Development director jobs in saffron walden, essex

About The Role

What if your product vision could transform how one of the UK's largest charities delivers life-changing support to families affected by dementia? Imagine building digital products that empower millions of people to access the support, hope, and breakthrough research they need most? 

About the opportunity 

As Product Lead, you'll oversee the software products and tools that underpin our vital dementia services, funding generation, and campaigning efforts. You'll be at the heart of our exciting Technology Transformation programme. Leading high-performing product teams to deliver modern, secure and user-centred solutions that enhance our capabilities and maximise our impact. 
 
This is an impactful role within our Digital team and part of our Technology Directorate, working closely with the Associate Director of Digital & Data. You'll line manage Senior Product Managers in a matrix environment while establishing our product approach and community of practice. You'll lead multidisciplinary teams using agile methodology to create products that help thousands of people get support from us daily. 

If you're a passionate product expert looking to lead transformational digital change that makes a meaningful difference, we'd love to hear from you.

About you 

You're an accomplished Product Lead with extensive experience delivering high-transactional digital products and platforms in large, complex organisations. You have a proven track record of leading multidisciplinary teams using agile methodology, and you're passionate about user-centred design and data-driven decision making. You thrive on mentoring others and building product communities that deliver exceptional results. 

You'll have:

- Successful track record of leading multidisciplinary teams to deliver high-transactional digital products and platforms using agile methodology in a large and complex organisation.
- Extensive experience in understanding user, organisational, and technical needs and balancing these when setting product strategy and direction.
- Proven experience of researching, prototyping, launching and scaling products, platforms, and end-to-end services from inception to live.
- Significant experience working with cloud architecture and infrastructure and managing relationships between interdependent technology teams.
- Strong influencing skills with the ability to persuade and negotiate with stakeholders at all levels, including CEO, board and trustee level.
- Commitment to sharing knowledge, having mentored and coached others with a passion for working collaboratively.
- Passionate about Tech for Good with a proven desire to work in an equity-driven organisation solving complex problems. 

What you’ll focus on:

- Leading and delivering digital products, platforms, and end-to-end services that directly support people affected by dementia through strategy development, stakeholder management, and value-driven outcomes.
- Managing and developing product team members, establishing product ways of working that support our mission and strategy while building a culture aligned with our organisational values.
- Taking an active leadership role in our Digital team. Working closely with communities of practice and specialist discipline leads to define and deliver our Digital strategy.
- Developing ambitious product visions and strategies, engaging teams across the organisation to understand priorities, align plans, and communicate effectively with senior stakeholders.
- Using qualitative and quantitative data to make informed, outcome-focused decisions while translating vision into prioritised, deliverable goals that track product performance and user outcomes.
- Creating user-centred solutions by identifying user needs based on evidence, translating user stories, and proposing design approaches that improve overall user experience.

Ready to be part of something impactful? Join the digital transformation of one of the UK's largest charities. Where your product expertise helps build the society it takes to beat dementia and deliver help and hope to millions. 

Important Dates

Application Deadline: 23:59 on Sunday 17th August.
Applications will be reviewed: Week commencing 18th August.
Interviews will take place early-mid September.
 
The interview process will include a task, followed by a competency panel interview taking place via Microsoft Teams on the same day. Candidates will need to allocate 2 hours of time on the day of their interview. 

About Alzheimer's Society

Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer. One in three people born in the UK today will develop dementia in their lifetime.

At Alzheimer’s Society, we’re the UK’s leading dementia charity and the only one to tackle all aspects of dementia by giving help and hope to people living with dementia today and in the future. We give vital support to people facing the most frightening times of their lives, while also funding groundbreaking research and campaigning to make dementia the priority it should be.

Together with our supporters, we’re working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives.

Our values make sure that our focus is clear for the challenges and opportunities ahead and remind us of what we all stand for.

Our commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging

We need to ensure the voices around our table better reflect and understand the communities we exist to serve. We strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Alzheimer's Society.  

We want everyone we work with, as a colleague, volunteer, supporter, or someone we support, to feel included and that they belong at Alzheimer's Society. 

Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy here along with our internal employee forum and Employee Lived Experience network groups help us promote inclusion and belonging, becoming an engaged and inclusive organisation for all our people. 

Our hiring process

During your recruitment process we want to make sure that you bring your whole self and can be at your best. We are working hard to ensure our recruitment process is as inclusive as possible, so please do inform us of your experience and anything you think we could do better by completing our candidate survey when you apply.  Please also contact Alzheimer’s Society Talent Acquisition Team via [email protected] for application support or any adjustments you might need.

To ensure fairness and consistency to select the best candidate for this role, all our applications are anonymised up until an interview has been confirmed. We recognise the benefits of AI, but if you're considering using it to submit your application, we encourage you to reflect on the value it truly adds. AI tools often lack the personal touch and authenticity that set candidates apart. We want to hear your unique perspective, experiences, and skills, so we encourage you to showcase them in your own voice.

We try to avoid closing roles early where possible, however if we receive a high volume of applications, we may close earlier than the advertised closing date. Should this occur, we will aim to provide you with at least 48 hours' notice.

We are committed to safer recruitment and ensuring the welfare of those we work with, due to the nature of some of our roles, we might need to carry out a DBS check at the relevant level.

Giving back to you

Our employees work hard every day to make a true difference in people's lives. We are proud to support them with a range of benefits, recognition and many options for working agilely, all contributing to a strong work life balance. We also have various learning programmes to support you in your development and help you grow to realise your potential and shape a career with Alzheimer's Society. 

You can also visit our Working for Us pages, which give you more information about what it’s like to be an employee at the Society.

The Degrees Initiative is a UK-based NGO that builds the capacity of developing countries to evaluate solar radiation modification (SRM), a controversial proposal for reducing some impacts of climate change by reflecting sunlight away from the Earth. Degrees is neutral on whether SRM should ever be used, but we believe that developing countries should be empowered to conduct their own research and to play a central role in SRM discussions.

Degrees’ programmatic work is centred on capacity-building through research grants and North–South and South–South collaboration schemes, outreach activities, and cross-cutting community building. As part of this, Degrees runs workshops in the Global South that bring new voices into the SRM conversation, and our research funds support scientists and other experts in developing countries as they research what SRM could mean for their regions and become part of a global research community.

The Policy Engagement Assistant role offers a fantastic opportunity for the right candidate to help scale up the organisation’s work, building on the successes of the last decade, and to help the most climate-vulnerable countries make up their own minds about SRM. 

Joining a growing team, the Policy Engagement Assistant will support the Policy Engagement and Programmes teams through the provision of administrative services to ensure the efficient organisation of, execution of, and participation in events. Secondarily, the Assistant will provide general administrative support to the Policy Engagement team. 

The Policy Engagement Assistant will work under the supervision of the Policy Engagement Director, while supporting the Policy Engagement Managers and the Programmes team. Responsibilities will include: 

• Arranging travel, lodging and other travel logistics for Degrees staff, funded scientists, policymakers, and other external participants; 

• Arranging meeting facilities; 

• Facilitating requests for visas and other travel authorisations; 

• Serving as a point of contact for external event participants’ queries about travel and events; 

• Ensuring proper distribution of information documents and meeting minutes in a timely manner;

• Drafting general and formal correspondence; reviewing and formatting documents and slides according to style;

• Organising and maintaining the policy engagement team’s shared mailbox and filing system;

• Scheduling staff and other meetings; 

• Supporting processes for this new team, including aspects of monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL); 

• Maintaining the list of external policy engagement contacts; 

• Any other related activity in support of the Policy Engagement team. 

Does your extensive experience of delivering  anti-racism, equity and inclusion (AREI) strategies within a complex organisational structure include having collaborated and co-produced solutions with a wide range of stakeholders? Then join Shelter as Head of Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism and you could soon be playing a pivotal role within our Equity, Inclusion and Culture Directorate.

About the role

This is a hands-on, practical role for someone who can hit the ground running. You’ll be leading the design and delivery of Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion (AREI) plans that turn vision into reality — working across directorates to embed change where it matters most.

You’ll work closely with Directors, HR, and a range of stakeholders to build and deliver programmes that support Shelter’s strategic aims. That means helping teams shift from intention to action — shaping and delivering interventions that have a real, measurable impact. From advising on best practice, facilitating workshops and training, to reporting on progress and helping the organisation stay accountable — this is a role with reach and purpose.

Role specifics

An excellent leader and project manager, your career to date will need to include extensive experience of mobilising teams to support the development of measurable initiatives to drive and embed cultural change and inclusion within an organisation. We’ll particularly be looking for a pragmatic and proactive approach, with a history of co-designing and delivering Equity and Inclusion (E&I) initiatives that resonated with an organisation’s core values and were pivotal for driving forward their ambitious goals. A flair for turning concepts into actionable plans is essential too, as are strong communication and presentation skills and the ability to influence and collaborate across all levels of an organisation. In short, you’re a strategic thinker with a values centred approach, E&I expertise and proven experience of leading and managing others. You are a confident leader and experienced project manager, with a solid track record of driving cultural and organisational change. You know what it takes to co-design and deliver initiatives that are grounded in an organisation’s values and relevant to its people.

You bring a practical, collaborative approach — and you’re not afraid to challenge, ask the right questions, and get things moving. You’ve led or supported measurable EDI or anti-racism work before, and you understand how to turn strategy into action. You will take a structured yet flexible planning approach, ensuring delivery stays focused while adapting to the realities of a fast-paced environment.

Crucially, you are someone who brings people with you. You can engage and influence at all levels, communicate clearly, and translate complex ideas into achievable plans. You are values-led, focused on impact, and ready to help push this agenda forward in a meaningful way.

Apply to be part of our team and be the change you want to see in society.

Benefits 

We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support and legal services. And we campaign to make sure that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help. We’re here so no one has to fight bad housing or homelessness on their own.

We are happy to talk about flexible working, personal growth, and to promote a workplace where you can be yourself and achieve success based only on your merit.

About the team

The Equity, Inclusion and Culture (EIC) Directorate was created in 2021 to look at the future with an equity lens across Shelter and Shelter Scotland as a core part of our strategic aims.  It combines critical enabling functions to achieve this: a defined anti-racism, equity and inclusion programme, effective internal communications and engagement, dedicated lived experience activity, innovative learning, and quality volunteering.   

About Shelter

Home is a human right. It’s our foundation and where we thrive. Yet everyday millions of people are being devastated by the housing emergency.

We exist to defend the right to a safe home. Because home is everything.

We need ambitious, passionate people to join us. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.

Our enemy is the social injustice at the core of the escalating housing emergency. To win this fight, we must be representative of the people we are here to help and those who support our movement. In all our people decisions, we take pride in being inclusive, equitable and transparent. We are committed to combating racism both within and outside Shelter. We welcome you on our journey to becoming truly anti-racist.

Safeguarding statement

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies. 

Shelter does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.

Remote position with some preference for Freetown Sierra Leone, Cape Town South Africa or Nairobi Kenya

SCOPE OF WORK

1. Grantmaking Due Diligence & Onboarding

• Coordinate the collection, review, and secure storage of due diligence documentation from prospective grantees.

• Assist with risk screening checks and internal reviews in alignment with Purposeful’s grantmaking policies.

• Prepare grantee onboarding documentation, including grant agreements and orientation materials.

• Track submission of required onboarding documents (e.g., bank forms, MoUs, safeguarding policies).

• Monitor and keep track of the grants due for payment.

• Respond to grantee and applicant inquiries and proactively update them on the status of their grant awards.

2. Grant Compliance & Documentation

• Monitor compliance status of all active grants, flagging outstanding requirements and follow-up needs.

• Ensure that compliance-related deadlines (e.g. reporting dates, grant conditions) are met and documented.

• Maintain clean, well-organised, and accessible digital grant files, using existing tools or systems (e.g., Google Drive, Netsuite, Salesforce, etc.) to ease retrieval and generation of reports.

• Support internal checks to ensure that funds are disbursed in line with compliance protocols and funding agreements.

3. Finance Coordination

• Liaise with the finance team to prepare and verify payment documents, banking instructions, and payment schedules.

• Support alignment between grant budgets and payment disbursements.

• Track the movement of funds across grants, ensuring appropriate documentation is in place for each transaction.

4. Donor & Internal Reporting

• Assist in preparing compliance-related sections of donor reports and internal grantmaking summaries.

• Track reporting obligations by donor or partner, and ensure all documentation is collected and filed on time, including any relevant country-specific compliance requirements.

5. Audit & Policy Support

• Prepare documentation for internal and external audits, including sampling, document summaries, and data extractions.

• Assist in developing and maintaining internal tools (templates, checklists, trackers) related to grant compliance.

• Contribute to ongoing improvements in Purposeful’s compliance systems, bringing in lessons learned and audit feedback, and emerging regulatory or legal considerations relevant to our work.

The vacancy

We are seeking to appoint one lay member to sit on our GOC Council.

About the GOC

We are the regulator for the optical professions in the UK. Our purpose is to protect the public by promoting high standards of education, performance and conduct.  For more information about us please visit our website:optical. org.

About the Council

The role of Council is to lead on the GOC’s mission to protect the public by upholding high standards in eye care services.  The Council is composed of six lay members (including the Chair) and six registrant members (i.e. registered optometrists and dispensing opticians).  At least one member of the Council must work wholly or mainly in each of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.  One Council member acts as a Senior Council Member whose role is to carry out the Chair’s appraisal as well as provide a sounding board for the Chair and serve as an intermediary for Council members, Executive and stakeholders as necessary. 

The successful candidate will contribute to Council by exercising oversight, ensuring effective corporate governance, and making high-level policy decisions. They will be able to operate strategically and impartially; listen, communicate, and influence effectively; exercise judgment; and inspire confidence and support amongst our stakeholders. 

Remuneration and time commitment

Council members are remunerated in accordance with our member fees policy (£13,962 per annum plus reasonable travel and subsistence expenses).  The member fee includes time for reading and preparation.

The appointed member will be expected to commit approximately 2-3 days per month.  Meetings will usually take place via MS Teams but may on occasion be held at the GOC Offices at Level 29, One Canada Square, London, E14 5AA. There are occasional online catch-up meetings - these are currently scheduled on a Tuesday evening every 6-8 weeks, from 5.30pm – 6.30pm.

How to apply:

Please email the the following to appointment@optical. org

· your CV outlining your employment history, any relevant voluntary work, public service or other experience; together with any relevant professional, academic or vocational qualifications;

· the application form, stating how your experience matches the criteria for the vacancy you are applying for; and

· complete the EDI monitoring form linked in the candidate pack (this is an online form and does not need to be included in the email with your CV and application form).

APPLICATION DEADLINE:  midnight on Sunday 10 August 2025.

Online interviews will be held on between Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 October 2025.

If you have any questions, please email them to appointment@optical. org and we will aim to respond to you within 48 hours. 

We welcome applications from individuals who are disabled and from diverse ethnic backgrounds as these are currently under-represented on our council and committees.

We strive to be as diverse as the public we protect and welcome applications from everyone, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity and geographical locations outside of London.