streams and projects at NUM. Contribute to organisational priorities and support initiatives that strengthen National Ugly Mugs’ overall impact. 

• Lead 1-2-1 check-ins and appraisals with staff, acknowledging individual and team success in appropriate ways, motivating the team and resolving conflict and managing team dynamics (with support where needed).

• Onboard and train new members of the casework team.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential Skills and Experience

• Demonstrable casework skills, with experience in delivering advice, information, emotional and practical support and advocacy in partnership with health, wellbeing and criminal justice outcomes for individuals who may have experienced traumatic events.

• Experience managing a team, providing line management support, and managing rotas and team resources.

• An understanding of coordination responsibilities and the requirements of middle management in a fast-paced and ever-changing environment.

• Qualified ISVA or relevant casework support experience.

• Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to work with multiple partners on complex cases.

• Excellent administrative and organisation skills, able to manage both your own and other people’s workloads effectively.

• An understanding of Equal Opportunities, the diversity of sex workers and the impact of criminalisation, stigma, and marginalisation on sex workers and a team comprising those with lived experience.

• Effective communication skills and the ability to deliver training, guidance, advice and support to a diverse range of stakeholders to promote best practice in relation to supporting sex workers when they’re victims of crime.

• Experience of using online communication tools, CMS (Oasis), google workspace, MS suite, slack and other digital platforms to maximise efficiency and productivity of your own casework and that of the casework team. 

• Experience of dealing with internal and external complaints and having difficult conversations.

• Strong empathic and active listening skills.

• Willingness to undertake continued professional development. 

Desirable:

• Experience of the sex work community.

• Experience completing detailed reports on workstream productivity, both statistically and in written form.

• The ability to understand local, regional and national policy and evidence-based research in relation to community safety, health and social inclusion.

• Ability in languages other than English is beneficial but not required. 

If you are passionate about NUM’s mission to ‘end all forms of violence against sex workers’ we would love for you to hear from you!

HOW TO APPLY:

Applications close on 13th August 2026 at 11:30pm BST. We encourage applicants to apply before the deadline as interviews may be held on a rolling basis. You can apply via Charity Jobs or by emailing admin[at]nationaluglymugs[dot]org with your name and ‘Victim Support Casework Team Lead’ in the subject line. 

Please include a CV (max 3 pages) and a cover letter (max 2 pages) describing your suitability for the role. The cover letter should address the points in the ‘Personal Specification’ section of this posting. 

NUM is a diverse team committed to inclusion and equal opportunities in the workplace, and we actively encourage applicants of all different ages, genders, social and economic backgrounds, ethnicities, religions and sexual orientations, and from people with disabilities. If you have any access requirements related to applying, please contact admin[at]nationaluglymugs[dot]org.

We understand that everyone’s experience is different and encourage applications from those who may not meet all of the person specifications. If you’re passionate about equality, economic empowerment, and ending violence against sex workers, we want to hear from you.

Interviews are planned to take place remotely on week starting August 17th. We will let you know by August 18th if you have been selected for an interview. Please note that due to the high number of applications expected for this role if you do not hear back from NUM by the August 18th unfortunately your application has not been successful. We are not able to provide feedback on your application at the application stage.