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The eoa exists to grow and strengthen employee ownership as a force for powering fairer livelihoods, stronger businesses, and a more resilient economy. With 800+ member businesses and a community of thousands of employee owners, we are the national voice for employee ownership in the UK.
Our refreshed strategy is focused on accelerating impact through people powered growth. We’re here to make employee ownership a mainstream business model choice—by expanding the sector, setting the standard for excellence, and building a connected, values-led ecosystem. We do this through sharp insight, high-impact advocacy, and a thriving member experience.
For founders and business owners exploring employee ownership, or for leaders and managers building Great EO businesses, the eoa offers tools, knowledge, experience and connection. We facilitate powerful peer learning, codify what works, and champion the stories that inspire others to choose EO.
Together with our members, we’re creating the conditions for employee ownership to thrive—seizing the political, cultural, and digital opportunities ahead. and this is where you come in.
As Director of Partnerships and Growth, you’ll be the driving force behind the eoa’s external influence and reach. you’ll lead our advocacy and external affairs strategy, build meaningful partnerships, and deliver powerful events programmes that accelerate adoption of Great EO. You’ll also shape the narrative—ensuring our insights, policy recommendations and thought leadership land with impact.
This is a high-profile, senior leadership role at a pivotal time for the EO community. It calls for someone with a track record in advocacy or external affairs, strong commercial acumen, and the ability to lead high-performing teams. It also needs a big-picture thinker - someone who can champion EO, influence change, and help us build a more inclusive, resilient economy.
If you’re excited about the opportunity to grow an economy that puts people at the heart of business, we’d love to hear from you.
Role Details
At the heart of this Director of Parnterships & Growth role is the opportunity to shape the external environment for employee ownership, champion the voice of our members, and lead high-impact strategies that grow both our reach and the sector itself.
You’ll lead on policy, advocacy, external affairs and events—crafting compelling narratives, building powerful partnerships, and delivering programmes that drive commercial sustainability and sector-wide change.
From shaping relationships with key stakeholders and securing strategic sponsorships, to overseeing the delivery of thought leadership, content, and events, you’ll ensure that the eoa is not just part of the national conversation—but leading it.
Your ability to influence, convene, and inspire will be critical to removing barriers to employee ownership and unlocking the potential of our £1.7m organisation to deliver even greater impact.
Join us on this exciting journey where your leadership will shape policy, grow influence, and contribute to our mission of unlocking the potential of people, businesses, and the economy through employee ownership.
This role is remote, however regular travel to our HQ in Brough and across the UK is expected.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead external affairs, collaborating with stakeholders to shape policy, advocacy and best practice that removes barriers and expands EO.
- Establish relationships and secure commercial partnerships and sponsorships, generating revenue to support advocacy, events, and sector growth initiatives.
- Engage key stakeholders to co-produce content that positively influence EO practice and policy and amplify the eoa’s voice in public affairs.
- Oversee delivery of an effective content strategy that delivers our commercial objectives and positions the eoa as the leading EO authority.
- Oversee events programmes, ensuring they drive knowledge-sharing, sector development, and commercial sustainability.
- Represent the eoa at industry forums, policy roundtables, and public affairs events, championing the employee ownership model.
- Collaborate with the Director of Membership & Operations to align advocacy efforts with member needs and engagement.
- Lead and develop high-performing teams, fostering innovation and delivering measurable impact across advocacy, policy, event activities.
Success in this role
Success in this role means having a positive impact on the growth rate, influence and adoption of great EO across the employee ownership sector. Strengthening and expanding stakeholder relationships, driving advocacy impact and securing commercial sustainability through a diverse mix of sponsorships, partnerships will also be indicators of success.
Key outcomes for the role
- Growth of the employee ownership sector. Measured by increased number of EO businesses, heightened sector awareness
- Strengthened corporate engagement. Measured by growth in strategic partnerships, corporate and government engagement
- Strong Commercial Sustainability. Measured by increased sponsorship revenue, secured long-term commercial partnerships
- Increased policy influence. Measured by policy recommendations adopted, increased government engagement
- Enhanced sector insight and intelligence. Measured by utilisation of high-quality data and insights for regular sector related content outputs.
- Development and adoption of best practice. Measured by creation, adoption and promotion of best practice across the EO network.
- Successful events programmes. Measured by iIncreased participation, sponsorship growth, positive feedback.
About you
- Proven expertise in advocacy, public affairs, or policy leadership, ideally within a business, trade body, or membership association.
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with experience influencing government, media, and corporate partners.
- Demonstrated ability to drive sectoral or policy change, leading successful advocacy initiatives.
- Strong commercial acumen, with experience in sponsorship acquisition, revenue generation, and developing financially sustainable initiatives.
- Exceptional strategic communication and storytelling skills, able to engage and mobilise diverse audiences.
- Experience in event programme development, ensuring high engagement and sector impact.
- Passion for employee ownership and economic models that promote shared prosperity.
- Innovative, creative, and proactive in problem-solving and strategy execution.
- A confident and transparent leader who fosters collaboration and inclusivity through teamwork.
- Self-aware with emotional intelligence, resilience, and integrity.
Role Summary
- Contract: Permanent
- Hours: Full time, 37.5 hours per week
- Location: Remote, with regular travel to eoa offices and national events
- Salary & Benefits: £65,000 p/a + 7% Pensions. 30 Days leave + Bank Holidays.
- Reports to: CEO
- Management: TBC
Non Charity Employer
11 - 20
We exist to grow and strengthen employee ownership as a force for powering fairer livelihoods, stronger businesses, and a more resilient economy.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Research Associate - National Youth Agency
Contract: 12-month Fixed Term Contract (with potential to extend)
Hours: Full-time - 37 hours per week
Salary: £30,000 – £35,000 per annum, dependent on experience
Remote: This role is 100% homebased with occasional travel for staff residentials and other events.
What we do
As the national body for youth work, the NYA has a dual function. We are the professional statutory and regulatory body (PSRB) responsible for qualifications, quality standards, and safeguarding for youth work and services in England. In line with our charity mission and aims, we also champion youth work through research, advocacy, campaigns, and programmes.
We work in partnership and believe in collaborative leadership, listening to youth workers and the youth work sector so that we can understand their needs and respond to the challenges they face. We are ambitious for youth work and for young people and integrate youth voice and influence across our work
About the Role
This is an exciting opportunity to join our Knowledge Team, working alongside two existing Research Associates and a Data Analyst.
You will be integral in delivering research, data, and insights that support organisational development and programme delivery across NYA.
We are looking for an experienced mixed-methods researcher with a strong understanding of social research and evaluation approaches. Ideally, you will have experience working in or alongside the youth sector and be confident using both qualitative and quantitative methods.
You’ll need to be flexible, proactive, and a strong communicator, able to explain complex ideas to varied audiences.
This role is ideal for someone looking to make a tangible difference through evidence-led approaches that shape policy, practice, and impact in youth work.
Key responsibilities for this role will include:
- Designing and delivering research projects using a range of methods including surveys, interviews, and focus groups.
- Supporting the development of the NYA research and data hub, including external research collation and data visualisation.
- Leading on evaluations to meet funder requirements and contribute to NYA’s growing evidence base.
- Analysing data from NYA programmes to support impact measurement.
- Promoting evidence-based practice across NYA and the wider youth sector.
- Communicating findings clearly through reports, briefings, and presentations.
- Managing research projects and collaborating with internal and external partners to deliver on time and to quality.
- Responding to internal and external research enquiries.
The ideal candidate will have experience in social research, familiarity with various research methodologies, and the ability to communicate complex findings to diverse audiences.
Please refer to our Candidate Pack for more information on the role and the requirements.
Why Work for NYA?
NYA operates as a people-first organisation, prioritising the well-being and needs of its employees.
NYA offers an exceptional flexible working approach which encourages our team to balance professional responsibilities with their personal life.
A remote based team, spread across England, fostering inclusivity and diverse talent. Despite geographical distances between team members, NYA maintains a highly motivated and connected team through the optimisation of digital tools.
NYA is committed to supporting the continual personal and professional development of our team and helping them achieve their ambitions.
We provide 25 days leave plus 8 days, life assurance scheme, 5% employer pension contribution and a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme via Spectrum.life with unlimited specialist support available to all NYA employees.
How to Apply:
Please download our applicant pack to find out more about the role and requirements
To apply, please submit the following via our online application platform by 11:59pm on Monday 12th May 2025:
A detailed CV setting out your career history, with responsibilities and achievements in line with the person specification in the About You section.
A covering letter (maximum two sides) highlighting your suitability for the role and how you meet the requirements in the
About You section.
We will request data for our EEDI monitoring purposes, providing this is optional.
Please note: the covering letter is an essential part of the application process and will be assessed as part of your full application. We use AI detector software, so cover letters or CV’s with over 30% AI generated content with be disregarded. We understand that AI tools can offer support to candidates who have learning differences, which is why we will accept applications with some AI assistance. CV’s will not be accepted without a cover letter.
The National Youth Agency is an equal opportunities employer.
At NYA our inclusive culture means that we embrace individual differences and understand that we need a diverse team to achieve our organisations mission.
We wish to recruit candidates from all backgrounds to ensure our team reflects the rich diversity of the communities we serve. We encourage applications from anyone regardless of disability, ethnicity, heritage, gender, sexuality, religion, socio-economic background and political beliefs but we particularly welcome applications from global majority candidates and those from other minoritised ethnic groups in the UK as they are currently underrepresented in our team.
Youth Work changes lives
Which is why we’re committed to ensuring that as many young people as possible get to benefit from it. As the national body for youth work in England, the National Youth Agency (NYA) exists to champion its transformative power. We believe all young people should have the opportunity to benefit from the life-changing impact of extraordinary youth workers and trained volunteers.
We help to grow youth work provision in ways that keep it effective, relevant, safe and engaging, to help millions of young people reach their potential and thrive. We do this by providing guidance, support, advice, training and staff development opportunities for youth workers and youth work organisations. At the heart of everything we do are young people themselves. We work hard to ensure their voices are integrated into all our work, to develop provision that truly meets their needs.
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