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About SCEC
SCEC was founded over twenty years ago to provide learning enrichment opportunities to primary school children in disadvantaged communities in south London. Together with our partners, several leading independent schools, we currently operate four schemes in math, literacy, science and art. Children learn through fun, engaging group activities like science experiments, storytelling and mathematical treasure hunts, all taught by qualified teachers with added support from student mentors. Through the schemes, children explore their curiosity, build knowledge and develop their confidence as learners.
Your Role
The Scheme Director is a newly created role that will be pivotal in helping SCEC extend its reach. Reporting to the Board of Trustees, you will help SCEC design and implement an expansion programme as well as coordinating the delivery of the existing schemes via our school partners. You will also serve as a trusted partner to the Board in the administration of the charity.
Similar to a COO, this role straddles the operational and the strategic. We are looking for a confident communicator and relationship builder who can work across varied stakeholder groups. You will have project management experience that can be applied to challenges like process design and change management. You should be able to grasp the big picture and have an eye for the details needed to deliver successful outcomes. This is an exciting opportunity for the right candidate to join SCEC on a transformational journey working with excellent learning partners and established leaders to improve educational outcomes for children.
Key Responsibilities
- Oversee scheme operations including pupil recruitment, enrolment and attendance to ensure the smooth running of schemes and maximum impact
- Promote the charity to prospective partners and donors
- Support the Board in developing, implementing and monitoring an expansion programme
- Monitor and report on scheme performance and impact
- Prepare and manage budgets and disbursement of funds
- Build and maintain systems and processes to support scheme operations, compliance and monitoring
Key Qualities
- Passionate about making a difference in the lives of children
- Demonstrated success in developing and implementing strategic plans to achieve organisational goals
- Track record of effectively managing programmes and services, including programme development, implementation, and evaluation
- Committed to working collaboratively to build strong relationships with business partners and colleagues and proactively engaging stakeholders when making decisions
- Self-motivated and highly organised, you have a strong sense of initiative and take a hands-on approach to planning and administration
Child Protection
SCEC is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. This is the responsibility of the whole organisation (trustees and staff). An enhanced DBS Disclosure is required for this role.
For more information, please see the attached Job Description below
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. If you used any AI tools to prepare your application, please submit a separate statement setting out what tools you used and how you used them. As a small organisation we do not discourage the use of AI tools, but we are committed to transparency around how and why they are used.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Duration: Fixed Term (Maternity Cover for 12 months)
Salary: £56,000 per annum
Hours: 35 hours per week (other flexible arrangements will be considered)
Location: Working from home and at 1 Westfield Avenue, London E20 1HZ
UNICEF ensures more of the world’s children are vaccinated, educated and protected than any other organisation. We have done more to influence laws and policies to help protect children than anyone else. We get things done. And we’re not going to stop until the world is a safe place for all our children.
This is a great opportunity to join the UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK) as Finance Business Partner (early moments leave/maternity cover for 12 months).
This role provides the main Finance point of contact across relevant teams and senior stakeholders and is expected to support various teams, including the Marketing Team that generates a significant portion of UNICEF UK’s income, and the Information and People Teams, amongst others.
Reporting to the Head of Finance Business Partnering, you will work directly with budget holders in your dedicated teams, supporting financial planning and performance reporting with analysis, insight and constructive challenge to support decision making and strategic financial planning, driving positive outcomes for UNICEF UK.
The ideal candidate would be someone that’s analytical and highly numerate, able to identify key performance and financial drivers and convey complex information with clarity. Experience in finance business partnering is key with experience specifically in digital marketing being desirable. The role entails building strong relationships with senior stakeholders and being able to both challenge and support.
Act now and visit the website via the apply button to apply online.
Closing date: 9am, Monday 5 January 2026.
Interview date: TBC in January.
In return, we offer:
· excellent pay and benefits (including flexible working, generous annual leave and pension, big brand discounts and wellbeing tools)
· outstanding training and learning opportunities and the support to flourish in your role
· impressive open plan office space and facilities on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
· an open culture and workplace with colleagues who share our values, enjoy their work and are motivated to do their utmost for children.
· the opportunity to work in a leading children’s organisation making a difference to children around the world
Our application process: We use a system called "Applied" that anonymises your responses and focuses on your actual skills that are relevant to this role. This benefits you by giving you a greater chance of expressing your skills in this objective selection process.
We anticipate most colleagues will work one or two days a week in the office on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, East London and the rest of the time from home. We will happily discuss other flexible options to suit your circumstances.
We particularly welcome applications from black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQ+ candidates, disabled candidates, and from men, because we would like to increase the representation of these groups at this level at UNICEF UK. We want to do this because we know greater diversity will lead to even greater results for children.
UNICEF UK promotes equality, diversity and inclusion in our workplace. We make employment decisions by matching business needs with skills and experience of candidates, irrespective of age, disability (including hidden disabilities), gender, gender identity or gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.
We welcome a conversation about your flexible working requirements, personal growth, and promoting a workplace where you can be yourself and achieve success based only on your merit.
The successful candidate will be required to apply for a criminal records check. A criminal record will not necessarily bar you from working with us. This will depend on the nature of the role and the circumstances of your offences.
We only accept online applications as this saves us money, making more funds available for us to help ensure children’s rights.
If you require support in completing the online form or an application form in an alternative format, please contact the Supporter Care line during office hours.
If you do not hear from us within 14 days of the closing date, please assume your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion. Please note that we only provide feedback to shortlisted candidates.
Registered Charity Nos. 1072612 (England and Wales) SC043677 (Scotland)
Registered Charity
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The UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK), a charity funded by supporters, raising funds for UNICEF’s work for children.
