Deputy safeguarding lead jobs in Manchester

Overview

We’re looking for a Senior Business Development Officer to join our national Business Development Team. This is an ideal next step for you if you’re an experienced bid writer looking to grow your career in business development, make social impact, and develop your leadership skills. We’d particularly like to hear from people that have experience of writing high-scoring drug and alcohol service bids.

Location: London, Brighton, Manchester or Leeds.

Salary: £43,384.62 − £47,792.23 per year. If you’re based in London, you’ll receive an additional £4,133.14 per year for Inner London Weighting.

Contract: Permanent.

Responsibilities

About the role

Change Grow Live is a health and social care charity. Across the country, we support people to make positive changes in their lives, including around drug and alcohol use, smoking, homelessness and criminal justice.

As a Senior Business Development Officer, you’ll play a lead role in the development and writing of tenders and proposals for a variety of health and social care services. This role offers a great opportunity to learn and develop while using your established skills, and you’ll be encouraged to take on more responsibility as you progress.

This role offers a great opportunity to learn and develop while using your established skills, and you’ll be encouraged to take on more responsibility as you progress, including line management opportunities.

Your day-to-day will include:

• Writing and editing complex and highly weighted bid responses, working to short timeframes
• Project managing the writing of key tenders with support from a Business Development Manager
• Supporting the development of Assistant Business Development Officers and Business Development Officers, with the potential of providing line management
• Working with staff across the organisation and our partners to develop bids that reflect best practice respond to local needs
• Producing and coordinating detailed research for upcoming opportunities, including meeting with subject matter experts, analysing data and collating evidence
• Creating presentations, diagrams and reports
• Participating in and leading reviews of our bid and proposal processes.

About you         

We’re looking for candidates with proven experience of writing tenders, proposals or grant applications in health and social care.

You are:

• A highly competent communicator with a successful track record in bid writing, ideally for drug and alcohol treatment or related services
• Experienced in leading smaller bids and proposals
• Able to analyse data and interpret evidence, with good IT and research skills
• Solution-focused, creative and proactive
• Happy to give and receive constructive, challenging feedback
• Collaborative and contribute to a positive culture team
• Ready to work hard to deliver on CGL’s values and mission.

What we offer

You’ll be able to access structured training, development and mentoring as part of a supportive team. There’s a clear progression pathway within the team, from Senior Business Development Officer to Manager, Senior Manager, Deputy Director, and Director. Several of our current Business Development Managers were previously in the Senior Business Development Officer role.

We also offer:

• The option to work from home for some of the week
• Wellbeing support, including an employee assistance programme and an hour each week for wellbeing activities of your choice (find out more here).

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we work with. We pride ourselves on an inclusive and supportive workplace, evidenced through our Investors in People silver status.

We’re happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that you need to be successful. Please let us know in your application or at any stage of the process if you would like to discuss this.

 Before you apply

In the application portal, there’s a section called ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’. This is your chance to tell us about why you’re a good fit for this job – we won’t be able to consider your application unless it’s filled in. Please explain how you meet each of the person specification criteria (listed at the end of the job description). Use clear examples of your experience (this link contains some useful guidance). As guidance, written statements should not exceed 1,000 words. You can address multiple criteria together where you think it makes sense.

Interviews will be held 16th – 23rd February 2026 via MS Teams. We’ll also ask shortlisted candidates to complete a written task online during this timeframe, at a time of your choice. We may hold a pre-qualification stage task (e.g. presentation) depending on the number of applicants.

We encourage applications from individuals who may not meet every requirement but are excited about the role. We value lived experience of substance use, homelessness, and/or multiple disadvantages.

We’re a Disability Confident Committed employer. Under our Disability Confident interview scheme, we will offer an interview to disabled candidates where they meet our selection criteria in their application. Some of our roles attract a high volume of applications and in some circumstances where it is not practicable or appropriate, we may limit the number of interviews offered to disabled and non-disabled candidates. Please confirm in the ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’ part of the application if you are applying under this scheme. We will provide reasonable adjustments as needed.

Check the job description and team explainer for more information. Contact Yasmin Gilders to discuss this role further.

What our people say

Holly, Senior Business Development Officer said:

“What are your favourite parts of the job? The amount we learn from bid to bid. No two services are the same and I’m constantly coming across amazing individuals, teams and interventions. Being part of a team that helps share and celebrate great work, and support other services to implement new and exciting initiatives is really rewarding.

How would you describe the team? Helpful, real and full of knowledge. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and is happy to share their skills, knowledge and learning. I’ve never felt like I’ve asked a silly question, and I don’t feel like I must put a on ‘work mask’ every day.

What were your highlights from last year? Becoming a Senior and working across 7 different bids or direct awards last year. It was busy but I learnt so much, made some great connections with people across the organisation and feel excited for 2026.”

Fran, who progressed from this role to Business Development Manager last year:

“How did the role help you progress? The Senior Business Development Officer role sets you up to well to progress into a Business Development Manager role, as you begin to get involved in managing writing teams, reviewing written responses, engaging with Service Managers and Directors in model development and hold line management responsibilities. I was in the Senior Business Development Officer role for just over a year and a half before successfully applying to the Manager role.

How would you describe the team? The Business Development team are incredibly supportive and will give you the opportunity to develop in areas that you’re interested in. My manager supported to me build skills and experience that pushed me out of my comfort zone but enabled me to progress into the Business Development Manager role.

What would you say to someone thinking of applying? Alongside developing your writing skills, this role is a great place to shape your leadership and management skills. If you don’t have line management experience, don’t let this put you off.”

Salary Range (pro rata if part time)

CGL points 39 to 43 (£43,384.61 - £47,792.23)

Interview Date

16/2/2026

Closing Date

8/2/2026

Overview

We’re looking for a strong bid writer to join our successful national Business Development Team as a Business Development Officer. This is an excellent opportunity to grow your career in business development within a successful team that prioritises social impact, development and progression. We’d particularly like to hear from people that have experience of writing high-scoring drug and alcohol service bids.

Location: London, Brighton, Manchester or Leeds.

Salary: £37,184.91 – £39,891.91 per year. If you’re based in London, you’ll receive an additional £4,133.14 per year - Inner London Weighting.

Contract: Permanent.

Responsibilities

About the role

Change Grow Live is a health and social care charity. Across the country, we support people to make positive changes in their lives, including around drug and alcohol use, smoking, homelessness and criminal justice.

As a Business Development Officer, you’ll play a key part in helping us secure new contracts and deliver high‑quality services for adults, children and young people. You’ll work with colleagues across the organisation to develop excellent written material for bids and proposals. This role offers a great opportunity to learn and develop while using your established skills, and you’ll be encouraged to take on more responsibility as you progress.

Your day-to-day will include:

• Writing and editing multiple complex bid responses within live tenders
• Working with colleagues across the organisation to gather information and evidence
• Project managing smaller bids and proposals with support from a Senior Business Development Officer or Business Development Manager
• Completing online research, analysing data and collating evidence
• Creating presentations, diagrams and reports
• Helping improve how we do things.

About you

We’re looking for candidates with proven experience of writing tenders, proposals or grant applications, or writing in other professional or academic environments, for instance journalism, research or marketing.

You are:

• A highly competent communicator with excellent writing skills
• Able to analyse data and interpret evidence, with good IT and research skills
• Solution-focused, creative and proactive
• Happy to give and receive challenging feedback
• Collaborative and contribute to a positive culture team
• Ready to work hard to deliver on CGL’s values and mission.

What we offer

You’ll be able to access structured training, development and mentoring as part of a supportive team. There’s a clear progression pathway within the team, from Officer to Senior Officer, Manager, Senior Manager, Deputy Director, and Director. Several of our current Seniors and Managers were previously in the Business Development Officer role.

We also offer:

• The option to work from home for some of the week
• Wellbeing support, including an employee assistance programme and an hour each week for wellbeing activities of your choice (find out more here).

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we work with. We pride ourselves on an inclusive and supportive workplace, evidenced through our Investors in People silver status.

We’re happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that you need to be successful. Please let us know in your application or at any stage of the process if you would like to discuss this.

Before you apply

In the application portal, there’s a section called ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’. This is your chance to tell us about why you’re a good fit for this job – we won’t be able to consider your application unless it’s filled in. Please explain how you meet each of the person specification criteria (listed at the end of the job description). Use clear examples of your experience (this link contains some useful guidance). As guidance, written statements should not exceed 1,000 words. You can address multiple criteria together where you think it makes sense.

Interviews will be held 16th – 23rd February 2026 via MS Teams. We’ll also ask shortlisted candidates to complete a written task online during this timeframe, at a time of your choice. We may hold a pre-qualification stage task (e.g. presentation) depending on the number of applicants.

We encourage applications from individuals who may not meet every requirement but are excited about the role. We value lived experience of substance use, homelessness, and/or multiple disadvantages.

We’re a Disability Confident Committed employer. Under our Disability Confident interview scheme, we will offer an interview to disabled candidates where they meet our selection criteria in their application. Some of our roles attract a high volume of applications and in some circumstances where it is not practicable or appropriate, we may limit the number of interviews offered to disabled and non-disabled candidates. Please confirm in the ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’ part of the application if you are applying under this scheme. We will provide reasonable adjustments as needed.

Check the job description and team explainer for more information. You can contact Yasmin Gilders to discuss this role further.

What our people say

Kitty, Business Development Officer:

“What was your route into your current job? I graduated with an English Literature degree in 2019 and started out as an Editorial Assistant in publishing. Furloughed during the pandemic, I took the opportunity to complete a master’s in English Literature before moving into medical communications, where I also worked as an Editorial Assistant. While I enjoyed the work, I wanted a role that allowed me to get more involved in the research and writing, which led me to join CGL as an Assistant Business Development Officer in 2023. After gaining bid writing experience, I started as Business Development Officer in 2024.

What are your favourite parts of the job? I love how varied the job is. One day I might be deep in research, whether that’s desk-based or visiting a service in person, while the next I’m writing and editing responses for a live bid or even creating visuals. No two days are the same, and variety keeps the job exciting.

How would you describe the team? The team is incredibly lovely and supportive. There’s always someone ready to offer help, share advice, or even just have a quick chat, which makes it a really positive and collaborative environment to work in.

What were your highlights from last year? Being part of the team that won the Blackpool contract. We all invested a lot of time and effort into it, and the whole organisation was excited by the outcome.

Is there anything you would say to someone considering applying? Go for it! It’s a fantastic role within a supportive, friendly team, and there’s so much variety and opportunity to learn. If you’re considering applying, you won’t regret it.”

Holly, who progressed from Business Development Officer to Senior Business Development Officer last year:

“What are your favourite parts of this work? The amount we learn from bid to bid. No two services are the same and I’m constantly coming across amazing individuals, teams and interventions. Being part of a team that helps share and celebrate great work, and support other services to implement new and exciting initiatives is really rewarding.

How would you describe the team? Helpful, real and full of knowledge. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and is happy to share their skills, knowledge and learning. I’ve never felt like I’ve asked a silly question, and I don’t feel like I must put a on ‘work mask’.

What were your highlights from last year? Becoming a Senior and working across 7 different bids or direct awards last year. It was busy but I learnt so much, made some great connections with people across the organisation and feel excited for 2026.”

Salary Range (pro rata if part time)

CGL points 33 to 36 (£37,184.90 - £39,891.91)

Interview Date

16/2/2026

Closing Date

8/2/2026

Overview

We’re looking for an Assistant Business Development Officer (Bid Writer) to join our national Business Development Team. This is a great opportunity for an excellent writer to start or grow your bid writing career in a successful team with progression opportunities. 

Location: London, Brighton, Manchester or Leeds. 

Salary: £27,861.26 − £32,002.35 per year. If you’re based in London, you’ll receive an additional £4,133.14 per year as Inner London Weighing. 

Contract: 12 months fixed term. 

Responsibilities

About the role 

Change Grow Live is a health and social care charity. Across the country, we support people to make positive changes in their lives, including around drug and alcohol use, smoking, homelessness and criminal justice. 

As an Assistant Business Development Officer, you’ll play a key part in helping us secure new contracts and deliver high quality services for adults, children and young people. You’ll support the development of bids and proposals by writing, researching and collaborating with colleagues across the organisation. 

Your day-to-day will include: 

• Writing and editing bid responses 
• Working with colleagues across the organisation and our partner agencies 
• Completing online research, analysing data and collating evidence 
• Creating presentations, diagrams and reports 
• Helping improve how we do things. 

This is a developmental role, and you’ll receive ongoing support, guidance and training to help you progress. 

About you 

We’re looking for excellent writers who share our passion for supporting people to make positive changes in their lives. You don’t need previous experience in business development, but experience in health and social care, writing, sales, research, or data is beneficial. 

You are: 

• A clear, concise and engaging writer 
• Motivated to learn and develop, welcoming feedback 
• Collaborative and contribute to a positive culture team 
• Curious and analytical 
• Solution-focused, creative and proactive 
• Ready to work hard to deliver on CGL’s values and mission. 

What we offer 

You’ll be able to access structured training, development and mentoring as part of a supportive team. There’s a clear progression pathway within the team. We have a great record of people quickly progressing to Business Development Officer and Senior Business Development Officer roles as they take on increased volume, complexity, and leadership across proposals. 

We also offer: 

• The option to work from home for some of the week 
• Wellbeing support, including an employee assistance programme and an hour each week for wellbeing activities of your choice (find out more here). 

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we work with. We pride ourselves on an inclusive and supportive workplace, evidenced through our Investors in People silver status. 

We’re happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that you need to be successful. Please let us know in your application or at any stage of the process if you would like to discuss this. 

Before you apply 

In the application portal, there’s a section called ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’. This is your chance to tell us about why you’re a good fit for this job – we won’t be able to consider your application unless it’s filled in. Please explain how you meet each of the person specification criteria (listed at the end of the job description). Use clear examples of your experience (this link contains some useful guidance). As guidance, written statements should not exceed 1,000 words. You can address multiple criteria together where you think it makes sense. 

Interviews will be held 16th – 23rd February 2026 via MS Teams. We’ll also ask shortlisted candidates to complete a written task online during this timeframe, at a time of your choice. We may hold a pre-qualification stage task (e.g. presentation) depending on the number of applicants. 

We encourage applications from individuals who may not meet every requirement but are excited about the role. We value lived experience of substance use, homelessness, and/or multiple disadvantages. 

We’re a Disability Confident Committed employer. Under our Disability Confident interview scheme, we will offer an interview to disabled candidates where they meet our selection criteria in their application. Some of our roles attract a high volume of applications and in some circumstances where it is not practicable or appropriate, we may limit the number of interviews offered to disabled and non-disabled candidates. Please confirm in the ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’ part of the application if you are applying under this scheme. We will provide reasonable adjustments as needed. 

Check the job description and team explainer for more information. You can contact Yasmin Gilders to discuss this role further. 

What our people say 

George, who progressed from Assistant Business Development Officer to Business Development Officer last year: 

“What was your route into the team? I came into Business Development after starting out in frontline roles in local authorities and then a housing charity, where I realised I wanted to continue having an impact on people’s lives, but on a bigger scale. The Assistant Business Development Officer role was a perfect progression, and after about a year I successfully applied for a Business Development Officer role. This felt really manageable given the space for development as an Assistant Business Development Officer. 

What are your favourite parts of the job? Winning contracts is a really great feeling, especially when I know they’ve been shaped with service users and colleague to make sure we’re designing services that offer the best support to the most people. I also value the constant opportunities to learn, feeling supported in my development, and seeing the decisions I’m involved in having a real impact on people’s lives.

What were your highlights from last year? Our team away day in Liverpool, which was great fun as well as chance to hear from the managers of our new Liverpool service. It was one of the first bids I worked on as an Assistant Business Development Officer, and it was amazing to see our bid come to life, being delivered by a passionate group of people.

What would you say to someone thinking of applying? I’d definitely say go for it, and once you start, embrace how much there is to learn! Make the most of a really knowledgeable and supportive team, of managers who genuinely want you to succeed, and of all the opportunities to try new things and develop new skills.” 

Holly, who has progressed from Assistant Business Development Officer to Senior Business Development Officer: 

“What was your route into the team? I was a psychology graduate and teacher training drop out! With my experience of working in schools and academic research into young people’s substance use, I started working as an Education Lead for one of CGL’s young person’s services. After a year I applied to join the Business Development Team, wanting to utilise my experience of working frontline and my love of research and writing. I’ve progressed from Assistant to Officer and then Senior Officer since joining the team in 2022.  

How would you describe the team? Helpful, real and full of knowledge. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and is happy to share their skills, knowledge and learning. I’ve never felt like I’ve asked a silly question, and I don’t feel like I must put a on ‘work mask’.

What would you say to someone thinking of applying? Not to think they can’t do it just because they don’t have experience in bid writing or business development. It’s more important to be able to demonstrate that they’re a confident professional writer and are really passionate about working in the drug and alcohol support sector.” 

Salary Range (pro rata if part time)

CGL points 23 to 28 (£27,861.26 - £32,002.35)

Interview Date

16/2/2026

Closing Date

8/2/2026

Charity Operations Manager

Location: Remote / Cambridge (1 days per week in the office)
Hours: 37.5 per week
Salary: £47,810 to £54,710 per annum
Reporting to: Managing Director
Term: Permanent

Aquilas is delighted to be partnering with Royal Papworth Charity to recruit a Charity Operations Manager to play a key role in the delivery of the charity's strategic objectives, ensuring effective governance, operational oversight, and stakeholder engagement across a diverse portfolio of grant-funded hospital projects.

We are looking for an experienced and motivated person who wants to drive transformational change across the entire charity. If you have Charity, Operations, Governance or NHS grant giving experience please take a look.

About the Charity:

Royal Papworth Charity plays a vital role in ensuring that Royal Papworth Hospital is able to offer superior facilities, exceptional patient care and an enhanced patient experience thanks to the generosity of our supporters. We provides grants to support transformational projects across the hospital, many of which have a direct and immediate impact on our patients, their families and our staff. 

Royal Papworth Hospital is the UK's leading heart and lung hospital, delivering care to more than 50,000 patients a year in its new state-of-the-art hospital in Cambridge.

About the role:

This is a leadership role responsible for the operational delivery of a diverse portfolio of grant-funded projects across the Trust, driving innovation in patient care and clinical excellence.

The postholder will oversee the charity's governance, compliance, and financial operations, ensuring robust systems are in place to support effective decision-making and strategic delivery. Working closely with clinical teams, senior managers, and external stakeholders, the Charity Operations Manager will play a central role in translating strategic priorities into impactful, well-governed programmes.

Person Specication:

• Demonstrates good levels of financial acumen including the management of financial budgets.
• Experience of leading or working in complex project teams within an organisation.
• Proven ability to influence, inspire and effectively manage staff.
• Experience of working across organisations on projects.
• Understanding the significance of national developments and their impact at a local, regional level.
• Sound knowledge in the use of information technology and its application in practice.
• Ability to analyse and interpret data.
• Experience in writing development propositions.
• Experience presenting complex, sensitive or contentious information to a wide range of stakeholders with varied backgrounds.
• Analyses multiple demands on the service and resources, while balancing needs against available resources. Assesses likely impact on local service of national developments.
• Ability to provide and receive highly complex and sensitive commercial information. Experience working with complex facts or situations which require analysis, interpretation and evaluation of a range of options.
• Plan and organise broad range of complex activities; formulates, adjusts plans or strategies.
• Ability to communicate across organisational boundaries effectively.
• Excellent oral and written skills, with experience in using PowerPoint for report writing.
• Excellent attention to detail. Ensuring data and reports are presented to a high-quality standard.
• Presentation skills and the ability to present to a range of groups and individuals.

To Apply:

To receive a candidate pack or arrange a confidential conversation, please contact:

Kieran McGorrian, Head of Not for Profit Appointments, Aquilas