Education development lead jobs in sandwell, west midlands

This is a critical and exciting leadership role for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust which will take the Trust forward to the next phase of organisational growth, building on the superb achievements to date of our retiring CEO. 

You’ll need passion and energy to work on some of the most profound challenges of our time. Nature needs its champions, and you’ll need to harness all of your skills, all of your personality, and your network to grow our influence, our impact, and our outcomes. You’ll excel at galvanising others to take action  enabling  us to achieve our aims and ensure bumblebees are thriving and valued by everyone.

This is an incredible opportunity to join a very special organisation with passionate and high-performing teams who are truly dedicated to our vital purpose. 

Please refer to the CEO pack for further information.

The Trust is an Equal Opportunities employer.  This means that whilst seeking employment or during such employment with the Trust, we will seek to ensure equality of treatment for all persons regardless of sex, race, age, marital or civil partnership status, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity status. 

At the Trust, we have a clear goal: to be the place where a diverse mix of talented people want to come, to stay and do their best work. We pride ourselves on reaching for our vision, through the hard work and dedication of our passionate and creative employees. 

We are looking for an experienced Finance Director to join our team of nearly 100 staff, ideally before the end of 2025.

This is a full-time, home-based, permanent position. You can be based anywhere in mainland UK or Ireland, with some travel and occasional overnight stays to meeting and conferences mainly in England and Wales.

We offer flexibility around working hours, including the option of a 9 day fortnight - time off in lieu is also available. We offer 25 days holiday pro rata (rising to 28 days) plus statutory public holidays. We are happy to make adjustments for people with disabilities and/or caring responsibilities, and we welcome applications from all communities.

The role is a grade 7 position with a starting salary circa £75,000 plus benefits including 9% employer pension contribution.

The Finance Director (“FD”) works alongside the Chief Executive and Operations Director to manage the finances and governance of The Rivers Trust, a leading conservation charity with three associated trading subsidiaries operating across the UK and Ireland, with a collective annual income approaching £10m.

Given the prospective retirement of the current postholder at the end of 2025, we are seeking a well-qualified and experienced individual to take on this senior leadership role as soon as possible to enable handover to occur.

The role is very varied and wide-ranging, including presenting financial information to the Trustees and senior management on a quarterly basis, reviewing monthly management accounts, leading on annual budgeting, appraising internal project concepts and contracts, statutory compliance administration and liaising with auditors.

The postholder will lead a team of eight in the Finance department and join a very welcoming team of 95 highly engaged and passionate staff at The Rivers Trust.

Main duties and responsibilities:

Working alongside the CEO, the Finance Director will provide commercial, financial and governance management and leadership for The Rivers Trust ("the Charity") and its associated subsidiaries (“The Companies”). The FD will not only be an exceptional accountant, with executive oversight of the finance function, but will be commercially astute and have the confidence to represent robustly the best interests of The Companies. The FD will also be an experienced manager of people.

Key Accountabilities:

1. Act as a business partner to support and constructively challenge the CEO in the general management of the Charity and the Companies, reporting to the board.
2. Lead all aspects of the finance function (including maintaining and developing the financial control environment; robust financial accounting; cashflow management; incisive management information; clear and concise reporting to Board) to ensure that the Charity and the Companies’ assets are secured, risks are managed, and the Board of Trustees, subsidiary boards and committees can make well-informed decisions.
3. Manage relationships with auditors, funders, IT specialists, banks, investment platforms and other external organisations.
4. Provide support to project bids and the development of other commercial opportunities to ensure that bids/opportunities are optimised for the Charity and the Companies as a whole.
5. Provide input to project and programme delivery from time to time, to ensure that performance is maximised for the Charity and the Companies.
6. Attend Board meetings and Business Audit and Risk Committee meetings to guide the Board and the Senior Management Team on financial, commercial and governance issues.
7. Ensure compliance with the requirements of the Charity Commission and Companies House and, from time to time, provide guidance to members of the Rivers Trust movement on good governance practice.
8. Maintain the finance department operational manual for business continuity.
9. Serve as the Company Secretary for the Charity and Companies.

Staff Management:

1. Lead, manage and develop the finance team (who work remotely) and ensure the team understands their respective and collective contribution to achieving the Charity's and the Companies’ objectives.
2. Support the team in their professional development.
3. Ensure the team delivers a high-quality service focused on internal and external customers and funders.

Knowledge, skills, experience, and personal qualities:

Essential

• Significant experience in financial management and senior leadership roles, ideally gained in a range of organisations.
• A strategic thinker, able to see the big-picture, shape long-term direction and balance this with attention to detail.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills combined with creativity and openness to innovate.
• Strong IT and digital skills, with experience of using technology to improve efficiency and automate processes.
• Proven people leadership experience, with a track record of managing, developing, and inspiring teams and creating a supportive, inclusive, and collaborative culture.
• Excellent relationship builder, with the interpersonal skills to influence, collaborate, and provide constructive challenge while maintaining positive relationships across the organisation, including with trustees and senior stakeholders.
• Experience reporting to boards of trustees and/or directors, with the confidence to contribute to board-level discussions as a trusted adviser.
• Strong written and verbal communications skills, able to distil complexity into pertinent, concise and understandable messages tailored to diverse audiences.
• The courage to make and communicate tough decisions and be open about risks and setbacks.
• Resilient and calm under pressure, with the ability to maintain focus and steady leadership in challenging circumstances.
• Impeccable standards of integrity and personal ethics, acting as a role model for the organisation values.
• Knowledge of Sage financial software packages.
• Work to a good standard in Microsoft 365, especially Excel, Word, Outlook and Teams.

Desirable

• Experience of working in the charitable sector.
• Experience of being a Company Secretary.
• Understanding of the environmental sector or a passion for making a positive impact.
• Familiarity in using Sharepoint, Sage and Slack.
• Knowledge of Partial Exemption VAT rules.
• A basic understanding of Irish tax law, Irish and UK payroll taxes and corporate governance.

Qualifications/ Education

• Qualified Accountant, preferably ICAEW or ACCA.

Additional information

Everyone who works for us is expected to contribute to a respectful and inclusive working culture and follow our policies and procedures including Health & Safety, EDI, Cybersecurity and GDPR.

Please note we can only accept applications made through this site, and not sent by email or other methods.

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible. We warmly welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. If you would benefit from any adjustments to support you through the process, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate your needs.

To apply please send your CV and a covering letter.

Closing date: Wednesday 24th September 2025

We may close this vacancy early if we receive a strong pool of applications, so we encourage early submission

Are you a social media whizz with a passion for telling powerful stories? Keen to progress in your career in public relations and digital communications while making a real impact in the charity sector? Join Dravet Syndrome UK as a Marketing and Communications Manager (home based,16 hours/week) and bring your creativity and energy to a role where you’ll help shape our online presence, generate meaningful media coverage, and connect communities through engaging content.

Reporting to the Head of Marketing and Communications and working with the Marketing, Communications and Fundraising Manager in this varied position, you’ll drive DSUK’s social media activity, creating and scheduling posts across our social media channels. Alongside engaging online audiences, you’ll be instrumental in our proactive PR work—writing press releases, pitching stories to key media, responding to journalist enquiries, and helping develop compelling family case studies for campaigns. As part of a passionate and supportive team, you’ll collaborate to measure the impact of our communications and marketing work.

If you’re ready to grow your career in communications and want to make a difference for families affected by Dravet syndrome, we want to hear from you.

As part of DSUK’s commitment to safeguarding, the postholder is expected to undertake an enhanced DBS check.

About Dravet Syndrome UK

Dravet Syndrome UK (DSUK) is a small independent UK charity dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by Dravet Syndrome. Dravet Syndrome is a rare neurological condition that affects around one in every 15,000 people in the UK. As well as experiencing severe, difficult-to-control seizures, children and adults with Dravet Syndrome have varying degrees of intellectual disability and a spectrum of associated conditions (known as ‘comorbidities’), which may include autism, ADHD, behaviours that challenge and difficulties with speech, mobility, eating and sleep.

The charity was founded in October 2008 by a small group of 30 families. Today, DSUK is a registered charity helping over 550 families with support, education, and research programmes, underpinned by a world-class Medical Advisory Board.

What you will bring

Essential

· Demonstrable experience in planning and delivering engaging and targeted social media content to build community, raise awareness and drive engagement.

· Hands-on experience managing websites (using WordPress), delivering e-marketing campaigns (e.g. Mailchimp or similar), and applying SEO principles and other techniques to optimise digital communications and online visibility.

· Demonstrable experience in media relations, including writing press releases, working with case studies and successfully pitching and responding to a range of media (online, press, radio, broadcast)

· Demonstrable experience of working in charity, patient advocacy or healthcare sectors

· Ability to deal with people at all levels with empathy, tact and credibility

· Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with an ability to distil large amounts of information and present it in engaging and innovative ways for a variety of audiences

· Demonstrable design skills and knowledge of desktop publishing software e.g. using Canva to create in-house designs for social media and our website

· Act as a brand guardian, ensuring external designers and agencies understand and apply our brand, visual identity, and corporate communications guidelines effectively

· Strong organisational and project management skills, with the ability to prioritise

· Be a self-starter and team player with experience of remote working, and able to work effectively with colleagues using remote technology (e.g. Zoom, Google meets, etc)

Desirable

· Membership of a professional body such as Chartered Institute of Public Relations and/or a commitment to continuous professional development

 Why join Dravet Syndrome UK?

Join our dynamic and growing charity, where you'll thrive in an exciting and engaging environment. We are proud to be a family-oriented charity experiencing growth and fuelled by an ambitious plan for expansion. Our dedicated team is deeply connected to our core audience, and their motivation stems from witnessing our impact on people's lives. Join us today and contribute to making a lasting difference in the lives of those we support.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday, 24 September 2025, with shortlisting interviews taking place in early October with job to commence November 2025.

Our commitment to diversity

As part of our ambitions to improve equality and diversity, we welcome applications for this role from those who identify under any of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, which include race, age, disability, sex, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage & civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.

About Success Club

Success Club is a London-based growing charity dedicated to supporting children and young people who are at risk of disengaging from education. Our mission is to empower children and young people who are at risk of under-achieving to fulfil their potential. We aim to help them rise up above their negative behaviour patterns and environments, through a series of reflective learning, confidence building and positive behaviour led programmes that have mindfulness at their heart; these can be delivered directly into schools (educational settings), online or through effective partnerships.

Our vision is to create a future where every at-risk youth thrives, enabling a society filled with successful children and young people. Our aim is: ‘no child left behind’.

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Fundraiser to join our friendly team. We seek someone who feels passionately about our mission, to help us to drive income and ensure Success Club can continue to change lives, by building strong engagement with our donors and fundraisers. You will build on our past successes by managing existing relationships with, and making new grant-applications to Trusts and Foundations. We are a small core team and ideas are welcomed! You will identify new avenues for fundraising, and help us explore a growing portfolio of community support, to ensure the best possible experience for individual supporters and donors.

As Fundraiser, you’ll be the first point of contact for all inbound fundraising enquiries—whether by email, phone or at in-person events. You will nurture relationships with our existing individual and corporate supporters and identify and cultivate prospective donors.

You’ll be proactive and organised, passionate about delivering outstanding supporter experiences, and will have a strong understanding of the charity sector. Familiarity with fundraising databases or CRMs is also a plus.

The role will involve representing Success Club at occasional meetings and events, where you’ll be well supported by our existing team of Trustees and the CEO & Business and Operations Manager. There may be occasional out-of-hours work required. You’ll be a strong communicator and natural networker who enjoys building relationships and presenting.

Measures of Success

■ Strategic Communications – Delivering compelling, high-quality written applications, proposals, and reports to funders, alongside excellent verbal communication with stakeholders and partners.

■ Supporter Stewardship – Proactively identifying and cultivating relationships with high-value supporters, including trusts, foundations, and corporate sponsors, to increase engagement and secure long-term support.

■ Bid Development – Writing successful funding bids and grant applications that align with funder priorities and Success Club’s mission, achieving or exceeding income targets.

■ CRM/Data – Maintaining accurate and comprehensive records of donor interactions, applications, and outcomes in line with GDPR, enabling effective pipeline management.

■ Events & Representation – Attending and supporting community, corporate and networking events to raise the charity’s profile and create new funding opportunities.

Fundraising Executive Responsibilities

■ Deliver Against Fundraising Targets – You will work to a pre-agreed fundraising target, with a focus on generating income through writing high-quality funding applications to trusts, foundations, and corporate partners.

■ Be a Welcoming First Point of Contact – Provide a professional and helpful response to all supporter and donor enquiries across phone, email, and in-person interactions.

■ Individual Donor Strategy Development – Design and implement innovative and tailored supporter journeys to retain and grow donor engagement, particularly for high-value funders.

■ Third-Party Fundraising – Act as the key contact for all independent fundraising initiatives and offer advice and tools to maximise their success.

■ Reporting – Produce regular and accurate fundraising performance and pipeline reports for internal use and funder updates.

■ Funding Applications – Take the lead on writing compelling, well-researched funding bids to trusts, foundations and corporate partners, including tailored proposals, reports, and budgets.

■ Represent Success Club – As required, attend meetings, relevant seminars, pitches, and external events to represent the charity, network with potential funders, and raise organisational visibility.

■ Values and Culture – Uphold and model Success Club’s values of inclusivity, empowerment, and mindfulness in all aspects of your work.

■ Sector Awareness – Stay up-to-date with sector trends, funding opportunities, and changes to grant-making practices and regulations.

World Jewish Relief launched the Specialist Training and Employment Programme (STEP) for refugees in 2016 and today we are the largest provider of specialist employment support to people who have experienced forced migration in the UK. 

STEP aims to support refugees and others who have experienced forced migration to overcome the complex barriers they face in preparing for, and ultimately finding, work in the UK. We work with individuals, regardless of their background or proximity to the labour market, helping them develop the skills and access the opportunities they need to secure sustainable and meaningful employment.

We deliver STEP through both online and in-person programmes across the UK. Our work includes targeted support for women refugees, Afghan nationals, Ukrainians, and people who have come through the asylum system.

Our flagship in-person programme is delivered in partnership with a network of expert local delivery partners — including local authorities and NGOs — to ensure high-quality, community-based support.

We now have an exciting opportunity for a Programme Officer, who will be central to the smooth delivery and coordination of the STEP In-Person Programme. You will work closely with a network of expert partners, including local authorities and NGOs, to ensure high-quality, accessible support is delivered within communities.

You will be responsible for a range of programme and partnership management tasks, including oversight of grant payments, data and impact reporting, delivery partner support, and internal training and induction. You will also contribute to the design and delivery of specialist strands of STEP, including our pilot programme for people seeking asylum and our Experts by Experience Board. You will work closely with the STEP Programme Manager to implement the programme’s current delivery and help shape its future direction into 2025 and beyond.

About you

We are looking for candidates who have:

• Experience of working in a programme delivery or coordination role, particularly supporting refugees or other marginalised groups into employment
• Experience supporting or managing external partnerships or stakeholders
• Experience organising, planning and facilitating training and workshops
• Excellent administrative and organisational skills
• Strong Excel and data handling skills and confidence using Microsoft Office and CRM databases
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Ability to communicate clearly and professionally, both verbally and in writing
• Ability to build effective working relationships with a range of stakeholders
• Willingness to travel within the UK for partner meetings and events

​Benefits

We offer a range of benefits including:

• 23 days holiday pro rata plus bank holidays and Jewish holidays.
• Pension scheme – we contribute 5% to the World Jewish Relief pension scheme.
• Life Insurance – up to 3 times salary to nominated beneficiaries.
• Health Cash Plan – cash back to cover the costs of dental treatment, optical care, specialist consultations and a range of complementary therapies.
• Enhanced maternity & paternity pay.
• Employee Assistance Programme – free, confidential advice or support with any personal or work. related concerns or free counselling if needed.
• On Friday the office closes at 3pm.
• We encourage flexible working and offer a range of flexible working options

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

World Jewish Relief values equity, diversity and inclusion in our workplace and we encourage applications from candidates of all ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, genders, sex, sexual orientations, ages, disability, faiths (or non), marital status (or non), that meet the criteria set out for this role.

We are striving to build a team reflective of the communities we work with. People with experience of forced migration are experts by experience and are particularly encouraged to apply for this position. If you have first-hand experience of forced migration, please let us know in your application. Additionally, we encourage you to apply even if you do not meet all the requirements that are listed within the person specification.

We respect that people’s identity is not defined by their past experiences and do not expect candidates to describe their lived experience during the interview process unless they wish to do so.

You don’t need to be Jewish to work for us, but you must be committed to our faith-based values of Justice, Kindness, Repairing the World and Welcoming the Stranger. We are inspired by these values to work beyond our community, recognising the dignity and potential of all people.

To apply

Please upload your CV and a cover letter which outlines why this role appeals to you and how you meet the criteria in the person specification. Please refer to the person specification which shows which criteria will be assessed in your CV and cover letter.

Interviews will be held remotely week commencing 29th September 2025.