Community development jobs in london, greater london

The National Youth Agency is looking for a new Chief Operating Officer to join our Executive Leadership Team.

Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full-time - 37 hours per week
Salary: £85,000 per annum
Remote: This role is homebased (within the UK) with occasional to meetings, events and conferences.

What we do

As the national body for youth work, the NYA has a dual function. We are the professional statutory and regulatory body (PSRB) responsible for qualifications, quality standards, and safeguarding for youth work and services in England. In line with our charity mission and aims, we also champion youth work through research, advocacy, campaigns, and programmes.

We work in partnership and believe in collaborative leadership, listening to youth workers and the youth work sector so that we can understand their needs and respond to the challenges they face. We are ambitious for youth work and for young people and integrate youth voice and influence across our work

About the Role

Responsibilities will include:

• The COO leads the day-to-day functioning of the organisation to ensure smooth, efficient, and effective delivery of services. This is vital for maintaining operational stability and achieving strategic outcomes.
• They design and execute strategies that align with the organisation’s mission and long-term goals ensuring resources are used effectively and priorities are clear.
• They promote a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement through supporting employee engagement, productivity, and organisational success.
• The COO collaborates closely with the CEO/CFO and other senior leaders to drive strategic initiatives and business growth, ensuring unified leadership and coherent decision-making.
• They partner with the CFO to manage budgets, forecasts, and resource allocation. Financial oversight ensures sustainability and supports informed investment in strategic priorities.
• Strengthen governance and risk management frameworks, aligned to regulatory expectations and best practice while proactively managing reputational and operational risks.
• The COO cultivates strong relationships with partners, clients, and stakeholders to enhance service delivery and reputation. These relationships are key to influence, collaboration, and impact.
• They lead efforts to improve processes and adopt best practices across the charity to enhance efficiency and keeps the organisation competitive and responsive.
• They ensure that daily activities support the charities long-term objectives.
• The COO mentors other directors and departmental heads and fosters leadership capabilities across teams.
• They establish and track KPIs to identify inefficiencies and guide improvements through data-driven decision-making to enhance accountability and results.
• They evaluate and refine workflows to boost productivity developing efficient processes to reduce waste and improve service quality.
• They act as a bridge between departments and the CEO to ensure cohesive execution of strategic plans preventing silos and promoting organisational synergy.
• The COO serves as a senior figure in national and cross-sector forums, conferences, and strategic partnerships to strengthens the organisation’s voice and influence.
• They demonstrate commitment to Equality, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in both internal culture and external programmes to foster a fair and inclusive organisation.
• They work with the CEO, CFO and Director of Growth to identify and pursue new revenue streams and strategic partnerships. This expands the organisation’s reach and sustainability.
• They engage in public speaking, media interactions, and external representation demonstrating clear communication, credibility, and stakeholder engagement.
• They develop and embed evaluation frameworks to assess progress against strategic goals. The measuring of our impact ensures accountability and informs future planning.
• They promote the organisation’s brand at events and through networking.

The COO takes on other responsibilities as needed to support the organisation’s mission.

About You

Essential competencies of the Chief Operating Officer:

• Extensive experience in senior leadership with a proven track record in operations, financial and risk management, and delivering high-performing teams, ideally in the charity sector.
• Strong understanding of business functions such as HR, Finance, Marketing, etc.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to think strategically and execute effectively.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities. Commercially astute, process-driven, and highly pragmatic in approach.
• Experience in driving performance and fostering a collaborative culture.
• Bachelor’s degree in business administration or related field; MBA preferred

Why Work for NYA?

• NYA operates as a people-first organisation, prioritising the well-being and needs of its employees.
• NYA offers an exceptional flexible working approach which encourages our team to balance professional responsibilities with their personal life.
• A remote based team, spread across England, fostering inclusivity and diverse talent. Despite geographical distances between team members, NYA maintains a highly motivated and connected team through the optimisation of digital tools.
• NYA is committed to supporting the continual personal and professional development of our team and helping them achieve their ambitions.
• We provide 25 days leave plus 8 days, life assurance scheme, 5% employer pension contribution and a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme via Spectrum.life with unlimited specialist support available to all NYA employees.

How to Apply:

To apply, please submit the following via our online application platform by 11:59pm on Monday 29th September 2025:

A detailed CV setting out your career history, with responsibilities and achievements in line with the person specification in the About You section.
A covering letter highlighting your suitability for the role and how you meet the requirements in the About You section.
We will request data for our EEDI monitoring purposes, providing this is optional.

Please note: The covering letter is an essential part of the application process and will be assessed as part of your full application. We use AI detector software, so cover letters or CV’s with over 80% AI generated content will be disregarded. We understand that AI tools can offer support to candidates who have learning differences, which is why we will accept applications with some AI assistance. CV’s will not be accepted without a cover letter.

The National Youth Agency is an equal opportunities employer.

At NYA our inclusive culture means that we embrace individual differences and understand that we need a diverse team to achieve our organisations mission.

We wish to recruit candidates from all backgrounds to ensure our team reflects the rich diversity of the communities we serve. We encourage applications from anyone regardless of disability, ethnicity, heritage, gender, sexuality, religion, socio-economic background and political beliefs but we particularly welcome applications from global majority candidates and those from other minoritised ethnic groups in the UK as they are currently underrepresented in our team.

Youth Work changes lives

Which is why we’re committed to ensuring that as many young people as possible get to benefit from it.As the national body for youth work in England, the National Youth Agency (NYA) exists to champion its transformative power. We believe all young people should have the opportunity to benefit from the life-changing impact of extraordinary youth workers and trained volunteers.

We help to grow youth work provision in ways that keep it effective, relevant, safe and engaging, to help millions of young people reach their potential and thrive. We do this by providing guidance, support, advice, training and staff development opportunities for youth workers and youth work organisations. At the heart of everything we do are young people themselves. We work hard to ensure their voices are integrated into all our work, to develop provision that truly meets their needs.

REF-223747

Heard is a multi-award-winning charity working at the intersection of storytelling and social justice. For over 15 years, we’ve inspired content and communication that shift public perspectives and drive real-world change on issues such as climate change, trans rights, children's palliative care, and more. Our work supports people to create compelling narratives that move hearts, change minds, and spark action.

We’re looking for acreative and strategic senior communications manager to amplify Heard’s voice, grow our influence, and share learning that drives narrative change.

As senior communications manager, you’ll set direction for our communications, creating content, build relationships, and bring our impact stories to life as well as being responsible for managing all our communications day-to-day. You’ll work closely with programme teams, funders, and partners to ensure Heard’s work is visible and accessible.

Whilst you will work with all of our five programme teams, a majority of your time will focus on our climate programme. You don’t need to be a climate expert but have an awareness of TV and and foster partnerships with media to transform how climate is seen and felt on screen by helping the team develop impactful climate and health story case studies to fulfill our mission of changing hearts and minds.

As a senior communications manager at Heard, you’ll be part of a forward-thinking, creative, and supportive team. If this sounds like a fit for you, apply now!

OVERVIEW

• Job type: 18-month fixed-term contract (potential to extend, subject to funding)
• Days: 0.8 full-time equivalent (FTE) – totalling 25.6 hours per week* not including breaks (Mon – Thurs).
• We will consider 0.6 or 0.7 FTE to allow more flexibility for the right candidate.
• Pay: £42,510 (per annum pro rata – so for 0.8 FTE this works out as £34,010)
• Staff Benefits: 7.5% pension contribution, generous holiday leave, birthday leave, Christmas leave plus bank holidays, annual training budget, mentoring, and hybrid working.
• Reporting to: co-ceos (Sophie Hobson and Nathalie McDermott)
• Based at: London-based / hybrid.
  • Working at least 2 days a week in the office, one of which is a Tuesday. 
  • Our office is on Cambridge Heath Road, London, E2 9DA.

*Heard is trialling the Four-Day Week as part of our commitment to well-being, sustainability and effectiveness. This means our full-time equivalent has reduced from 35 to 32 hours, spread Mon – Thurs. Our trustees will review whether to permanently adopt Four-Day Week in early 2026, at which point we will work carefully with all our team to ensure all work patterns are sustainable for them, regardless of the decision. Learn more about the trial.

About us

Carers UK is the national charity for unpaid carers. With more than 5.8 million carers in the UK today, we exist to make life better for those who provide unpaid care to family and friends. Through our information and advice services, peer support network, and campaigning for change, we are here for carers when they need us most.

You’ll be joining our Income Generation and Communications team - an ambitious and supportive department where collaboration, innovation and learning are at the heart of what we do. Together, we’re growing sustainable income to ensure unpaid carers across the UK get the support they need and deserve.

About the role

We’re looking for a proactive and organised Nations Trusts and Foundations Officer to help us grow and strengthen our funding from charitable trusts and foundations - specifically those supporting our work in Carers Scotland, Carers Wales, and Carers Northern Ireland.

This is a key role that directly supports policy influence and service delivery across the nations by securing flexible, budget-relieving grants. You’ll be responsible for researching funders, developing compelling applications, and building strong relationships with a range of national and regional trusts. You’ll also work closely with our teams in each nation to stay connected to their priorities and help translate their vital work into fundable and fund-winning cases for support.

It’s an exciting opportunity for someone who wants to deepen their expertise in trust fundraising while contributing to lasting change for unpaid carers.

About you

You’ll have experience of writing successful trust funding applications and will feel confident asking for grants of five figures or more. You enjoy writing clearly and persuasively, and you’re good at building positive relationships with funders over time.

You’re organised and reliable, able to manage a busy workload and keep on top of deadlines. You pay close attention to detail and take pride in producing accurate work, especially when reporting back to funders.
You’re someone who works well with others. You’ll enjoy talking to our teams in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to understand what they need and how funding can help. You’re curious, committed, and care about making a difference to people’s lives.

It’s helpful if you already understand the charity landscape in the nations or the challenges unpaid carers face, but it’s not essential. Most important is that you bring a positive, thoughtful approach and are ready to learn.

At Carers UK we want our application process to be as accessible as possible. If you need any adjustments to apply please email us to discuss.

The closing date for applications is 12pm, Monday 29 September 2025.

Please send in your application as soon as possible. We look forward to receiving your application.

Carers UK anonymises all applications prior to shortlisting.

Carers UK reserves the right to appoint at any stage, should an outstanding candidate emerge.

Carers UK are actively interviewing for this role as we receive applications.

We may carry out online and social media checks before a formal offer is made.

Role: | Finance & CRM Administrator
Reporting to: | Financial Controller, with a dotted line to the Directors/Fundraising team
Purpose of job: | To work with the Finance and Fundraising teams to provide excellent finance, CRM & other systems administration. This will support income generation, research, data capture and information security throughout the Museum. Responsibilities include maintaining financial records, managing and maintaining a CRM database of contacts, supporting other digital systems, and some general administrative duties including IT support.
Working pattern: | 35 hours per week, usually worked from 10 – 6pm. Flexible/hybrid working offered for up 40% of hours to be worked from home.
Contract: | Permanent
Salary: | £28,000-£30,000pa depending on experience

Who we are looking for
Are you fascinated by data with an excellent grasp on finance, IT and digital systems? Are you interested in the role financial, CRM & other digital systems play in how arts organisations and cultural projects are managed? Are you looking to take the next step in your arts finance, administration or fundraising career? 
The Foundling Museum is transforming how digital systems underpin the foundations of this small but mighty Museum and charity. The position of Finance & CRM Administrator sits at the heart of this continued transition, following the successful implementation and migration to Shopify, Xero & Beacon CRM which began in 2023. 
This new role is essential to the success of the Finance & Fundraising teams, in providing effective finance and CRM administration support. The Finance and CRM Administrator will support income generation activities including fundraising and venue hire, as well as playing a vital role in keeping the Museum’s accounting systems working effectively. 
This includes processing all types of financial transactions on Xero and maintaining records on Beacon. You will work as a key part of both teams supporting the Museum’s strategy through the provision of high quality financial & other data, and the maintenance of the underlying systems.
This is an exciting opportunity for a highly organised individual with strong financial skills, an attention to detail, and a flair for collaborative working and information management. You will be looking to expand your skillset and make a tangible impact on our work, through the effective use & development of the main systems underpining our financial strategy & income generation.

Key objectives
·         Supporting the Finance team with accurate & timely processing & reconciling of all types of Museum transactions & ledgers including sales, purchases, banking & cash.
·         Continue ongoing migration of supporter and customer data to Beacon CRM, working with all teams
·         Support all staff with SharePoint migration project ensuring effective record management
·         Continue seeking opportunities to improve the use of our digital systems to increase organisational efficiencies & income generation

Key responsibilities
Finance
·         Raise sales invoices
·         Process credit card transactions
·         Credit control & reconciliation of the sales ledger
·         Financial management of shop takings
·         Process bank & cash transactions
·         Bank reconciliations
·         Produce financial reports & other ad hoc duties as required by the Financial Controller
·         Gift Aid Claims support
·         Training in and promoting use of XERO to staff
CRM Administration
·         Maintain and update Beacon with all fundraising transactions including applications, prospects, & funding receipts 
·         Process donations, pledges and ticket payments from individuals, organisations, trusts and foundations

·         Day-to-day administration of the Museum’s Friends & other membership schemes

·         Maintain up-to-date and accurate records of contacts ensuring that strict confidentiality and GDPR legislation and guidance is adhered to

·         Monitor data quality by regularly creating and executing processes to cleanse and standardise data in the CRM

·         Lead on development of improving existing CRM systems within Beacon CRM 

·         Assist in data capture and gathering to support fundraising compliance & applications

·         Training in and promoting use of CRM to staff including building reports.
Admin support
·         Basic IT support working with outsourced IT contractors and the Operations team
·         Manage the ordering of office items
·         Facilitate the use, internal awareness and confidence with digital systems, creating and managing logins
·         Supporting the Director’s Office Project Manager with governance & meetings
Other
·         To perform any other tasks as reasonably requested by the Directors, Financial Controller and Fundraising team 

Person specification
Essential :
·         Excellent financial, administration & analytical skills
·         Experience of financial systems such as Xero, Sage or QuickBooks

•       Good understanding and experience of Excel

·         Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively in writing, over the phone, and face-to-face with the Museum’s different stakeholders

·         Solid experience working with not-for-profit databases, such as Beacon CRM

·         The ability to also work independently and take initiative within a small team

·         Proven, excellent organisational skills, with close attention to detail, the ability to multi-task and prioritise responsibilities

·         Excellent IT skills including in depth knowledge of financial systems, CRM, Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and other cloud based digital systems 

·         An enjoyment of and willingness to engage with a wide variety of people and organisations
Able to act with discretion and maintain professional confidentiality at all times

·         Appreciation of and support for the aims, values and ethos of The Foundling Museum
Desirable:
·         An interest in and engagement with the work and ethos of the Museum

·         An interest in and engagement with the arts, heritage and/or music

·         Experience of working in a finance or fundraising environment

Benefits

• 25 days annual leave per year (pro rata) + bank holidays (pro rata)+ Birthday leave + Volunteering leave
• You will be eligible to join a group contributory pension scheme (3 months after your start date)
• Discount from the Foundling Museum Shop and local partner businesses
• Access to season ticket , rental deposit and cycle to work scheme loans (3 months from your start date)
• Free and discounted access to partner museums and galleries
• Free access to our fully funded Employee Assistance Programme for wellbeing – WISDOM
• Training support from our on line learning platform

Interview timetable:
Closing date: 5pm 1 Oct 2025
First interview date: 7 and 8 Oct  2025 (NB interview will include a job related task)
Second interview date for shortlisted candidates: 13 or 14 Oct 2025

How to apply:
 To apply please follow the link to our application portal where you will be asked to upload a completed copy of our standard application form. 
On this application form you need to provide: 

• Your contact details 
• Details of relevant achievements in recent posts, as well as any relevant education and professional qualifications that are appropriate to the post 
• What makes you a good fit for the role, for example, giving evidence of your ability to match the criteria outlined in the Person Specification 
• An explanation of  why you wish to work for us 
• Details of your notice period and names of 2 referees, together with the capacity in which they have known you, and an indication of when in the process they can be contacted (please note we will not contact your referees without your express permission) 

 PLEASE NOTE: the application portal will request a CV. This is not necessary and can be ignored. Where it requests a CV please only upload the completed application form, and the optional Equal Opportunities form (if you wish to submit one).

Please get in touch with us details found on our website if you have any access requirements, for example if you would prefer to send your application via video.

Please note that any offer of employment will be subject to receipt of satisfactory references and  proof of right to work in the UK and also may be subject to a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check. 
 
Please also note that this job description will not form part of your contract or your terms and conditions of employment. Duties and requirements of the role may vary from time to time in accordance with the needs of Foundling Museum, its strategy and the directions from its Director.

 About the Foundling Museum:
A seaman, a composer and a painter, and the moving story of the charity they started 270 years ago. The Foundling Museum is a recipe of art and care, which still looks after kids today. Coram, Handel, Hogarth, what’s not to love? Grayson Perry CBE, Foundling Museum Trustee
The Foundling Museum explores compelling stories of love, loss and care through art, music, writing and emotive objects.
 The Museum is the UK’s only arts and heritage institution dedicated to the public understanding of lived experiences of care.  Inspired by three great 18th-century activists - campaigner Thomas Coram, artist William Hogarth and composer George Frideric Handel - our mission is to inspire change and transform lives through the power of the arts. We believe in creative action that brings past and present together, to stimulate imaginations and enrich lives. 
 The Foundling is also the birthplace of creative philanthropy – combining art and fundraising to publicly support lived experiences of care. At the Foundling, the term ‘care’ refers to children’s social care, including foster care, adoption, kinship care, local authority care and children’s homes. Central to our work is well-being through exhibitions, events, collections, research and arts programmes with care leavers, looked-after children, and early years (birth to five years old).  
 Examples of our work include:  

• Art projects which explore how our historic story of care still resonates today by addressing stigma and supporting mental health. We do this by working in a connected way, establishing collaborations with local health and community partners. 
• ‘Tracing Our Tales’, our flagship training programme for care-experienced young people which was named Learning Programme of the Year at the 2022 Museums and Heritage Awards. Supported by our Learning Team, trainees learn art or creative writing skills in weekly sessions led by dynamic artists and poets, to build a creative portfolio.  
• Exhibitions, collections and displays, ranging from tiny, touching identifying tokens left by mothers with their babies, to composer George Frideric Handel’s will. Around the Museum, you’ll find works of art by contemporary artists like Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, Tracey Emin and Michael Craig-Martin, as well as 18th-century artists William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds. 

For an overview of our charitable activities, and relationships with funders, please view the Foundling Museum Annual Report 2024/2025 on this link. 

About you

We are looking for a proactive and visible finance professional who is able to engage and build relationships across the organisation as a pivotal member within a values led high performing organisation. You will be a qualified accountant with proven track record of financial management awareness and a solid understanding of charity audits and statutory accounts preparation. You will have the ability to work with staff across the organisation in supporting good financial governance and oversight of financial operational matters. You will have the ability to analyse financial information and present this in a suitable format for the audience. You will have good ability to meet deadlines, be IT literate with an emphasis on financial systems, spreadsheets, Quickbooks and Excel. You will be highly organised with excellent attention to detail and be able to work with minimum supervision.

About the role

The role will involve the management of the day-to-day financial activities, VAT, gift aid, payroll and the monthly, quarterly and annual reconciliations and statutory accounts preparation. The job holder will work closely with the Chief Operating Officer, Finance Officer and volunteers within the team. There will be a requirement to work closely with the income generating staff, budget holders, auditors, banks and credit card providers on a regular basis.  The Finance Manager will be responsible for managing the Finance Officer and Finance volunteer.

About us

Carers UK is the leading national charity for unpaid carers. Our support, advice, information and campaigning work are now needed more than ever, as unpaid carers are providing more and more care, adversely impacting on their own health and wellbeing. We exist to make life better for carers and bring about lasting change.

Diversity and inclusion

Carers UK is committed to becoming a diverse and truly inclusive organisation. We strive to create a workplace where our colleagues and volunteers can truly be themselves and feel like they belong and constantly seek to ensure all voices are heard.

To embrace this culture of diversity, our employee and volunteer recruitment should reflect our stakeholders and the society that we serve and support, regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, physical abilities, disabilities or religious practices. We value individual diversity and are actively building diverse teams here at Carers UK and value our colleagues from a wide range of backgrounds.

As a membership charity for carers, we particularly seek employees and volunteers with a real understanding of the issues faced by carers. Reasonable adjustments can be made to the process and role dependent on the needs of the applicant.

At Carers UK we want our application process to be as accessible as possible. If you need any adjustments to apply please email the recruitment team to discuss.

The closing date for applications is 2 October 2025

Personal statement (no more than one side of A4), CV - ideally in Word format - and completed monitoring form should be emailed to recruitment. The information on the diversity monitoring form will be treated as confidential and used for statistical purposes only.

Please send in your application as soon as possible. 

Please also ensure you have also completed and submitted the diversity monitoring form provided on this site. The information on the form will be treated as confidential and used for statistical purposes only. These forms will not be treated as part of your application. 

Carers UK reserves the right to appoint at any stage, should an outstanding candidate emerge.

Carers UK may carry out online and social media checks before a formal offer is made.

We look forward to receiving your application.