Chief executive officer jobs in Exeter, devon

Chief Executive Officer (Part-time, 3 days/week)

Veterans With Dogs (VWD) is seeking a dynamic and compassionate Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to lead our charity into its next chapter. This rare and exciting opportunity offers the chance to guide a small, high-impact team at a pivotal stage in the charity’s growth.

Location: Exeter (hybrid with regular office presence required)
Salary: £45,000–£55,000 pro-rata (equivalent to £27,000 - £33,000 for 3 days/week) + 3% pension contribution
Contract: Initial 1 year role with opportunity to extend

Hours: 21 hours / 3 days per week

Holiday: 28 days per annum (FTE), plus bank holidays
Reports to: Chair of Trustees
Direct reports: 4

About Veterans With Dogs

Veterans With Dogs is a UK charity that transforms the lives of Armed Forces veterans living with mental health challenges. Through the provision of highly trained assistance dogs and trauma-informed support, we help restore purpose, independence, and dignity to those who have served.

Founded in 2012, our work addresses a vital gap for veterans living with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and complex trauma. Through our award-winning PALS™ (Partner Animal Life Skills) programme, we help veterans re-engage with life, with the support of a trusted companion by their side.

Following a period of governance transition and renewal, we are entering a new and exciting phase. We are strengthening leadership, systems, and strategy to ensure long-term sustainability and greater reach. As we begin this next chapter, we are seeking an experienced, values-driven CEO to lead us confidently into this next phase.

The Role

The CEO will provide strategic direction, operational oversight, and cultural leadership for Veterans With Dogs. Working closely with the Board of Trustees, the CEO will oversee the delivery of the charity’s mission, ensure operational excellence, develop our long-term strategy, and foster a values-led and high-performing team.

This is a hands-on, multi-dimensional leadership role, ideal for a calm, pragmatic, and inspiring individual with experience of organisational stabilisation, stakeholder engagement, and sustainable growth. You will be a visible leader at our base in Exeter, while building strong relationships across the veteran, assistance dog, and wider charity sectors.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Strategy

· Lead the development and delivery of an interim plan and longer-term organisational strategy

· Translate strategic goals into clear operational priorities and plans

· Foster a compassionate, inclusive, and mission-aligned organisational culture

· Act as a credible and inspiring ambassador for Veterans With Dogs with stakeholders, funders, partners, and the public

• Guide the charity through stabilisation and values-led, sustainable growth

Governance & Compliance

· Ensure compliance with all relevant charity law, regulation, and best practice

· Work in partnership with the Board of Trustees, supporting effective governance and reporting

· Implement and embed improvements in HR, finance, safeguarding, IT, and operational systems

• Lead on organisational risk management, ensuring policies and procedures are in place and regularly reviewed

Operations & Programme Delivery

· Oversee day-to-day operations to ensure safe, ethical, and effective service delivery

· Ensure safeguarding standards are upheld for both veterans and dogs

· Drive continuous improvement in programme quality, delivery, and impact measurement

• Ensure operational systems and data processes are robust, compliant, and fit for purpose

People & Culture

· Lead, support, and nurture a small, dedicated staff team and wider network of volunteers

· Promote staff wellbeing, clear communication, and professional development

• Work with trustees to assess future staffing needs and build leadership capacity

Finance & Sustainability

· Work with trustees and advisors to ensure sound financial management and reporting

· Contribute to financial planning, budgeting, and development of a sustainable reserves policy

• Help diversify income streams, supporting fundraising efforts, corporate partnerships, and individual giving

Fundraising & External Relations

· Build and maintain relationships with funders, donors, corporate partners, and sector allies

· Collaborate with the fundraising trustee to develop new funding opportunities

· Represent the charity externally with credibility, transparency, and professionalism

• Strengthen partnerships with ADUK, ADI, Cobseo, and other key membership bodies

Person Specification

Essential

· Senior leadership experience within a charity, social enterprise, or values-led organisation

· Strong knowledge of charity governance, regulation, and trustee relationships

· Experience leading teams through organisational change or stabilisation

· Financial literacy with experience of budgeting, reporting, and planning

· Excellent communication and interpersonal skills across diverse stakeholders

• A calm, values-based, and ethical leadership approach

Desirable

· Experience in health, mental health, veterans’ services, or trauma-informed work

· Experience working with boards during periods of strategic or leadership transition

· Fundraising and/or income generation experience

· Understanding of safeguarding best practice (for people and/or animals)

• Lived experience of the military or charity sectors (not essential)

Our Commitment

Veterans With Dogs is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion. We actively welcome applicants from all backgrounds and strive to create a supportive, respectful, and empowering workplace. We recognise the value of lived experience and are committed to continuous learning as an organisation.

How to Apply

Apply with your CV and a brief cover letter outlining your interest and suitability.

If you would like a confidential conversation before applying, we would be happy to speak with you.

Closing date to apply: Friday 13 March 2026

· First interviews (online): week commencing 16 March 2026

· Second interviews (in our Exeter office): week commencing 23 March 2026 TBC

NO RECRUITERS AT THIS STAGE PLEASE

Are you a visionary leader who can help shape the next stage of our work to protect, create and restore Scotland’s woodlands?

We are looking for our next Chief Executive, someone who can lead the charity into an exciting period of growth and change.

FWS is a Scottish charity working to create a Scotland where trees and native woodlands are thriving for our wildlife, communities and climate.  Our mission is to protect, create and restore these vital habitats through knowledge, partnership and practical action.

Founded in 2012 to support innovative thinking for trees and native woodlands, we have grown into an organisation delivering practical action at scale. Today, our work stretches from city spaces to wild places — supporting farmers and landowners to create or restore native woodlands, strengthening local nurseries, building sector skills, and bringing trees into everyday landscapes across Scotland.

The organisation has grown rapidly over the past three years, and now operates as a team of seven delivering national programmes across Scotland.

About the role

This is a rare opportunity to shape a small, ambitious and high‑performing charity at a time of growth and increasing national influence.

As Chief Executive, you will report to and work closely with our Board of Trustees, providing strategic leadership and acting as the organisation’s senior representative. You will:

• Lead the delivery of our strategic plan and future direction
• Strengthen partnerships across the woodland, environmental, community and land‑use sectors
• Oversee programme delivery and organisational performance
• Support, motivate and develop our small and committed team of seven, working across programmes, fundraising and communications
• Represent Future Woodlands Scotland at senior levels across Scotland

You will bring strategic clarity, a collaborative leadership style, and the ability to build strong, trusted relationships across sectors and with funders.

Location

This role is Scotland-based, working from home with travel across Scotland to meetings. Our current team is spread across Dumfries & Galloway, Lothian, Central Scotland and Aberdeenshire.

Contract and salary

• 8% employer pension contribution
• Permanent, part‑time (3 days per week)
• £65,000–£75,000 FTE, depending on experience
• 25 days annual leave + 10 public holidays (pro rata)
• Additional annual leave increasing with length of service, up to a maximum of 10 additional days.

How to apply

Before applying, please read the Candidate Pack for full details of the role, responsibilities and the application process. You can find it on our website. 

Invitations are invited from suitably qualified people and applications should consist of a CV and covering letter. The covering letter should explain how you meet the essential skills set out in the Candidate Pack and what you would bring to Future Woodlands Scotland.

If you would like an informal chat about the role, please contact Shireen Chambers to arrange a call (details in Candidate Pack).

Key dates:

• Application deadline: Midday, Monday 16 March 2026
• Interviews: Monday, 30 March 2026, in Edinburgh in person

The International Prader-Willi Syndrome Organisation (IPWSO) is seeking a talented and motivated CEO who will deliver our organisational strategy which aims to improve the lives of all those affected by a rare genetically determined disorder called Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). 

The role of CEO at IPWSO is both challenging and rewarding. You can help deliver change for people affected by PWS from across the globe by helping us build solidarity, promoting scientific reasoning and research, helping to foster new relationships, supporting our members, and striving for equality for everyone affected by the syndrome.

You will work alongside passionate volunteers and experts in PWS from across all continents and with a skilled and small staff team based in the UK. We are all dedicated to making a tangible difference!

For the full person specification and the JD, please refer to the attachment below.

#CEO #Chief Executive #Chief Executive Officer 

Chief Executive - Help & Care
Location: Home-based within easy reach of Dorset (regular travel across the region)
Salary: circa £85,000 per annum
Contract: permanent, either full-time basis (37 hours per week) or part-time (30 hours per week). We are happy to discuss flexible working arrangements for part-time hours, including how these are worked across the working week.

Are you an innovative leader who will put communities and social justice at the heart of transforming how health and social care is delivered in Dorset and the south of England?

Help & Care has been supporting communities across Dorset and the south coast since 1985. We deliver person-centred services that promote dignity, independence and connection - from dementia coordination and health coaching to our award-winning Roots gardening programme and social prescribing partnerships. Working with over 25 partners across health, housing and the voluntary sector, we co-produce services that make a real difference to older people, those with long-term conditions, carers and people at risk of isolation.

As our new Chief Executive, you will collaborate with a dedicated Board and a strong, highly motivated team focusing on the following key areas of responsibility:

• Strategic leadership: Define an ambitious, values-led strategy and deliver it, securing long-term impact alongside sustainable financial growth.
• Values leadership: Place Help & Care’s values - social justice, innovation, personal and collaborative - at the heart of decision-making and model them through visible leadership.
• Growth & income diversification: Lead business development to diversify income streams, winning commissioned contracts and developing social-enterprise opportunities to reduce reliance on public commissioning.
• Partnerships & advocacy: Strengthen and sustain senior-level relationships across the NHS, local authorities, commissioners and the voluntary sector; represent Help & Care across systems, media and stakeholder networks.
• Service quality & impact: Embed rigorous monitoring and evaluation so outcome evidence drives commissioning decisions, improves financial performance and enhances the organisation’s reputation.

• People leadership: Inspire, retain and develop a high-performing, compassionate leadership team and workforce, focused on talent development, wellbeing and accountability.
• Governance & financial stewardship: Provide the Board with timely, high-quality reporting, oversee financial recovery or sustainability plans as required, and ensure robust risk, compliance and governance arrangements.

Who you are:

• An experienced CEO or senior director from complex, multi-service health, social care or community organisations, with experience of developing and delivering multi-agency contracts.
• Proven track record of securing commissioned contracts, leading tendering and contract oversight, and developing income diversification, including social-enterprise opportunities.
• Comfortable driving strategic transformation and financial sustainability, with demonstrable expertise in strategic financial management.
• A values-led, collaborative and visible leader with high emotional intelligence and resilience, committed to social justice, person-centred practice and co-production; an effective public representative and mentor.

Why Help & Care?

• Lead a highly respected regional provider with an outstanding track record of co-production and innovation.
• Shape an organisation poised for growth and greater regional influence.
• Hybrid, home-based working, regular travel across Dorset, and the chance to safeguard vital services for local communities.

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 23rd February 2026. Interviews and assessments on 3rd, 4th and 5th March.

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.

A leading anti-slavery charity is operating where most organisations do not: at the intersection of real-time victim insight, systemic prevention, and market-level change. Through its safehouses and community support, the organisation empowers survivors to reclaim their lives and dignity. As operators of a UK-wide Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline, it provides vital national infrastructure that drives urgent action and delivers real-time data on exploitation trends.

The organisation is working to end modern slavery by empowering, equipping, and influencing others to bring about positive and transformational change. Its work combines frontline intelligence with policy influence and business transformation, turning hidden exploitation into actionable reform. It is a values-led organisation – honourable, insightful, dynamic, collaborative, and ambitious – relentless in its pursuit to build a future free from exploitation.

The organisation is seeking an inspirational, confident, and values-led Chief Executive Officer to lead it in its mission to tackle modern slavery and support survivors to rebuild their lives. The successful candidate will act as the organisation’s principal ambassador, engaging credibly and persuasively with government, policymakers, media, and the public.

The postholder will balance strong external leadership with rigorous internal excellence, ensuring the organisation remains a leading authority in the fight against modern slavery.

Chief Executive Officer
A leading anti-slavery charity

Salary: £85,000 – £90,000
Location: Remote, with a minimum of one day a week based at head office in Bristol

About you

The organisation is seeking a highly collaborative and competent leader, with:

• Significant senior leadership experience working with/reporting to a Board in progressive organisations across the charity, NGO, social justice, or public/private sectors.

• Proven ability to provide strategic direction and oversight in complex, mission-driven organisations.

• An entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to drive growth and diversify income.

• Strong advocacy skills with a track record of influencing government, legislative processes, and diverse stakeholders.

• A consistent commitment to diversity and inclusion, with experience advancing inclusive policies and organisational culture.

• Strong financial and operational expertise, with a record of maintaining robust financial controls and regulatory compliance.

Crucially, candidates will be inspired by the organisation’s vision of a world without slavery and its commitment to turning hidden exploitation into actionable reform that empowers survivors and informs broader public understanding.

How to Apply

For further information, to access the appointment brief and to apply to this role, please click 'redirect to recruiter'.

Recruitment Timetable

Deadline for applications:
25th February

First interviews with Prospectus:
w/c 2nd March

First stage interviews with the organisation (online):
w/c 16th March

Second stage interviews with the organisation (in person):
w/c 23rd March

The opportunity

We are seeking an experienced and values-led Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to lead East London Waterworks Park in this next phase of our development. This is a rare opportunity to shape the first paid executive leadership role in a pioneering environmental charity.

The CEO role is wide-ranging and dynamic, and will evolve as East London Waterworks Park grows. The CEO will provide strategic leadership to help realise our ambition to purchase the Thames Water depot site in East London, while strengthening our capacity to deliver community-led rewilding and nature-recovery projects across London in partnership with landowners, local authorities and other stakeholders.

An important aspect of the role will involve introducing a sustainable staffing model that complements and develops East London Waterworks Park’s existing volunteer ecosystem, and strengthens our culture, vision and values. The CEO will be supported in this work by long-standing volunteers at both trustee board and operational level, who believe in the benefits this organisational change will bring.

About East London Waterworks Park

East London Waterworks Park is a community-led charity working to reconnect people and nature. Starting from nature-first principles, and with inclusivity at the heart of everything we do, we work with communities to co-design spaces to unlock a chain of positive changes that culminate in the long-term transformation of people and place.

Our work includes:

• co-designing East London Waterworks Park with the East London community, working towards purchasing a 14-acre Thames Water depot in Waltham Forest and transforming it into a biodiverse urban park with free, accessible wild swimming and welcoming community spaces

• co-designing other nature-first spaces on disused or brownfield land in London, returning land to nature in collaboration with local communities to encourage long–term community stewardship

• hosting engagement, education, and empowerment activities that build skills, confidence and deeper connections to nature.

East London Waterworks Park is a sociocratic organisation, with a decentralised organisational structure and a transparent and collaborative approach to decision making. We have grown organically since 2019, responding flexibly to the challenges we have encountered but always committed to our core vision: creating a new kind of urban green and blue space: one that is ecologically rich, inclusive, and shaped by the people and wildlife who use it.

East London Waterworks Park is currently entirely run by volunteers but we recognise the need to transition to a more sustainable structure. We want to introduce paid employees to ensure we can deliver the exciting projects planned in 2026 and beyond, while retaining our strong community-led ethos.

More information

If this sounds exciting, please review the attached recruitment package.