Director of supporter engagement jobs

Chief Executive Officer
Swindon, with flexible working
£Competitive local salary
Will consider candidates on either a 4 or 5 days a week basis.
Addressing Food Poverty

Swindon Food Collective is an independent charity that aims to help people in Swindon, or the surrounding area, who are suffering from financial hardship and finding it difficult to provide food for themselves, their family or dependents.

They receive donations of non-perishable, tinned or dried food and toiletries from churches, schools, local companies, community groups, supermarkets and individuals and currently feed nearly 10,000 people per year; one third of these are children.

They work with many approved organisations, schools, doctors and social workers who can refer people in crisis to us. As well as providing food to address food poverty, they also provide a friendly chat and try to signpost people for further help. Indeed, it is this ‘signposting’ or working with people to enable them to enhance their lives where they see their services evolving. Swindon Food Collective are also reviewing how they can best utilise short-life foods. They operate from a central warehouse and have 11 distribution centres around Swindon and surrounding areas where food parcels can be collected.

The charity is financially sound and has the resources to develop their service offering. They have recently hired a Finance Manager, created a new post as Business Strategy Manager and are also out to market to appoint an Operations Manager.

The role

To lead the charity forward, they are creating the role of Chief Executive Officer for the first time. They are seeking an experienced professional who can lead us not only in addressing food poverty but also helping others to help themselves through forging collaborative working arrangements with other organisations, perhaps even forming a co-operative. The charity is open to new ideas.

Key responsibilities will include:

- Be the face and voice of the charity - its principal ambassador, promoting and developing Swindon Food Collective’s work, raising the charity’s profile and maximising its reach.
- Lead the senior management team to lead, support and motivate all staff, aligning employees and volunteers with the charity’s aims, objectives and ambitions.
- Develop and propose a medium-to-long-term strategy for the charity and present it to the Board of Trustees for discussion and approval.
- Oversee the development and implementation of business plans in line with the agreed strategy and report to the Board on progress through agreed priorities & KPIs.
- Identify and assess strategic risks, issues and opportunities and take responsibility for initiating and leading associated changes.
- Maintain a long-term staffing and resourcing plan to underpin the agreed strategy and adopt best practice for the management, development and engagement of staff and volunteers.
- Seek out, develop and maintain effective working relationships with relevant organisations and individuals to promote the work of the charity and facilitate the implementation of its strategic objectives.
- Work towards the achievement of long-term sustainability, developing the charity’s business model, ensuring effective use of assets and maximising income, for example, from fundraising, service contracts and earned income.
- Take executive responsibility for all functions including the warehouse, distribution, administration, finance, fundraising, marketing, communications, and IT.
- Take executive responsibility for the overall financial health of the charity, ensuring financial resources are managed effectively, identifying risks and taking appropriate action.
- Liaise with the Board to ensure that the charity’s overall governance structure, policies and procedures are appropriate and effective, taking remedial measures and implementing changes as necessary.

You
Your background is not important. What is important is your passion and ambition to address food poverty in the Swindon region and support the population. Ideally, you will be an experienced General Manager / COO / CEO with experience of staff management and working in an environment where H&E is important.

Primarily, we are seeking a CEO who will be innovative and provide inspirational leadership both internally and externally.

To apply

The application is by CV and covering letter. Your letter, which should be no more than 2 pages in length, should explain both why you are interested in the post of Chief Executive Officer and why you think you would be an excellent candidate for Swindon Food Collective. Please apply by uploading your application via the apply button.

 All direct applications will be forwarded to Hays Executive.

Campaign dates:
Closing date:  8th June 2025
Preliminary interviews:  Mid-June 2025
Formal interviews:  End June 2025

The above dates are subject to change.

FEMINIST CLIMATE JUSTICE POLICY CAMPAIGNER

Salary

£38, 766 per annum

Contract

Permanent, full time. (5 days/35 hours per week)
Tuesday is a core working day for the majority of Wen staff.

Location

Remote/Hybrid working - Ability to travel to London and across the UK for meetings and events where necessary.  In person staff meetings in London every two months. 

Reporting to

Co-Director

To apply: 

Please complete the application form 

Deadline: 

1st July 

Interview:

15th July (online) and 23rd (in person)

ABOUT WEN 

Wen is the Women’s Environmental Network. We are an environmental charity working on issues that connect women, health, equity and environmental justice. We take an intersectional feminist approach to tackling the climate and nature emergencies.

We support women and communities to take action, amplifying racialised and marginalised women’s voices, and advocate for change. We cultivate grassroots projects, connect women to nature, create blueprints for just food systems and put gender and intersectional equality at the heart of the green economy.

We were the first charity to connect gender, health, equity and environmental justice. Since our radical beginnings in 1988, Wen’s groundbreaking campaigns have tackled issues from air pollution and plastic packaging to toxic chemicals in menstrual products and cosmetics.

Our vision

A world where women, communities and the planet thrive because values of equity, collaboration and care underpin our society.

Our mission

Wen exists to actively build a world where women, communities and the planet thrive - collaborating to create viable alternatives to oppressive systems, which end the exploitation of women and the natural world.

Our values

• Equity

• Collaboration

• Care

• Intersectional eco-feminism

WORKING AT WEN

As an intersectional feminist charity, we live and breathe our values of equity, collaboration, care and intersectional eco-feminism.

The Wen team is friendly, open and passionate about our cause and the communities we work in. Our office is based just off Brick Lane in Shoreditch and we also have another hub in Mile End, where we hold our bi-monthly team meeting with a shared lunch. We also have a weekly online check in meeting every Tuesday morning. 

ABOUT THE ROLE 

This role builds on the work of our Feminist Green New Deal  project. The Feminist Green New Deal puts the needs and priorities of women, racialised and marginalised groups at the heart of all climate policy and action and advocates for a care-led green recovery from our multiple crises of climate breakdown and inequality. The role will continue to develop our Feminist Green New Deal work engaging new audiences, stakeholders and writing new policy papers. 

As a Feminist Climate Justice Policy Campaigner you will make connections with policy makers, government departments, NGOs and influencers, bringing an intersectional feminist lens to these spaces. You will need to keep up to speed with UK climate policies and how these impact women. 

Wen works at the grassroots and policy level ensuring that grassroots perspectives are part of and shape climate policy making so a key part of the role will be linking these two levels.  You will work closely with our Climate Sisters  programme and the Tower Hamlets Food Partnership which inform our Feminist Green New Deal policy asks and campaigns, advocating for inclusive climate policy rooted in the priorities of women,  particularly racialised and marginalised groups.  We are looking to recruit a policy campaigner with in-depth  knowledge of the policy systems and strategic thinking about how to advocate for feminist climate justice at local, regional and national level in the UK working in collaboration with others.

KEY BENEFITS

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, pro rata. Rising to 27 days after 5 years.

• Pension scheme, contributing 6% of salary.

• Employee Assistance Programme includes free counselling sessions that are also available to a spouse and dependents between 16-24. 

• Access to training and development opportunities.

• Menstrual leave.

• Laptop and mobile phone for work.

• Time off in lieu for agreed overtime.

• Flexible and hybrid working available. 

JOB DESCRIPTION

Key responsibilities:

• Bring an intersectional feminist climate justice lens to policy makers and debates with a focus on climate, health, food justice and environmental policies

• Work collaboratively with Wen’s Climate Sisters team to make strong connections between the grassroots and policy, drafting and devising policy responses to influence government climate policy

• Develop strategic partnerships and relationships with MPs, government departments, All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs), Ministers, Select Committees and key organisations in this field

• Submit evidence to Select Committee reports, inquiries and input into draft bills

• Actively engage with civil society movements around climate justice and policy

• Produce a variety of resources on the issues such as policy briefings, blogs, social media posts and talks

• Campaign on relevant policy debates on social media and other media working with the Wen comms team and influencers to communicate the issues to a wide range of audiences

• Identify, monitor, and evaluate policy issues appropriate to Wen 

• Travel and attend related policy work meetings, events and workshops as agreed 

Wen specific tasks

• Carry out all tasks in accordance with Wen’s Equal Opportunities Policy. 

• Work closely with Wen's campaigns and projects to further Feminist Climate Justice work.

• Ensure all monitoring and evaluation is completed for funders and for internal Wen purposes.  

• Ensure active promotion of an intersectional feminist approach in the campaign and contribute to this goal within Wen. 

• Share in general duties at Wen as necessary. 

Required skills and competencies:

• Ability to understand and advocate for feminist climate justice in relation to climate policy and communicate this persuasively to decision makers and a wide range of audiences

• Ability to develop and implement advocacy and campaigning strategies, working collaboratively with others.

• Ability to build and maintain relationships with a wide diversity of external individuals, representatives, groups and bodies, including government, in order to deliver Wen’s objectives.

• Ability to research and write policy briefings and blogs with an intersectional feminist climate justice lens

• Advocating and understanding of the issues faced by marginalised and racialised women and communities in relation to environmental and climate policy

• Ability to identify and develop common ground with a diverse group of organisations and individuals working with a movement-focused approach

• Deal with correspondence, media and general enquiries and information requests as required. 

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential 

Education and qualifications:

• Degree level qualification or equivalent work experience

Experience, Skills and Knowledge:

• At least two years direct experience of policy, advocacy and campaigning on climate and social justice

• Experience of drafting policy briefs, blogs and social media engagement

• Extensive knowledge and understanding of intersectional feminist approaches to climate justice

• Experience of building effective collaborative relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders 

• Excellent written and oral communications skills; the ability to disseminate information to a wide range of audiences and across platforms 

• Self-motivated and able to work proactively, independently and flexibly 

• Experience of monitoring and evaluation and reporting to funders 

• Experience of taking an inclusive, intersectional approach in your work 

• Commitment to gender, racial and social justice through previous work or volunteering or lived experience.

• Fluency in spoken and written English.

Desirable

• Experience of working in women’s, environmental or charitable organisations or groups