Change project manager jobs in leigh on sea, southend on sea

One of our fantastic clients is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Head of External Affairs to develop and implement a comprehensive external affairs strategy. This pivotal role will be instrumental in strengthening societies and changing lives, working closely with senior leadership to lead government relations across the UK and cultivate relationships with elected representatives, the Civil Service, and key partners within the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sectors.

The successful candidate will lead a team of public affairs, policy, and influencing professionals, contributing to the wider communications strategy. They will leverage an extensive network of stakeholders and a deep understanding of policy and public affairs to stay abreast of significant developments, ensuring the organisation remains proactive in its positioning and sensitive areas.

This role requires a leader who can inspire and develop a team of External Affairs professionals, devising and executing projects in a fast-paced environment while ensuring alignment with strategic goals. The External Affairs mandate is exceptionally diverse, spanning devolved governments across the UK and increasing regional devolution within England. Regular travel to attend meetings and spend time with colleagues across the UK will be required.

The Head of External Affairs will provide a professional, consistent, and expert service, supporting strategic activity across the organisation. They will oversee tailoring outputs to effectively reach key external affairs stakeholders and play a senior role in assessing areas of reputational risk.

Key responsibilities

• As a member of the communications leadership team, take ownership of, create, and implement a comprehensive external affairs strategy to deliver the organisation's missions and strategic objectives, including significant activity in the national portfolios, integrated and aligned to its communications strategy.

• Provide strategic oversight of government relations, public affairs, and strategic engagement across the UK, including relationships with sponsor bodies, working closely with the CEO Office and Portfolio Directors. Offer strategic guidance, sound judgement, and advice to senior leadership and other teams, driving a consistent organisational approach to relationship management.

• Take responsibility for strategic horizon scanning for external affairs activity across the mission areas, ensuring information and advice is shared directly with the CEO and senior colleagues, and opportunities for stakeholder engagement and influencing are maximised.

• Devise and lead a programme of external engagement with key policy, political, and mission-related stakeholders for the Chair, CEO, Board Members, and other senior leaders. This includes owning and coordinating key messages and briefings, attending meetings as appropriate, and ensuring actions are followed up.

• Oversee the design and delivery of engagement programmes that measurably increase engagement with key political and other audiences. Identify and manage risks, trends, or opportunities to protect and enhance the organisation's reputation and ensure successful influencing among key stakeholders.

• Plan and deliver a continuous review and evaluation of activities, including external benchmarking, measurement of engagement levels, and performance standards to ensure effective delivery of the External Affairs strategy across the four nations.

• Lead and develop a high-performing team, delegating work effectively, ensuring appropriate use of resource across the team, and providing and commissioning external suppliers and internal stakeholders to deliver high-quality plans.

Person Specifications

• Substantial experience leading government relations, public affairs, policy, and advocacy in a large, matrix organisation, ideally interacting with devolved administrations (national and mayoral).

• Experience in building and maintaining relationships with senior political and other stakeholders, fostering collaboration across diverse communities and perspectives.

• Experience of planning and executing strategic engagement across a range of high-profile audiences and activities, including responsibility for Chair/CEO/Board-level engagement.

• Experience of strategic planning and decision-making at a local, regional, and national level, including with peer organisations and local governments.

• Excellent interpersonal, networking, and communication skills, with the ability to engage diverse audiences with clarity and inclusivity.

• Experience of briefing and working with senior leaders in support of organisational and engagement objectives, often at short notice, including providing counsel in times of reputational risk and navigating complex organisational dynamics.

• Demonstrable leadership and project-management ability, with experience developing high-performing teams, resource management, and working in a matrix-management and collaborative environment.

• Experience commissioning agencies and third-party suppliers to work with internal stakeholders to deliver high-quality plans.

• Experience of continued professional, managerial, and personal development within the relevant discipline.

• If this role is based in Wales, or supports customers or colleagues in Wales, an understanding of Welsh language legislation and the Welsh Language Standards of the organisation is required.

What’s on Offer:

• Salary of £54,277-£60,000 outside London or £59,000-£66,500 inside London 

• Full time role 

• 12 month contract

• Immediate start 

How to Apply: To apply, please submit your CV demonstrating your suitability for this role by clicking the “apply now” button via our website.

The process: If your experience aligns with what we're looking for, a member of our team will be in contact to discuss the role with you in more detail before presenting your profile to the client. We will also ensure that all applicants receive an email to inform them of the outcome of their application.

To avoid any potential delays or your application being missed, please apply solely via the 'Apply Now' button.

Commitment to Diversity: The Talent Set and our partner organisation are committed to diverse and inclusive recruitment practices, ensuring equal opportunities for all applicants regardless of race, sexual orientation, disability, age, or gender. We actively encourage applications from a wide range of backgrounds and are always happy to make reasonable adjustments to ensure a fair recruitment process.

The Trust offers hybrid working, with staff splitting their time between offices, reserves, visitor centres and some remote work, depending on their role.
 
About us: 

Kent Wildlife Trust Group (KWTG) is a dedicated, hard-working and passionate organisation whose structure and initiatives are aligned to delivering the greatest possible local and national impact by taking action and enabling innovations that help address the global nature and climate crisis.  
 
Kent Wildlife Trust is the parent charity and our mission is to restore nature in Kent. We have over 32,000 members, a small army of volunteers and manage over 80 nature reserves.  
 
In addition to the charity the KWT Group also includes Adonis Blue Environmental Consulting, Wilder Carbon and Kent Wildlife Trust Enterprises.  
 
Our ambitious Wilder Kent Strategy 2030 seeks to reverse the nature crisis and see 30% of land and sea in Kent restored to nature by 2030. To achieve this strategy we need a skilled and passionate PR & Marketing Officer to support a variety of campaigns.  
 
About the role:

Reporting to the Marketing & Campaigns Manager, the PR & Marketing Officer will play a critical role in developing and delivering an engaging public relations strategy.  
 
The first point of contact for the media and public enquiries, you will work with colleagues across the KWT group to respond to media enquiries and identify newsworthy stories.  
 
Using your network of media contacts and your ability to match stories to the right media, you will secure press coverage in local, regional and national publications.  
 
You will also have the opportunity to help shape campaigns across the Kent Wildlife Trust Group and will be expected to scope out, create and deliver compelling content across various digital and print platforms to a range of audiences.  
 
About you: 

• You’re a confident, creative person who thrives on identifying great stories, building effective relationships and engaging different audiences. 
• You enjoy creating high-quality, compelling content which appeals to people across Kent and beyond. 
• You’ll bring experience of working on media, advocacy and fundraising campaigns.  
• You will be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment where you can prioritise work and ensure the right projects get their chance to shine.  

 
What we will offer in return:  

We offer exceptional enhanced benefits.  Recognising the wellbeing pressures related to the climate and nature crises we face as a society, we provide flexible work options, wellbeing initiatives, and professional development opportunities. Whatever stage of your career you’re at, our comprehensive benefits package at Kent Wildlife Trust can be a key factor in your choice to join us. 
 
Next steps:   

If you're ready to join our team and help us create a Wilder Kent, simply click "Apply now" to apply via our website. Here you can find out more about the role and complete the online application form. Be sure to include your personal statement in the space provided and upload your CV, and take a moment to review the guidance notes for helpful tips.
 
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview during the week commencing 16th June 2025.  We will let unsuccessful candidates know if they have not been shortlisted.       
 
If you’d like to learn more about the role before applying, feel free to email us.
 
We are unable to recruit anyone who does not have a right to work in the UK.   
 
Kent Wildlife Trust believes that everyone has a responsibility to safeguard children, young people, and adults at risk; we are committed to ensuring their safety and wellbeing is at the heart of our engagement with people.  We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to references, Disclosure and Barring Service checks along with other relevant employment checks as appropriate to the role.
 
The Kent Wildlife Trust Group is Wild About Inclusion. To us, this means inspiring, empowering and engaging people from all backgrounds, cultures, identities and abilities, to change the natural world for the better.  It also means cultivating inclusive workspaces that are free from discrimination, where differences are celebrated, everyone can be themselves and flourish, just like nature!  
 
REF-221 667

Job Title: Philanthropy Executive

Hours: 37 hours a week (Monday to Friday)

Advertised Salary: £33,677 + benefits.

Base Location: Home-working role. Hub location will be discussed at interview stage. 

The Canal & River Trust is a charity entrusted with the care of over 2000 miles of canals, rivers, docks and reservoirs in England and Wales. These historic, natural and cultural assets form part of the nation’s strategic and local blue-green infrastructure network, linking urban and rural communities as well as habitats. Our waterways contribute to the health and well-being of local communities and economies, creating attractive and connected places to live, work, volunteer and spend leisure time. They also play an important role in mitigating the impact of climate change and provide valuable habitats and much-needed biodiverse corridors for wildlife.

This is a pivotal moment in the Canal and River Trust history as a charity. With cuts to our statutory funding there is increased ambition and investment to grow income from other charitable sources. The Canal and River Trust is committed to growing its fundraised income and has developed ambitious targets for fundraising over the coming years.

We are currently recruiting for a Philanthropy Executive to join our Philanthropy & Partnerships team in the Fundraising Directorate. The Philanthropy Executive will develop relationships with Major Donors and Family Foundations through research, events, proposals, and excellent stewardship. Securing philanthropic income against target to further the work of the Canal & River Trust.

This role will be offered on a remote working basis, with a requirement to attend our main hub spaces for team working and collaborative meetings. Hubs we can assign to you include Leeds, Ellesmere Port, Burnley, Newark, Birmingham, Hatton, Milton Keynes, Gloucester & London.

Applicants will need to be able to attend face-to-face team meetings in Birmingham (once or twice a month). The regularity & flexibility of travel will be discussed further at interview stage.

What We Offer

In addition to your annual base salary of £33,677, we also offer a competitive contributory DC Pension scheme arrangement, and numerous other employee benefits, including several salary sacrifice benefits we are also open to flexible working arrangements. These include:

• Competitive contributory DC Pension scheme arrangement, where we will double your contribution to a maximum of 10%.
• 25 days paid holiday (plus paid Bank Holidays), increasing to 30 days after 5 years.
• Home working status with ‘hub’ facilities available should you need the flexibility to work outside of home.
• Annual £200 personal learning & growth award to spend on any learning related activity.
• Free access to specialist counselling on a range of issues, e.g. health, financial, well-being and domestic matters.
• Access to a range of employee benefits including store discounts, boating holiday discounts and holiday purchase scheme.
• 2 days paid volunteering leave per annum, allowing you to volunteer for a local community project etc.
• Free fishing facilities across our canal network.

Please follow the link provided to view the full job description/apply for this vacancy.

Are you a visual storyteller with a passion for design that inspires action? Do you want to help shape the brand of a modern, vibrant, and inclusive organisation that empowers young people across the globe?

We are looking for a talented and visionary Graphic Designer to join our team at a pivotal time. In this newly created in-house role, you will be instrumental in helping to evolve and elevate the visual identity of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, ensuring our brand resonates with young people and decision-makers, and reflects the power of non-formal education worldwide.

From refreshing our global brand to designing dynamic content and campaign materials, your creativity will help drive awareness, engagement, and participation in the Award. You'll work collaboratively with teams across the Foundation and our international network, producing materials that not only look great, but carry real meaning and purpose.

Key responsibilities

• Brand Development & Identity: Lead creative development to refresh our brand so that it communicates impact, celebrates young people, and demonstrates our vision and values
   
• Visual Storytelling & Content Design: Translate complex ideas and data into accessible and visually engaging formats by creating assets for campaigns, content series, publications and digital platforms— including social media graphics, short-form videos and animations, marketing materials, reports, infographics, toolkits, and event assets
   
• Innovation & Accessibility: Stay informed on design trends and youth visual culture to bring fresh ideas, a user-centred mindset, and an inclusive approach that keeps our visual storytelling current and compelling, whilst ensuring accessibility and cultural relevance to young people across the world
• Internal Support: Work with teams across the organisation to develop brand-aligned guidelines, templates, resources, and capacity-building in visual communication principles

Foothold Communications Officer

 Salary: £18k (£30k per annum pro rata)

Period of appointment:  This is a permanent contract.

Location: Remote/homebased

Part time: 21 hrs a week

 Like many benevolent fund charities, Foothold has a small staff team, but our impact is mighty!

We’re looking for someone who enjoys variety and takes pride in their work to join our flexible, remotely-based team as our new Communications Officer.

Hearing the challenges that the individuals we support are facing keeps us focused. As Communications Officer, you’ll play a key role in communicating the support our charity offers the engineering community, while also engaging our supporters by bringing our community’s stories to life.

We’re redefining relationships with long-standing communications partners, building new relationships, and building our presence across new platforms and communities.

As Communications Officer, you'll be pivotal in making sure our voice is heard through regular communications, and delivering our impact report and annual report.

We find creative ways of working as a team and look to showcase the individual talents and personalities that people bring to their role. At Foothold, you’ll have the opportunity to showcase and develop your skills across digital design, video and copy.

We encourage our team to be all-rounders, and you’ll be working closely and collaboratively with our Communications and Digital Events Officer, Digital Marketing Officer and fundraising colleagues to produce regular, engaging content.

This is a great opportunity to join a small, talented, and committed team as we test the best ways of engaging different parts of the engineering community, and how that engagement may evolve over time. You’ll help us evolve our communications and PR output, and in turn we’ll provide you with the support and autonomy to grow your skills.

We’re confident that you’ll enjoy working alongside the wider team and look forward to hearing from you.

Organisational benefits

· 32 days per annum annual leave plus Bank Holidays (plus office closure between Christmas and New Year)

· Flexible working arrangements

· Organisational commitment to training and development.

· SIPP pension with up to 9% employer contribution (subject to individual contribution)

· Life insurance and access to Smart Health services (AIG)

· Cycle to Work and Tech Scheme, childcare vouchers.

· Associate membership of the IET for one year paid for by Foothold, and access to Foothold services

If you have any further questions about the role, please contact our Head of Business and Volunteering Beverley Archer.

Informal Conversations: these can be arranged with the Jonny Rudge, Head of Fundraising and Communications, between the 3rd and 5th of June 2025

Closing date: applications should be submitted by 4pm on Friday 6th June 2025

Interviews will be held on Monday 16th June  2025 on Teams.

For more information about Foothold please visit our website