Executive assistant to chief executive jobs in Manchester

Employment Type: Full time
Location: Remote · Multiple locationsIreland · UK
Salary: £62,000 - £72,000 (GBP)25 days holiday plus other benefits.
Seniority: Senior
Closing date: 9:00am, 4th May

About GLAN

GLAN is an independent non-profit organisation made up of lawyers, investigators and campaigners. We pursue legal action against powerful actors involved in serious human rights violations and environmental harms, working across borders with international and local grassroots organisations. 

Our vision is justice across borders.

We are a fully remote team - our committed colleagues are spread across multiple countries, and we have offices in Ireland and the UK.

We currently work across three key focus areas: 

• Accountability for Atrocity Crimes
• Environment and Climate Litigation
• Abuses in Value Chains

About the role

The Chief Operating Officer at GLAN will play a crucial role in steering the team in the successful implementation of the charity’s organisational strategy, and will be responsible for ensuring the day-to-day smooth running of the organisation – in order to build a sustainable, compliant, resilient and well-governed organisation.

The ideal candidate

We are looking for an experienced leader with a proven track-record of delivering financial oversight and overseeing complex budgets and projects to completion in a fast-paced environment. We are looking for someone who possesses excellent people skills, who is emotionally intelligent and can guide a dynamic team remotely.

The Chief Operating Officer will be responsible for the delivery of core services and will manage a core team of staff to deliver Finance, HR, Fundraising, Communications and Governance.

The ideal candidate will have demonstrable experience in a similar role, with in depth understanding of how charitable, purpose driven organisations operate. You must have excellent leadership skills, a solid grasp of data analysis and performance metrics, financial planning and budgeting skills, and an advanced understanding of business planning, budget and project management.

Key Responsibilities

Senior Leadership

• Lead the Senior Leadership team in the implementation of our revised organisational strategy 2027-2030.
• Ensure organisation-wide financial oversight and operational business planning.
• Provide guidance and support to GLAN’s team.
• Deputise for the CEO when necessary and take ownership of high-level decision-making.

Operational oversight

• Maintain operational oversight so that legal, advocacy, funding and finance align with GLAN’s organisational strategy.
• Oversee and facilitate the flow of information between the legal and operational teams so that our legal case works aligns with finances, commitments to funders, team capacity, and communications plans.
• Ensure that systems enable on-going monitoring of expenditure so that fundraising and finance are aware of gaps/underspends.
• Help ensure cases/teams are sufficiently resourced in terms of staff capacity.
• Ensure joined up working, and provide strategic guidance when challenges arise.

People and culture

• Provide strong leadership to ensure a professional and healthy working culture.
• Build on GLAN’s existing commitments to a working culture that is in line with our values, overseeing team-wide consistency to HR line-management, 1:1’s, annual 360 reviews and performance.
• Oversee recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and staff development and staff feedback.
• Ensure policies on anti-racism, equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing are embedded in how we work.
• Support the embedding of GLAN’s values across GLAN’s work.
• Oversee relationship and dialogue between GLAN’s SLT and Trade Union representatives.

Governance and Board relationships

• Lead on ensuring that GLAN is compliant with our legal, regulatory, health & safety, data protection / GDPR and employment law obligations.
• Ensure we have all necessary policies in place and take the lead on coordinating the establishment and review of existing and further policies. Oversee the regular review of GLAN’s risk management frameworks and our risk register.
• Oversee GLAN’s governance structures (internal reporting, Board meetings etc.), ensuring decisions are well informed and documented.

Financial oversight

• Oversee financial operations: budgeting, forecasting, cash flow, expenditure controls, financial reporting, payroll.
• Ensure compliance with accounting standards, audit requirements and donor / funder financial reporting obligations.
• Manage relationships with external accountants, auditors, banks, and financial service providers.
• Ensure best practices are followed and financial risk is identified and managed appropriately.

Operations

• Ensure the smooth running of IT, data protection, office management. Managing relationships with our external providers.

Person Specification

Essential

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in senior leadership roles, delivering successful organisational financial oversight- with expertise in business planning and complex project management.
• Demonstrable experience of high-level budgeting, forecasting, auditing, proven accountability for ensuring financial sustainability and compliance.
• Minimum of 10 year’s line management experience.
• Excellent strategic thinking and planning skills, able to bridge between high-level strategy and operational detail.
• Sound judgement, risk-management and governance experience; familiarity with compliance, data protection / GDPR, employment law etc.
• Exceptionally organised and able to manage multiple priorities.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to present complex operational, financial or legal information clearly.
• Strong collaborative approach, ability to work across teams, offer guidance to other senior level staff, and clear people management skills.
• Expertise in ensuring compliance with relevant legislation, policies, and procedures, particularly in the charity sector.
• Understanding of UK charity law and governance, including experience with Board of Trustees.
• Aptitude in decision making and problem solving, and confidence in providing guidance to boards and CEO.
• Warm, people-centred and positive approach.
• Emotionally intelligent, able to self-reflect, be honest and conduct open conversations with sensitivity.
• Solution-orientated, able to anticipate and resolve challenges.
• Strong alignment with GLAN’s values and our mission.
• Strong commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and committed to GLAN’s ongoing anti-racist learning and practice.
• Commitment to developing an organisational culture in which our team thrives and we can achieve meaningful impact in our work.
• Ability to handle difficult situations and handle confidential information.
• Ability to balance GLAN’s operational priorities with our values.

Desirable

• Experience of operating in non-profit / mission-driven / legal organisations.
• Previous experience working in a human rights or environmental protection focussed setting.
• Legal or compliance experience.
• Experience of change management and scaling teams or systems.
• Experience of hybrid / remote team leadership .
• Experience of supporting culture building.
• Experience of working to decolonial commitments.
• Experience of delivering organisational change programmes.
• Legal or compliance experience.
• Experience of change management and scaling teams or systems.
• Experience of hybrid / remote team leadership 
• Commitment to equity, learning and continuous improvement.
• Knowledge of HR practices and employment law.
• Fundraising experience.
• Accountancy qualification, Leadership or management qualifications, Project management qualifications e.g. Prince2

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

We particularly welcome applications from candidates with lived experience of the issues that GLAN works on. We strongly encourage applications from disabled candidates, older candidates, and Black and racially minoritised candidates, who are currently underrepresented in our organisation. We use an anonymised recruitment process to ensure fairness. Each applicant will be individually assessed against the essential criteria regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or belief. We will use positive action on the basis of race and/or disability in case of a tie break situation.

Our values

Decolonial - We are committed to building decolonial, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive approaches at GLAN.

Collective Power - We believe lasting change is built through collective action and power sharing. 

Responsive - Working across interconnected global systems that are ever in flux, we aim to be adaptable, nimble and responsive to make the biggest impact we can. 

Steadfast - We know the kind of change we want to see won’t happen overnight, that’s why we strongly value patience and persistence. 

Self-Reflective - We recognise the power and privilege we hold as an organization. We’re committed to fostering a culture of honesty, reflection, and continuous learning, constantly examining how we work within the system and why to help us strengthen both our organisation and the movements we support work within the system.

How to apply

To apply, please use our application portal. Applications are due by 9am 4 May 2026. We will not review applications sent via LinkedIn or email.

GLAN does not use AI to review applications, and we ask candidates to avoid its use in this process. We want to read about people’s experience in their own words.

If you need any reasonable adjustments, including this job pack to be sent in a larger font, in order to apply for this role, please contact us.

Creative Support is a national provider of social care with charitable status. We are seeking a capable and highly professional PA to support our governance and quality functions.

This is a responsible position which will offer great job satisfaction to someone with a conscientious and proactive approach. Creative Support delivers person-centred care and support to people across England with a wide range of needs. We are also a Registered Social Landlord managing around 1,000 units of supported housing. 

This role inolves the provision of all necessary administrative and secretarial assistance to the Chair of the Board, Company Secretary and Director of Quality.  The role will involve:

Governance

- Liaising with the Chair and trustees to forward plan and schedule meetings.

- Communications and correspondence for the Chair and trustees.

- Organising meetings and sending out invites and virtual log-ins.

- Managing room bookings, refreshments, travel arrangements and payment of expenses.

- Arranging meetings between the Chair, trustees, the CEO and other officers as required.

- Making arrangements for presentations and internal/external speakers as required.

- Liaising with the Executive Team regarding preparation for meetings and any follow up.

- Taking accurate, professional minutes in a range of meetings, including Board & Committee meetings.

- Collating, uploading and sending out minutes, reports and other papers for Board meetings.

- Keeping records of attendance and apologies and any possible conflicts of interest.

- Maintaining all records in good order and managing the online Board portal.

- Supporting the Company Secretary, Chair &CEO by organising Annual/General Meetings & events.

- Supporting the Company Secretary with the recruitment and induction of new trustees.

- Being a point of contact for trustees and shareholding members.

- Supporting the Company Secretary in undertaking their role and duties.

- Any other duties reasonably requested by the Chair, CEO and Company Secretary.

Quality

- PA/Administrative support for the Director of Quality, for their quality remit & operational portfolio.

- Servicing the Quality & Practice Committee by coordinating the submission of reports & information.

-       Administrative support for the Head of Quality, Head of Social Care Governance and Quality Team.

- Collating quality data, compiling reports, minuting meetings and effective follow up.

- Minuting and providing administrative support for confidential, sensitive HR and safeguarding cases.

- Providing PA support and assistance for the Executive Team when required.

- Communicating and liaising with Head Office Teams and operational managers.

- Contributing to planning and implementation of wider corporate campaigns/programmes of work.

- Providing support for co-production initiatives and Experts by Experience.

Applicants for this role must be passionate about Creative Support’s work, values and ethos. You will have significant prior experience gained in a responsible secretarial or administrative role. Experience of working for a charity or a social care or public service organisation is desirable, but not essential. You will be proactive, professional and able to maintain confidentiality. You will be well-organised, able to prioritise work and to achieve deadlines.

You must have good communication skills with the ability to liaise effectively and  coordinate the work of others. You must be helpful and responsive to requests for assistance from the Chair and trustees. You will be willing to work flexibly in accordance with the needs of the organisation and trustees, including attending evening meetings (1-2 evening meetings a month).

A good standard of literacy is required and you must be competent in the use of IT and online applications including MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint. You will be conscientious and diligent in managing data and information and keeping records on behalf of the Company Secretary. You must be able to take direction and be accountable to the Director of Quality and the Company Secretary.

You must be committed to the principles of co-production as you will be expected to support the voice and active involvement of people we support in governance and quality assurance.

Benefits of working with Creative Support:

- Friendly and supportive work environment

- Career development opportunities

- High level of training and development through our Creative Academy

- Pension with company contribution

- Free life assurance

- 25 days paid annual leave plus bank holidays, plus an additional day off for your birthday

This job could be full time (37.5 hours) or part-time by agreement, subject to a minimum of 30 hours per week. This post is not suitable for home working. Our offices are readily accessible on public transport as we are based in in the centre of Stockport close to the mainline train station and with frequent buses to Manchester.

Creative Support is a welcoming and inclusive Equal Opportunities employer. We embrace diversity and encourage applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. As a Disability Confident Employer we welcome applications from people with a disability, and as a proud Stonewall Diversity Champion we actively encourage applications from the LGBT+ community.

We can only accept applications from candidates who are located in and eligible to work within the UK.

We will be interviewing for this role as suitable applications are received and may close this role before the closing date upon a successful candidate being appointed.

Vacancy Reference Number: 84364

Applications for this post must be submitted via the Creative Support website, quoting the above vacancy reference number.

Head of Principal Gifts
Employer: University of Manchester
Salary: £59,966 to £71,566, depending on experience with scope to go beyond for an exceptional candidate
Location: Hybrid working, Manchester

We are looking for our new Head of Principal Gifts to work with our highest level of donors, securing principal gifts in support of the University of Manchester's key priorities - gifts that are truly transformational and enable us to tackle some of the world's greatest challenges.

We're taking our big gift fundraising to the next level with the launch of a dedicated Principal Gifts programme, and we're looking for someone to play a key role in shaping that transformation, building deep, lasting relationships with top-level donors in the UK and internationally.

With our inspirational new strategy in place and our first-ever university-wide philanthropic campaign, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, launched in November 2025, this is a pivotal moment for Manchester and for your career.

Reporting to the Deputy Director, Principal Gifts, you'll be joining a brilliant, values-driven team with a fantastic pipeline of prospects, strong existing relationships, and academics who are fully engaged in what we're building together.

Great things happen at The University of Manchester every day - from finding new treatments for cancer and discovering wonder materials like Nobel Prize-winning graphene, to providing life-changing scholarships and influencing government policy to help the world's poorest people. This is the work your fundraising will make possible.

If you're a major gifts or big gift fundraiser ready to make your mark at a world-renowned institution and take that next career-defining step, we'd love to hear from you.

Closing date: Midnight on Monday 20 April 2026

Interested?

Please familiarise yourself with the attached Candidate Pack.
To apply, please submit a CV and covering letter.

The University of Manchester is partnering with Constellate Global Talent on this search. No agencies please.