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An exciting opportunity has arisen to join a community-based charity with an ambitious and exciting vision set in the heart of Portobello, West London, supporting and enhancing the lives of people in the local community.
Westway Trust is seeking an experienced and enthusiastic Senior Manager: Community Engagement – to drive work to ensure we are strengthening and developing the Trust’s position within the North Kensington community.To ensure that we are doing as much as we can to engage with, support and involve the community in all that we do.To work with the communications team to ensure we are communicating the many opportunities we do and will offer for the community to engage with us.
You will need to have the right blend and balance of strategic, communication, innovation and people skills. You will have experience of supporting and enhancing the lives of people in the local community. You will be an energetic and enthusiastic individual with a commitment to the value of participative community engagement. You will be comfortable in connecting with the wider community, able to listen and gather the views of local people and feed these back into the direction, work and decisions of the Trust.
Key responsibilities of the role include:
- To take responsibility for the development and delivery of the Trust’s community engagement activity.
- To take responsibility for the delivery of impact management in relation to the Trust’s Theory of Change (as outlined in our Horizon Plan).
- To be responsible for building and managing strategic partnerships.
- To be responsible for the impact measurement of the Trust’s engagement and consultation activities.
- To build and support a diverse range of Community Forums and Networks and ensure they are linked to the development work of the Trust.
- To ensure other pathways are in place to ‘listen to’ community voices.
- To ensure other pathways are in place for the community to engage with the Trust in line with our Community Centring ethos.
- To play an active part in delivering a Trust-wide Stakeholder Engagement Plan, including with responsibility for Member Organisations.
- To work with colleagues inside the Trust and externally on the development and innovation of grant making, capacity building, health, social justice and anti-racism.
- To be part of the Trusts effort in driving innovation, including engaging with the balance between social and commercial returns.
- To engage with the Board of the African Caribbean Cultural Centre, in line with Trust policy.
- To engage with the Steering Group of Bay 20 (or the equivalent), in line with Trust policy.
- To line manage a team of staff.
- To attend Executive Team as requested, Committees as required and provide reports and papers for Committees, line manager and the Board as required.
Knowledge and Experience:
Leadership responsibilities
- You will be an active member of the Trust’s Team, contributing in particular to the development and delivery of the property aspects of the Trust’s strategy, business plans and land-use priorities.
- You will attend the Board’s sub-committee and other meetings supporting effective Governance and management as required.
Essential
- Significant and successful experience of operating as a senior charity manager.
- A track record of working collaboratively with partners and stakeholders to develop successful partnerships and achieve joint success against shared objectives.
- Significant experience of community engagement and an ability to balance a range of competing or sometimes contradictory views to arrive at an appropriate compromise position.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to give compelling presentations to a range of audiences.
- The ability to be flexible and adaptable in response to developing priorities.
- The ability to be innovative and creative in order to arrive at practical solutions to sometimes complex issues.
- Experience of managing staff and supporting their development.
- Experience of managing resources and budgets.
- Strong interpersonal skills for both workplace and external representation contexts, operating with enthusiasm, flexibility, energy and commitment.
- Resilience, empathy, enthusiasm and determination to achieve results.
- Demonstrable understanding of commitment to, anti-racism and promotion of equality of opportunities, diversity and inclusion.
Ideally you will bring:
- A strong understanding of building regulations and best practice, and industry standards.
- An understanding of the local area.
The application deadline is Sunday 15 March 2026 when applications will be reviewed and shortlisted for interview. However, we reserve the right to close the application early. An early application is strongly recommended.
Please apply directly from our website.
We exist to work together with the local community to enable North Kensington to thrive.



Community Engagement Manager
Location: Portsmouth, hybrid between home and local office, with one day per month in London office
Contract: 3 days per week, 18-month fixed term contract
Salary: £33,670 - £35,490 per annum (FTE)
About the Blagrave Trust
Blagrave is a funder that works alongside young people, communities and partners to drive systems change towards social justice. As we launch our new strategy in 2026, we are expanding our place-based work in the Portsmouth area and seeking a Community Engagement Manager who can build strong relationships, elevate local insight and help us co-create new youth-focused initiatives.
Role Purpose
The Community Engagement Manager – Portsmouth will lead our engagement efforts across the city, ensuring Blagrave is deeply connected with local young people, community groups, grassroots organisations, local institutions and strategic partners. This role is pivotal to shaping our local programme as we enter a new strategic phase. A core requirement for this post is deep knowledge of and connection to the Portsmouth area. We are explicitly seeking someone rooted in the city—either by living locally, growing up locally, working within local networks, or with a demonstrable track record of community relationships.
Success in this role looks like:
- A stronger Blagrave presence and impact at a local level
- Growing networks of trust and solidarity in the city
- Established partnerships, financial and otherwise, that support and cement Blagrave’s strategic aims in the city
- Local young people facing injustice and their wider communities feel centred in our work
Key Responsibilities Include:
Community Engagement
- Conduct or commission structured mapping of youth and community services and infrastructure, networks, gaps in provision, influencing structures and decision-making spaces, opportunities for partnership, service provision and innovation.
- Produce concise, accessible reports on local findings for internal and external stakeholders, presenting them where appropriate.
- Design and lead other community engagement activities as required, ensuring safeguarding and ethical practices are embedded
- Engage with communities in ways that minimise harm and uphold the wellbeing of everyone we work with.
Communications
- Draft and share relevant information about Blagrave with local stakeholders, using a tailored approach to suit different audiences, and accessible inclusive media; including printed and digital
Events
- Design, coordinate and deliver vibrant community events that centre youth and community participation, including a strategy launch event in 2026
- Manage logistics, partner involvement, young people’s and community participation, and event promotion.
Establish and Support Steering Committee
- Convene and develop steering group to govern our work in the area
- Support the group to determine their own terms of reference and ways of working
- Ensure the voices of young people experiencing injustice are central in shaping purpose and priorities.
- Provide ongoing coordination, communication and relationship management.
Stakeholder Relationship Building
- Build and maintain trusted relationships with a wide range of local stakeholders, bringing a keen understanding of power dynamics, including youth organisations, community groups and grassroots leaders, local authority teams, schools, colleges and educational partners, funders and voluntary sector networks, young people and community members
- Represent Blagrave locally, increasing our visibility and ensuring our work is informed by community insight.
Person Specification
We’re looking for someone who lives and breathes Portsmouth - who has first-hand experience of its neighbourhoods, youth spaces, community leaders and institutions. You’ll be a natural connector who builds trust quickly and genuinely, with a deep commitment to anti-oppressive practice and to creating spaces where young people feel seen, heard, safe, and equipped to tackle the injustice they experience. You’ll bring curiosity, humility and care; listening before you act, valuing diverse lived experience, and willing to be led by the community
Essential
- Experience in youth work or youth engagement with young people experiencing injustice / oppression.
- Strong alignment with our values and approach
- Deep understanding of social justice and power dynamics in relationships
- Deep roots in the Portsmouth area, demonstrated through residency, long-term work experience, cultural familiarity and/or strong connections to local networks.
- Proven ability to build and maintain meaningful, values-led partnerships.
- Exceptional community engagement and relationship building skills.
- Experience in convening groups, hosting conversations and creatively facilitating collaborative processes.
- Ability to design and deliver vibrant events with attention to inclusion, accessibility and anti-oppressive practice.
- Strong organisational, planning and project-management skills.
- Clear communication skills across written, verbal and digital formats.
- Independent working style with ability to self-manage.
- Understanding of safeguarding policies and practice, with experience of escalating safeguarding concerns.
Benefits:
- 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays (pro rata)
- 5% pension contribution
- Employee assistance programme
- flexible working, among others
To Apply
If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for Blagrave, please click redirect to recruiter for the full job description and how to apply.
Deadline: Sunday, 8th March at 23.30