About the role

The culture of the National Extension College (NEC) is one of friendliness, hard work, informality and respect. We are fortunate to work with staff, authors, tutors, directors and trustees of the very highest calibre. We know that the traditional UK model of education delivery based within schools and colleges doesn’t meet the needs of all, and we are proud to support more than 4,000 students each year to successfully achieve their qualifications and progress into higher education, further training or employment.

Our success is not based on traditional external quality metrics – it is based on students achieving what they set out to achieve.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the most senior staff member, reporting to the Council of Trustees, and leads all aspects of our organisational strategy, finance, risk, commercial development, and the delivery of transformative education through an expert and committed staff team.

With our current CEO’s long and successful career with the organisation coming to an end, we look forward to a new CEO building on Dr Ros Morpeth’s legacy and developing a new strategy for NEC that will see us enhance our offer to students and customers, and extend our national reach and overall presence in the sector.

Who we are looking for

Having been saved from administration by the incumbent CEO in 2011, following NEC’s merger with another organisation, our initial focus was one of survival. We have come a long way since that time.

Now in a much stronger position and through having strategically adapted to market demands, we now look to appoint a new CEO who can build a new strategy and see NEC further develop its national impact and grow our market share.

First and foremost, our next CEO must be an educationalist and truly believe in our charitable mission. You will have expert knowledge of digital learning pedagogies, an entrepreneurial mind-set, and the ability to balance business and partnership development with high-quality education and support for our students.

Whilst this may be your first CEO role, we do expect you to have experience of strategic planning and reporting to a non-executive board. Our Council of Trustees are experts in their fields and have high expectations of the new CEO’s ability to manage future risks, take a strategic view of the opportunities available in the sector, and develop business plans and proposals to help inform long-term decision making.

For further information about the role and to apply, please visit the job page on Peridot Partners' website via the application method on this site.

Closing date: 12noon, Monday 4th January 2021

Job Title: Projects Administrator

Location: Findacure Office, 66 Devonshire Road, Cambridge, CB1 2BL

Responsible to: Head of Operations

Hours: Full time (37.5 hours per week) – one-year fixed term contract with potential for a permanent role following this

Salary: £20,000

BACKGROUND

Findacure is a UK charity that is revolutionising the world’s understanding of rare diseases. We wish to build a world in which all rare diseases have treatments – made together with patients, for patients. Findacure transforms the lives of people affected by rare diseases and accelerates change in the field by:

• Working directly with disease-specific patient groups to empower them, professionalising their work and increasing their chances of success: building organisational and campaigning skills, enhancing confidence to promote their expertise, and helping them support patients.

• Building a rare disease community that spans patients, patient groups, clinicians and industry, which supports, informs, and collaborates together for the betterment of all rare conditions.

OVERVIEW OF THE ROLE

As Projects Administrator, you will support the delivery and administration of Findacure’s growing programme of events and projects. You will focus on our annual Drug Repurposing for Rare Diseases Conference, the Rare Disease Showcase series and contribute significantly to the delivery of our patient group empowerment programme.

You will support with event logistics, speaker and delegate management, the production of pre and post-event materials, sponsor engagement, and the collection and collation of event feedback. You will have the opportunity to work directly with our beneficiaries through your work in event delivery, and by managing a cohort of patient groups taking part in our mentoring programme. You will also be involved in the day-to-day running of our E-learning Portal, through the production and management of written and video courses for the patient group community. In this role, you will work in close collaboration with our Projects Coordinator and under the direction of our Head of Operations.

For further details and to send us your CV, please click the Apply button for details.

Closing date: 15th December 2020 at 9am

Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for phone interviews before Christmas, with the final round of interviews likely taking place in the New Year.