Community activist jobs in manchester, greater manchester

About Open Cages

Open Cages is a UK-registered charity fighting animal suffering. We are part of an international organisation, Anima International. To achieve our goal we use scientific evidence, careful reasoning, and draw upon decades of collective experience. Just in the last few years, we have successfully helped improve the lives of hundreds of millions of farmed animals in the UK.

We are impact-oriented and use a wide array of tools to make the world a better place. Our current toolkit includes:

• Investigations which reveal the reality hidden behind the walls of factory farms
• Negotiations with companies to encourage them to eliminate cruel practices from their policies
• Advocacy to secure legal milestones for animals

At Open Cages we won’t stop until we end animal suffering. We would like to invite you to join us and help us achieve this goal.

What do you gain by working at Open Cages?

• Meaningful work – you will help build a world free from animal suffering
• Time – you will be able to focus full-time on helping animals
• High degree of flexibility – the work is almost totally remote and you will organise your working hours and workflow yourself
• Trust – we expect you to make mistakes as a given and learn from them
• Autonomy – you will experience freedom and independence in your decision-making
• Transparency – you will have access to the work and decisions of others
• Honest work culture – you will know what your colleagues are doing and what they really think
• Knowledge – you will learn and receive support from people who have been fighting for animals for many years
• Opportunity to grow – you will learn every day and be encouraged to experiment beyond your skill set
• Ability to influence the organisation – we encourage our people to openly speak their mind and thus you will be able to impact what kind of organisation we are
• A laugh – animal advocacy can be dark at times, we think that having a fun atmosphere is key to balance this
• Transparently set compensation – Our salaries are not negotiable and are based on a transparent algorithm that is the same for each role

Following a 3-month probation period, you will transition to a fixed-term contract. Upon successful completion of this term, you will be offered a permanent employment contract. A minimum salary of £39,695.24 gross (our salary base for people resident in the UK) will apply from the beginning of the probationary period. The salary base may change due to your previous experience related to the position, or your experience in animal advocacy (+3% for each year). In addition, the salary increases with your seniority in Open Cages according to the following model:

+ 7% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the first 5 years of work

+ 5% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next 5 years of work

+ 3% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next 5 years of work

+ 2% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next years of work

About your role

We are a small and ambitious early-stage organisation with two full-time team members. Our current objective: to help the 1 billion chickens raised annually in the UK. By joining us as our first employee focussed on operations, you will help lay the foundations of the organisation as it prepares for rapid scaling, not only increasing our impact for animals now but by also helping to shape the organisation we want to become. If you have an engineering mindset, like to organise things (ideally in spreadsheets), and navigate through novel problems, it’s time to use your strengths for animals. Whilst it may sound challenging, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of making a historic change for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Someone has to pick up that challenge, and we hope it will be You.

To help the billions of animals trapped on factory farms, we need an organisation that is expertly designed and not weighed down by inefficiencies. In this role your first task will be to help us manage, monitor and speed up our internal processes such as accounting, finances, payments, staff operations, donor management and event planning.

We can accommodate to you

Due to the broad scope of our work, there is no simple description of the perfect employee. There may also be certain areas where you are stronger than others, and we are open to fitting the role around you. We are looking for a generalist rather than a specialist. However, you do need to have some particular strengths such as conscientiousness and an analytical mind. Ideally, some day, you will be able to lead a team of your own and transfer your knowledge to them.

No previous experience is required for this role. While experience will be valued (and reflected in the salary), we welcome applications from both seasoned professionals and passionate newcomers who align with our organisational culture.

What do we require from you?

• Strong belief in the mission of our organisation. Working for us should not be thought of as a ‘career step’. We want people who are motivated by our mission above all.

• Flexible availability. We think of ourselves as a small startup. The fate of the organisation rests on a handful of highly motivated advocates who want to do something ambitious with their lives. We want to maintain the intensity of our current operating culture, so you should expect to work the occasional weekends and late evenings.

• Not being an asshole. We expect you to treat others with respect, decency and compassion – even the occasional adversaries.

• A preference for hard work. Activism is our passion and one of the main motivations in life. To fit our culture, you have to be a person that is proactive and enjoys work.

• Growth mindset. Nobody knows how to fix the world, so we need you to keep learning. We constantly strive to be better at our activism, but also as people.

• Strong interest in a high-feedback culture. We have a culture of honest and direct communication. We talk openly about our strengths and weaknesses on a daily basis because we want to be the best. You will know what your colleagues really think of you and be encouraged to speak your mind.

• Ability to reason and communicate your thinking, especially in written form. In order to thrive in our organisation you must be able to think carefully, try to back up your ideas with reasonable evidence, and above all be open to being proven wrong and changing your mind.

• Fluency in English. You will be working in a UK-based organisation which will require constant communication with English speakers.

• Ability to work in the UK. This offer is open to candidates who are either currently UK-based, or are willing to move to the UK for the job. We are happy to do whatever we can to help you in relocating, depending on your needs and our ability. If you have any questions about what we can help with, don’t hesitate to write to us!

You do not need to be vegan or vegetarian. While all of our events provide only plant-based meals, we are open to anyone who wants to fight for a world that is free from animal suffering. We won’t turn down any help.

What will you do?

• Build culture – you will help build and reinforce our culture, so we never lose what makes up the strength of Open Cages.

• Embrace reality – you will make it your mission to understand the world as it is rather than as you would like it to be.

• Manage activists – you will manage and work with teams of both employed and voluntary activists.

• Experience frustration – you will feel frustrated about things you could do better or things that are not working in the organisation or your team, and use this frustration as an opportunity to refine and elevate our organisation.

• Question ideas – you will question common knowledge, especially your own ideas, so that our results are always as good as they can be.

• Optimise your performance – you will continuously deepen your knowledge – both about particular areas of animal advocacy and about how the world works – and enjoy this process.

• Prioritise action – you will act even when there is not sufficient data.

• Abandon projects – you will change your objectives when it makes sense, no matter the time already invested.

• Respect and trust others – you will be there for others and trust their intentions. You will support them when they succeed and when they fail.

• Seek information independently – you will be responsible for acting very independently which will require you to obtain and verify data.

• Make mistakes – you will embrace your mistakes without being ashamed with the desire to learn from them.

• Oversee employment – you will oversee payroll, staff contracts, and employment matters and payments.

• Manage and optimise finances – you will be in charge of our income and expenses. This will include making sure that we have efficient and accurate accounting, and that we have enough income to achieve our goals.

• Help ensure legal governance – you will help submit our annual accounts to the charity commission and ensure compliance with all legal duties, such as making tax payments.

• Manage supporters – you will handle communication with our supporter base and manage donors, primarily through email.

• Improve team coordination – you will worry about how to make the team more effective and help us work better together by improving structure, tools, and internal processes.

• Build and improve tools – you will spot inefficiencies and opportunities in our processes – such as our newsletter and payments software – and improve them, for example by building automation tools.

• Plan events – you will handle logistics and planning for internal and external events such as recruitments, training, and team building activities.

• Obsess over speed – your job will not be to simply manage internal operations, but to reduce the organisation’s time spent on them so that it becomes faster and more efficient.

Do you think this role is too challenging and you're not fit for it?

You may be thinking that this role would be interesting for you, but you won’t make the cut. 

We encourage you not to worry and fill out the application nonetheless, especially if you meet our requirements (even on a basic level) and you think this position could bring you a lot of joy. Leave the judgment about your competence to us. You may even learn something useful along the way.

We prepared support materials to help you through the application process. We'll also be hosting informational webinars about this role and our recruitment process – click ‘Redirect to recruiter’ to see the website for more details.

About Open Cages

Open Cages is a UK-registered charity fighting animal suffering. We are part of an international organisation, Anima International. To achieve our goal we use scientific evidence, careful reasoning, and draw upon decades of collective experience. Just in the last few years, we have successfully helped improve the lives of hundreds of millions of farmed animals in the UK.

We are impact-oriented and use a wide array of tools to make the world a better place. Our current toolkit includes:

• Investigations which reveal the reality hidden behind the walls of factory farms
• Negotiations with companies to encourage them to eliminate cruel practices from their policies
• Advocacy to secure legal milestones for animals

At Open Cages we won’t stop until we end animal suffering. We would like to invite you to join us and help us achieve this goal.

What do you gain by working at Open Cages?

• Meaningful work – you will help build a world free from animal suffering.
• Time – you will be able to focus full-time on helping animals.
• High degree of flexibility – the work is almost totally remote and you will organise your working hours and workflow yourself.
• Trust – we expect you to make mistakes as a given and learn from them.
• Autonomy – you will experience freedom and independence in your decision-making.
• Transparency – you will have access to the work and decisions of others.
• Honest work culture – you will know what your colleagues are doing and what they really think.
• Knowledge – you will learn and receive support from people who have been fighting for animals for many years.
• Opportunity to grow – you will learn every day and be encouraged to experiment beyond your skill set.
• Ability to influence the organisation – we encourage our people to openly speak their mind and thus you will be able to impact what kind of organisation we are.
• A laugh – animal advocacy can be dark at times, we think that having a fun atmosphere is key to balance this.
• Transparently set compensation – Our salaries are not negotiable and are based on a transparent algorithm that is the same for each role.

Following a 3-month probation period, you will transition to a fixed-term contract. Upon successful completion of this term, you will be offered a permanent employment contract. A minimum salary of £39,695.24 gross (our salary base for people resident in the UK) will apply from the beginning of the probationary period. The salary base may change due to your previous experience related to the position, or your experience in animal advocacy (+3% for each year). In addition, the salary increases with your seniority in Open Cages according to the following model:

+ 7% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the first 5 years of work

+ 5% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next 5 years of work

+ 3% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next 5 years of work

+ 2% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next years of work

About your role

We are a small and ambitious early-stage organisation with two full-time team members. Our current objective: to help the 1 billion chickens raised annually in the UK. By joining us as a campaigner you will be both strategising and spending time on the frontlines, by talking to the biggest companies, producing investigative reports and giving media interviews. Your first task will be to help us convince the UK’s largest food businesses to improve their chicken welfare policies through public and behind-the-scenes advocacy. While this may sound challenging, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a historic change for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Someone has to pick up the fight, and we hope it will be You.

We can accommodate to you

Due to the broad scope of our work, there is no simple description of the perfect campaigner. There may also be certain areas where you are stronger than others, and we are open to fitting the role around you. We are looking for a generalist rather than a specialist. However, you do need to have some particular strengths such as resilience, persistence, creativity, and critical thinking. Ideally, some day, you will be able to lead a big team and transfer your knowledge to them.

No previous experience is required for this role. While experience will be valued (and reflected in the salary), we welcome applications from both seasoned professionals and passionate newcomers who align with our organisational culture.

What do we require from you?

• Strong belief in the mission of our organisation. Working for us should not be thought of as a ‘career step’. We want people who are motivated by our mission above all.
• Flexible availability. We think of ourselves as a small startup. The fate of the organisation rests on a handful of highly motivated advocates who want to do something ambitious with their lives. We want to maintain the intensity of our current operating culture, so you should expect to work the occasional weekends and late evenings.
• Not being an asshole. We expect you to treat others with respect, decency and compassion – even the occasional adversaries.
• A preference for hard work. Activism is our passion and one of the main motivations in life. To fit our culture, you have to be a person that is proactive and enjoys work.
• Growth mindset. Nobody knows how to fix the world, so we need you to keep learning. We constantly strive to be better at our activism, but also as people.
• Strong interest in a high-feedback culture. We have a culture of honest and direct communication. We talk openly about our strengths and weaknesses on a daily basis because we want to be the best. You will know what your colleagues really think of you and be encouraged to speak your mind.
• Ability to reason and communicate your thinking, especially in written form. In order to thrive in our organisation you must be able to think carefully, try to back up your ideas with reasonable evidence, and above all be open to being proven wrong and changing your mind.
• Fluency in English. You will be working in a UK-based organisation which will require constant communication with English speakers.
• Ability to work in the UK. This offer is open to candidates who are either currently UK-based, or are willing to move to the UK for the job. We are happy to do whatever we can to help you in relocating, depending on your needs and our ability. If you have any questions about what we can help with, don’t hesitate to write to us!

You do not need to be vegan or vegetarian. While all of our events provide only plant-based meals, we are open to anyone who wants to fight for a world that is free from animal suffering. We won’t turn down any help.

What will you do?

• Build culture – you will help build and reinforce our culture, so we never lose what makes up the strength of Open Cages.
• Embrace reality – you will make it your mission to understand the world as it is rather than as you would like it to be.
• Manage activists – you will manage and work with teams of both employed and voluntary activists.
• Experience frustration – you will feel frustrated about things you could do better or things that are not working in the organisation or your team, and use this frustration as an opportunity to refine and elevate our organisation.
• Question ideas – you will question common knowledge, especially your own ideas, so that our results are always as good as they can be.
• Optimise your performance – you will continuously deepen your knowledge – both about particular areas of animal advocacy and about how the world works – and enjoy this process.
• Prioritise action – you will act even when there is not sufficient data.
• Abandon projects – you will change your objectives when it makes sense, no matter the time already invested.
• Respect and trust others – you will be there for others and trust their intentions. You will support them when they succeed and when they fail.
• Seek information independently – you will be responsible for acting very independently which will require you to obtain and verify data.
• Make mistakes – you will embrace your mistakes without being ashamed with the desire to learn from them.
• Try again and again and again – the decision makers we want to reach often don’t want to improve animal welfare, others may simply not have time for you. In this role you will need extreme persistence in order to gain traction with companies.
• Build relationships – you will need social competence as you try to build trust and work with company executives to make progress for animals.
• Strategise – it is not easy to change the world. As a campaigner you will ask yourself endless questions. You will be responsible for campaign strategy which requires careful planning and the ability to think ahead.
• Take risks – negotiating in a high stakes meeting, attending a farming conference, organising a protest, taking 500 videos of a retailer’s chicken products for a BBC story (yes, we did this!) – in this role you will need to be comfortable with stepping out of your comfort zone.
• Conduct research – you will spend many hours online gathering information, working with investigators and lawyers, or delivering 50 chicken products to a lab in Germany (we did this too).
• Create engaging content – you will produce emotive graphics and videos for social media, factual reports and data-driven briefings for journalists and politicians.
• Work with the media – you will engage with journalists, write press releases, and give the odd interview.
• Mobilise advocates – you will write emails to our supporters and motivate them to take action with us. You will also organise and run street actions like protests and stunts.

Do you think this role is too challenging and you're not fit for it?

You may be thinking that this role would be interesting for you, but you won’t make the cut. 

We encourage you not to worry and fill out the application nonetheless, especially if you meet our requirements (even on a basic level) and you think this position could bring you a lot of joy. Leave the judgment about your competence to us. You may even learn something useful along the way.

We prepared support materials to help you through the application process. We'll also be hosting informational webinars about this role and our recruitment process – click ‘Redirect to recruiter’ to see the website for more details.

About Open Cages

Open Cages is a UK-registered charity fighting animal suffering. We are part of an international organisation, Anima International. To achieve our goal we use scientific evidence, careful reasoning, and draw upon decades of collective experience. Just in the last few years, we have successfully helped improve the lives of hundreds of millions of farmed animals in the UK.

We are impact-oriented and use a wide array of tools to make the world a better place. Our current toolkit includes:

• Investigations which reveal the reality hidden behind the walls of factory farms
• Negotiations with companies to encourage them to eliminate cruel practices from their policies
• Advocacy to secure legal milestones for animals

At Open Cages we won’t stop until we end animal suffering. We would like to invite you to join us and help us achieve this goal.

What do you gain by working at Open Cages?

• Meaningful work – you will help build a world free from animal suffering
• Time – you will be able to focus full-time on helping animals
• High degree of flexibility – the work is almost totally remote and you will organise your working hours and workflow yourself
• Trust – we expect you to make mistakes as a given and learn from them
• Autonomy – you will experience freedom and independence in your decision-making
• Transparency – you will have access to the work and decisions of others
• Honest work culture – you will know what your colleagues are doing and what they really think
• Knowledge – you will learn and receive support from people who have been fighting for animals for many years
• Opportunity to grow – you will learn every day and be encouraged to experiment beyond your skill set
• Ability to influence the organisation – we encourage our people to openly speak their mind and thus you will be able to impact what kind of organisation we are
• A laugh – animal advocacy can be dark at times, we think that having a fun atmosphere is key to balance this
• Transparently set compensation – Our salaries are not negotiable and are based on a transparent algorithm that is the same for each role

Following a 3-month probation period, you will transition to a fixed-term contract. Upon successful completion of this term, you will be offered a permanent employment contract. A minimum salary of £39,695.24 gross (our salary base for people resident in the UK) will apply from the beginning of the probationary period. The salary base may change due to your previous experience related to the position, or your experience in animal advocacy (+3% for each year). In addition, the salary increases with your seniority in Open Cages according to the following model:

+ 7% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the first 5 years of work

+ 5% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next 5 years of work

+ 3% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next 5 years of work

+ 2% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next years of work

About your role

We are a small and ambitious early-stage organisation with two full-time team members. Our current objective: to help the 1 billion chickens raised annually in the UK. By joining us as a campaigner who focuses on communications, you will work on the frontlines by shining a light on the hidden suffering of animals trapped on factory farms, and mobilising the public to take action. Your first task will be to help us convince the UK’s largest food businesses to improve their chicken welfare policies, primarily through crafting media stories and marketing campaigns that capture the hearts and minds of the public.

While this may sound challenging, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a historic change for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Someone has to pick up the fight, and we hope it will be You.

We can accommodate to you

Due to the broad scope of our work, there is no simple description of the perfect campaigner. There may also be certain areas where you are stronger than others, and we are open to fitting the role around you. We are looking for a generalist rather than a specialist. However, you do need to have some particular strengths such as resilience, persistence, creativity, and critical thinking. Ideally, some day, you will be able to lead a big team and transfer your knowledge to them.

No previous experience is required for this role. While experience will be valued (and reflected in the salary), we welcome applications from both seasoned professionals and passionate newcomers who align with our organisational culture.

What do we require from you?

• Strong belief in the mission of our organisation. Working for us should not be thought of as a ‘career step’. We want people who are motivated by our mission above all.
• Flexible availability. We think of ourselves as a small startup. The fate of the organisation rests on a handful of highly motivated advocates who want to do something ambitious with their lives. We want to maintain the intensity of our current operating culture, so you should expect to work the occasional weekends and late evenings.
• Not being an asshole. We expect you to treat others with respect, decency and compassion – even the occasional adversaries.
• A preference for hard work. Activism is our passion and one of the main motivations in life. To fit our culture, you have to be a person that is proactive and enjoys work.
• Growth mindset. Nobody knows how to fix the world, so we need you to keep learning. We constantly strive to be better at our activism, but also as people.
• Strong interest in a high-feedback culture. We have a culture of honest and direct communication. We talk openly about our strengths and weaknesses on a daily basis because we want to be the best. You will know what your colleagues really think of you and be encouraged to speak your mind.
• Ability to reason and communicate your thinking, especially in written form. In order to thrive in our organisation you must be able to think carefully, try to back up your ideas with reasonable evidence, and above all be open to being proven wrong and changing your mind.
• Fluency in English. You will be working in a UK-based organisation which will require constant communication with English speakers.
• Ability to work in the UK. This offer is open to candidates who are either currently UK-based, or are willing to move to the UK for the job. We are happy to do whatever we can to help you in relocating, depending on your needs and our ability. If you have any questions about what we can help with, don’t hesitate to write to us!

You do not need to be vegan or vegetarian. While all of our events provide only plant-based meals, we are open to anyone who wants to fight for a world that is free from animal suffering. We won’t turn down any help.

What will you do?

• Build culture – you will help build and reinforce our culture, so we never lose what makes up the strength of Open Cages.
• Embrace reality – you will make it your mission to understand the world as it is rather than as you would like it to be.
• Manage activists – you will manage and work with teams of both employed and voluntary activists.
• Experience frustration – you will feel frustrated about things you could do better or things that are not working in the organisation or your team, and use this frustration as an opportunity to refine and elevate our organisation.
• Question ideas – you will question common knowledge, especially your own ideas, so that our results are always as good as they can be.
• Optimise your performance – you will continuously deepen your knowledge – both about particular areas of animal advocacy and about how the world works – and enjoy this process.
• Prioritise action – you will act even when there is not sufficient data.
• Abandon projects – you will change your objectives when it makes sense, no matter the time already invested.
• Respect and trust others – you will be there for others and trust their intentions. You will support them when they succeed and when they fail.
• Seek information independently – you will be responsible for acting very independently which will require you to obtain and verify data.
• Make mistakes – you will embrace your mistakes without being ashamed with the desire to learn from them.
• Strategise – it is not easy to change the world. As a campaigner you will ask yourself endless questions. You will be responsible for campaign strategy which requires careful planning and the ability to think ahead.
• Try again and again and again – the decision makers we want to convince often don’t want to improve animal welfare, others may simply not have time for you. You will need extreme persistence in order to gain traction with companies.
• Take risks – negotiating in a high stakes meeting, attending a farming conference, organising a protest, taking hundreds of videos of a retailer’s chicken products for a BBC story (yes, we did this!) – in this role you will need to be comfortable with stepping out of your comfort zone.
• Conduct research – you will spend many hours online gathering information, working with investigators and lawyers, or delivering chicken products to a lab in Germany (we did this too).
• Create marketing content – you will produce graphics and videos for social media, and utilise marketing tools to reach millions of people.
• Work with the media – you will engage with journalists, write press releases, pitch stories and be animals’ voice on the radio and TV.
• Mobilise advocates – you will write emails to our supporters and motivate them to take action with us. You will also organise and run street actions like protests and stunts.
• Connect with diverse audiences – you will need to talk about the suffering of animals to very different groups of people that compose our society. To do that effectively, you will need to understand their perspective and be a good, empathetic communicator.
• Ask for support – you will help us fundraise to increase our impact.

Do you think this role is too challenging and you're not fit for it?

You may be thinking that this role would be interesting for you, but you won’t make the cut. 

We encourage you not to worry and fill out the application nonetheless, especially if you meet our requirements (even on a basic level) and you think this position could bring you a lot of joy. Leave the judgment about your competence to us. You may even learn something useful along the way.

We prepared support materials to help you through the application process. We'll also be hosting informational webinars about this role and our recruitment process – click ‘Redirect to recruiter’ to see the website for more details.

We’re looking for a self-directed and talented technologist who is passionate about tech for good and how AI can support civil society organisations to achieve their missions.

• 4 days per week
• £52,000 salary FTE
• Remote location
• 1 year fixed term with possibility to extend

We are also recruiting for a Head of Design for AI, and we expect these roles to work closely together alongside our wider CAST team and partners.

Application deadline - Tuesday 6th May 12pm

About CAST

CAST helps people use digital for social good. We're on a mission to create a more responsive, resilient and digitally-enabled social sector by supporting nonprofits to embed digital and design across their services, strategy and governance and working with sector leaders, funders and government to make this happen.

CAST is a ten-year old charity made up of incredibly dedicated designers, technologists, activists and entrepreneurs. Collectively we have deep experience and a great reputation across charity and civil society, design, digital and innovation. 

The past decade has proven how vital digital is to charities, and with it, how important CAST’s work and mission is.

About the role

One of the core areas of CAST’s work is building the capacity of the social sector to respond to the rapid scale advances in AI. The evidence from the Charity Digital Skills Report; Joseph Rowntree's Grassroots and Nonprofits research and our own AI survey shows that charities are unlikely to benefit from - or respond to the challenges of - AI without intentional support and capacity building. To support charities’ (critical) adoption of AI we need to invest in supporting sector-experiments that create demonstrable impact (acting as showcases), working alongside the peer groups, charities and working groups to help move conversations into practical action.

To achieve that, we are looking to recruit a Head of Technical AI Experiments to focus on driving forward this work in a number of different ways:

• Providing direct support to organisations and specific technical advice;
• Building a range of experiments and tools alongside the sector;
• Supporting the design and development of specific programmes, training and interventions that will help shift the sector on AI

Whilst there is a lot of work underway and in the pipeline on AI this role will be expected to shape this work based on their deep experience and knowledge of AI, and support the wider team at CAST to upskill in this area. 

You can find more information about CAST on our website.

What you'll achieve

• Create simple to use AI products and prototypes that meet the needs of the charity sector and their communities; being transparent about how the tools work to build understanding and confidence
• Contribute to the development of an ongoing AI strategy that aligns with CAST's mission and supports the digital transformation of social sector organisations;
• Alongside the Head of Design for AI, lead the design, development, and deployment of AI experiments, tools and resources tailored to the needs of the social sector;
• Provide training, resources and expertise to social sector organisations to build their AI literacy and empower them to leverage AI technologies effectively through both direct coaching and via networks;
• Working with the wider CAST team, contribute to the ongoing development of ethical guidelines for AI use, ensuring compliance with legal standards and promoting responsible AI practices within the sector; 
• Foster partnerships with technology experts, academic institutions, and other stakeholders to advance AI initiatives and share best practices for the sector;
• Stay abreast of emerging AI trends and technologies, assessing their potential impact on the social sector and identifying opportunities for innovation;
• Support the wider CAST team in developing their knowledge and skills on AI, and how we can use AI to best effect within our own work.

Skills and capabilities required

• Proven experience in a senior AI or technology leadership role, ideally with experience of the social sector;
• In-depth knowledge of AI technologies, including machine learning, natural language processing, and data analytics.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute strategic initiatives that drive technological adoption and innovation.
• Strong understanding of ethical considerations and regulatory requirements related to AI technology.
• High levels of autonomy with extraordinary organisation and communication skills.
• Able to thrive in a distributed team that changes and responds to the needs of the network and charity sector
• A strong commitment to the aims and objectives of CAST.

Benefits

• Working in a dynamic and creative team with an open and supportive culture
• Opportunity to make a positive social impact
• 30 days holiday a year pro rata, plus bank holidays
• Flexible and remote working
• Family Friendly Benefits: we are committed to supporting staff in achieving a sensible work-life balance
• Group personal pension scheme

We’re looking for a self-directed and talented designer who is passionate about tech for good and how AI can support civil society organisations to achieve their missions.

• 4 days per week
• £52,000 salary FTE
• Remote location
• 1 year fixed term with possibility to extend

We are also recruiting for a Head of Technical AI Experiments, and we expect these roles to work closely together alongside our wider CAST team and partners.

Application deadline - Tuesday 6th May 12pm

About CAST

CAST helps people use digital for social good. We're on a mission to create a more responsive, resilient and digitally-enabled social sector by supporting nonprofits to embed digital and design across their services, strategy and governance and working with sector leaders, funders and government to make this happen.

CAST is a ten-year old charity made up of incredibly dedicated designers, technologists, activists and entrepreneurs. Collectively we have deep experience and a great reputation across charity and civil society, design, digital and innovation. 

The past decade has proven how vital digital is to charities, and with it, how important CAST’s work and mission is.

About the role

One of the core areas of CAST’s work is building the capacity of the social sector to respond to the rapid scale advances in AI. The evidence from the Charity Digital Skills Report; Joseph Rowntree's Grassroots and Nonprofits research and our own AI survey shows that charities are unlikely to benefit from - or respond to the challenges of - AI without intentional support and capacity building. To support charities’ (critical) adoption of AI we need to invest in supporting sector-experiments that create demonstrable impact (acting as showcases), working alongside the peer groups, charities and working groups to help move conversations into practical action.

To achieve that, we are looking to recruit a Head of Design for AI to focus on driving forward this work in a number of different ways:

• Blending expertise in AI technologies with human-centered design principles to foster innovation and inclusivity across the social sector;
• Providing direct support to organisations and specific product design advice;
• Designing a range of experiments and tools alongside the sector and CAST team;
• Supporting the design and development of specific programmes, training and interventions that will help shift the sector on AI

Whilst there is a lot of work underway and in the pipeline on AI this role will be expected to shape this work based on their deep experience and knowledge of AI and product design, and support the wider team at CAST to upskill in this area. 

You can find more information about CAST on our website.

What you'll achieve

• Develop and execute a vision for the integration of AI into CAST’s design methodologies, ensuring alignment with the organisation’s mission and values.
• Alongside the Head of Technical AI Experiments, lead the design, development, and deployment of AI experiments, tools and resources tailored to the needs of the social sector;
• Working with the wider CAST team, contribute to the ongoing development of ethical design principles in AI applications, ensuring transparency, accessibility, and fairness in all outputs;
• Work closely with charities, community groups, funders, and tech partners to co-design AI solutions that address real-world challenges and drive meaningful outcomes;
• Support social sector organisations to develop the skills and resources needed to design and implement AI systems effectively, fostering confidence and innovation through both direct coaching and via networks;
• Stay ahead of developments in AI and design thinking, identifying opportunities to incorporate emerging trends and technologies into CAST’s initiatives;
• Support the wider CAST team in developing their knowledge and skills on AI and human-centred design, and how we can use AI to best effect within our own work;

Skills and capabilities required

• Demonstrated expertise in human-centered design, particularly in projects involving AI technologies or data-driven solutions; 
• Proven leadership experience in design and innovation, preferably within the social sector;
• Deep understanding of AI principles, including machine learning, natural language processing, and their design implications;
• Strong commitment to ethical design, accessibility, and inclusivity;
• Excellent collaboration and facilitation skills, with the ability to bring together diverse stakeholders to achieve shared goals;
• High levels of autonomy with extraordinary organisation and communication skills.
• Able to thrive in a distributed team that changes and responds to the needs of the network and charity sector
• A strong commitment to the aims and objectives of CAST.

Benefits

• Working in a dynamic and creative team with an open and supportive culture
• Opportunity to make a positive social impact
• 30 days holiday a year (pro rata), plus bank holidays
• Flexible and remote working
• Family Friendly Benefits: we are committed to supporting staff in achieving a sensible work-life balance
• Group personal pension scheme