Corporate relations manager jobs in Birmingham

We're looking for an inspiring Head of Volunteering to lead and shape the future of volunteering across Sense.

When registering to this job board you will be redirected to the online application form. Please ensure that this is completed in full in order that your application can be reviewed.

About the Role

We're looking for an inspiring Head of Volunteering to lead and shape the future of volunteering across Sense.

This is a unique opportunity to drive meaningful change, ensuring volunteering continues to play a vital role in delivering our mission. Reporting to the Chief People Officer, you'll provide organisation-wide leadership on volunteering, helping us maximise our impact, strengthen community connections, and support the long-term sustainability of our services.

Working closely with senior leaders and teams across the organisation, you'll champion inclusive, accessible and innovative volunteering opportunities that enable people from all backgrounds to contribute in ways that are meaningful to them.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and deliver a volunteering development plan aligned to Sense's strategic priorities.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders on volunteering strategy and opportunities.
• Champion volunteering as a key contributor to organisational impact, reputation and sustainability.
• Represent Sense internally and externally, promoting excellence in volunteering.

Developing Volunteering

• Create new, flexible and inclusive volunteering opportunities across services, communities, retail and corporate activity.
• Develop frameworks, tools and guidance that support managers to recruit, engage and retain volunteers effectively.
• Build volunteering opportunities that are meaningful, accessible and rewarding.
• Develop robust KPIs to measure volunteer engagement, impact and experience.
• Use volunteer feedback to drive continuous improvement and innovation.

Inclusion and Engagement

• Promote accessible and inclusive volunteering practices across the organisation.
• Work alongside volunteers, disabled people with complex needs and families to co-design volunteering opportunities.
• Ensure volunteer voices help shape the future of volunteering at Sense.

Governance and Compliance

• Provide expert guidance on volunteering governance, risk management and best practice.
• Lead the development and review of volunteering policies and procedures.
• Ensure volunteering activities comply with relevant legislation, regulation and safeguarding requirements.
• Manage the central volunteering budget and demonstrate value for money.

About You

You'll be a passionate and experienced volunteering leader with a strong commitment to inclusion and social impact.

You'll bring:

• Proven leadership experience within volunteer management.
• Experience working in social care, health, disability services or a related sector.
• A track record of developing and growing inclusive, sustainable volunteering programmes.
• Strong coaching, facilitation and influencing skills.
• Experience using data and insight to inform decision-making and demonstrate impact.
• Budget management experience and an ability to demonstrate return on investment.
• A commitment to accessibility, inclusion and rights-based approaches.

We'd love it if you also have

• Experience supporting disabled people with complex needs.
• Experience within regulated services.
• Knowledge of retail volunteering.
• Experience of co-production and co-design approaches.
• Understanding of trauma-informed or positive behaviour support approaches.
• Experience using digital systems to enhance volunteer engagement.

Why Join Sense?

This is an opportunity to shape volunteering across one of the UK's leading disability charities. You'll join a values-led organisation where collaboration, inclusion and innovation are at the heart of everything we do.

If you're passionate about creating outstanding volunteer experiences and want to help more people make a meaningful difference, we'd love to hear from you.

Our values

Our values shape the way we behave and work alongside disabled people with complex needs to break down barriers. 

• We're creating change
• We're always learning
• We're better together

To apply

Please use the link below to complete your application. Managers will use your application to shortlist candidates for interview; in relation to the Personal Specification. Therefore, it is very important you complete this section thoroughly.  We would recommend that you read the job description and person specification before applying.

Please note to avoid disappointment, we advise you to submit your application as soon as possible as we reserve the right to close posts at any time.

No agency submissions please: any submissions without prior authorisation from the Sense Recruitment Team will be treated as our own and as such no fee will be payable.

Sense is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable children and adults and expects all employees to share this commitment. Therefore, all offers of employment, where appropriate, are subject to a DBS check; level dependent on the nature of the role.

Sense is here to break down barriers alongside disabled people with complex needs. That's why we're committed to increasing the number of disabled people working across our organisation and creating an environment where everyone can thrive.

We actively encourage disabled people to apply for our vacancies and believe that a diverse range of perspectives, experiences and talents makes us stronger.

We know there's always more we can do to become a truly inclusive employer, and we're working together to achieve that. Join us and help create the change thousands of disabled people with complex needs and families told us they want to see: a world without limits.

If you need us to adjust our recruitment process to help you access our vacancies, then please get in touch with a member of the talent acquisition team. We are a Disability Confident Leader and commit to interviewing disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for a role. More information on this can be found here Our commitment as an employer | Sense Careers

Trusts & Grants Officer

Salary:£31817 per annum

Location:Midlands Wide, Hybrid Working (2

Benefits:25 days holiday, pro-rata, 5.5% Employer Pension Contribution including Life Cover, Occupational Sick Pay Benefits & Enhanced Maternity, Adoption and Paternity Leave and Pay, plus more

Reporting to: Trusts, Grants & Foundations Fundraising Manager

FareShare Midlands is the region’s largest food redistribution charity, tackling inequality, transforming lives and ensuring no good food goes to waste. We rescue surplus food and redistribute it to 650 local charities and community organisations, feeding 60,000 people every week. We also invest in communities, providing education, training and volunteering opportunities, helping over 700 individuals to date to build a better future. Together, we’re fighting hunger, reducing food waste and creating opportunities across the Midlands. Learn more here or read our latest Annual Report Snapshot by going to our website.

The Role

The Trusts & Grants Officer is responsible for delivering income from trusts, foundations and statutory funders through proactive prospect research, high quality applications, relationship management and timely reporting, contributing directly to FareShare Midlands’ income targets and growth plans.

Trusts & Grants Delivery

• Manage a portfolio of trust, foundation and grant funders
• Writing applications and reports
• Budget management for restricted funds
• Working with FSM and FSUK colleagues on bids
• Build strong relationships with programme officers, grant managers, funding panels.
• Managing restricted funding compliance
• Coordinating evaluation and evidence collection for funder reports
• Monitoring funder requirements and deadlines

Pipeline Development & Prospect Research

• Identify a pipeline of new opportunities in trusts, grants, foundations and corporate to secure new income for FareShare Midlands
• Maintain a rolling 12 to 18 month pipeline
• Regular prospect research using databases (e.g. funds online, the charity commission website, idox etc)
• Prioritising opportunities by value, likelihood and strategic fit
• Assisting on project development working with colleagues to build in the needs and preferences of funders to ensure projects can attract support

Funder Stewardship & Reporting

• Professional stewardship of trusts and foundations funders
• Managing funder communications in line with grant agreements
• Working with the stewardship officer and comms team to identify and develop impact stories and relevant data.

Communication

• Writing funder-facing materials
• Ensuring clarity, evidence and compliance in all submissions
• Coordinating case studies and impact data for bids

Compliance, Monitoring & Administration

 Application tracker ownership

• Reporting calendar management
• Income forecasting for trusts & grants
• Document management for funder requirements

You will be successful in this role by:

• Consistently securing income from trusts, foundations and statutory funders in line with agreed targets
• Maintaining a strong, well-researched pipeline of trust and grant opportunities
• Submitting high-quality funding applications and reports to deadline
• Achieving a healthy success rate across applications through strong prospecting and proposal quality
• Ensuring full compliance with restricted funding requirements
• Building positive, professional relationships with funding partners
• Providing accurate income forecasting and pipeline reporting
• Bringing creativity and passion in communicating FSM’s central mission to inspire funders to support us.

Essential

• Demonstrable experience of restricted funding
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines
• Strong analytical and written skills
• Confidence working with budgets and impact data
• Experience of supporting or developing fundraising partnerships and maximising fundraising opportunities
• Experience of securing gifts from trusts, grants and foundations
• Experience in writing compelling funding applications and impact reporting
• Experience in prospecting for new business and stewarding donors face to face
• Willingness to work flexibly including events and occasional weekends.
• To subscribe to the ethos, vision and mission of FareShare Midlands
• Full clean driving license and have access to a vehicle so that travel between depots or to stakeholder meetings is possible (all travel costs reimbursed)

Skills, knowledge and abilities

• Knowledge of trust, grant and foundation fundraising, particularly around restricted funding
• Excellent communication skills, good persuading skills and good writing skills
• Excellent numeracy skills and use of Excel
• Good relationship building skills, both inside and outside an organisation
• Ability to work to meet objectives and deadlines
• Ability and experience of working well in a team

Values and behaviours 

• A commitment to Equal Opportunities
• An appreciation of FareShare Midlands’ mission and vision
• Flexibility of approach and ability to work in a team
• Proven ability to develop and maintain good working relations, with both internal and external audiences

How to Apply:

If you would like to apply for this role, please create a supporting statement to demonstrate your suitability and to explain your interest in both the job and FareShare Midlands. Please send your supporting statement with a copy of your CV.

We continue to strive to ensure that the profile of our staff and volunteers reflects the diverse communities we serve across the Midlands. As such we encourage and welcome applications from all our communities. We particularly welcome applications from people from ethnically diverse backgrounds as they are currently under-represented within FareShare Midlands. 

Closing date for applications is Wednesday 24th June 2026. 

Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end-of-life charity. We are the largest non-NHS provider of end-of-life care in the UK, the only provider across all 4 nations, delivering community nursing and end of life care, while providing information and support on all aspects of dying, death, and bereavement. Our leading research pushes the boundaries of what we know about good end-of-life, and our campaigns fight for a world where everyone gets to have the best possible quality of life while living with an illness, they’re likely to die from.

Our communications department develops and implements the Marie Curie external communications strategy that embeds our corporate identity and reputation in a strategic manner amongst the public, stakeholders, communities, media and regulatory arena.

As our Head of Communications, you will play a leading role in helping grow and position Marie Curie as the expert in end-of-life care, increasing our audience, influence and amplifying our voice. This is a unique opportunity to shape the conversation around end-of-life care, using the power of communications to drive change and make a meaningful impact in a truly mission-driven organisation.

Your Impact: 

• Develop, implement and manage our external communications in line with our organisational strategy and values.
• Work closely in collaboration across directorates and initiatives, ensuring our messaging is aligned and effective.
• Together with the Director Corporate and Strategic Communications and the Head of PR and Media, lead in periods of crisis communications with response plans and key messages.
• Lead, guide and develop the communications team.

Key Criteria:

• Experience in a similar role, creating and delivering organisation wide communication plans that support business objectives.
• Strong track record of leading on major communication campaigns, including change communications.
• Experience managing, leading and developing a team.
• Experience working in a complex organisation, bringing together and aligning different departments.
• Excellent interpersonal and leadership skills, with the ability to develop strong relationships and influence across all levels.
• Strong project management skills with experience aligning and managing campaigns, projects and products to organisational objectives.

Please see the full job description .

Application & Interview Process

• As part of your online application, you will be asked for a CV and supplementary details. Please review both the advert and job description and outline your most relevant skills, experience and knowledge for the role.
• Close date for applications: Monday 29 June. We encourage early applications as we may close the job advert sooner after receiving a sufficient number of applications.

Salary: £58,500 - 65,000 depending on experience.

Contract:  Full time, permanent.

Based:  UK homebased. Occasional travel to our headquarters in London will be required.

At Marie Curie, our values are central to everything we do. They guide how we care for people, how we work together, and how we make decisions every day. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe for everyone — staff and volunteers alike — supportive, inclusive and rewarding.  We take stringent steps to ensure that anyone who joins our organisation are suitable for their roles and are committed to safeguarding all our people from harm. We actively consider our impact on the planet, embedding sustainability into everyday decisions to create a lasting, positive difference for the individuals we care for and the world we share.

We believe everyone should have the opportunity to thrive and fulfil their potential. Marie Curie is deeply committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, recognising both the social justice imperative and the strength a diverse workforce brings.  We actively encourage applications from people of all cultures, perspectives and lived experiences.

We are happy to make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process. If you require any support, please contact us at .

Every application we receive is personally reviewed by a member of our Talent Acquisition team, and in return, we ask that your application authentically reflects you — your experience, perspective and voice.

Location: Home based, remote role, Europe or Asia. Competitive pay based on location.

You must have the right to work in the country you live in (please note we are not able to offer sponsorship for a business visa or work permit at this time). 

Contract: Between 0.8-1 FTE, with flexibility for the right person.

About us

Action Speaks Louder (ASL) is a not-for-profit galvanizing people around the world to hold

major corporations to account for their climate promises. We focus on pressuring corporations to walk the talk on climate, in order to help deliver international climate goals. If we can pressure large consumer-facing, brand-sensitive corporations to live up to their climate commitments it will transform the landscape – dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions and boosting renewable energy procurement, whilst creating the political space for governments to increase ambition.

Action Speaks Louder has built a diverse team of campaigners across multiple countries, and

has a strong track record delivering outcomes from multinational companies. We are

committed to offering equal opportunities in a diverse, flexible, family-friendly, supportive

working environment.

The role

We are looking for a sharp, experienced communications professional to lead ASL's voice and drive its communications strategy at a pivotal moment in the organisation's growth. This is a senior, strategy-led role for someone who combines rigorous campaign instincts with genuine digital fluency.

About you

You have at least 8 years' experience in senior communications roles, ideally within campaigning or purpose-driven organisations. You have a track record of delivering communications campaigns with measurable real-world impact.

Critically, you are a digital native. You understand how campaigns live and die on social platforms, how to build and activate online audiences, and how to use data to test, iterate and sharpen messaging in real time. You are confident navigating the rapidly changing media landscape and as comfortable crafting a social campaign as you are pitching a broadsheet journalist.

You know how to tell complex stories simply without losing rigour. You understand that both message and messenger matter, and you know how to target both to diverse audiences across different markets and cultures. 

Duties and responsibilities

Strategy

• Lead and continuously refine ASL's communications strategy

• Develop integrated campaigns that combine digital, earned media and stakeholder engagement to maximise impact

• Identify emerging opportunities and risks in the communications landscape

Digital campaigning

• Lead ASL's digital campaign strategy across social, email and content channels

• Oversee content production, ensuring quality, consistency and platform-appropriate storytelling

• Harness data and analytics to test messaging, track performance and optimise campaigns

Media liaison and PR

• Develop and maintain relationships with key journalists across target markets

• Build and manage media contact databases

• Develop pitch content, press materials and key messaging

• Identify and capitalise on media moments

Management

• Manage external contractors and agency relationships

• Lead a diverse, distributed team

• Support spokespeople with messaging, briefings and media preparation

Selection criteria

Essential

• Demonstrated experience developing and executing communications strategies for international campaigns with measurable outcomes

• Strong digital campaign experience: social strategy, content, community building, analytics and paid amplification

• Demonstrated experience securing top-tier targeted media coverage across varied markets

• Experience crafting, testing and iterating topline messages

• Ability to communicate complex material clearly without sacrificing accuracy or credibility

• Comfortable leading a remote, globally distributed team

• Fluency in English. 

Desirable

• Experience working across diverse regions and stakeholder communities

• Experience with AV production and multimedia content

• Media training skills

• Familiarity with corporate climate accountability, energy transition or adjacent issue areas

What we offer

• A genuinely significant opportunity to shape a dynamic, fast-growing international organisation with strong connections to global philanthropy

• Work that matters — with a team that combines passion with rigour and a results-oriented approach

• Real autonomy to shape and develop your role over time

• A fully flexible, remote working environment

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. All applications will be treated confidentially.