Courses and community engagement manager jobs in exeter, devon

WE ARE LOOKING FOR A HEAD OF YOUNGER LEADERS

About the Department/Role

The National Society for Education (NSE) is both an NCI and a Royal-charter charity. It's aims are to support Church schools and the wider education sector by developing leaders, shaping policy and growing faith.

The NSE leads the Church of England's national work in education in partnership with 41 Diocesan Boards of Education and approximately 4,700 Church of England schools. We also support the national education work of the Church in Wales, which includes around 150 schools. Our presence extends to work with community schools and academy trusts, as well as higher and further education through numerous chaplaincies, providing spiritual support and guidance to children and young people, and to adults.

The Church of England's Vision and Strategy for the 2020s has three priorities, one of which is to be a church which is younger and more diverse. As part of this, the House of Bishops want to ensure that a flourishing children, youth and families ministry is within reach of every young person in England.

The NSE is working with the Vision and Strategy team to help deliver this vision through a range of projects in our 'growing faith' pillar which focus on the intersection between church, home and school; aiming to develop the faith life of children and young people, whilst also growing young leaders.

We are a dynamic team, working remotely from our homes around the country. We gather regularly online, and also have in-person team days through the year.

What you'll be doing

The purpose of this role is to provide strategic oversight for the engagement, sustainability and impact of a range of national leadership development programmes and experiences for young leaders (4-18) and young adults (18-25) including the Archbishops' Young Leaders Award, the Flourishing Young Leaders programme, the Christian Young Leaders pathway and Young Voices at General Synod. To lead a curriculum development and delivery team across these programmes to ensure that children and young people are placed instinctively at the heart of the mission of the church, and that developing flourishing young people is at the heart of the mission of schools, school trusts and dioceses.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Leading effective delivery, engagement and impact
• Deepening thinking, research and theology and practice
• Ensuring sustainability through effective partnerships and engagement

About You

The Church of England is for everyone and we want to reflect the diversity of the community the Church serves across the whole country. Therefore, while of course we welcome all applications from interested and suitably experienced people, we would particularly welcome applicants from UK Minoritised Ethnicities (UKME)/Global Majority Heritage (GMH) and other under-represented groups. As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to recruiting disabled people. We offer interviews to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the role.

Essential

Knowledge/Experience

• Leadership at a senior level and successful management of high performing teams.
• Experience of influencing senior stakeholders and governance groups, programme creation and successful delivery of complex programmes.
• Knowledge of the educational landscape in the primary and secondary sectors and the current and future needs of school leaders.
• Developing and leading marketing strategy and communications financial and budgetary planning and management.

Skills & Abilities:

• Strong developed interpersonal skills.
• Capacity to be flexible and innovative in the changing circumstances.
• Written and oral communication skills- formal and informal.
• Ability to manage multiple projects concurrently, working to tight deadlines and often under pressure.
• Proven ability to synthesise large amounts of information to make robust strategic decisions.
• Passionate about making a difference to the lives of children and young people.
• A clear understanding of the Church of England's Education network and its current and future needs.

Key Role Requirements

• This role is fully remote.
• An enhanced DBS check will be required as part of our pre-employment checks.
• This role is subject to an occupational requirement that the holder be of the Christian faith as expressed in the Nicene Creed under Part 1 of Schedule 9 to the Equality Act 2010.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information about the role and person specification.

What we offer

Your Salary

• A salary of £68,999 per annum, plus age-related pension contributions between 8-15% of salary. We will also match any pension contributions you make up to an additional 3% of your salary.

Your Benefits

• 30 days annual leave plus eight bank holidays three additional days (pro-rated if working part-time).
• We welcome all flexible working arrangement requests. This is looked at in a case-by-case scenario and if this fits within the department's needs. We try to be as flexible as we can in your work pattern to support you with other commitments, and to give a good work-life balance.
• We offer many services and initiatives under our Family Friendly Programme, some of these include enhanced Maternity Leave initiative, Adoption Leave, Paternity Leave, & Shared Parental Leave. Structured induction programme and access to a range of development opportunities including apprenticeships.

• Automatic enrolment and access to Medicash (one of the UK's leading health cash plan providers), providing you with many services including reimbursements of routine dental treatment, optical, specialist consultations, and therapy treatments. Unlimited access to virtual GP & Private prescription service and health & Stress related helplines.

• Access to Occupational Health, and an Employee Assistance Programme 
• Access to the Department of Education Restaurant and Westminster Abbey with a plus-one guest.
• Apply for eligibility for an Eyecare voucher.
• Opportunity to join the Civil Service Sports & Social Club, and get involved in a range of staff networks, groups and societies.

About the role 

At the heart of our operations, our exceptional Regional Casework Coordinators serve as the primary point of contact for members of the armed forces community reaching out to our Regional Offices for support.

In this dynamic role, no two days are the same. You may be supporting individuals in distress over the phone, managing email and voicemail communications, collaborating with volunteers on complex casework, building strong relationships with local authorities and charitable organisations, or working closely with internal services to secure the best possible outcomes for our clients.

You will sometimes handle complex problems from individuals who may be distressed, identifying the presenting and potential underlying needs to determine the best way to support them. You will have ownership of cases from beginning to end, coordinating the casework process in a timely manner and ensuring that the beneficiary journey is at the centre of the Service.

Whilst the post is homebased, to be eligible for this role you are required to live in the East of England region in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, or Essex.

You will occasionally be required to travel around the region or further afield, to attend face to face meetings or training events.

To help you establish yourself in this new post you will receive excellent training and induction to SSAFA. You will initially be required to attend an in-person caseworkers’ course which may require an overnight stay.

About the team 

Reporting to the Regional Casework Manager our Casework Coordinators, together with our Volunteer Caseworkers, work remotely within the regional office area.  With beneficiaries at the heart of everything we do, team members pride themselves in building and maintaining close working relationships to ensure the smooth operation of the office.  The wider regional support team includes a Regional Manager, Volunteer Development Manager and a Community Engagement Manager. 

About you 

To thrive in this role, you'll demonstrate composure and resilience, paired with genuine empathy and a strong commitment to supporting those in need.

Our beneficiaries are at the heart of everything we do. To support them effectively, you’ll need to be an attentive listener and a clear, compassionate communicator.

You will have experience of providing welfare support, especially on the telephone and an understanding of benefits, debt management, disability, homelessness, local authority provision or mobility would be a real benefit.  Understanding the way of life of today’s Armed Forces, veterans and their families and experience of working with volunteers would be a real advantage.

Knowledge of Safeguarding and GDPR is essential in this sensitive role as team members are responsible for recording and protecting personal data and reporting safeguarding concerns.

Proficiency in Microsoft Office 365 applications is essential, and prior experience using a case management system would be highly advantageous.  It is important that you have experience of planning and managing your own workload, with minimal supervision.

About SSAFA

SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity is a trusted source of support for the Armed Forces community in their time of need. In 2024 our trained teams of volunteers and employees helped more than 54,000 people, including veterans, serving personnel (regulars and reserves) and their families.

SSAFA understands that behind every uniform is a person. And we are here for that person and their family, any time they need us and in any way they need us.

Diversity and Inclusion at SSAFA

SSAFA exists to support a diverse range of beneficiaries within the armed forces community, and we believe diversity within our teams is key to ensuring we can deliver our services effectively. We thrive on differences and believe it is critical to our success as a worldwide charity. SSAFA is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace that seeks to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We therefore encourage applications from all genders, races, religions, ages and sexual orientations, as well as parents, veterans, people living with disabilities, and any other groups that could bring diverse perspectives to our business.

SSAFA is committed to using the Disclosure & Barring Service to ensure we, as an employer, safeguard those we serve.

No agencies please. Any unsolicited submissions from agencies will be accepted as a direct application from the candidate and no fees will be payable.

Recently unsuccessful candidates need not reapply

Closing date: Midnight of 21 September 2025. SSAFA reserves the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.

Interviews: Week commencing 29 September 2025.

As part of the selection process, you will be required to complete an assessment.

This is a critical and exciting leadership role for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust which will take the Trust forward to the next phase of organisational growth, building on the superb achievements to date of our retiring CEO. 

You’ll need passion and energy to work on some of the most profound challenges of our time. Nature needs its champions, and you’ll need to harness all of your skills, all of your personality, and your network to grow our influence, our impact, and our outcomes. You’ll excel at galvanising others to take action  enabling  us to achieve our aims and ensure bumblebees are thriving and valued by everyone.

This is an incredible opportunity to join a very special organisation with passionate and high-performing teams who are truly dedicated to our vital purpose. 

Please refer to the CEO pack for further information.

The Trust is an Equal Opportunities employer.  This means that whilst seeking employment or during such employment with the Trust, we will seek to ensure equality of treatment for all persons regardless of sex, race, age, marital or civil partnership status, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity status. 

At the Trust, we have a clear goal: to be the place where a diverse mix of talented people want to come, to stay and do their best work. We pride ourselves on reaching for our vision, through the hard work and dedication of our passionate and creative employees.