Data jobs in newcastle

Together for Short Lives is a charity that makes sure seriously ill children and their families get the care they need, especially at the end of life. We work closely with families, care professionals, and services to improve children’s palliative care. We also speak up to government leaders and decision-makers to help make sure families have access to the best support when they need it.

About the Role

As a Kentown Family Service Coordinator, you will be the first point of contact for families referred into the Kentown programme, helping them navigate health, social care, and voluntary sector services. You will:

• Carry out family needs assessments and co-develop personalised support plans with families.
• Build strong local relationships with health, education, and community services to ensure families can access the help they need.
• Promote the work of the Kentown Programme and Together for Short Lives and raise awareness of children’s palliative care in the region.
• Support family engagement events, training opportunities, and ongoing evaluation of the programme’s impact.
• Work collaboratively with the Kentown team, sharing learning and best practice across regions.
• This is a home-based role with travel across Lancashire, Cumbria, and Manchester.

About You

We’re looking for someone with experience in health, social care, or education who is passionate about supporting families. You will bring:

• Experience working directly with children, young people, or families with complex needs.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills with families and professionals.
• The ability to assess needs, coordinate support, and signpost families to the right services.
• Confidence in collecting feedback and supporting events or activities for families.
• A proactive, compassionate, and organised approach, with good IT and record-keeping skills.
• A full driving licence and willingness to travel are essential.

Thrombosis UK is a small charity with big ambitions. We are the charity in the UK committed to saving lives and improving the quality of life for those affected by blood clots. 

Key Responsibilities:

• To be the first point of contact for those requiring support, information and signposting with regards to VTE
• Answering enquiries across all channels (including those via the chat on our Facebook pages and “Let’s Talk Clots” app) in a supportive and timely manner
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with a range of stakeholders including patients, carers, and medical professionals
• Facilitating online meetings and focus groups between those with lived experience of VTE and selected research partners
• Accurately recording contact information on a central database
• Contributing to the development/updating of TUK’s information materials, to reflect current guidelines and medical advances
• Ensure accessibility of patient information materials
•  Providing support at TUK events, and wider initiatives such as National Thrombosis Week and World Thrombosis Day
• Contributing to the development of TUK’s community engagement activities
• Preparing a monthly overview of community engagement for the CEO

Who we are: Brake has been supporting victims of road carnage since 1995, and we're on a mission to prevent future collisions. Every 20 minutes, someone is killed or seriously injured on our roads, impacting lives profoundly.

Join our team: We are seeking a Service Delivery Lead to have operational oversight and responsibility for Brake’s National Road Victim Service (NRVS). Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and working closely with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), the role will focus on building strong foundations, fostering a positive team culture, and ensuring effective service delivery.

Not your average job: This role is an excellent opportunity to build on our current support offer as well as driving meaningful service improvement, and playing a key role in building a stronger, more effective team culture across the National Road Victim Service.

What we offer:

- A generous 35 days of annual leave (including bank holidays and 3-day shutdown period between Christmas and New Year, pro-rata for part-time working patterns)

- Birthday day off

- Enhanced sick pay and compassionate leave

- Death in service benefit

- Pension

- Employee Assistance Programme

- Flexible working

- A rewarding role with purpose

- Be part of a skilled, friendly team with an engaged Board of Trustees 

Who you are: An excellent communicator, with the ability to engage and inspire and a proven ability to get things done.  You will have strong, robust, and consistent leadership skills, and be capable of making sound judgments under pressure and ensuring timely resolutions.  Proven experience in managing or leading a team within a service delivery environment is a must as is experience in safeguarding, and managing risk, including clinical escalation and operational risk mitigation.

You will have a visible, approachable and supportive leadership style, combined with resilience and adaptability, a collaborative mindset and a commitment to Brake’s mission to support road victims and create safer roads for everyone.

Specifically seeking candidates with:

- Excellent communication skills

- Ability to delegate effectively

- Proven experience in managing or leading a team within a service delivery environment

- Competence in managing risk, including clinical escalation and operational risk mitigation

- Commitment to inclusivity, fairness, and promoting a culture of equality

- Competence in monitoring performance metrics and reporting outcomes to senior leadership

- A full, clean UK driving licence (if you are a driver)

- competent IT skills for remote work

Join our mission: Your greatest reward will be knowing you've made a positive difference in someone's recovery from psychological trauma.

About us: Brake is passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that values diversity. We welcome your application whatever your background or situation. We particularly welcome applications from those who are part of the global majority, the LGBTQIA+ community or disabled. We are proud to be a disability confident employer. We don’t want you to ‘fit’ our culture, we want you to enrich it. So, if you have a passion for making a difference and share in our vision for a world where no one is killed on our roads, we would love to hear from you.

Apply now: If you're up for a new challenge and have the skills, read our full job descriptions and apply now.

Not for traffic offenders: Due to the nature of our work we can't accept applications from traffic offenders. Candidates will be asked to disclose whether they have any unspent points on their licence at interview.

A DBS check is required due to the sensitive nature of our service.

Join us today and be part of the solution! 

About us and our ecological work

We are a small but growing UK-registered charity which undertakes projects that protect and restore wild landscapes, helping to provide a future for all life on earth. We use the skills and expertise of our multi-disciplinary team (spanning science, law, economics, technology and culture) to develop projects that protect and restore wild, natural landscapes. 

Our ecological work spans two exciting fronts: restoring missing species through projects like The Missing Lynx, Pine Marten and White-Tailed Eagle reintroductions in Northern England; and securing the protection of ecological restoration sites as a Responsible Body for conservation covenants through which we aim to set the gold standard, supporting ambitious, mission-aligned projects such as Nattergal’s High Fen site.

About the role

We are seeking to hire a dynamic and passionate Senior Ecologist to join The Lifescape Project, to play an integral role in the restoration of charismatic species to the UK and in landscape scale habitat restoration.

As a Senior Ecologist, your work will cover two distinct areas which are broadly: BNG-associated site assessments; and practical planning and feasibility aspects of species reintroductions.

Salary: £40,000 - £42,000 per annum, depending on experience + benefits.

Hours: Full-time, 40 hours per week.

Contract: Fixed-term contract for 12 months initially.

Location: Remote working with site survey work and some UK and international travel.

Please refer to the job description for further information about the role.

To apply, please email a CV and covering letter (each no longer than 2 pages of text) outlining how you meet the person specification and why you should be considered for this role.

Closing date: 9.00am on Monday 20 October 2025.

The role will commence as soon as possible.

Role Summary

Join our team and help us improve public sector food across the UK with our School Plates and new Hospital Plates programmes. We're looking for a passionate and driven Chef Trainer to support schools and hospitals in delivering healthier and more sustainable menus.

The programmes continue to go from strength to strength. Through School Plates, we currently support over a third of all UK local authorities, catering for more than 12,000 schools and feeding over 1.25 million children daily. To date, we have been responsible for swapping over 50 million school meals from meat-based to meat-free or plant-based. We're now expanding our successful model into the health sector with our new Hospital Plates programme, bringing the same positive change to patient and staff menus.

Are you a skilled chef trainer with a passion for improving public food? Can you match our ambition? You'll be using your culinary expertise to train catering teams in both schools and hospitals, provide menu advice, and get involved with recipe development and culinary education. You will also run cooking workshops for pupils in secondary schools, inspiring the next generation to get excited about plant-based food. You will also build and manage relationships with our catering partners, helping them deliver delicious and sustainable meals. This is a UK-wide role and will require travel to different sites.

We’re looking for someone to join our team for 3 days a week but are open to applicants looking for flexible working hours, including, potentially, 4 days a week.

Job Details

Job Title: Chef Trainer - School Plates & Hospital Plates 
Reporting to: Programme Manager, UK
Location: Remote (home-based with travel across UK) 
Hours: 21-28 hours per week (0.6-0.8 FTE)
Salary: £32,000 per annum pro rata (based on 1.0 FTE) 

 

Responsibilities

As our Chef Trainer & Programme Support, you'll be a key player in developing and delivering our School Plates and Hospital Plates programmes. You'll use your culinary expertise and passion for food system change to create resources, train professionals, and engage with our partners.

Key Responsibilities

• Recipe Development & Training: You'll co-lead the creation, testing, and development of new plant-based recipes for our school and hospital programmes, and lead on developing ‘grab-and-go’ and internationally inspired options for secondary schools. You'll also plan and deliver training sessions, including in-person and online workshops, and create e-learning courses for caterers.

• Programme Development & Support: Work closely with programme managers to develop and refine the strategy for our initiatives. This includes supporting pilot programmes, measuring their impact, and creating bespoke catering resources for our partners.

• Stakeholder Engagement & Communication: Represent our organisation at events and in meetings, providing expert catering advice and information on our programmes. Collaborate with our communications manager to create engaging content, including recipes and videos for our website, e-learning platform and social media.

• Education & Outreach: Partner with our education manager to plan and co-deliver secondary school cooking workshops. These sessions will teach pupils basic plant-based culinary skills that align with the National Curriculum as well as inspire the next generation to choose plant-forward options and learn about the impact of their food choices in a positive way.

• Inspire Catering Teams: Your role is to build and maintain relationships with catering partners, providing expert catering advice and practical recipe suggestions. You'll work with them directly on pilot programmes, offering bespoke support to inspire positive menu changes. You'll also provide essential administrative support for our programmes and help create and deliver presentations to promote our work to a wider audience.

Qualifications

    Essential

• Experienced in planning and delivering cooking workshops to groups.

• Experience of working in a culinary setting and developing recipes with a strong interest in plant-based recipes.

• Excellent communication skills and be a confident and engaging educator.

• Flexible and agile approach, with a willingness to be a true team player and fill gaps as needed.

• Proactive with initiative and drive.

• Strong organisational skills.

• Attention to detail.

• Solution-focused and resilient.

• Confident in creating basic spreadsheets and slide decks.

• Ability to work well under pressure and manage time effectively in a fast-paced and small but fast-growing non-profit work environment.

• Ability to work well unsupervised with experience of working in remote teams with a reliable internet connection.

• Passionate about food systems change.

• Alignment with our vision and mission.

• Based in the UK and able to attend meetings, events, and training to represent the team and programme across the UK.

• Willing to travel across the UK for workshops and events. 

Desirable

• Experience of working within school and/or hospital food. 

• Experience of food photography and creating recipe content for social platforms or online courses. 

• Experience of managing projects.

• Experience of liaising with local authorities, schools, or other public sector bodies.

• Experience in the field of nutrition, including an interest in plant-based nutrition.

• Experience of working in the food, health or environmental sector.

• Experience of using customer relationship management (CRM) systems (training will be provided).

Benefits of working with us

• Generous annual leave entitlement - 25 days per year, with an additional day granted at the start of each calendar up to a maximum of 30 days (plus bank holidays)

• A strong organisational focus on personal development, with a designated training budget.

• Provision of a work laptop.

• Flexible, trust-based working arrangements and home-office arrangements.

• Career development support

• Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption pay

• Compassionate animal companion leave

• Employee Assistance Programme including counselling

• Access to 24/7 virtual GP Service

• Mindfulness support via a free Headspace account for you and up to 5 friends or family members

• Access to the Wisdom app with exclusive perks and discounts

• Membership to the OpenUp platform

• We are a workplace that encourages everyone to bring their whole selves to work. We are an inclusive workplace for our diverse employees around the world.

• And, last but not least, become part of a great team and work with us towards a world where everyone chooses delicious and healthy food that is good for all humans, animals, and our planet!

When?

Application deadline: 5th October 2025
Start date: November 2025

Application process and timeline 

Please submit your application using our online form including your CV and cover letter. By submitting your application you agree that your personal data will be processed by and shared with our UK entity (ProVeg C.I.C.) and German entity (ProVeg e.V.). 

The recruitment process consists of two rounds: 1): an online trial task; 2): an interview with the Programme Manager and Director. 
 

• Application deadline: 5th October 2025

• Online trial task: sent to longlisted candidates by 10th October 5pm, to be completed by 12 October at 5pm 

• Interviews: take place on 21st and 22nd October 2025

• Start date: November 2025

Key information

Location: Manchester, Bristol, Newcastle, Nottingham, or London

Hours: 37.5 hours per week (full time)

Start date: ASAP (we are happy to work with notice periods)

Duration: Permanent

Salary: £36,340 - £41,065 per annum if based in London. £33,690 - £38,410 per annum if based in Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle or Nottingham, plus a £312 yearly tax-free work from home allowance.

Application deadline: Wednesday 17th September at noon.

About upReach 

Do you think that your socio-economic background should determine your career prospects?

upReach’s vision is of a society in which everybody has an equal opportunity to realise their full career potential. Our work is important because right now a student from disadvantaged background who gains a first-class degree from a top university is less likely to secure an elite job than a more privileged student with a 2.2. 

We are an award-winning charity employer working to address this issue in partnership with employers and universities. We help undergraduates from lower socioeconomic backgrounds achieve their career potential by providing an intensive programme of support that addresses socio-economic barriers to graduate employment. 

To find out more about how we support our students, visit our website and read our Annual Report, and Impact Report. 

Role overview 

We are looking to fill a Programme Manager role.

This would be working on our Rise programme, managing multiple relationships with university partners and leading and supporting a delivery team of Programme Coordinators (PCs) and Programme Leaders (PLs) to attract, onboard and provide high-quality support to Associates (the undergraduates we support).

Experience 

To be successful, it is anticipated that you would have prior experience in the delivery of programmes and projects and in managing/leading a team.

Essential experience:

• Experience in programme delivery from end to end, from design to reporting and evaluation.

• Knowledge of UK university and widening participation landscape.

• Experience working directly with key stakeholders to manage and grow a relationship and/or partnership.

• Line management or team leadership experience.

• Experience designing and delivering training or learning & development content.

• Experience working in a fast-paced environment and working independently to find solutions to problems.

• Ability to engage and flex communication style confidently with a variety of stakeholders, such as beneficiaries, upReach partners and all levels of employees across the organisation.

• Strong collaboration skills when working in both small and large teams of varied team members.

• Self-motivation and an ability to work in a small team as well as independently, with a creative and a proactive attitude.

• Excellent influencing, facilitation and communication skills (both oral and written) and comfortable preparing and presenting reports and proposals to senior management and external stakeholders.

• University degree in any discipline, or equivalent experience.

Desirable experience:

• Knowledge of graduate recruitment market.

• Familiarity with G Suite and Zoom video conferencing software.

• Project management or programme management qualification.

Responsibilities

This role will have a wide impact across your programmes and the charity as a whole, as well as maintaining high-quality personalised support for your own Associates. 

1) PROGRAMME DESIGN AND DELIVERY

• Make decisions concerning the design and delivery of your programmes, creating a 12-month plan in advance of the start of each recruitment cycle. 

• Plan student recruitment activities and onboarding in collaboration with university partners. This will include working with the Pipeline and Marketing teams to efficiently meet onboarding targets.

• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of your programmes with overarching responsibility for meeting internal engagement and application success OKRs, which you will utilise throughout the year to set priority areas for your team.

• Contribute to weekly Programme Manager meetings, sharing your insight and experience to generate ideas and practical solutions that support the overall improvement of upReach’s programme design and delivery. 

• Lead on parts of the weekly Delivery Meeting with the wider team, to ensure weekly focus areas and key team messages are communicated clearly to all PCs and PLs.

2) TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Manage a team of Programme Coordinators/Leaders/Junior Managers in a variety of locations, both virtually and in person - providing ongoing personal and professional development support through weekly 1-to-1 calls or meetings, written feedback on documents, or day-to-day guidance via Slack. 

• Assist Programme Coordinators / Programme Leaders/Junior Managers to provide high quality personalised support to their Associates, which includes helping them to document all interactions with Associates and application progress.

• Use relevant impact dashboards and data to set priorities for your team and support with competing workload demands and time management, to ensure that OKRs and stakeholder KPIs are achieved across all areas.

• Manage the performance and development of your team - including setting professional development goals and utilising a range of resources and tools where necessary to help your team perform successfully in their roles. You will have regular, open and supportive discussions with your team members, giving feedback in your weekly 1-to-1s and your mid- and end-of-year appraisals.

• Engage your direct reports through completing a Leadership and Management apprenticeship, if this is something your direct reports choose to do after 18 months on the FCLP.

• Be part of the upReach Leadership Team and contribute to forming the strategy and direction of the charity. This also includes passing on team feedback to your manager and the leadership team and proposing practical solutions. 

3) PARTNERSHIPS & EVENTS

• Maintain strong relationships with university partners, including managing quarterly/annual reporting requirements on programme aims and collaborating on shared objectives.

• Help your team to manage day-to-day partnership responsibilities, and coach them in relationship management. This will also involve supporting PCs/PLs where necessary to set boundaries with partners.

• Coordinate events with university partners, working with the Programmes team to effectively deliver skills-based sessions for Associates.

• Assist Programme Coordinators/Leaders/Junior Managers in smoothly running events and onboarding processes, both in your team and within the wider team where necessary. 

• Work with the partnerships team to make strategic decisions regarding how to grow upReach's existing and new partnerships.

4) OVERSEE A DELIVERY RESPONSIBILITY AREA, ROTATION OR PROJECT

• Manage a Delivery Responsibility area, rotation or project. This will involve meeting with the relevant team regularly (often weekly or bi-weekly depending on the time of year/focus area), and guiding those working on this area with you.

• Work with your team to achieve the objectives outlined for your area, setting clear actions and deadlines. Coach and provide guidance where needed.

• Provide regular feedback to the Programme Management team and where necessary present key findings and updates to the wider team. This may also involve supporting your team to present during the Delivery Meeting and/or Team Meeting.

5) ASSOCIATE ENGAGEMENT

• Support a group of your own Associates, engaging them with the upReach programme in line with OKRs.

• Act as a role model for PCs, PLs & JPMs, ensuring Associate facing tasks are completed to a high quality.

• Proactively use impact to monitor Associate engagement across your programme(s), identifying any areas of concern throughout the year and setting focus areas/action steps for your team to address these.

Team Culture & Benefits: 

We offer: 

• Flexible and hybrid working.

• Statutory Holiday Entitlement of 25 days and bank holidays. This increases to 2 additional days after 2.5 years and then to 3 additional days after 5 years of working with us. 

• Birthday leave and Voluntary leave

• Enhanced Parental Leave beyond statutory requirements for all team members. 

• 3% Pension Contribution, which increased to 5% after 5 years of working with us. 

• Cycle-to-work scheme.

• Monthly socials and annual wellbeing days

• Dedication to Staff Wellbeing through our Employee Assistance Programme and Mental Health First Aid Training. 

• Personal Development Budget, activated after 6 months in the role.

• The opportunity to participate in our fantastic staff networks: 

  • Disability and Inclusion Network

  • Diverse Roots Network 

  • Green Network 

  • LGBTQ+ Network

  • Mindfulness Network

  • Parents and Carers Network 

Ready to apply?

We are committed to making our recruitment process inclusive. All applications will be blind screened, and our job packs are available in Braille, large text or another format upon request. We can provide reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment application process and on the job, and we'll always endeavour to be as accommodating as possible. 

Applications close on Wednesday, 17th September at 12:00 pm.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

At upReach, we are committed to being an equal opportunities employer and do not discriminate in employment matters on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability, social background or any other protected class. We celebrate and value the diverse perspectives that people from all backgrounds bring to our team. We are passionate about creating a workplace that is inclusive and reflects the diversity of communities across the UK. Diversity in the workplace creates dynamic and effective organisations and we are actively working to build a more inclusive workforce by continuously improving our recruitment, retention, and development practices. We  encourage applications from individuals from underrepresented groups, including Black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds, those with disabilities , those who are care-experienced, those from low socio-economic backgrounds, and those who are LGBTQIA+.

We are looking for a warm, flexible and highly motivated fundraiser to work across all areas of our fundraising, from securing income from trusts and foundations and corporate partners to staying on top of our individual giving. 

You’ll benefit from regular mentoring sessions with an external fundraising consultant and be able to foster close relationships with our board of trustees and other key stakeholders. 

BYO has a very small core team, which you’ll be part of, and a large number of freelancers and external staff that join for programmes, events and performances. Our registered office is at the London Coliseum but day-to-day, when our big
programmes aren’t running, we work remotely. 

You’ll find yourself inputting across the organisation – for an inquisitive and proactive person there are plenty of opportunities to take on more responsibility as we grow. Here at BYO we actively support professional development and are very open to flexible working.

Thrombosis UK is a small charity with big ambitions. We are the charity in the UK committed to saving lives and improving the quality of life for those affected by blood clots. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Coordinate Challenge Events

o Act as main contact with events management companies to coordinate our programme

o Encourage, support and monitor participants on their fundraising journey

o Manage production and distribution of event merchandise

• Fundraising

o Explore new fundraising opportunities to increase income and widen our supporter base

o Provide support/toolkits to volunteers who want to run their own events

o Research new technologies to streamline fundraising activities

o Represent the charity at community/fundraising events

o Reach out to suitable businesses for suitable support and donations

•    Marketing & Communications

o Plan and oversee marketing initiatives for TUK’s events and wider opportunities e.g. National Thrombosis Week and World Thrombosis Day

o Drive an effective social media presence

o Provide a prompt and enthusiastic response to fundraising enquiries across all channels

o Generate/update content for the website, social media and occasionally printed materials

o Liaise with designers, ensuring brand consistency across all channels

• Fundraising Admin

o Maintain accurate donor and income records, ensuring all invoices and payments are processed

o Promptly coordinate all donor correspondence such as acknowledgements, thank-yous, certificates and ‘good luck’ messages

o Provide a monthly fundraising overview to the CEO

Are you a social media whizz with a passion for telling powerful stories? Keen to progress in your career in public relations and digital communications while making a real impact in the charity sector? Join Dravet Syndrome UK as a Marketing and Communications Manager (home based,16 hours/week) and bring your creativity and energy to a role where you’ll help shape our online presence, generate meaningful media coverage, and connect communities through engaging content.

Reporting to the Head of Marketing and Communications and working with the Marketing, Communications and Fundraising Manager in this varied position, you’ll drive DSUK’s social media activity, creating and scheduling posts across our social media channels. Alongside engaging online audiences, you’ll be instrumental in our proactive PR work—writing press releases, pitching stories to key media, responding to journalist enquiries, and helping develop compelling family case studies for campaigns. As part of a passionate and supportive team, you’ll collaborate to measure the impact of our communications and marketing work.

If you’re ready to grow your career in communications and want to make a difference for families affected by Dravet syndrome, we want to hear from you.

As part of DSUK’s commitment to safeguarding, the postholder is expected to undertake an enhanced DBS check.

About Dravet Syndrome UK

Dravet Syndrome UK (DSUK) is a small independent UK charity dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by Dravet Syndrome. Dravet Syndrome is a rare neurological condition that affects around one in every 15,000 people in the UK. As well as experiencing severe, difficult-to-control seizures, children and adults with Dravet Syndrome have varying degrees of intellectual disability and a spectrum of associated conditions (known as ‘comorbidities’), which may include autism, ADHD, behaviours that challenge and difficulties with speech, mobility, eating and sleep.

The charity was founded in October 2008 by a small group of 30 families. Today, DSUK is a registered charity helping over 550 families with support, education, and research programmes, underpinned by a world-class Medical Advisory Board.

What you will bring

Essential

· Demonstrable experience in planning and delivering engaging and targeted social media content to build community, raise awareness and drive engagement.

· Hands-on experience managing websites (using WordPress), delivering e-marketing campaigns (e.g. Mailchimp or similar), and applying SEO principles and other techniques to optimise digital communications and online visibility.

· Demonstrable experience in media relations, including writing press releases, working with case studies and successfully pitching and responding to a range of media (online, press, radio, broadcast)

· Demonstrable experience of working in charity, patient advocacy or healthcare sectors

· Ability to deal with people at all levels with empathy, tact and credibility

· Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with an ability to distil large amounts of information and present it in engaging and innovative ways for a variety of audiences

· Demonstrable design skills and knowledge of desktop publishing software e.g. using Canva to create in-house designs for social media and our website

· Act as a brand guardian, ensuring external designers and agencies understand and apply our brand, visual identity, and corporate communications guidelines effectively

· Strong organisational and project management skills, with the ability to prioritise

· Be a self-starter and team player with experience of remote working, and able to work effectively with colleagues using remote technology (e.g. Zoom, Google meets, etc)

Desirable

· Membership of a professional body such as Chartered Institute of Public Relations and/or a commitment to continuous professional development

 Why join Dravet Syndrome UK?

Join our dynamic and growing charity, where you'll thrive in an exciting and engaging environment. We are proud to be a family-oriented charity experiencing growth and fuelled by an ambitious plan for expansion. Our dedicated team is deeply connected to our core audience, and their motivation stems from witnessing our impact on people's lives. Join us today and contribute to making a lasting difference in the lives of those we support.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday, 24 September 2025, with shortlisting interviews taking place in early October with job to commence November 2025.

Our commitment to diversity

As part of our ambitions to improve equality and diversity, we welcome applications for this role from those who identify under any of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, which include race, age, disability, sex, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage & civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.

At Family Action we support people through change, challenge or crisis. It’s what we’ve done for over 150 years. We protect children, support young people and adults and offer direct, practical help to families and communities.

We see first-hand the power of family to shape lives, for better or worse, so we speak up for the

importance of family in national and local policymaking, amplify family voices and represent the changing needs of families in the UK today.

The LifeSkills Support Worker (Virtual) will provide online support to individuals who are further away from employment, education or training by using a strengths based approach as part of the LifeSkills Intensive Programme. 

This is a new role and it is planned that referrals will be received directly from Tier 3 FamilyLine services (counselling and befriending services). 

The LifeSkills programme supports individuals and families to build their confidence, social networks, financial and employability skills. The LifeSkills Support Worker will work closely with the wider LifeSkills teams (Intensive and Open).

We are looking for an experienced Finance Director to join our team of nearly 100 staff, ideally before the end of 2025.

This is a full-time, home-based, permanent position. You can be based anywhere in mainland UK or Ireland, with some travel and occasional overnight stays to meeting and conferences mainly in England and Wales.

We offer flexibility around working hours, including the option of a 9 day fortnight - time off in lieu is also available. We offer 25 days holiday pro rata (rising to 28 days) plus statutory public holidays. We are happy to make adjustments for people with disabilities and/or caring responsibilities, and we welcome applications from all communities.

The role is a grade 7 position with a starting salary circa £75,000 plus benefits including 9% employer pension contribution.

The Finance Director (“FD”) works alongside the Chief Executive and Operations Director to manage the finances and governance of The Rivers Trust, a leading conservation charity with three associated trading subsidiaries operating across the UK and Ireland, with a collective annual income approaching £10m.

Given the prospective retirement of the current postholder at the end of 2025, we are seeking a well-qualified and experienced individual to take on this senior leadership role as soon as possible to enable handover to occur.

The role is very varied and wide-ranging, including presenting financial information to the Trustees and senior management on a quarterly basis, reviewing monthly management accounts, leading on annual budgeting, appraising internal project concepts and contracts, statutory compliance administration and liaising with auditors.

The postholder will lead a team of eight in the Finance department and join a very welcoming team of 95 highly engaged and passionate staff at The Rivers Trust.

Main duties and responsibilities:

Working alongside the CEO, the Finance Director will provide commercial, financial and governance management and leadership for The Rivers Trust ("the Charity") and its associated subsidiaries (“The Companies”). The FD will not only be an exceptional accountant, with executive oversight of the finance function, but will be commercially astute and have the confidence to represent robustly the best interests of The Companies. The FD will also be an experienced manager of people.

Key Accountabilities:

1. Act as a business partner to support and constructively challenge the CEO in the general management of the Charity and the Companies, reporting to the board.
2. Lead all aspects of the finance function (including maintaining and developing the financial control environment; robust financial accounting; cashflow management; incisive management information; clear and concise reporting to Board) to ensure that the Charity and the Companies’ assets are secured, risks are managed, and the Board of Trustees, subsidiary boards and committees can make well-informed decisions.
3. Manage relationships with auditors, funders, IT specialists, banks, investment platforms and other external organisations.
4. Provide support to project bids and the development of other commercial opportunities to ensure that bids/opportunities are optimised for the Charity and the Companies as a whole.
5. Provide input to project and programme delivery from time to time, to ensure that performance is maximised for the Charity and the Companies.
6. Attend Board meetings and Business Audit and Risk Committee meetings to guide the Board and the Senior Management Team on financial, commercial and governance issues.
7. Ensure compliance with the requirements of the Charity Commission and Companies House and, from time to time, provide guidance to members of the Rivers Trust movement on good governance practice.
8. Maintain the finance department operational manual for business continuity.
9. Serve as the Company Secretary for the Charity and Companies.

Staff Management:

1. Lead, manage and develop the finance team (who work remotely) and ensure the team understands their respective and collective contribution to achieving the Charity's and the Companies’ objectives.
2. Support the team in their professional development.
3. Ensure the team delivers a high-quality service focused on internal and external customers and funders.

Knowledge, skills, experience, and personal qualities:

Essential

• Significant experience in financial management and senior leadership roles, ideally gained in a range of organisations.
• A strategic thinker, able to see the big-picture, shape long-term direction and balance this with attention to detail.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills combined with creativity and openness to innovate.
• Strong IT and digital skills, with experience of using technology to improve efficiency and automate processes.
• Proven people leadership experience, with a track record of managing, developing, and inspiring teams and creating a supportive, inclusive, and collaborative culture.
• Excellent relationship builder, with the interpersonal skills to influence, collaborate, and provide constructive challenge while maintaining positive relationships across the organisation, including with trustees and senior stakeholders.
• Experience reporting to boards of trustees and/or directors, with the confidence to contribute to board-level discussions as a trusted adviser.
• Strong written and verbal communications skills, able to distil complexity into pertinent, concise and understandable messages tailored to diverse audiences.
• The courage to make and communicate tough decisions and be open about risks and setbacks.
• Resilient and calm under pressure, with the ability to maintain focus and steady leadership in challenging circumstances.
• Impeccable standards of integrity and personal ethics, acting as a role model for the organisation values.
• Knowledge of Sage financial software packages.
• Work to a good standard in Microsoft 365, especially Excel, Word, Outlook and Teams.

Desirable

• Experience of working in the charitable sector.
• Experience of being a Company Secretary.
• Understanding of the environmental sector or a passion for making a positive impact.
• Familiarity in using Sharepoint, Sage and Slack.
• Knowledge of Partial Exemption VAT rules.
• A basic understanding of Irish tax law, Irish and UK payroll taxes and corporate governance.

Qualifications/ Education

• Qualified Accountant, preferably ICAEW or ACCA.

Additional information

Everyone who works for us is expected to contribute to a respectful and inclusive working culture and follow our policies and procedures including Health & Safety, EDI, Cybersecurity and GDPR.

Please note we can only accept applications made through this site, and not sent by email or other methods.

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible. We warmly welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. If you would benefit from any adjustments to support you through the process, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate your needs.

To apply please send your CV and a covering letter.

Closing date: Wednesday 24th September 2025

We may close this vacancy early if we receive a strong pool of applications, so we encourage early submission