Chief operating officer jobs in Bath, bath and north east somerset

Reporting to: Co-Executive Director

Benefits:

25 days annual leave per annum, plus UK public and bank holidays (pro rata)
Office closure for a week in December and August
Annual leave allocation increases annually by one day (up to a maximum of five days)
10% employer pension contribution
Other standard Foxglove benefits 

About us

Foxglove is a non-profit that exists to make the use of technology fair for all. When Big Tech companies abuse their power, their workers or the planet – and when governments use technology to oppress, exclude or discriminate – we litigate and campaign to fix it.  

Big Tech companies have become so large – gobbling up a huge slice of the global marketplace and an unprecedented treasure hoard of user data – that they’re now more powerful than many states. The harmful effects of this concentration of power are everywhere – threats to our democracy, to our privacy, decimated workers’ rights and platforms rife with disinformation and hate. Big Tech and AI data centres are rapidly expanding, resulting in huge strain on energy and water supplies. Worldwide governments are ploughing ahead with the use of algorithms and mass data systems to cut costs and increase efficiency often resulting in digital tools that entrench unfairness and leave the most vulnerable in society in crisis. All these problems are only getting worse with generative AI. 

Foxglove works to bring the rule of law to the tech and AI giants who have upended our public square, workplaces, and social lives. We have a strong track record. We’ve launched landmark cases seeking structural changes to big tech’s harmful business models, supported 180+ Facebook content moderators fired for trying to form a union to sue Facebook and their outsourcing company, Sama – winning world-first judgements. We're urging competition regulators worldwide to stop Google’s theft of independent news. We’ve filed the UK’s first legal challenge to a data centre permission decision over the government’s failure to properly assess their environmental impact. We’ve forced disclosure of secret contracts between tech giants and the NHS, stopped a racist Home Office visa streaming algorithm, helped make grading fair for UK A level students, forced the government to pause the NHS Data Grab and challenged the Department of Work and Pension’s use of an algorithm unfairly flagging disabled people for benefit fraud investigations.

We are a small but growing team of lawyers, communications experts, and campaigners. Our work is global, and we work in partnership with lawyers, civil society, unions, and people impacted by Big Tech.

The role

As Head of Operations, you will lead all operational functions of Foxglove. You will ensure that our finance, HR, legal compliance, fundraising, systems and internal processes enable the organisation to carry out its mission effectively. You’ll work across Foxglove and closely with leadership, as well as with external partners to build a resilient and well-governed organisation, able to manage growth and complexity while staying mission driven. This role manages one member of staff and multiple consultants.

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Financial Management & Accounting

1.Oversee financial operations: budgeting, forecasting, cash flow, expenditure controls, financial reporting, payroll.

2.Ensure compliance with accounting standards, audit requirements and donor / funder financial reporting obligations.

3.Manage relationships with external accountants, auditors, banks, and financial service providers.

4.Ensure appropriate and best practice financial policies and controls are in place. 

5.Ensure financial risk is identified and managed appropriately.

Fundraising & Development

1.Contribute to the organisation’s fundraising strategy in collaboration with the Co-Executive Directors and Head of Strategy.

2.Ensure systems are in place to track and manage grants, philanthropic donations, and other income streams.

3.Support the preparation of funding proposals and reports and ensure accurate and timely reporting to funders.

4.Support relationship management with key donors, foundations and partners.

Operational Systems & Processes

1.Develop and maintain efficient operational processes and systems (e.g. finance, HR, IT, data protection, office management).

2.Ensure proper policies and procedures are in place for procurement, vendor management, travel & expenses, and record-keeping.

3.Oversee the infrastructure that supports remote / hybrid working, ensuring tools and systems support collaboration, security, and productivity.

Compliance, Risk & Governance

1.Lead on organisational compliance: legal, regulatory, health & safety, data protection / GDPR, employment law.

2.Ensure the organisation’s policies and procedures are best practice, legally compliant and up to date.

3.Establish and monitor risk management frameworks and our risk register.

4.Support governance structures (internal reporting, director meetings etc.), ensuring decisions are well informed and documented.

Human Resources & People Operations

1.Oversee recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and staff development.

2.Ensure policies on equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing are embedded in how we work.

3.Foster a positive culture in line with Foxglove’s values.

Team Leadership & Collaboration

1.Lead the operations team, ensuring clarity of roles, responsibilities, performance and support.

2.Work closely with the rest of organisation including the legal teams and advocacy to ensure operations enables, not hinders, impact.

3.Contribute to organisational strategy, helping translate strategic ambitions into operational plans.

Person specification

Below are the essential and desirable criteria for a successful candidate.

Essential

·Minimum of 5-7 years of senior operations / finance / business operations experience, including line management 

·Strong experience of budgeting, forecasting, audit & financial compliance 

·Excellent strategic thinking and planning skills, able to bridge between high-level strategy and operational detail 

·Strong risk-management and governance experience; familiarity with compliance, data protection / GDPR, employment law etc. 

·Highly organised and able to manage multiple priorities; excellent time-management skills 

·Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to present complex operational, financial or legal information clearly 

·Strong collaboration skills; ability to work across teams; good leadership and people management skills

Desirable 

·Qualified accountant (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent), with proven experience in financial oversight and reporting

·Experience of operating in non-profit / mission-driven / legal organisations 

·Legal or compliance experience

·Experience of international operations, dealing with cross-border legal / regulatory issues 

·Experience of change management and scaling teams or systems 

·Understanding of, or interest in, legal, tech justice issues 

·Experience of hybrid / remote team leadership

·Experience with fundraising finances, grants management, donor reports

Length and salary

This is a permanent full-time role with six-month probation period. 

How to apply

Please make your application via the link to Applied provided by 9am on Tuesday 10 February (please disregard Charity Jobs' deadline), answering the application questions and uploading your CV. We will not review applications sent via a job board or to our email. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis with first round interviews likely to take place in mid February for selected candidates.

Foxglove does not use AI in its recruitment processes, except to detect applications for AI use. As a tech-justice organisation, we ask the same of our candidates.

Foxglove is growing and we are striving to build a team that is inclusive. We will create a diverse and adaptable environment where we support people to do their best work. We believe an effective and creative team is made up of people from different walks of life. You can read more about how we work and what we offer our staff on our website. 

If you require any reasonable adjustments to complete this process, or have any questions, please get in touch with us.

If you would like to know more about how we process your data as part of the recruitment process you can read our recruitment data use policy on our website.

The Fundraising Managers’ key objective is to identify and develop opportunities, create inspiring funding proposals, and provide excellent stewardship to ensure all funders and partners feel valued, engaged, and motivated to continue their support. 

You’ll also maintain a healthy and active pipeline of our new prospects, supporting the long-term sustainability of our work.

This is a rewarding, hands-on role for someone who loves relationship building, is confident working with funders and corporate partners, and is excited to be part of a charity making a real difference to trans youth across the UK.

Remote (UK-based) | Full-time | £123,969 + benefits

Oak is a fully remote, mission-driven organisation offering high levels of flexibility, autonomy, and purpose. We’re a national not-for-profit organisation working in partnership with teachers to create high-quality, sequenced curriculum and lesson resources for pupils across all subjects and age groups.

Our culture has been independently recognised through:

• Flexa verified (93% overall score, including 95% for working hours and 97% for role modelling)

• Escape the City's Top 1% Employers – based on anonymous colleague reviews of culture, development, and impact

• Investors in People Gold - through external accreditation and colleague feedback

 About the Role

Oak is entering a critical new phase. Over the next three years, we will support the implementation of a revised national curriculum, deepen adoption of our digital products across schools, and play a leading role in shaping the safe and ethical use of AI in education.

We are now seeking a Director of Engineering to lead the technology that underpins this work.

This is a senior leadership role with responsibility for Oak’s engineering strategy, technical architecture and platform delivery. You will lead engineering teams to build and operate reliable, secure and scalable systems that support teachers at scale and enable innovation across the education sector.

You’ll work closely with product, design, data, teachers and content leaders to ensure our technology choices are grounded in real classroom needs, strong pedagogy and value for money, while also pushing forward what’s possible with the latest approaches and tools. You’ll empower teams to get solutions built and products and features shipped.

We welcome applications from candidates with senior engineering leadership experience across technology, digital or public service environments, including those who have not previously worked in education.

If you’re excited by the challenge of building dependable systems that quietly do the heavy lifting for teachers, and shaping how safe AI is used across the sector, we’d love to hear from you.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Develop and manage a high-performing Engineering department, leveraging internal and/or external relationships

• Manage the Engineering department budget (minimum of 6-figures)

• Accountable for the department's delivery against division and organisation-wide KPIs.

• Set and lead Oak’s technical direction, ensuring secure, scalable and high-performing platforms aligned with organisational and product priorities and public sector digital standards.

• Oversee software engineering, architecture, embedding engineering excellence, operational reliability, strong SDLC practice and continuous improvement, and ensuring compliance with relevant digital, security and data standards (including GDS and GDPR).

• Lead the implementation of data-intensive and emerging technologies (including AI/ML), ensuring production-ready systems and compliance with Oak’s technical and safety requirements.

• Member of the Senior Leadership Team.

• Lead the strategy and planning, and model the culture of the organisation.

• Work in cross-functional and product-oriented squads with colleagues from across the organisation, as required.

• Deputise for the CEO and take on other general responsibilities as required.

What We’re Looking For

• 3+ years’ experience overseeing engineering or technical capabilities of a department or division.

• Experience of being part of a senior or wider leadership team.

• Experience of recruiting, developing and managing a high-performing department

• Experience of managing a 6-figure budget and ensuring value for money.

• Extensive experience delivering secure, scalable, high-quality digital services in production environments.

• Experience implementing and operating data-intensive or emerging technologies (e.g., AI/ML), ensuring safe, reliable and responsible deployment.

• Experience leading the evolution of engineering systems over time, including evaluating new technologies, scaling cloud-based services, and ensuring high availability, CI/CD maturity and long-term platform resilience.

• Experience having deployed production ready AI technology (desirable).

• You will be comfortable working at pace, with a range of digital systems (including proprietary ones as required) and you will continuously look at ways that the team can keep getting better. You will be excellent at working as part of a remote team, building relationships and managing your time effectively.

Our Benefits

• 25 days annual leave, plus one extra day for each year of service (up to 28)

• Additional Oak closure days over Christmas/New Year

• 11% employer pension contribution (with no minimum employee contribution)

• A 36-hour working week, with half-days on Fridays or every other Friday off

• Fully remote working — we’ll support your home set-up and offer coworking options if preferred

• Twice-yearly in-person offsites to collaborate, connect, and have fun

• A culture that genuinely supports flexibility, autonomy, and trust

Inclusion and Belonging

We believe diverse teams build better products. We warmly welcome applicants from all backgrounds, particularly those who are underrepresented in the tech and education sectors.

We use the Applied recruitment platform to help reduce bias in our hiring process.

Key Info

• Location: Remote, but you must be based in the UK with the legal right to work here

• Sponsorship: Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer visa sponsorship at this time

• Closing date: 23:59 on Wednesday, 4 February 2026. We’ll be reviewing applications as they come in, and may close the role early

If this sounds like the kind of role and team where you could do your life’s best work, we’d love to hear from you.

Next Steps

We aim to run a fair, inclusive process that helps people show what they can really do.

Stage 1: Apply (via Applied)

You’ll apply through the Applied platform. Your application will be scored anonymously against the published criteria and reviewed by more than one assessor.

Stage 2: Short practical exercise (video)

If you progress, we’ll send you a short brief and a few suggested technologies you could use. You’ll then have time to go away, create a simple prototype or generate an insight in response to the brief, and record a short video walking us through what you have produced and why.

For this role, we will be looking for evidence of technical judgement and engineering thinking, for example, how you approach system design, reliability, security, data or AI safety, rather than production quality or polished demos. The exercise is designed to be accessible to candidates who lead engineering teams and may not code day to day.

Videos will be scored by a small group of assessors using clear criteria.

Stage 3: Interview

A shortlist of candidates will be invited to a competency-based interview, assessed against the criteria set out in the job description.

We’ll share full details, timelines and support as you progress. We’re happy to make reasonable adjustments at any stage.

Use of AI in applications

You can use AI to help draft your answers, but remember, we are looking for your experiences and insights, not generic or AI-generated responses.

We score for specific, real examples and your own judgement. If your answers read like AI output or could describe anyone’s experience, they will score poorly.

We are receiving excellent responses to our job advertisements. This may lead us to close the role early, so if you are considering applying, then please get your application in early to avoid missing out.

Reception Administrator

St Pauls Advice Centre is recruiting a Reception Administrator to provide a professional, welcoming front-of-house service for clients, partners, and visitors.

This is a key operational role. You will be the first point of contact and play a central part in making sure people can access the right help, at the right time, in the right way.

About St Pauls Advice Centre

We work to reduce poverty and inequality by providing free, independent advice on social welfare law.
Our services include debt, benefits, housing, immigration, and related issues.
Demand is high and growing, particularly in communities facing multiple disadvantages.

The role

You will:

• Welcome clients and visitors in person and by phone.
• Triage enquiries and identify what support is needed.
• Provide clear information and manage expectations about waiting times and processes.
• Handle incoming calls, messages, and post.
• Carry out general administrative tasks to support the wider team.

This role requires calm judgement, good communication, and the ability to manage competing demands in a busy environment.

What we are looking for

You will have:

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Good organisational skills and attention to detail.
• The ability to work well both independently and as part of a team.
• A commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion.
• Fluent spoken and written English.

Desirable:

• A community language such as Somali, Hindi, or Urdu.
• Experience in a reception, customer service, or advice setting.

Pay and conditions

• Salary: £9,344.23 to £11,680.29 actual salary
  (£27,254 full-time equivalent, NJC point 9)
• Hours: 12 to 15 hours per week
  Working days: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday
• Annual leave: 30 days full-time equivalent, pro rata
  Plus 3 additional days between Christmas and New Year
• Pension: 5% employer contribution
• Employer: Living Wage Employer
• Flexible working supported where possible

How to apply

For the full job description, person specification, and application form, visit the St Pauls Advice Centre website.

Closing date: Monday 2 February 2026 at 10:00 am
Interviews: Tuesday 9 February 2026

Community Project Lead 

• Two-year fixed term, full-time (35 hours per week) or part-time (minimum 21 hours per week considered), £28,000 – £32,000 per annum depending on experience (pro rata if part-time)  
• Remote or office-based. Occasional visits to IPSEA’s office in Takeley or a London venue required. This role will also include frequent travel to meet with community partners. 

Do you have experience working with under-served communities and leading impactful outreach projects? Are you passionate about improving access to support for families of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)?

IPSEA is the leading charity in the field of SEND law in England, and we provide free and independent legal advice and support to families of children and young people with SEND. We also provide training on the SEND legal framework, and we influence policy at both a local and national level.

We are looking for an experienced and motivated Community Project Lead to join our team and lead the development of our advice services for under-served communities. This two-year, fixed-term role is a key part of our strategy to reach groups who may not traditionally engage with IPSEA’s support - including children and families with English as an additional language, cared-for children (children in care), migrant children, detained children, and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.

The project builds on a detailed scoping exercise we’ve recently completed, which involved working closely with a wide range of charities and organisations that support these communities. The resulting report outlines the barriers they face, and will form the foundation for this project and directly inform the work you will lead.

What you’ll do 

• Design and develop pilot advice services that are tailored to the needs of under-served communities, using findings from IPSEA’s research 

• Build and maintain strong relationships with community groups, charities and service providers to co-produce accessible services 

• Collaborate with IPSEA’s advice, legal and policy teams to address the barriers these communities face in accessing SEND legal advice 

• Contribute to and share outreach materials, training resources and toolkits to support families of under-served communities and empower local advocates 

• Plan and lead workshops, focus groups and community events to raise awareness, gather feedback and enhance service delivery 

• Monitor and report on project outcomes and impact, providing regular updates to IPSEA staff and stakeholders 

You can work remotely or from IPSEA’s office in Takeley, with frequent travel required for essential meetings and community engagement.

If you share our commitment to protecting, promoting, and upholding the rights of children and young people with SEND, and would like to use your skills to improve access to vital advice and support, we would love to hear from you.

To apply

Please visit our website to download the recruitment pack and application form, and apply

Closing date for applications: 9am on Monday 9 February 2026 

First-round interviews: Wednesday 18 February 2026 (London) 

Evaluation and Evidence Specialist

We’re 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 around 95 staff based in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we’re in a privileged position to be able to grow our staff team to deliver our ambitious 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 future where nobody dies of bowel cancer. 

Job Summary for Evaluation and Evidence Specialist

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 Evaluation and Evidence Specialist will be an internal leader driving a step-change in the way we understand and articulate our impact, as well as how we use evidence in our work. You will be responsible for delivering evaluations of high-priority activities, as well as supporting other teams to evaluate the impact of their area. You will drive a cultural shift in evidence-based decision making where the charity begins to move from reacting to evidence to proactively generating its own evidence. You will ensure that insight, evidence and impact are delivered in a useful way to colleagues to support planning, decisions, income generation and communications.

Main responsibilities

• Lead a step-change in the way Bowel Cancer UK approaches evaluation, impact, and evidence.
• Develop evaluation frameworks for Bowel Cancer UK’s high-priority programmes and projects, ensuring that they can demonstrate the impact of our work.
• Develop, maintain and renew a set of compelling impact statements that support Bowel Cancer UK’s brand and meets the needs of other teams in engaging their key audiences.
• Establish a programme of routine evaluation for key ongoing activities across the charity, which can demonstrate effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.
• Proactively provide analysis of internal and external evidence sources to deliver meaningful insight for the organisation.
• Support teams to identify the evidence they require, including checking to ensure evidence is used consistently and robustly.
• Develop our capability in how evidence is presented to different audiences, including through data visualisation.
• Develop and maintain a central repository for evaluation and key evidence for the organisation to use.
• Identify gaps in evaluation and evidence and develop plans for how these can be addressed.
• Provide training and development opportunities to colleagues to upskill on the best approaches to evaluation and 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.
 

#Evaluation #Strategy #Insight #Data #Evidence 

Working closely with the Fundraising Manager and Head of Philanthropy, you will support a range of fundraising activities, most predominantly researching new avenues for funding within trusts, foundations and corporate partners, completing grant applications, carrying out communications and reporting to existing funders and raising the profile of the charity through representing Action Tutoring at funder or networking events. This is a fantastic opportunity to gain experience in the world of fundraising activities, working with a passionate, committed and driven team.

Closing date: Sunday, 15th February 2026
Interviews: Wednesday, 25th and Thursday 26th February 2026
Start date: Tuesday 7th April 2026
Contract and hours: Full time permanent contract. We offer flexible hours with 9.30-4 as core hours. A full working week is 37.5 hours.
Location: This role is remote. The candidate can be based anywhere in the England. Our London office address is: x+why, 8-10, Fivefields, Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0DH. Occasional travel may be required for this role.

Duties and responsibilities

• Research new opportunities for Action Tutoring to explore for fundraising and carry out initial enquiries to determine suitability to apply to trusts and foundations. 
• Prepare and submit grant applications to suitable trusts, foundations and corporates, carrying out careful research to ensure the applications are as strong as possible and include relevant data and case studies.
• Work alongside the Corporate Partnerships Team to encourage corporate support through donations or grants.
• Identify and lead on local fundraising opportunities in Action Tutoring’s nine key regions, for example researching and submitting applications for local grants and to local businesses.
• Research and determine suitability of profile raising opportunities or awards for Action Tutoring to apply to, such as corporate Charity of the Year opportunities, the Third Sector Awards and Charity Awards.

A full list of duties and responsibilities can be found in the job description attached to the BreatheHR advert.

Person specification 
 

Qualifications criteria: 

• Previous experience in fundraising, or transferable experience that shows strong writing skills.
• 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: 

• Outstanding communicator; strong written and verbal communication skills; able to make an exciting and compelling case for support.
• Creative and ambitious.
• Proactive and tenacious personality; willing to seek out and pursue opportunities.
• Highly organised; able to prioritise, multi-task and manage work to deadlines.
• High computer literacy.
• Adaptable and open to learning and feedback.
• Committed to equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Committed to promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children.

You will likely be more successful in this role if you have: 

• Prior experience of fundraising work, particularly if it is within trusts and foundations. This could be in a paid role, or on a voluntary basis or as part of work experience.
• Experience of building relationships with stakeholders.

How to apply:
To apply for this position you will need to complete and attach an application form to your application. To do this, please download the attached application form, complete the sections in full and save the new file, and then click the 'apply' button.

You will be able to upload the completed application form on the next page.

Applications without an attached application form will automatically be discounted. We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability and potential; please contact us if you require any assistance or adjustment so that we can help you with making the application process work for you.​