Education And Specialist Support Workers Jobs in Dartford, Kent
An inspirational charity is seeking an inspirational CEO. The Amber Trust is a unique charity, dedicated to funding music opportunities for blind and partially sighted children and young people.
Job title: Chief Executive Officer
Reporting to: Board of Trustees through the Chair
Location: Flexibility to work remotely with at least one day per week in our SW London and other locations for meetings as required
Hours:,30 – 37.5 hours per week TBA with candidate
Contract: Permanent
Salary range: £55 - £60K pro-rata (depending on experience)
Charity overview
The Amber Trust provides musical opportunities for blind and partially sighted children, including those with additional disabilities, via its Music Awards and Music Services.
Amber Music Awards fund instrumental and singing lessons, the purchase of musical instruments and specialist software, funding for concert tickets, and travel to musical activities for vision impaired children throughout the UK. In addition, there are structured programmes in its Music Services.
‘Little Amber’ is a service that offers music resources and quarterly sessions with a specially trained music practitioner to children under five and their families. ‘AmberPlus’ provides music resources and sessions offered on a termly basis to children over five who also have complex needs.’ ‘With Music in Mind’ is a new service for visually impaired children and young people with life-limiting neurodegenerative disease. Amber’s workshop scheme offers music sessions for groups of children in schools, charities and community organisations.
We have also developed extensive online music resources for teachers that are freely downloadable from anywhere in the world.
The Charity has a turnover of around £400k, employs a small central administrative team, and, for the music services, works through a large network of self-employed practitioners.
Role purpose
The Chief Executive Officer is responsible to the Board of Trustees for leading The Amber Trust, developing and realising Amber’s vision and strategy, and playing a key ambassadorial role with funders and other senior stakeholders. The CEO is responsible for the management of the charity and its staff and the execution of Amber’s targets, plans and policies, ensuring that resources are used to best effect in meeting the needs of beneficiaries. The CEO is responsible for initiating and overseeing new initiatives that will ensure Amber plays a leading role in the field of music and blindness in children and young people into the future.
Role Description
Accountabilities: To develop, lead and manage The Amber Trust, in particular:
Strategy
• to develop and deliver innovative projects and services in accordance with Amber’s strategy.
• to ensure Amber flourishes, meeting all its charitable objectives and its legal obligations as a charity and a company limited by guarantee, and to honour its duty of care to its staff, beneficiaries and other stakeholders;
• to maintain Amber’s ethos of providing individual and personal support to beneficiaries and their families;
• to lead Amber in the development and implementation of its long- and medium-term strategy and annual business plans in accordance with the strategic direction and policy framework agreed by the Trustees;
Fundraising and events
• to attend, represent and promote Amber at meetings, conferences and other events, enhancing its profile across the UK – occasional evening and weekend work and travel may be required for this;
• to manage volunteers and liaise effectively with fundraisers and individual donors;
• to engage in fundraising and income-generating activity to ensure the sustainability and growth of Amber, including bid writing activity;
• to monitor and evaluate the services offered by Amber as required by external funders and Trustees, writing and submitting reports to deadline
Operations
• to manage and support operations and services and to be hands-on where required to ensure these are delivered;
• to be pro-active in maintaining digital media relating to Amber and its work, including (but not limited to) its web page, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube;
• to manage the budget prudently to ensure Amber’s financial soundness;
• to ensure efficiency and effectiveness externally in service delivery, and internally in its systems, resources and infrastructure;
• to communicate effectively and in a timely manner with Trustees, organising and contributing to regular meetings for the Board, and its Investment, Fundraising, Digital Media, Music Awards and Music Services subcommittees, including the provision of reports, financial information, data on service delivery and all other matters to enable the Trustees to fulfil their governance role.
People management
• to manage staff, setting their objectives and ensuring that these are met, and that colleagues appreciate the ethos and values of Amber, and work in accordance with its strategic objectives, with regular update meetings and an appraisal cycle, and to monitor and recommend to Trustees appropriate remuneration;
• to ensure all staff are aware of current national policies and procedures relating to safeguarding in relation to the children and young people that Amber serves, and are given training annually.
Also to undertake other such duties as may reasonably be required from time to time by the Trustees.
Person specification
The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate that they have the following essential requirements:
Essential criteria
· Proven leadership experience in the third sector
· Proven management experience in at least two organisations
· Demonstrable passion for music
· Experience of measuring the impact of charitable services and driving quality improvements
· Degree level education or equivalent
Knowledge, skills and experience
· Experience of working with trustee boards and an understanding of their role and governance experience
· Experience of programme development and the management of grants
· Familiarity with UK charity law and governance issues
· Awareness of disability issues
· A track record of successful fundraising
· Experience of staff management including personal development, objective-setting, recruitment and performance management
· A high level of computer literacy in standard office packages and CRM systems such as Salesforce ;
Competencies and personal qualities
· The capacity for innovative thinking
· The ability to motivate self and others – of developing a vision and enlisting others to share it
· The ability to see ideas through from concept to implementation and evaluation
· The capacity to operate at a strategic level and to analyse and understand complex issues;
· The ability to prepare and manage budgets;
· Strong organisational, written and oral communication skills, including experience and confidence in public speaking and in effective report writing
· The ability to work in a self-directed manner, and to develop good working relationships with stakeholders
· A commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, treating people from all backgrounds with respect, dignity
· The right to reside and work permanently in the UK
Desirable criteria
· Experience of working with or caring for people with visual impairment
· Familiarity with the UK education system, and in particular, music education
· Knowledge of and familiarity with special education provision, incl]uding special schools
· Familiarity with other regional and national music organisations working in the field of music education.
The closing date for all applications is 9:00 am Monday, 20th May 2024. Initial interviews are planned to take place face-to-face in London on Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th May 2024.
To apply to the role, please send a CV and covering letter, outlining your motivation for applying for the role and how you meet the essential criteria.
To apply to the role, please send a CV and covering letter, outlining your motivation for applying for the role and how you meet the essential criteria.
You will be highly organised, with strong experience of administering financial and operational support to an organisation. As a positive ‘can-do’, resourceful and supportive team player, you will be confident working alone and with others, as part of a small team.
You will be ready and able to work remotely in the UK.
We are committed to supporting professional development, and flexible working.
Please make sure to submit both an application form and a CV. If either are omitted, the application will not be considered.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as the applications come in. Don’t miss your opportunity, apply now!
Contract: Permanent, full time, 35 hours per week
Salary: £42,000 - £45,000
Location: Remote
Closing date: Sunday 26 May 2024
We’re recruiting a Fundraising Resource Manager (High Value). This is a new role to take the lead and manage the operations and resource required to make Blue Cross high-value fundraising thrive!
More about the role
You will be joining our Philanthropy Team that's responsible for managing relationships with, and securing donations from, mid and major value individuals and trusts & foundations. The team has recently transitioned to a new team structure with a new set of ambitions and plans, and more formalised support across the organisation, at all levels, to enable the team to deliver.
As part of these changes, a new role of Fundraising Resource Manager (High Value) has been created, to lead on the operation and resource requirements of high value at Blue Cross, including:
- leading on the development of fundraising opportunities and propositions, including the management of funding opportunity information and case for support resource
- overseeing the delivery of high-quality prospect research and driving pipeline performance through delivery of prospecting plans and lead generation
- providing insight and performance information to help inform strategy, including the management of CRM, financial, and KPI reporting requirements
- operational delivery of team processes and the events and stewardship programme to support effect donor engagement
- management of a Fundraising Resource Officer, building an effective fundraising resource team for the future
This is an exciting time to join Blue Cross as we embark on a refreshed organisation strategy from 2024- 2026, with high value playing a key part in driving forward our strategic priorities.
The Fundraising Resource Manager (High Value) role is integral to the delivery of effective fundraising at Blue Cross, and as such is a great opportunity for someone who wants to shape something new and have a tangible impact within the charity, and for the pets and people we help!
About you
You will have experience supporting high-value fundraising teams and a curiosity for, as well as a passion for, high-value and relationship-based fundraising. Your approach is bold and brave, and you think creatively about identifying opportunities.
As a strategic thinker, you will be confident taking the lead on the operational requirements of a team, with efficiency and effectiveness at the core of your approach.
You will naturally be able to solve problems through creative thinking; you will know how to demonstrate data and insight analysis and prospect research to direct the performance of a successful major gift fundraising or business intelligence team.
You will understand the importance of adhering to industry legislation, and work with a high degree of professionalism, confidentiality, and discretion.
Your can-do attitude will unlock valuable opportunity for the team you support!
Knowledge, skills, and experience
Experience in some or all of the below:
- funding opportunity portfolio planning and management
- developing supporter orientated propositions and Cases for Support
- identifying and researching high level major gift prospects in support of the successful solicitation of 5 and 6 figure gifts
- developing and maintaining processes for prospect identification, qualification, research, and tracking
- information management and interrogating and analysing data, to draw meaningful insights that support strong fundraising performance
- designing and producing a range of reports, ideally from a CRM as well as offline, to support and drive performance
- improving processes to achieve financial and non-financial objectives
- management of stewardship products/programmes and/or events
- supporting high-value fundraising teams
- line management
- liaising and working collaboratively with internal stakeholders at all levels
- comprehensive understanding of managing personal data in accordance with GDPR, data protection legislation and fundraising ethics
- ability to demonstrate, understanding and apply our Blue Cross values.
Want to know more detail? Great! We have attached the job description which hopefully gives you everything you need.
In other organisations, this job title may also be called “High Value/Major Giving Support Manager” “High Value/Major Giving Operations Manager“ “High Value/Major Donor Fundraising Specialist”, “Fundraising Development Manager”
How to apply
Click the apply button and complete the online application process before the closing date Sunday 26 May 2024.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive an overwhelming response.
Blue Cross benefits
Our people are the most important part of delivering our purpose. If it were not for their amazing efforts and commitment, we would not be able to make the difference that we do today.
In return, Blue Cross wants to ensure we provide you with the best working environment we can. We want you to be happy working for us and will do everything we can to make sure you are.
Our generous benefits package includes:
- Full time equivalent of 38 days holiday rising to 43 with service (including Bank Holidays)
- Programmes for physical and mental wellbeing support
- Free access to GP via MetLife- 24/7 GP services, private prescriptions and more for you and your family
- Free physiotherapy advice and face to face intervention
- Health cash plan
- Unlimited access to an employee assistance programme
- Pension scheme with enhanced employer contribution
- Professional fees paid with Continuing Professional Development and Personal development support.
- Life assurance
- 20% discount on Pet Plan pet insurance
- Enhanced family friendly policies
- Recognition scheme
- Annual volunteer days
- Charity worker discounts across a variety of retailers
To read more about the benefits Blue Cross has to offer, please visit the 'why work for us' page on our website.
About Blue Cross
Blue Cross is a national charity that has been helping sick, injured and homeless pets since 1897.
Every month we help thousands of pets and their people by providing veterinary care, expert behaviour advice and find homeless pets loving families. We also offer education for future generations plus pet bereavement support for those who have lost their beloved pet companion.
We love the ways that pets can make such an amazing difference to the people they live with and we offer lifelong support and advice to help that unique relationship thrive. With your support we can give back to more pets and their families who need our help.
Pets change lives. We change theirs.
Our commitment to diversity and inclusion
We believe that every pet should enjoy a healthy life in a happy home, and we always seek to recruit the best people who share our values and commitment so we can continue to help and support pet owners across the UK to achieve this.
At Blue Cross, we want you to feel that you belong, without the need to hide any part of who you are.
Diversity and inclusion at Blue Cross means creating a workplace where all people, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, nation or country of origin, disability, age, and socioeconomic backgrounds are welcome, respected, supported, and have access to equal opportunities.
We are working hard to reflect the world we live in and the communities we serve at every level of our organisation. As much as we have made positive advances, we consider diversity and inclusion to be a work in progress – a continual commitment that remains a priority for all of us.
If you would like to talk to us about any reasonable adjustments or changes to our recruitment process to support you to be your best, then please get in touch with the Blue Cross team via our website.
Our values
Our values define the way we do things. We use them every day to guide us, and to make sure we put people and pets at the heart of everything we do.
Compassionate: We listen, we are non-judgmental, we are kind and caring to the pets and people we encounter, and we offer support in difficult times
Courageous: We make brave decisions, embrace change, and encourage innovation, ensuring we always act with integrity – doing the right thing even when no one is looking
Inclusive: We value all our relationships and work in an open and positive culture where we celebrate our diverse talents and empower you to be you
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Robertson Bell are seeking a dynamic and experienced Director of Finance and Operations to join this small but mighty charity! This pivotal role will provide strategic financial leadership, overseeing financial management, IT systems, and operational efficiency to ensure the financial sustainability and growth of the organisation in alignment with its charitable objectives.
The Director of Finance and Operations will report into the CEO and manage a small team of three. The successful post holder will spend the majority of their time on finance and governance processes and matters as well as holding oversight of the outsourced IT contract acting as the main point of contact.
Duties for this role will include:
- Provide robust financial information for operational management and decision-making.
- Ensure financial sustainability and facilitate growth to further charitable aims.
- Maintain financial probity, controls, and compliance with HMRC and Charity Commission.
- Lead budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting to the Board of Directors and Trustees.
- Manage financial risks and appraise the viability of plans and proposals.
- Ensure effective payroll, pension scheme management, and procurement procedures.
- Lead commercial decisions in collaboration with the CEO.
- Act as Company Secretary, ensuring legal and statutory compliance.
- Oversee and enhance IT systems to optimize organisational workflow.
This position will be offered on a home working contract however attendance to key meetings will be required. These meetings will happen mostly across London and Birmingham with all travel expenses paid for. This Director of Finance and Operations will mostly suit candidates that have previously worked in a small sized not for profit organisation.
The successful candidate will:
- Be a fully qualified accountant (CCAB/CIMA/ACCA).
- Be experience managing teams.
- Ideally have proven experience in the charity sector.
- Have the ability to present financial information.
For more information on this role please don’t hesitate in applying!