The National Youth Agency is looking for a new Chief Operating Officer to join our Executive Leadership Team.
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full-time - 37 hours per week
Salary: £85,000 per annum
Remote: This role is homebased (within the UK) with occasional to meetings, events and conferences.
What we do
As the national body for youth work, the NYA has a dual function. We are the professional statutory and regulatory body (PSRB) responsible for qualifications, quality standards, and safeguarding for youth work and services in England. In line with our charity mission and aims, we also champion youth work through research, advocacy, campaigns, and programmes.
We work in partnership and believe in collaborative leadership, listening to youth workers and the youth work sector so that we can understand their needs and respond to the challenges they face. We are ambitious for youth work and for young people and integrate youth voice and influence across our work
About the Role
Responsibilities will include:
- The COO leads the day-to-day functioning of the organisation to ensure smooth, efficient, and effective delivery of services. This is vital for maintaining operational stability and achieving strategic outcomes.
- They design and execute strategies that align with the organisation’s mission and long-term goals ensuring resources are used effectively and priorities are clear.
- They promote a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement through supporting employee engagement, productivity, and organisational success.
- The COO collaborates closely with the CEO/CFO and other senior leaders to drive strategic initiatives and business growth, ensuring unified leadership and coherent decision-making.
- They partner with the CFO to manage budgets, forecasts, and resource allocation. Financial oversight ensures sustainability and supports informed investment in strategic priorities.
- Strengthen governance and risk management frameworks, aligned to regulatory expectations and best practice while proactively managing reputational and operational risks.
- The COO cultivates strong relationships with partners, clients, and stakeholders to enhance service delivery and reputation. These relationships are key to influence, collaboration, and impact.
- They lead efforts to improve processes and adopt best practices across the charity to enhance efficiency and keeps the organisation competitive and responsive.
- They ensure that daily activities support the charities long-term objectives.
- The COO mentors other directors and departmental heads and fosters leadership capabilities across teams.
- They establish and track KPIs to identify inefficiencies and guide improvements through data-driven decision-making to enhance accountability and results.
- They evaluate and refine workflows to boost productivity developing efficient processes to reduce waste and improve service quality.
- They act as a bridge between departments and the CEO to ensure cohesive execution of strategic plans preventing silos and promoting organisational synergy.
- The COO serves as a senior figure in national and cross-sector forums, conferences, and strategic partnerships to strengthens the organisation’s voice and influence.
- They demonstrate commitment to Equality, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in both internal culture and external programmes to foster a fair and inclusive organisation.
- They work with the CEO, CFO and Director of Growth to identify and pursue new revenue streams and strategic partnerships. This expands the organisation’s reach and sustainability.
- They engage in public speaking, media interactions, and external representation demonstrating clear communication, credibility, and stakeholder engagement.
- They develop and embed evaluation frameworks to assess progress against strategic goals. The measuring of our impact ensures accountability and informs future planning.
- They promote the organisation’s brand at events and through networking.
The COO takes on other responsibilities as needed to support the organisation’s mission.
About You
Essential competencies of the Chief Operating Officer:
- Extensive experience in senior leadership with a proven track record in operations, financial and risk management, and delivering high-performing teams, ideally in the charity sector.
- Strong understanding of business functions such as HR, Finance, Marketing, etc.
- Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to think strategically and execute effectively.
- Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities. Commercially astute, process-driven, and highly pragmatic in approach.
- Experience in driving performance and fostering a collaborative culture.
- Bachelor’s degree in business administration or related field; MBA preferred
Why Work for NYA?
- NYA operates as a people-first organisation, prioritising the well-being and needs of its employees.
- NYA offers an exceptional flexible working approach which encourages our team to balance professional responsibilities with their personal life.
- A remote based team, spread across England, fostering inclusivity and diverse talent. Despite geographical distances between team members, NYA maintains a highly motivated and connected team through the optimisation of digital tools.
- NYA is committed to supporting the continual personal and professional development of our team and helping them achieve their ambitions.
- We provide 25 days leave plus 8 days, life assurance scheme, 5% employer pension contribution and a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme via Spectrum.life with unlimited specialist support available to all NYA employees.
How to Apply:
To apply, please submit the following via our online application platform by 11:59pm on Monday 29th September 2025:
A detailed CV setting out your career history, with responsibilities and achievements in line with the person specification in the About You section.
A covering letter highlighting your suitability for the role and how you meet the requirements in the About You section.
We will request data for our EEDI monitoring purposes, providing this is optional.
Please note: The covering letter is an essential part of the application process and will be assessed as part of your full application. We use AI detector software, so cover letters or CV’s with over 80% AI generated content will be disregarded. We understand that AI tools can offer support to candidates who have learning differences, which is why we will accept applications with some AI assistance. CV’s will not be accepted without a cover letter.
The National Youth Agency is an equal opportunities employer.
At NYA our inclusive culture means that we embrace individual differences and understand that we need a diverse team to achieve our organisations mission.
We wish to recruit candidates from all backgrounds to ensure our team reflects the rich diversity of the communities we serve. We encourage applications from anyone regardless of disability, ethnicity, heritage, gender, sexuality, religion, socio-economic background and political beliefs but we particularly welcome applications from global majority candidates and those from other minoritised ethnic groups in the UK as they are currently underrepresented in our team.
Youth Work changes lives
Which is why we’re committed to ensuring that as many young people as possible get to benefit from it.As the national body for youth work in England, the National Youth Agency (NYA) exists to champion its transformative power. We believe all young people should have the opportunity to benefit from the life-changing impact of extraordinary youth workers and trained volunteers.
We help to grow youth work provision in ways that keep it effective, relevant, safe and engaging, to help millions of young people reach their potential and thrive. We do this by providing guidance, support, advice, training and staff development opportunities for youth workers and youth work organisations. At the heart of everything we do are young people themselves. We work hard to ensure their voices are integrated into all our work, to develop provision that truly meets their needs.
REF-223747
Hailed as "one of Britain's very best choirs", Ex Cathedra leads its sector in the fields of performance, learning and wellbeing. We are excited to meet our new Trusts & Grants Fundraiser to help secure support for our award-winning work - from nurturing young singers to projects in schools and hospitals.
Do you have a:
– curiosity, enthusiasm and affinity for our work
– proactive and collaborative mindset with excellent interpersonal skills
– flair for translating a clear understanding of projects into compelling appeals
– strong track record of success in raising funds from trusts and foundations
If so, we'd love to hear from you!
We believe that everyone should be able to experience the remarkable physical, mental and emotional health benefits of singing together, and have opportunities to be inspired by extraordinary choral music from the past and present. We create inspirational vocal experiences by exploring, commissioning and performing the finest choral music, nurturing young singers, and delivering an extensive learning and wellbeing offer for people of all ages. We engage 80,000 people each year across a range of venues and communities, from our award-winning Singing Schools projects to Singing Medicine - where our musicians work bedside every week with patients and families at Birmingham Children's Hospital.
We are seeking a part-time Trusts and Grants Fundraiser to help raise funds for these vital projects by researching and writing applications and reports to charitable trusts and foundations, and by supporting grant applications to public funders. We are excited to bring this role in-house, having recently worked with a consultant trusts fundraiser. We currently raise £250,000 pa from trusts and foundations, and enjoy established relationships, including with multi-year funders.
You will join a supportive, dedicated staff team, which includes an Individual Giving Manager and an Individual Giving Officer, and will work closely with both the General Manager and the Director of Education & Participation. You will be an important part of the wider Ex Cathedra 'family' - an energetic and friendly group of musicians who deliver the highest quality performances and participatory experiences.
Responsibilities
The Trusts and Grants Fundraiser will lead on our applications, reporting and the administration of our appeals to charitable trusts and foundations, and support bids to public funders.
You will:
• maintain and manage our existing pipeline of charitable trusts and foundations
• undertake research and identify trusts and foundations whose priorities align with our work, in line with organisational priorities
• work closely with the General Manager and Director of Education to research, prepare and submit high quality, compelling applications, ranging from 4-6 figures and including multi-year proposals
• record applications made, track outcomes and provide reports for finance and management
• prepare timely updates and reports to funders that communicate the impact of their support and maximise the opportunity for ongoing or future support, working with colleagues to ensure feedback, case studies, data and financial information is available as required
• work closely with colleagues to maximise the opportunities of stewardship and long-term cultivation, e.g. by inviting funders to events and projects where appropriate
Please find the full job description, responsibilities and person specification in our Application Pack, available via the link on this page.
We would be delighted to arrange an informal pre-application conversation if you would like to know more.
Ex Cathedra welcomes applications from everyone and is committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone feels valued and supported.
We seek to reach and inspire through outstanding vocal experiences - in performance, by nurturing talent, through education and participation projects





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