Content writer young people programme jobs

Senior Programmes Manager (Fixed-term contract)

Reports to: Director of Finance and Operations
Hours: Full time with flexible hours. Core hours are 10am to 4pm
Location: Hybrid. London (Embankment) on Wednesdays and Thursdays and remote working
Salary: £44,748 p.a.
Contract length: 13 months (starting mid November 2026)

Applications close: 23:59 on August 28th.

First round interviews: September 8th (online)

Second round interviews: September 16th at The Economist Group’s offices in London.

We are committed to an inclusive recruitment process. If there are any adjustments or support we can provide to help you perform at your best during the interview, please let us know.

BENEFITS

• 25 days annual leave, UK bank holidays and one volunteering day a year, one day for moving home
• A highly competitive pension (up to 11% employer contribution for 5% employee contribution)
• Private health insurance, eye tests and medical checks
• Flexible working: core hours from 10am to 4pm with a minimum of two days spent in the office in London each week (currently Wednesdays and Thursdays)
• 24/7 access to counselling and wellbeing resources through our Employee Assistance Programme
• Income protection insurance and life assurance
• Cycle to work scheme, season ticket loan and gym membership loan
• Free access to The Economist content, including an online subscription, our range of apps, podcasts and more

ABOUT US

The Economist Educational Foundation is a fast-growing charity on a mission to ensure that every child is empowered to think critically and communicate effectively about the world’s most complex current issues.

In 2025-6 our core programme, Topical Talk, more than doubled its reach to over 1 million young people across 99 countries. We are at a time of great opportunity, in England and internationally, and have ambitious plans to keep growing and deepen our impact further.

Topical Talk helps children join inspiring discussions about the news by providing:

• Topical Talk Headlines – award-winning weekly lessons for classroom discussions about global news stories
• Leadership for Change Prize – child-led solutions to complex global issues
• Community partnerships – support and training for teachers via partnerships with Multi-Academy Trusts in the UK and School Districts in America

Our programme has received international recognition, including from HundrED as one of the top 100 education initiatives, from UNESCO as a winner of the Global Media and Information Literacy Awards 2022 and from the Money And Inclusion Awards (MAIA) for best content in 2025.

THE ROLE

We are seeking a highly organised, agile and structured Senior Programmes Manager to lead the operational planning, project management and execution of our flagship educational programmes. In this role, you will be the operational engine behind multiple cross-departmental projects, with a focus on meeting the needs of our global teachers and students, as well as funders.

In this fixed-term role you will work closely with our educational content leads, designers and external stakeholders to ensure our high-impact classroom resources and live events are delivered seamlessly, on time and to the highest standard. Rather than drafting the pedagogy yourself, you will manage the project lifecycles, coordinate workflow across internal and external teams and optimise the systems that allow our world-class educational programmes to reach over 1 million young people globally.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Project and operational management

• Manage the Topical Talk Leadership for Change Prize, Live Lessons, curriculum modules and student workshops end-to-end: from roadmaps and capacity mapping through to impact and evaluation
• Project manage the filming required for our content delivery, including the booking and management of experts, production teams and Economist colleagues
• Track and coordinate progress across content creators, graphic designers, proofreaders and editors to ensure all deliverables meet tight production deadlines
• Balance team workloads across concurrent educational projects and plan capacity for incoming projects
• Continuously refine workflow processes to streamline resource creation and evaluation

Programme governance and evaluation

• Partner with the Director of Programmes to track key performance indicators (KPIs), evaluate audience reach and maintain rigorous data collection for monitoring and evaluating our programmes
• Proactively identify bottlenecks, content risks or scheduling delays, implementing swift mitigation strategies to keep delivery on track

Live Lesson and workshop operations

• Manage the end-to-end operational execution of student workshops and our Live Lessons – handling scheduling, platform setups and logistics
• Coordinate school visits for content testing and observation, ensuring all safeguarding and operational requirements are fully met

Stakeholder and relationship coordination

• Serve as the primary operational point of contact for external topic experts, guest contributors, and editorial contributors from The Economist Group
• Maintain clear lines of communication between the programmes team, marketing, operations and external partners to ensure projects are aligned with strategic aims
• Manage external freelance contractors and vendors, with support from the administrative officer

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS

Whether you come from a project or educational management background or are a leader in charity operations, you possess the following:

• Outstanding ability to build, manage and maintain complex multi-phase project plans with precision and accountability
• A relentless eye for detail, operational rigor, and a knack for creating clean, efficient workflows out of complex tasks
• A proactive, self-starting mindset capable of foreseeing risks, resolving bottlenecks quickly and keeping cross-functional teams moving forward
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills to effectively coordinate across diverse stakeholders – from freelance producers and internal creative teams to senior editors and external experts
• A collaborative nature. You motivate project contributors, keep teams aligned and foster a supportive working environment
• Discipline with deadlines, whereby you act as a dependable anchor for the team, managing requests consistently

EXPERIENCE

You have…

• Proven project management experience where you have demonstrated success in managing content creation, publishing workflows or educational delivery pipelines from conception to completion
• Experience using project management and collaboration platforms to drive team accountability and workflow tracking
• A track record of coordinating multi-disciplinary teams (e.g. writers, designers, subject-matter experts) under tight production schedules
• Experience implementing monitoring, reporting and evaluation frameworks to track project success metrics and user engagement
• Practical experience running hybrid, in-person, or large-scale virtual workshops and webinars

You might have…

• Formal project management certifications or training
• Background working within ed-tech, publishing or non-profit environments

We're particularly keen for you to apply if you are from a community under-represented in the charity sector or have lived experience of facing extra barriers because of your background.

Reports to: Director of Programmes

Hours: Full time with flexible hours. Core hours are 10am to 4pm

Location: Hybrid. London (Embankment) on Wednesdays and Thursdays and remote

working

Salary: £44,748 p.a.

Contract: 12-month maternity contract

Benefits:

• 25 days annual leave, UK bank holidays and one volunteering day a year, one day for moving home

• A highly competitive pension (up to 11% employer contribution for 5% employee contribution)

• Private health insurance, eye tests and medical checks

• Flexible working: core hours from 10am to 4pm with a minimum of two days spent in the office in London each week (currently Wednesdays and Thursdays)

• 24/7 access to counselling and wellbeing resources through our Employee Assistance Programme

• Income protection insurance and life assurance

• Cycle to work scheme, season ticket loan and gym membership loan

• Free access to The Economist content, including an online subscription, our range of apps, podcasts and more

ABOUT US

The Economist Educational Foundation is a fast-growing charity on a mission to ensure that every child is empowered to think critically and communicate effectively about the world’s most complex current issues.

In 2025-6 our core programme, Topical Talk, more than doubled its reach to over 1 million young people in 99 countries. We are at a time of great opportunity, in England and internationally, and have ambitious plans to keep growing and deepen our impact further.

Topical Talk helps children join inspiring discussions about the news by providing:

• Topical Talk Headlines – award-winning weekly lessons for classroom discussions about global news stories

• Leadership for Change Prize – child-led solutions to complex global issues

• Community partnerships – support and training for teachers via partnerships with Multi-Academy Trusts in the UK and School Districts in America

Our programme has received international recognition, including from HundrED as one of the top 100 education initiatives, from UNESCO as a winner of the Global Media and Information Literacy Awards 2022 and from the Money And Inclusion Awards (MAIA) for best content in 2025.

THE ROLE

We are seeking a visionary educational content writer and high-impact Senior Lead to maintain the quality of our world-class educational programmes. This is a unique role for a creative thinker with a deep pedagogical background and a relentless passion for bringing global current affairs to the heart of the classroom. Working in collaboration with our programmes team, and leveraging the journalistic excellence of The Economist Group, you will define the standard for global news education.

In this fixed-term role, you won't just create lessons; you will engineer innovative, nuanced, discussion-based frameworks that challenge children to master complex global topics and build essential critical-thinking and communication skills. As a Senior Lead, you will drive the development of our Headlines programme, aligned with our ambitious strategic goals, bringing flair and originality to our globally-relevant resources.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Design world-class classroom resources

• Research, pitch and execute sophisticated lesson plans that distill the world's biggest issues into diverse, nuanced and rich learning experiences

• Set the benchmark for quality by writing, editing and proofreading high-impact teaching resources

• Collaborate with our Graphic Designer to ensure our content is as visually compelling as it is intellectually rigorous

• Apply our house style, pedagogical approach and editorial voice consistently across all content

Programme leadership and innovation

• Proactively analyse shifts in global curricula and educational trends to ensure our products remain the market leader

• Craft high-level website copy and teacher-facing materials that articulate the unique value of our programmes

• Conduct school visits to observe, evaluate and occasionally model the delivery of Topical Talk lessons

• Partner with the Director of Programmes to implement rigorous monitoring and evaluation frameworks which track and scale programme success

Workshop delivery

• End-to-end execution of student workshops and events, from the idea-generation stage to writing, proofreading, delivery and evaluation

• Deliver expert-led training that empowers teachers to maximise the impact of our resources

Strategic relationship management

• Work at the highest level with The Economist’s journalists to translate complex global issues into engaging educational content

• Identify and interview world-leading topic experts to enrich our work with unique insights

• Manage complex timelines and stakeholder expectations with precision to ensure all milestones are met

This role will involve some travel. It also involves working with young people, so you will need to have an enhanced DBS check (which The Foundation will organise).

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS

Whether you are a top-performing teacher, a seasoned journalist, or a leader in the content-writing sector, you possess the following:

• A passion for the news and global current affairs

• An unwavering commitment to empowering the next generation through a deep understanding of the news

• A track record of creative "outside-the-box" lesson design that develops critical thinking and oracy

• The ability to quickly break down, not dumb down, complex current issues to make them accessible to children, whilst commanding the respect of subject-matter experts

• The power to quickly engage a classroom of new students and bring your lessons to life

• The expertise to approach complex topics with balance and political neutrality – you are able to share a variety of views to enrich learning

• A self-starting mindset. You operate independently to maintain a relentless standard of excellence

• Exceptional attention to detail combined with superior project and time-management skills

• A collaborative nature. You thrive in a team-based environment to achieve collective goals

EXPERIENCE

You have…

• Qualified Teacher Status (or equivalent): at least two years of high-impact experience teaching 10-18-year olds backed by up-to-date knowledge of educational research and developments

• Experience in journalism, international relations, politics, or proven success in using current affairs as stimuli for classroom engagement

• A portfolio of inspiring, high-quality classroom resources developed both independently and through collaboration

• Demonstrated experience in designing, testing and scaling initiatives with measurable impact

You might have…

• Proficiency in creating and editing video or digital content

• Experience in educational content creation within diverse environments outside the traditional classroom

We're particularly keen for you to apply if you are from a community under-represented in the charity sector or have lived experience of facing extra barriers because of your background.