Community programmes manager jobs

We welcome applications from individuals looking for full-time work or from two candidates interested in a job share. Interviews will be held in mid September. Let us know in the application if you're interested in part time working. 

About Us
RideWise is a Nottingham-based charity helping communities make greener, healthier travel choices. We deliver cycle training, sustainable transport projects, and outreach that reduces carbon emissions and promotes wellbeing. Our work has a big impact - and we do it with a small, passionate team.

About the Role
We’re looking for a proactive and community-minded Project Manager to help us deliver a range of active travel and sustainable transport projects.

You’ll lead on the coordination of community based cycle confidence training, manage project logistics and monitoring, and support people across Nottingham to adopt greener ways of moving around. The role also involves engaging with community partners, schools, and businesses, creating compelling programmes to suit their needs and abilities.

The RideWise team works virtually but there will be some regular travel to visit community partners, take part in face to face team meetings and prepare for events. Travel will be reimbursed. 

This is a varied role where no two days are the same - and one where you’ll see the positive impact of your work immediately.

About You

We’re looking for someone who is:

• Organised and skilled at juggling multiple priorities
• A confident communicator and collaborator
• Practical, with a “hands-on” attitude
• Experienced in Project Management
• Able to produce monitoring reports, programme delivery plans and project budgets
• Passionate about sustainability and community wellbeing
• Desirable – have an interest in cycling or a cycling related qualification such as Bikeability Level 2 Instruction

A background or understanding of community-based sports or physical activity would be a real advantage, helping you to connect with our audiences and promote the benefits of active lifestyles.

You’ll need to be confident using Microsoft Teams and digital tools and be happy to travel to various sites around Nottingham.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate the delivery of green transport projects in schools, communities, and workplaces
• Support local people through community engagement
• Monitor project outcomes, record data, and assist with evaluation and reporting
• Create adaptable project delivery plans and then see them through to completion
• Build and maintain strong relationships with local partners and stakeholders

What We Offer

• A friendly, values-driven team with a strong local reputation
• Flexible, home-based working with some local travel as and when required - non standard working hours can be accomodated
• Opportunity to make a real difference to communities and the environment

To Apply

If you're passionate about greener transport, enjoy working with communities, and have strong project delivery skills, we’d love to hear from you.

Please apply with your CV and a brief covering statement outlining your suitability for the role.

Job Purpose
To improve and strengthen the organisation’s volunteering programme by putting clear policies, systems and processes in place, so managers can confidently recruit, welcome, support and keep volunteers in their own teams.
To develop our volunteering offer by strengthening volunteer recruitment, support and retention, while increasing the diversity of our volunteer pool and removing barriers to participation for underrepresented communities. This includes support managers to create meaningful, accessible opportunities that reflect the communities we serve.
To ensure volunteers are effectively integrated across organisational services, providing valuable support to staff teams and enhancing service delivery. The postholder will promote a positive culture of volunteering, ensuring volunteers feel valued, included and well supported.
There will be a lot of opportunity to make your mark, deliver change and support a very willing and enthusiastic team to develop together. We’ll expect a great deal of you but in return you’ll be well supported, invested-in and given lots of opportunity to learn and grow as an organisational leader

Job Title: Senior Volunteer Manager

Reporting To: Head of Volunteering

Salary Range: £40,00 - £45,000

Contract Type: Permanent

Direct Reports: 7 situated across England.

Location: London, Hybrid with frequent travel to sites across England.

Hours/Days per week: 35 hours per week, 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday.

Requirements: Felix only employs applicants who currently have the

right to work in the UK. We will carry out a DBS check for the successful candidate.  

We are Felix

We bring people together to rescue, repurpose, and share surplus food that would otherwise go to waste, turning an environmental problem into a social opportunity.

Together with 16 other independent charities, 18,000 volunteers, and thousands of partners, we are the UK’s food rescue network, supporting 1.5 million people across the country.

We‘re about fuller plates, fuller communities, and fuller lives.

Purpose of the Job 

We are looking for the Senior Volunteer Managerto play a key role in working as part of a team to grow and improve our volunteer programme. Thousands of individuals volunteer regularly across Felix’s four depots, three food production sites and Felix’s UK’s three regional centres and, with a smaller number in Fundraising and other teams. We aim to improve our volunteer programme, as well as develop new opportunities, and make Felix a great place to volunteer.

The post holder will have five primary focus areas:

• Manage the development of individual volunteering at Felix, initiating and overseeing improvement projects and new opportunities and considering both volunteer experience and operational practicality.

• Line manage and continue to build, develop and support a team of seven. Lead on agreeing team and individual goals and priorities and oversee the team’s work.

• Support the team to develop site strategies to grow and improve our volunteer program and manage issues and opportunities at a local and tactical level.

• Collaborate with members of the operations team and other Felix colleagues to continue to integrate the volunteering team within Felix’s work, champion a ‘one-team’ approach.

• Collaborate with the Head of Volunteering, Volunteer Development Manager (Network) and Group Volunteering Manager on strategy and improvement projects

Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage seven Volunteer Managers, providing leadership and development opportunities and leveraging their expertise.

• Lead and manage team collaboration, development, communication, and resource distribution.

• Ensure that change management principles are utilised successfully to bring the team together post merger.

• Assist Volunteer Managers in integrating into site teams and fostering productive relationships, championing and facilitating a collaborative "one team" approach.

• Support Volunteer Managers in implementing strategies which promote volunteer recruitment, retention, and engagement.

• Oversee the involvement and experience of individuals who volunteer with Felix regularly, aligning their needs, skills and motivations with those of volunteer-involving teams.

• Work with colleagues to plan, set goals, make data-driven decisions, monitor progress, and report on volunteer recruitment and retention.

• Initiate, manage and collaborate on improvement projects and new processes, particularly in Felix’s depots and kitchen.

• Support Volunteer Managers in resolving volunteer issues, escalating to the Head of Volunteering when necessary.

• Lead the implementation of volunteer-related policies and continuous improvement initiatives locally.

• Assist Volunteer Managers in organising local volunteer events.

• Network with external stakeholders to promote the Felix Volunteer Program and integrate best practices.

• Perform additional duties as needed during the absence of volunteer management team members.

• Your normal duties and responsibilities will be set out in your job description. However, the charity may require you to perform other duties from time to time

Person Specification 

You will want to spend time with our volunteers and get to know their experience and perspective. You will be a strong people manager, love working with a wide variety of people and be able to quickly build strong and positive relationships in a volunteer-centric organisation. You have extensive leadership, management and team building experience, like to see the impact of your work, and can implement and lead on new ways of working. You have a passion to be in a charity that is expanding rapidly and thrive in a busy environment. You will have a desire to help reduce food waste and/or fight food poverty.

Essential Criteria 

• Strong individual and team management skills within a fast-paced environment

• Strong change management skills- especially those within a post merger environment.

• Excellent verbal and written communicator at all levels

• Great organisation and Planning skills with the capability to manage multiple tasks and projects.

• Good computer skills including the ability to use Office365

• Ability to effectively collaborate with diverse teams and stakeholders

• Capacity to foster a collaborative and inclusive team environment

• Practice in volunteer recruitment, engagement, and retention.

• Capability in organising and facilitating events and activities for volunteers.

• Prior experience in a managerial role, preferably within the nonprofit or volunteer sector

• Experience in networking with external partners and stakeholders

• In-depth knowledge of best practices in volunteer recruitment, engagement, and retention

• Understanding GDPR and good data management practices

Equity Diversity Inclusion & Belonging

At Felix, we are committed to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in everything we do. We value the unique contributions of every individual and strive to create a respectful, inclusive environment free from discrimination or prejudice. Our commitment extends to all employees, and volunteers, ensuring equal opportunities for everyone, regardless of background or characteristics.

Application procedure 

Once you apply you will be directed to our recruitment portal. Please upload your CV and a covering letter outlining your suitability for the role and make sure that they are both uploaded before submitting your application. After you have submitted your application, you have 24 hours in which you can access you application and make edits. We will only consider applications with both CV and cover letter submitted.

Recruitment timeline 

We reserve the right to close advertisements early and we might assess candidates and arranging interview as applications come in, so please apply as soon as possible, to avoid missing out on this opportunity.  

Due to the anticipated large number of applicants, if you do not hear from us within four weeks of your application, we regret to inform you that your application has been unsuccessful. Consequently, will not be able to provide feedback.

This is an exciting new opportunity to help empower young people aged 8–16 to take action, build confidence and develop new skills through our youth-led programmes in schools.

The Programmes Executive will play a key role in supporting our community of primary and secondary schools throughout the school year. You will help design and deliver Bite Back in Schools, ensuring a positive and engaging experience for young people, their teachers and their schools whilst making sure the programme achieves meaningful impact.

Alongside day-to-day programme delivery, you will contribute to a range of initiatives across the organisation, including supporting an exciting collaboration with the School Food Project and helping to coordinate and support wider organisational events such as our youth residentials.

This role would suit someone who enjoys working with young people, is proactive and adaptable, and is ready to learn and grow at a leading youth-led health charity. You’ll be motivated by helping young people turn their ideas into action and seeing the difference that makes in schools and beyond.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Programme delivery 

• Schedule and organise visits to schools, agreeing agendas with the schools in advance to include meeting pupils and teachers, leading feedback sessions and focus groups and supporting the development of their social action campaigns. 

• Schedule and deliver assemblies with primary and secondary schools participating in the programme, coordinating with our Bite Back ambassadors.

• Support the School Ambassadors with travel logistics as they deliver assemblies in schools across England and Scotland.

• Deliver training and webinars for schools where necessary. 

• Maintain and regularly update programme management software and associated data to ensure accurate and up to date information for all participating primary schools.

• Ensure successful end-to-end support for the 5+ primary schools participating in the programme throughout the 26/27 school year.

• Celebrate and share examples of best practice and impactful social action projects amongst our community of schools. 

Relationship management 

• Provide ongoing support to both primary and secondary schools throughout their time on the programme, building strong working relationships with participating schools. 

• Support communication with all primary schools, providing a point of contact for the coordinator and lead teacher in each school. 

• Support monitoring and evaluation through creation of surveys, ensuring completion of baseline and end of year surveys, and analysis of data submitted (working with our Impact & Evaluation Manager).

• Provide timely responses to school queries and alert the Programmes Manager of any potential risks.

• Proactively seek feedback from teachers and young people on our programmes.

• Ensure opportunities for schools to engage in at least two one-on-one meetings with our team during the school year. 

• Build productive relationships with programme partners.

Project support 

• Help coordinate our relationship with our partners in The School Food Project, including Chefs in Schools, School Food Matters, Food Foundation & Jamie Oliver’s Group.

• Support the national rollout of the Bite Back in Schools Primary programme, translating insights and evidence from two successful pilot programmes into engaging assemblies and high-quality resources that drive effective programme delivery and impact.

• Provide support to Programme Manager in the delivery of projects, ensuring projects are delivered on time, within budget and scope.

• Provide ad hoc input to evolving organisational requirements as directed by senior team members.

Event support 

• Support the planning, coordination and delivery of Bite Back events throughout the year, including travelling as required to meet the operational needs of the Youth teams.

• Coordinate the logistical arrangements for youth residential events, including travel, accommodation and other practical requirements.

• Contribute to event planning and preparation, including resource ordering, coordination and ensuring all materials are organised and available in advance.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

The ideal candidate would have the following:

Essential

• Ability to build and maintain strong working relationships with a broad range of stakeholders at the individual level and in representation of the organisation.

• Strong organisational and project management skills, with excellent time management, ability to manage competing priorities and attention to detail.

• Excellent writing and communication skills, with the ability to adapt messages and language to resonate with different audiences.

• A willingness to build relationships across sectors, with young people and adults.

• Experience of creating resources which are engaging for young people.

• Experience of youth facilitation and/or delivering training.

• Experience in presenting and delivering content, ideally to young people such as an educational, heritage or other  setting, for example such as leading assemblies and workshops.

• Demonstrated experience planning and coordinating events, including logistics, stakeholder communication, and on-the-day delivery.

• Confident public speaker or willingness to learn.

• Ability to travel across England and Scotland when required (occasional).

Desirable

• Proven experience coordinating programmes in partnership with external stakeholders, fostering strong collaborative relationships to ensure successful delivery and shared outcomes.

• Experience of working with CRM systems.

• Strong understanding of the education sector and experience of working with schools and teachers.

• Experience in drafting compelling copy and uploading content to digital platforms.

• Understanding of youth social action and extracurricular programmes.

• Interest in campaigning, social justice, food, and child health.

• Experience with design tools like Canva. 

The purpose of this role is to lead the design and delivery of learning programmes that help social entrepreneurs create lasting impact. You’ll take direct responsibility for facilitating cohorts as well as leading 1-2-1 coaching and diagnostics, and delivering Action Learning Sets, SSE’s long-standing peer-coaching method (training provided). You’ll hold accountability for the quality of programmes allocated to you. You’ll work alongside our learning facilitators and our learning and enterprise development managers to ensure every programme stays true to our action learning approach.

As SSE deepens its focus on commercial acumen and scale-up support, you’ll help make sure that direction reaches every cohort you work with — keeping your programmes as sharp, practical and impactful as everything else we do. You’ll bring your own commercial awareness to how you facilitate, and build relationships with contributors, speakers and specialists who can bring real-world commercial expertise into the room for your cohorts.

You’ll succeed in this role if you believe in what social entrepreneurship can achieve and want to support social ventures to grow and create more impact in their communities and beyond.

We're looking for someone with strong roots in Barking & Dagenham, experience working alongside young people and communities experiencing inequality, excellent partnership-building skills, and a commitment to anti-oppressive practice and social justice to shape our place-based work in Barking & Dagenham.

Key responsibilities

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with local stakeholders, including youth organisations, community groups, grassroots leaders, local authority teams, schools, colleges, funders and voluntary sector networks.
• Conduct community engagement and local mapping activities to gather insight on services, networks, needs, opportunities and gaps in provision, helping to inform Blagrave's work and partnerships.
• Convene and support an intergenerational steering group of local people experiencing deep-rooted inequality to guide the development of a youth hub in Barking & Dagenham.
• Lead local grant-making activity, including developing grant programmes and partnerships, managing relationships with grant partners, and ensuring local organisations are supported to flourish.
• Collect and share learning, insights and intelligence from community engagement and grants activity, and work with partners to deliver community events that centre youth and community participation.

We need a Programme Director to lead a tri-borough initiative tackling serious youth violence across Kilburn, Queen's Park and surrounding communities.

This is a challenging and a rewarding role where you will be exercising your considerable judgement, diplomacy and practical project management skills.

Shared Ground is an innovative, co-funded project, seeking to work for the benefit of young people at risk of serious youth violence, with buy-in from stakeholders including Local Authority senior leads and Central government.

If you have a passion for the value and importance of community-based work in supporting positive futures for young people, why not help ensure that this ambitious programme thrives?

See the job description for more details.

Help us shape the future of community funding across the West of England

Quartet Community Foundation is looking for an experienced, collaborative and forward-thinking Head of Programmes to lead our grant-making and programmes work across Bristol, Bath & North-East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

This is an exciting time to join Quartet. We recently launched our new three-year strategy 2026-9, containing ambitious plans to increase our impact through grant giving, strengthen our understanding of local communities and raise the profile of place-based giving. The strategy outlines how we aim to diversify and strengthen our donor base, driving increasing philanthropic giving, so that we can distribute £6.5 million in grants annually by 2029. As Head of Programmes, you will play a key role in turning that ambition into action.

You will lead and develop our grant-making programmes, ensuring they are informed by community need, insight and evidence and reflect best practice in equitable and accessible funding. You will work closely with local communities, voluntary and community organisations, funders and partners to understand emerging needs and identify opportunities for collaboration and innovation.  You will be able to administer funds directed by local authorities and other partners to their specification, bringing a high quality service and repeat “business” to our revenue funding through high quality grant assessment and distribution.

You will also manage and support our experienced Programmes Team, three direct reports, ensuring an environment where they can develop, perform at their best and embody a culture of continual improvement (please see attached staff plan).

About the role 

The Community Education and Prevention Manager provides strategic and operational leadership for Women and Girls Network’s (WGN) Community Education and Prevention work, shaping how we deliver prevention, engagement and survivor participation across London in response to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

As Community Education and Prevention Manager, you will lead a multidisciplinary team working across community outreach, prevention education and survivor involvement. You will ensure all work is grounded in Black feminist, intersectional, trauma-informed and anti-racist practice, and that survivor experience is central to how programmes are designed, delivered and developed.

You will oversee a portfolio of work delivered across key partnerships, including initiatives focused on Black and Global Majority young women, pan-London sexual violence prevention collaboration, and WGN’s wider survivor participation and engagement activity.

This role brings together strategic leadership, team management, service development and external collaboration to strengthen WGN’s impact, reach and influence within the sector.

This role is offered on a part-time basis (3 days / 21 hours per week). 

Job description 

As the Community Education and Prevention Manager, you will:

• Provide strategic leadership for community education and prevention work, ensuring programmes are high-quality, coherent and grounded in WGN’s feminist, trauma-informed, anti-racist and intersectional values.

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary team, fostering reflective practice, collective care, accountability and a supportive, learning-focused working culture.

• Hold responsibility for safeguarding across community education and prevention activity, ensuring safe, consistent and survivor-centred practice across all delivery.

• Drive programme development and improvement using survivor voice, community insight, data and sector learning to strengthen impact and innovation.

• Build and sustain strong partnerships and external relationships across community organisations, statutory services, education settings and VAWG sector networks, while representing WGN externally and contributing to income generation and sustainability.

Closing date and interviews

This vacancy will close at 9am on Monday 14 September 2026. Interviews will take place shortly thereafter, and shortlisted candidates will be notified of the arrangements.

We encourage early applications, as we reserve the right to close the vacancy before the advertised closing date should we receive a high volume of applications or identify a suitable candidate.

The selection process will consist of two interview stages and a role-related assessment task. Interviews may be conducted either in person or remotely, depending on panel availability and logistical requirements, and may involve a combination of both formats throughout the process. Candidates invited to participate will receive full details of each stage, including the assessment task and interview arrangements, in advance.

About us 

Women and Girls Network (WGN) is a pan-London organisation that supports women and girls affected by all forms of gendered-based violence. Our overall aim is to promote, preserve and restore the mental health and well-being of women and girls who have experienced, or are at risk of, gendered-based violence, whilst working towards a society free of gendered-based violence.

We do this by:

• Providing women-only holistic and seamless therapeutic services, which meet women and girls’ needs and contribute to total and sustainable recovery from the experiences of violence.
• Evidencing the impact of gendered-based violence and presenting this information in appropriate forums to affect social change in attitudes towards, and responses to, gendered-based violence.
• Developing good practice in the sector by providing training and guidance on specialist service provision and the development of culturally appropriate service delivery.

WGN is proud to be an accredited Living Wage Employer and a member of The London VAWG Consortium, Halo Code, and Helplines Partnership.

Commitment to Equity and Inclusion

We are deeply committed to building a workforce that reflects the diversity, resilience and strength of the women and girls we serve. We strongly encourage applications from Black and Global Majority women and applicants with Lived Experience, including those who may not meet every criterion.

WGN is an equal opportunities employer.

Exemption

This post is exempt under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, Part 1, and is open to female applicants only, due to the nature of the role.

We’re looking for an inspiring Head of Community Delivery to join our London-based team. This is a senior leadership role within our Delivery Team, where you’ll play a key part in shaping and delivering AllChild’s place-based programmes, ensuring they create meaningful and lasting impact across your region.

Across the UK, millions of children and young people are facing complex social and emotional challenges. AllChild works within local communities and wider support systems to identify and support children and young people most at risk of poor social, emotional and academic outcomes. Through our two-year Impact Programme, we help build a joined-up network of support around each child and family, working in partnership with schools, local services and community organisations.

For further information, please view the Job Pack.

To apply, please visit our website via the Apply button.

Closing date: 25 September 2026.

We recognise that candidates may use AI tools to support research and check grammar. However, we ask that all supporting statements and application responses reflect your own thoughts and experiences. Over-reliance on AI may limit our ability to assess your individual skills, critical thinking, and personal approach, which are important parts of our selection process.

Social entrepreneurs scaling their ventures face a specific set of challenges including income generation, hiring, governance, hard calls about growth and risk, all alongside scaling their social impact. We’re recruiting learning and enterprise development managers who’ve lived that journey themselves, to bring first-hand credibility and challenge directly to the entrepreneurs on our scale-up and scale-up-plus programmes.

You’ll hold ownership of SSE’s scale-up approach, shaping our learning content on strategy, profitability and the systems that hold a growing venture together – grounded in what actually works, not just what’s written down. Facilitation sits at the heart of this role. You’ll design and deliver learning programmes and group sessions for cohorts of entrepreneurs as well as leading 1-2-1 coaching and diagnostics, and delivering Action Learning Sets, SSE’s long-standing peer-coaching method (training provided).

We’re looking for people who’ve founded or led a VCSE with an annual turnover of £100,000 or more and held financial accountability such as statutory reporting to the Charity Commission and, where relevant, Companies House, reporting to a board or funders, and making hard calls about growth, income and risk.

You’ll succeed in this role if you believe in what social entrepreneurship can achieve and want to turn your experience into supporting social ventures to scale and create more impact in their communities and beyond

Summer Program Director 

Reports to: Operations Manager 

Hours: 8.00 am - 4.00 pm M-F (times may vary during the 10 weeks of summer)

Contract: November 2026 - September 2027

Salary: Grade 7 on the support staff scales, £45,934 - 48,732 depending on experience

Overall purpose 

To have overall responsibility for the successful planning and delivery of the ASL Summer Program. The selected candidate will be accountable for designing, budgeting, recruiting, promoting and supervising the day-to-day operations of the program, providing a safe, enjoyable, and age-appropriate experience for campers that is culturally aligned and similar to the day program at ASL. This leadership position is charged with the long-term objective of evolving and changing the program to improve offerings, and experiences and ensure sustainable financial performance. 

Responsibilities 

Program oversight

• Work with school administration to set strategy and goals for the summer program, in alignment with the overall goals of the school

• Develop and monitor budgets and KPIs 

• Design and create the program of offerings (before the portal opens in March)

• Actively enhance and grow all aspects of the summer program  

• Create or enhance program policies and procedures

• Conduct a post-summer debrief, incorporating surveys, performance data analysis and a report to management

People

• Ensure appropriate staffing for all programs, including the recruitment and ongoing management of staff

• Hire and schedule teachers, coaches, assistants, and counsellors with the assistance of the Canons Park Manager (s) and other team members. 

• Ensure counsellors are interviewed, trained and supported to work in the program.

• Hire supporting staff when needed.

• Support HR to ensure all summer program hires are correctly DBS checked and complete necessary training materials before starting work. 

Planning / Operations

• Conduct advance planning for all aspects of the program during the school year 

• Coordinate between various departments to ensure the summer program and facilities are adequately prepared 

• Work with the Transport Manager to ensure appropriate busing is arranged for offerings. Also, manage buses during the summer weeks..

• Supervise the morning drop-off and collections during the summer weeks. 

• Support the Canons Park Manager and other program leads with any challenging parent communications or interactions during the summer weeks. 

• Support the coordinator(s) with any issues related to parent registrations or refunds. 

• Respond to messages from the summer email inbox from December.

• Supervise the careful release of campers by counsellors, coaches and teachers to their parents at Waverley Park.

• Manage any possible parent complaints, including but not limited to refunds, camp swapping etc

• Manage and support any child safeguarding concerns that may arise during the summer.

• Work with the Facilities Manager to organize room locations and spaces

Other

• Update and test the employment pages and forms, the summer web pages, and the Veracross portal listings. 

• Manage and confirm the weekly payroll and submit it for processing. 

• Work with the Accounts department on payroll, purchasing (Soldo cards), budgeting and abiding by the ASL financial procedures. 

• Work with the Advancement department (ASL communications/website team) to set up / update the webpage and advertise the programs internally and externally through school announcements, emails and local magazines

Selection criteria

Essential qualifications/experience:

• Experience working with children of the ages 5 to 14 years old

• A positive and flexible attitude towards working in and leading a team

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

• A demonstrable awareness of and commitment to diversity and inclusion and to safeguarding in education

• Comfort with using a variety of technology platforms 

• Previous experience managing/leading teams 

• A professional approach and experience with customer service 

Desirable qualifications/experience:

• Previous teaching or assistant teaching experience with children 

• Previous experience with hiring extracurricular teachers and assistants

• Previous experience with designing and managing activities for children

• Experience with managing budgets and meeting financial or performance targets

This position description is current at the date shown but following consultation may be changed to reflect or anticipate changes in the role that are commensurate with the job title and salary.

The American School in London is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all trustees, employees and volunteers to share this commitment. All new appointments will be subject to appropriate checks: Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS enhanced), Disqualification by Association Self-Declaration, Declaration of Criminal Record, checks against the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) Prohibition List (Teacher Status Checks) including Identity, Address, Date of Birth, a Full Employment History, Right to Work in the UK, overseas checks where applicable, at least 2 references (one with current or most recent employer, where appropriate) and original documentation of Qualifications (where appropriate). For positions into Senior Management a Prohibition from Management Check (s128 Directive) will also be undertaken.

All posts involving direct contact with children are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. However, amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975 (2013 & 2020) provide that certain spent convictions and cautions are 'protected'. These are not subject to disclosure to employers and cannot be taken into account. Guidance and criteria on the filtering of these cautions and convictions can be found on the Ministry of Justice website. Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide details of all unspent convictions and those that would not be filtered, prior to the date of the interview. You may be asked for further information about your criminal history during the recruitment process. If your application is successful, this self-disclosure information will be checked against information from the Disclosure & Barring Service before your appointment is confirmed.

ASL is dedicated to fostering courageous global citizenship in a diverse and inclusive school environment. In our international community, we aspire for the cultures and backgrounds of our employees to mirror those of our families and student body, and we enthusiastically welcome applications from candidates who bring diverse life experiences, perspectives and skills. Educators with knowledge of global education and prospective applicants for any position who are committed to diversity and inclusion are particularly welcome to apply. The American School in London will not discriminate against an applicant or employee based on race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, sex, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, maternity or parental status, or any other legally recognised protected basis under local law. Read our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion statement here.

We are looking for experienced social workers to help take the Weekenders programme into its next chapter. You will join a small, ambitious charity and play a central role in growing a relational, child-focused programme across England.

THE OPPORTUNITY 

• Salary: starting from £40,000, subject to experience

• Hours: full time, 37.5 hours per week

• Location: home-based within England, with regular team co-working and travel

• Contracts: one permanent post and two 18-month fixed-term posts

• Flexibility: occasional evening or weekend delivery, usually around once per month

• Travel: across England, including occasional overnight stays; reasonable expenses are covered

ABOUT NOW FOSTER

Now Foster brings together social work, service design, lived experience and innovation to transform fostering in England. Our vision is to bring many more wonderful people into fostering so that more children and young people can experience stable, meaningful relationships with caring adults.

We are a small team with big ambitions. We value creativity, collaboration, learning and continuous improvement, and we work with partners who share our determination to do better for children and families.

ABOUT WEEKENDERS 

Weekenders is our flagship programme. We recruit and support weekend foster carers – known as Weekenders – who build regular, long-term relationships with children and young people supported by local authorities. It is about showing up, making a difference and becoming an adult a young person can count on.

The programme is entering an exciting period of growth. We are expanding our partnerships with Regional Care Cooperatives, Fostering Hubs and local authorities across England, currently including London, the South West, North West and North East.

THE ROLE – Lead delivery, develop people and stay close to practice

As a Weekenders Programme Manager, you will turn our ambition into consistently excellent delivery. You will lead the day-to-day support of applicants across an agreed portfolio of areas, making sure prospective Weekenders receive a warm, responsive and motivational experience and that our partners can rely on us to deliver what we have agreed.

This is a people-management and delivery role with a strong connection to practice. You will line-manage Journey Guides, manage a network of independent social workers (ISWs), lead our prep group training and undertake some intro chats yourself.

The role does not carry a statutory caseload. It does carry real responsibility for safeguarding, practice quality, operational oversight and relationships across a growing, geographically distributed programme.

Delivery Leadership: Lead programme delivery

• Take day-to-day responsibility for Weekenders delivery across an agreed portfolio of Fostering Hubs and local authority partners.

• Turn partnership agreements and local processes into clear applicant journeys, with roles, handovers and timescales understood by everyone involved.

• Plan capacity across Journey Guides, ISWs, prep group training and your own direct work so that delivery keeps pace with demand.

• Monitor applicant progress, identify delays or risks early and work with colleagues and partners to find practical solutions.

• Maintain a consistent Now Foster experience across regions while adapting thoughtfully to local contexts.

People Management: Manage and develop Journey Guides

• Provide reflective one-to-one and group supervision, clear objectives and timely feedback.

• Allocate work fairly, monitor workloads and create the structure needed for responsive applicant support.

• Coach Journey Guides in relationship-based, strengths-based and motivational conversations, using observation, role play and practice review where helpful.

• Support sound judgement, safe practice and professional boundaries, addressing performance or wellbeing concerns early and constructively.

• Build a connected team culture in which people share learning, ask for help and take ownership.

Practice Oversight: Manage ISWs and assure practice quality

• Build and maintain a reliable pool of qualified, registered ISWs to undertake initial home visits and teach on prep group training days.

• Coordinate ISW recruitment, onboarding, availability, allocation and briefing in line with our safer recruitment and practice arrangements.

• Set clear expectations for the quality, timeliness and tone of home visits, written outputs, training and feedback.

• Review quality, provide constructive feedback and address concerns promptly, while forecasting capacity and arranging cover.

Training: Plan, staff and lead prep group training

• Own the planning and delivery of prep group training across programme areas, including schedules, venues or online delivery, materials, communications and staffing.

• Facilitate and teach on prep groups, modelling inclusive, relational and reflective practice.

• Brief and support ISW co-facilitators so sessions are coherent, well-paced and grounded in the realities of fostering.

• Make sure applicants can reflect meaningfully on children's needs, safer caring, trauma-informed care, cultural matching and working with fostering services.

• Ensure observations and training feedback are recorded sensitively and on time, and use feedback to strengthen future delivery.

Relationships: Stay close to applicants and partners

• Undertake some intro chats, particularly where additional experience, judgement or continuity is needed.

• Step into complex applicant situations or difficult conversations without taking over work appropriately held by Journey Guides.

• Develop trusted operational relationships with Fostering Hubs, Regional Care Cooperatives, local authority fostering teams and other partners.

• Work through differences or blockages constructively, combining persistence with curiosity about other people's pressures and perspectives.

Programme Addurance: Safeguarding, quality and improvement

• Promote a strong safeguarding culture and ensure concerns are recognised, recorded and escalated appropriately.

• Maintain accurate, timely records and use pipeline data, feedback and practice observations to understand performance and improve delivery.

• Contribute to the development of tools, guidance, communications and digital workflows as Weekenders grows.

WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR – Experience, judgement and a strongly relational approach

Essential

You will need a recognised social work qualification and current registration with Social Work England. Beyond that, we are looking for someone who can combine strong practice judgement with people leadership and operational oversight.

You will thrive in this role if you have

• People-management experience – line-managing, supervising or developing staff, including giving feedback and supporting performance and wellbeing.

• Operational leadership – experience leading a service, programme or complex workflow with multiple people, deadlines and handovers.

• Children's services experience – in fostering, children's social care or a closely related setting, with a sound understanding of safeguarding and professional accountability.

• Training confidence – experience planning and delivering engaging adult learning, workshops or group training.

• Partnership skills – experience building productive relationships across organisational boundaries and working through operational challenges.

• A relational approach – able to hold warm, purposeful and appropriately challenging conversations with people from a wide range of backgrounds.

• Strong organisation and judgement – able to prioritise, delegate, manage dependencies and recognise what needs closer oversight or escalation.

• Digital and data confidence – comfortable using CRM and workflow systems, interpreting delivery information and turning insight into action.

The way you work matters

• Children first – you keep children's needs, relationships and long-term outcomes at the centre of decisions.

• Warm and reflective – you build genuine relationships, remain curious about your own impact and welcome feedback.

• Courageous and accountable – you name concerns, make decisions, follow through and own mistakes.

• Collaborative – you share learning generously while maintaining clear accountability.

• Adaptable – you are comfortable in a small, ambitious organisation where roles and systems continue to evolve.

Bonus points for

• Lived experience of the care system.

• Training or experience in motivational interviewing, systemic practice, coaching or another relational approach.

• Experience of foster carer recruitment, initial visits, assessment, prep groups, panel or post-approval support.

• Experience commissioning, coordinating or quality-assuring ISWs, associates or other independent practitioners.

• A practice educator, adult-teaching or training qualification, or substantial equivalent experience.

• Experience scaling a service across regions or working with a dispersed team and multiple delivery partners.

• Project, budget, contract, risk or resource-management experience.

• Experience of co-production, service design or continuous improvement.

WHAT IS IN IT FOR YOU

Joining Now Foster means being part of something different. We are small, ambitious and innovative, and you will have genuine influence over how Weekenders grows. You will stay close to practice and impact without carrying a statutory caseload.

You will join a supportive, collaborative team that cares about doing excellent work in a sustainable and humane way. We work a 37.5-hour week and trust people to manage their time with balance. The programme sometimes requires evening work, weekend training days or travel, and we flex working time around those commitments.

• Salary from £40,000.

• 28 days of annual leave plus bank holidays.

• Home-based working with regular co-working and team days.

• Travel and reasonable work expenses covered in line with Now Foster policy.

• The tools and technology you need to work effectively.

• Workplace pension scheme

• The opportunity to help build a bold, lasting and more relational approach to fostering.
   

We know strong candidates do not always meet every desirable criterion. If the purpose of the role excites you and your experience gives you a strong foundation for the essentials, we encourage you to apply.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS – Key dates and how to apply

• Applications close – Sunday 20 September 2026 at 23:30
• First-round interviews – Online planned for Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 September 2026
• Role play – For candidates progressing to the second round, before the second interview. 30 mins, completed online with one of our Weekenders.
• Second-round interviews– In person planned for Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 October 2026 (reasonable travel expenses covered)

Early application is encouraged. We may close the advert before 20 September if we receive a sufficient number of strong applications.

HOW TO APPLY

Please apply through the Charity Jobs listing by the closing date. Candidates invited to interview will receive further information about the format and preparation in advance.

You must have the right to work in the UK. Appointment is subject to current registration with Social Work England, a satisfactory Enhanced DBS check and our other safer recruitment requirements.

We recognise that candidates may use generative AI tools to support their application. This is acceptable, but your application must remain an authentic reflection of your own experience and motivation. Please tell us if and how you used AI as part of preparing it.

As a small charity unfortunately we do not have capacity to respond to unsuccessful candidates or offer feedback at the application stage. Please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion if you do not hear from us before the interview dates.

OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUALITY 

Now Foster is committed to being an equal opportunities employer. We celebrate diversity and actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, identities and experiences. Recruitment decisions are made using fair, objective and transparent criteria, and we will make reasonable adjustments so the process is accessible.

If you want to help grow a pioneering programme, develop a thoughtful team and create more lasting relationships for children and young people, we would love to hear from you.

Cambridge Muslim College is an independent institution of higher education and a registered charity, rooted in the Islamic tradition and advancing knowledge, scholarship and public understanding.

Through its teaching, research and public programmes, the College is committed to developing a new generation of Muslim leaders who are deeply grounded in their tradition and able to engage confidently with contemporary Britain.

Through a focused portfolio of programmes spanning Islamic Studies, contextual leadership and Classical Arabic, alongside research across theology, philosophy, ethics, education and social institutions, Cambridge Muslim College brings traditional scholarship into dialogue with the modern world. Operating on a deliberately small, high-quality scale, the College has around 100 students, many of whom are supported through scholarships funded by a committed donor community. With income primarily philanthropic, fundraising is central to the College’s ability to invest in its teaching, research and public programmes.

Cambridge Muslim College is now focused on strengthening its long-term fundraising strategy and sustainability. The College has an established and diverse fundraising programme encompassing major donors, regular giving, campaigns and corporate partnerships, with significant opportunities to deepen existing donor relationships and develop new sources of support. This includes growing major giving beyond the annual Ramadan period, further developing the College’s Friends and Patrons programme, and building new corporate and international partnerships.

The Development Manager (Fundraising & Engagement) will play a pivotal role in this next phase, combining hands-on income generation with strategic leadership of fundraising and engagement. Working closely with the Registrar, senior leadership and Trustees, you will shape and deliver a more structured and sustainable approach to philanthropy while leading a small Development team encompassing fundraising operations and communications. This is a broad, relationship-led role with significant scope to strengthen systems, develop new opportunities and build long-term relationships with the donors and communities who support the College.

As Development Manager (Fundraising & Engagement), you will:

• Develop and deliver the College’s fundraising and donor engagement strategy
• Build and manage strong relationships with major donors and prospects
• Identify, cultivate and secure new funding opportunities across a diverse funding base
• Lead fundraising campaigns and develop compelling cases for support
• Develop major donor fundraising, including new business and opportunities to grow support beyond Ramadan
• Strengthen regular giving and donor engagement through the College’s Friends and Patrons programme
• Develop corporate partnerships and explore opportunities to grow international giving
• Strengthen fundraising systems, pipeline management, stewardship and reporting
• Oversee communications and digital engagement, ensuring activity supports fundraising and engagement objectives
• Line manage and support the Development Coordinator and Communications Coordinator

Essential skills and experience:

• Multi-income stream fundraising experience, which must include major donors plus either corporate fundraising or regular giving/membership schemes
• A track record of securing significant five-figure or six-figure gifts from high-net-worth individuals
• Strong relationship-building and networking skills, with credibility engaging donors, partners and senior stakeholders
• Experience developing compelling cases for support and effective stewardship strategies
• Demonstrable experience of engaging with Muslim communities and an understanding of faith-based giving practices, including Zakat and Sadaqah
• The ability to build trusted relationships with donors and stakeholders within Muslim communities
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Experience overseeing public-facing communications and digital channels
• The ability to provide effective leadership and direction to a small team
• Willingness and ability to undertake occasional international travel

Desirable:

• Corporate or alumni fundraising experience
• Experience of fundraising campaigns and appeals

Employee benefits include:

• 5% employer pension contribution
• 28 days’ annual leave, in addition to bank holidays, plus 2 additional days for each Eid
• Free home-cooked lunches during term time