A child's earliest years are irreplaceable. Without a stable, loving and nurturing environment, a child will not develop the vital foundations they need. Yet today's families are facing considerable challenges, such as mental health difficulties, financial pressures, loneliness, language or cultural barriers, or a lack of any support networks.

The Home-Start network is there for parents when they need us most, because childhood can't wait. Home-Start UK supports nation-wide local Home-Starts to provide a community network of trained volunteers and expert support to help families with young children through their most challenging times and ensure the best possible start for their children.

Assistant Director of Fundraising and Supporter Engagement

Home-Start UK

Flexible, with travel to Leicester office

C.£58,000

The Assistant Director of Fundraising and Supporter Engagement will be primarily responsible for the development of Home-Start UK's fundraising and supporter engagement activities, ensuring that more people are inspired to connect and contribute to making a real impact to the lives of children and families across the UK. Reporting to the Deputy CEO, the postholder will work at a national scale, ensuring local Home-Start's can contribute to wider fundraising plans and activities.

The role is an exceptional opportunity for a skilled fundraiser to join and strategically plan new fundraising opportunities. Focusing across all revenue streams and with a particularly focus on the supporter engagement experience, the role will lead all supporter engagement, individual giving and public fundraising activity. Leading a team of three strong fundraisers, you will be responsible for evaluating and monitoring performance against income targets as well as professional development of the team.

We are looking for an innovative fundraiser with in-depth experience of the fundraising environment across a range of disciplines. You will understand the importance of both placed-based and national fundraising and will be keen to learn all the aspect of Home-Start UK's approaches to fundraising. Ideally, you will also have a strong track record of personally leading change and driving significant income growth and supporter engagement in a fundraising environment.

Home-Start UK is committed to equality of opportunity and particularly encourages applications from candidates from under-represented groups in charity senior leadership. We welcome applications from candidates with lived experience of family support. As a charity working to support families in all their shapes, we are deeply committed to flexible working and juggling the demands of individual circumstances to make this job work for you.

The Mead Educational Trust (TMET) is a growing partnership of primary and secondary schools situated in the East Midlands. As an organisation, we exist to improve the life chances of children and young people.

We are incredibly proud of our team and the direct impact they have on creating transformative opportunities for our learning community. We are a supportive, collaborative and developmental trust - we invest in our team and are proud of their knowledge, commitment and expertise.

As we have grown, our guiding principles have ensured people remain at the heart of all we do. As we enter a new phase of organisational growth, we have created the new role of Director of People & Organisational Development to drive this agenda further forward.

If you enjoy a challenge, are driven by moral purpose and want to make a significant difference to the lives of thousands of children and young people across the region, then this is an opportunity that can’t be missed. You will be working with a highly effective team of likeminded leaders and will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in the future direction of our trust. Reporting directly to the CEO and working as part of the Trust Executive Team, your focus will blend both operational and strategic elements; ensuring systems and processes are of the highest quality as well as shaping our people and OD agenda.

To be successful, you’ll need exceptional experience of human resource leadership (with a strong understanding of HR legislation), coupled with a proven ability to shape dynamic, creative and sector leading developmental strategies. In return, we can offer you unparalleled support within a successful, supportive and growing MAT.

You’ll be rewarded with a highly competitive salary, but most importantly, the opportunity to create lasting change for young people in a fast-paced and exciting environment.

Closing date for applications: Thursday 4th February 2021

The Mead Educational Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting  the  welfare  of  children  and  young people. All applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

I’m working with an established not-for-profit organisation based in Leicester who are looking for their new Director of Finance & Governance. The role joins a high performing team and continues an ongoing change programme, after a reshuffle in the responsibilities of the SLT. With a strong leadership team and a new 5 year strategy soon to be rolled out, it’s an exciting time to join a growing organisation which still has a family feel. As with many charities, it is a challenging time as the pandemic has dented their income streams but has increased demand on services.

Reporting into an experienced COO, who places a high priority on personal development in the team, the main responsibilities of the role are:

• Lead and develop a broad team of 23 across Finance, Governance, GDPR and a newly formed Contracts Management division.
• Ensure continuous development of the organisational governance structure, becoming a champion of this area both internally and externally.
• Nurture and build on the current team culture, expanding this to the newly created teams which has been given increased prominence with the change to home working.
• Ensure board confidence in the execution of the business plans by providing analysis and modelling during the decision-making process
• Manage relationships with external stakeholders, such as banks and investment partners to ensure continued growth and return on investments.

The successful candidate will:

• Be a fully qualified accountant who has an excellent understanding of the governance requirements at a senior level.
• Have experience managing and developing a multi-functional team in a director level position.
• Enjoy working in an environment where continuous improvement is ingrained and enjoy making improvements to processes and policies.
• Have a commercial mindset and have demonstrable experience of developing strategic objectives alongside the business aims.
• Thrive when working in a high performing team where the culture is valued as much as output.

The organisation has an excellent flexible working policy with an option to work at least 50% at home. The closing date for applications is the 27th January, although applications will be reviewed on a continuous basis, so please don’t delay in applying.

For more information, please contact Jamie Elliott at MLC Partners.

This is a great opportunity to join our local delivery teams in our Central Region.  We are looking for an Operations Executives to manage a caseload of Young People into sustainable outcomes.  We are currently working from home which will feature for the foreseeable period.

Your responsibilities will include delivery of a range of sessions to local Young people helping them secure positive outcomes in Employment, Education or Enterprise. Working as part of a small team you will need to be flexible, adaptable and build great relationships with Young People, our delivery partners and volunteers. You will help to deliver our ambitious plans to provide the very best support to young people across the area whilst ensuring the Trust is known to local recruiters for referrals. Within your role you will have responsibility for a specific theme, either Enterprise, Education or employability.

We have the ambition to become the very best organisation within the sector. You will be required to continually innovate, review, and support our operations to ensure we deliver the very best for young people across the area. 

We want to hear from applicants that have high motivation to succeed, can work to local contract requirements and KPIs and are a great team member.

 You will collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders (internal and external) and ensure that our delivery plans are achieved, and the quality and impact is high.

The Trust has a behavioural framework which informs all our work with colleagues, young people and partners. Through the process, the successful candidate will demonstrate their ability to lead by example, communicate effectively, continually improve themselves and others and by working as one team deliver results for the benefit of young people.

Please note: We will begin reviewing applications prior to the closing date so we advise you to submit something sooner rather than later. If you have already applied, you do not need to reapply. 

I’m partnered with Vista, a leading blindness charity based in Leicester who are searching for their new Director of Finance & Governance to lead them through one of the most exciting periods in their long history with a wide variety of change ongoing. With advanced plans for a new HQ for both support services and service delivery, this is an exciting time to join an organisation with a fantastic purpose! Focussed on the local area, they work with all age groups to battle the causes of sight-loss and provide support to those suffering from sight-loss.

Reporting into an impassioned CEO, who’s career has been spent in the not-for-profit sector, the main responsibilities of the role are:

• Build, lead and develop a team of 12 across finance and wider corporate services with a specific focus on the finance side
• Lead a finance transformation programme which will likely include systems selection and implementation, process and policy review and an overhaul of governance
• Manage relationships with external and internal stakeholders, such as banks, funding partners and the payroll function
• Ensure board confidence in the execution of the business plans by providing analysis and modelling during the decision-making process
• Implement strict governance procedures and deliver internal and external audit compliance

The successful candidate will:

• Have significant experience working in the charity sector and understand the various reporting standard that are required
• Have gone through a transformation programme in previous roles, preferably in the charity space
• Have strong governance experience and preferably have been company secretary previously
• Enjoy the variety in a role where two days are never the same, be happy to roll their sleeves up and get stuck in where necessary
• Preferably be a qualified accountant, although those with demonstrable experience who tick all other boxes will be considered.

The organisation particularly welcomes applications from candidates with disabilities, especially sight related. They operate a very flexible working policy – the role is c.30 hours per week, but this can be structured in virtually any manner. If this role is of interest to you, please do not delay in applying as applications are being reviewed regularly and the role will likely be filled before the closing date.

For more information, please contact Jamie Elliott at MLC Partners.

Please note: Your application will not be considered without submitting a cover letter and including your notice period.

Role: Regional Partner - Midlands (home-based with regional travel and occasionally national travel).

Are you a good fit?

You want to work with a highly respected and aspirational brand, at the heart of a network of many of the UK’s leading figures and employers. 

You know that technology has a significant role to play, but that human interaction and relationships are of even greater importance.

You want to feel like a valued member of a growing team, in an organisation which recognises that that its people are not just a number, but its greatest asset and part of an extended family, working together to support each other to meet organisational and not just individual goals.

Ideal candidates will be looking for a demanding post in a fast moving entrepreneurial charity. This is an exciting time to join our team as we take Speakers for Schools to the next level. 

You should be sociable and confident and happy building and maintaining relationships with multiple internal and external stakeholders

What is Speakers for Schools?

Founded by ITV Political Editor Robert Peston (Trustee), and chaired by Andrew Law (Caxton Associates), Speakers for Schools was created to help level the playing field for UK state schools and their students by giving them the same access to the UK’s leading figures from politics, business, science, sport, the arts and more, as that enjoyed by private schools.

Bill Gates, Baroness (Martha) Lane Fox, Professor Brian Cox, David Dein, David Cameron, Natalie Bennett, Ed Balls, Naomi Campbell and over two thousand other influential, eminent and inspirational people, have been kind enough to volunteer their time to speak with Speakers for Schools. Almost a million Young People have attended a Speakers for Schools talk.

In 2016, we launched our Experience Programme. Experience works with our outstanding network of speakers and partner employers, to offer young people, amazing work experience opportunities, which would often be out of reach to them.

Our Experience Programme has more than trebled in impact since September as employers such as the Bank of England, M&C Saatchi, Disney, Spotify, Santander, Morgan Sindal, BA, BP, Cisco and others offer placements to thousands of Young People. In March we launched a ground-breaking virtual work experience programme in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Main purpose of role

You will be championing the Midlands by creating an ecosystem of employers, schools and young people to provide equal opportunities for all. Based remotely, with frequent travel to stakeholders across your region. 

Leading our community - Focusing on relationships, connectivity and working to bring leaders together in a shared mission of equal access. You will be responsible for connecting a network of schools, colleges, employers and partners in the Midlands.

Delivering our experience - Forging a regional ecosystem to provide quality experiences for young people with regional employers. Bringing innovation to work experiences and skills across the region to build a talent pipeline, bespoke for the your region.

Driving our impact - Supporting young people in developing their aspirations is at the core of what we do. The absolute essence of your role will be to transform lives through ambition-changing experiences, opening opportunities for those with the highest needs.

Key Duties

• Manage relationships with stakeholders ensuring an exceptional experience.
• Creatively communicating with stakeholders to keep them engaged and active.
• Proactively reach out to schools and employers to onboard them to our mission.
• Collaborate with the delivery team to ensure a seamless service for work experiences.
• Working with internal systems and processes for a slick operation and clear reporting.

Key Skills

• High energy communicator with consistency, character and care, ensuring all you reach feel motivated to work with you as an eminent champion for employability in your region.
• Detailed operator with the wide vision to see the whole scope of your region and connect the dots to open up vast pathways for student experience with logic and efficiency.
• Key collaborator able to connect with the national team and the London head office, to gain what you need to support your region and give to our overall charitable objectives. 

Key Experiences

• Good experience working in or around careers and employability
• Good experience networking, relationship managing or community building experience.

We are looking for people who:

• Are sociable and confident and happy building and maintaining relationships with multiple stakeholders
• Excel at organising their workload and enjoy driving work forward independently
• Think strategically and can change tactics while still meeting larger objectives

We are looking forward to holding video interviews through January and appointing our Regional Partner swiftly so we can start delivering a difference in February and beyond. You must have the right to work in the UK without visa restriction to be considered.

It's not just a matter of qualifications. As an eclectic team, one size does not fit all. A degree level qualification may be useful, but experience, effort and amazing communication skills is just as valuable.

Why us?

Speakers for Schools are a dynamic, swift-moving and fast-growing charity. We are on a mission to support a million young people across the UK annually by 2023. Having taken the first steps on the road to achieving this, our team has doubled in size in the past year. This has supported 278% growth in our Experience programme and 10% growth in our Inspiration programme during the past 12 months.

We want to level the playing field, making sure that all young people can access inspirational opportunities and experiences to fuel their ambition.

We are united and unique in our mission to transform lives through raising aspirations of millions of young people every year. Each year, 1,500 senior leaders, celebrities and industry experts deliver a difference to by sharing their story with students in schools and colleges in every corner of the UK. We connect employers such as Disney, The Bank of England, Spotify PwC and almost two hundred others to communities to provide access to the top opportunities for all across the UK. With us, you will be part of inspiring a generation to reach higher, broaden horizons and get equal access to the top.

To keep growing our charity and our impact, we need top talent and we are committed to treasuring, developing and supporting them to thrive within their roles.

Diversity at our core

At Speakers for Schools, we are committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce, and eliminating discrimination. Our aim is for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society and our customers, and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best.

We welcome applications from all, including those where employment has been affected by Covid19 and those seeking to change careers. Diversity is at our core, join us.

How to Apply:

Please apply as soon as possible submitting your CV and a one page covering letter which outlines your specific interest and ability to successfully fill this role, as well as your salary expectations and current notice period.

Please make it clear in your cover letter what previous experience you have working with Salesforce. 

Please note, if you do not provide a covering letter your application will not be considered.

Appointees are subject to a successful DBS check, as contact with young people is likely.

The Journey to joining Speakers for Schools:

Interviews will be scheduled as applications are received, before the closing date, and will take place over Microsoft Teams. We may appoint before this date depending on applications.

Company Secretary
Location: Flexible working between a Community Dental Services office base and home base is required
Hours: 20 Hours per week
Salary: £50,000 per annum pro rata
Reports to: Accountable to the Chair and Members of the Board of Community Dental Services CIC (CDS)

Community Dental Services CIC is a small company with a big heart and even bigger ambition to improve oral health wherever we are.  We are a social enterprise formed in 2011 and are passionate about delivering patient centred dental care and oral health promotion.

As Company Secretary, you will provide advice and guidance to the Chair and the Board on governance, constitutional, legal and procedural matters. To support the Chair to ensure the Board runs efficiently and effectively.

Responsible for:

• Guidance to ensure that CDS Board works in compliance with the appropriate legal and regulatory framework, and understands the potential consequences for noncompliance
• Keep abreast and monitor changes in relevant legislation and take action as appropriate
• Advice on procedural matters relating to the operation of CDS Board
• Proactive involvement in any strategic matters that impinge on the Company regulatory or statutory duties
• Understands role in the context of the company and the requirement to support the Chair in communications with Board members, senior leaders and support teams.
• Manage the day to day governance arrangements of the Board and Committees
• Support the Chair to manage and develop the Board and Committee Terms of Reference
• Alongside the Chair and CEO, establish the Board's meeting process and governance arrangements
• Manage the Board Secretariat function
• Administrative and organisational support

Skills and Experience
You will have the ability to analyse complex data and express complicated, multistranded information in an accessible way, both verbally and in writing with meticulous attention to detail. An aptitude for IT software. You will also have the ability to assess any compliance issues and offer solutions for implementing actions. Provide trusted and reliable advice and the confidence to propose change. You will also have excellent communications skills and understand the role within the context of the company, the ethos of the organisation, its drive to achieve its social purpose and the values and behaviours of its workforce.

Travel:
The post holder must be prepared to visit all CDS core sites to attend and support Board meetings as required.

Flexible Working:
In light of the evolving nature of the role, flexible working between an office base and home base is required, with full support to ensure effective communications day to day and onsite attendance as required by the Chair and Board.

If you would like to apply for this position, you can find our full JD to download at the bottom of the advert. Then simply click the apply button to attach your CV and covering letter, it will be sent automatically to us. 

No agencies please. 

Salary – competitive
Full Time, All year round. 
The School would consider an element of flexible working for this role.

Rugby School seeks an outstanding individual for the position of Deputy Director of Development. This is an exceptional opportunity for an accomplished individual with significant experience in fundraising, marketing and/or relationship building, a passion for education and demonstrable commitment to securing income for one of the country’s leading independent schools. 

The Deputy Director of Development will have a pivotal role in overseeing and coordinating specific fundraising activities, including the generation of regular gifts, legacy pledges and growing a portfolio of donors. The postholder will also co-ordinate the operational work of the Development Office, including managing the day to day running of the office and overseeing the work of the Senior Research Officer and the Development Officer and the maintenance of systems.

Founded in 1567 through a legacy from Lawrence Sheriff, grocer and spice merchant to Queen Elizabeth I, Rugby School is one of the oldest public schools in England and is renowned worldwide for being the place where the game of rugby was born and developed. Today, Rugby School is a co-educational boarding school with 840 students aged 13 – 18 years and following a merger at the start of 2020 Bilton Grange Preparatory School and a 300 further students aged 3 – 13 joined the Rugby School Group.

With an outstanding reputation for academic excellence as well as for achievement in co-curricular activity, students are drawn from a variety of backgrounds and the School is committed to broadening intake through bursaries and scholarships. 

Rugby School seeks a talented candidate for this position, with the ability to: act independently and with good judgement; develop and maintain excellent relationships with volunteers, donors and prospects; think strategically and tactically in connection with fundraising goals; combine initiative and flair with attention to detail and manage a number of projects over long periods. The successful candidate will also need to be a superior communicator with strong written and verbal skills and have the credibility and integrity to motivate others.

For a driven and entrepreneurial individual with a track record of success, this is an opportunity to join a leading independent school and really make your mark.

For more information and to apply: please register and complete an application via our recruitment portal which can be found on the School's website.

Applications will be screened on an ongoing basis and candidates may be contacted as part of the shortlisting process. We reserve the right to appoint before the closing date.

The final deadline for applicants is 31 January 2021, 12 noon.

Please contact the HR department if you would like to request a copy of the candidate pack. Details can be found on the School's website.

The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Applicants will be required to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or age.

Charity Registration Number 528752

Are you under 25 and looking for an opportunity to develop your outdoor learning skills? 

Learning through Landscapes is excited to announce that funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund has been granted to run a 15 month project through their Green Recovery Challenge Fund.

The project will be delivered in partnership with Leicester City Council (LCC) and the Wildlife Gardening Forum (WLGF).

As part of this project we are delighted to be able to offer opportunities for under 25’s wishing to work in the outdoor learning sector. This under 25 stipulation is a funding and project requirement and has been made to address the lack of opportunities for young people in this age group aspiring to train as outdoor educators in one of the areas hardest hit by the pandemic.

If you are under 25 years old at the start of January 2021, have a commitment to learning outside the classroom. with a broad knowledge and understanding of the English National Curriculum, a knowledge of either pollinators, habitat creation and management, wildlife gardening or citizen science, we would love to hear from you.  You must be fluent in the English language, able to write engaging learning resources and have excellent IT skills with proficiency in Microsoft Office particularly Word, Teams, Excel and PowerPoint. 

For more information about this exciting opportunity and how to apply please visit our website for full details