Frontline services senior manager jobs in Edinburgh
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Crisis is the national charity for people experiencing homelessness. We have embarked on our 10-year strategy for ending homelessness. We know it is not inevitable. We know together we can end it.
Location: Based in either Crisis Skylight Edinburgh (EH8 8BQ), Newcastle (NE1 2AF) or Merseyside (L1 5BD) at least three days per week. There is an expectation of regular travel across all sites and travel to our London head office approximately once every six weeks.
Contract: 12-month fixed term contract or secondment opportunity, including external secondments.
About the role
This is an exciting opportunity to step into a pivotal senior leadership role at a critical moment for Crisis. We are looking for a Director of Operations on a 12-month fixed term contract or secondment, someone who thrives in periods of transformation and can lead a geographically dispersed senior team. If you are energised by complexity, motivated by mission, and ready to make a real difference during a period of change, we want to hear from you.
With a bold new strategic direction placing Client Services at the heart of ending homelessness, Crisis is implementing a place-based approach to system change, becoming a housing provider, and scaling the impact of our nine Skylights and Christmas offer. This role sits at the centre of that change. You will provide strong, values-led leadership across our Skylights in Edinburgh, Newcastle and Merseyside, senior support to the Lead Clinical Psychologist as well the entirety of Client Services across Great Britain. You will be bold in driving continuous improvement, collaborative in your approach to partnerships, impactful in your use of data and insight, and equitable in your leadership.
About you
- Significant senior leadership experience in a relevant sector, such as homelessness, adult social care, health, education, or employment, with a strong track record of inspiring and empowering people and teams through change.
- Excellent networking, partnership-building and influencing skills, adaptable to a range of audiences from frontline staff to senior politicians and funders
- A proven track record in operational leadership: implementing quality standards, compliance assurance, governance, and driving continuous service improvement
- Strong analytical skills and confidence using data to generate insight that improves service effectiveness, alongside experience managing significant and complex budgets
- A commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, and an understanding of psychologically informed, trauma-informed approaches when working with people who have experienced complex adversity
- A genuine commitment to Crisis’ purpose and values, and a passion for ending homelessness — we particularly welcome applications from people with lived experience of homelessness
Please see the full Job Pack linked below, for a full list of requirements for this role. We realise that long lists of criteria can be daunting, and you may not want to apply for a role unless you feel 100% qualified. However, if you feel you have relevant examples to answer the screening questions, we encourage you to apply.
We believe diversity is a strength, and our aim is to make sure that Crisis truly reflects the communities we serve. We are actively working towards our organisation being a place where everyone can thrive and make their best contribution to our mission of ending homelessness for good. We know that the more perspectives, voices, and experiences we can bring to this work, the better. We particularly welcome applications from people who have lived experience of homelessness, and people from all marginalised groups, communities, and backgrounds.
Working at Crisis
Our values, Bold, Impactful, Collaborative and Equitable, are at the heart of everything we do as we continue in our mission to end homelessness.
Our staff, members, volunteers and supporters are vital to getting the right government policies in place, providing breakthrough services, and building a supportive community. We’ll lead by example to nurture a positive and ambitious workplace guided by ending homelessness.
As a member of the team, you will have access to a wide range of employee benefits including:
- A competitive salary. Please note our salaries are fixed to counter inequity and we do not negotiate at offer stage.
- Interest free loans for travel season ticket, cycle to work, and deposit to secure a tenancy.
- Pension scheme with an employer contribution of 8.5%
- 28 days’ annual leave (pro rata) which increases with service to 31 days and the option to purchase up to 10 additional days leave.
- Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental, and adoption pay.
- Wellbeing Leave to be used flexibly
- And more! (Full list of benefits available on website)
Alongside our excellent staff benefits, we will support your ongoing development to build your skills, experience, and career.
When you join us, you will have the opportunity to join our staff diversity networks, which aim to champion issues across the organisation, enable staff to be their authentic and best selves and contribute to making Crisis a truly diverse organisation.
How do I apply?
Please click on the 'Apply for Job' button below. Our shortlisting process is anonymised as part of our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. We do not ask for CVs, instead we ask you complete the work history section and answer the screening questions for us to be able to assess you fairly and objectively. At least two members of staff score all applications.
Closing date: Tuesday 9 June 2026 at 23:59
Stakeholder panel interview: Thursday 25 June 2026 online via Microsoft Teams
Main panel interview date and location: Thursday 2 June at Crisis Skylight Edinburgh
AI in Job Applications
We understand some candidates use AI tools when applying. Whilst we welcome the use of technology to support clear communication and structure, we want to learn more about you, so please ensure that your application reflects your own skills, knowledge and experiences
Accessibility
We want our recruitment process to be as accessible as possible. If you need us to make an adjustment or provide additional support as you apply for a role, please email our Talent Acquisition team to discuss how we can help.
Registered Charity Numbers: E&W1082947, SC040094
Registered Charity 
501 - 1000
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
About Parenting for Lifelong Health:
Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) aims to empower parents to improve child development, reduce family violence, and promote mental health. We give parents the support they need, the skills that work, and trusted advice they can count on to protect and support their children’s health, safety and development. Our parenting courses are developed with families, powered by low-cost and accessible technology, backed by rigorous evidence, and delivered within systems. Originally founded as an initiative in 2012 in collaboration with UNICEF and the WHO, Parenting for Lifelong Health was established as a UK charity in 2022 and since then has reached over 8 million families in more than 35 countries.
PLH Values
- Courage We have the courage to design for the big picture and complex problems with a commitment to creating sustainable solutions that last.
- Evidence We believe our work transforms the lives of children, families, and communities. Evidence of impact guides every decision, and we are relentless in pursuing the greatest impact with the least investment of time and resources required for parents and providers.
- Playfulness Parenting and child wellbeing thrives on play — and so do we. We experiment, learn from each other, as well as from parents and children, and create playful and engaging products and programmes that inspire joy, curiosity, and connection.
- Respect Everyone brings something essential. We show kindness in our team, honesty with our partners, and deep respect and empathy for parents and children, and those who are on the frontline of providing services for them.
PLH has a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity in how we work, who we work with, and what we do. Candidates from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.
PLH also has a strong commitment to the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA). All candidates considered for the role will be subject to background and reference checks in their country of residence.
Benefits: Flexible remote-working, home office set-up, unlimited annual leave, professional development opportunities, enhanced pension contributions, enhanced statutory leave provisions including maternity and paternity leave.
About the role:
The Finance Manager is responsible for PLH’s financial systems, controls, and compliance. The role is responsible for ensuring smooth financial operations, accurate and timely reporting, and full compliance with UK Charity Commission requirements and donor regulations.
The position acts as:
- the primary point of contact between PLH and its outsourced accounting firm;
- the operational counterpart to a strategic Senior Director of Finance; and
- the primary source of financial support for programme teams.
Responsibilities:
Financial Operations
- Act as the primary organisational contact for the outsourced accounting firm, setting expectations, reviewing performance, and ensuring service quality.
- Oversee the monthly financial close process, reviewing outputs from the outsourced accounting firm and producing management reports and key financial insights, including:
○ Cash flow and liquidity position
○ Income recognition
○ Restricted vs unrestricted funds
○ Project-level budget variance and cost recovery
- Maintain and update PLH’s Financial Model to reflect actuals, updated revenue and expense projections, and key variances against the approved annual budget, highlighting any significant issues or risks to the Senior Director of Finance.
- Regularly update forecasts based on actual performance and current assumptions within PLH’s Financial Model.
- Manage PLH’s project budgets and work closely with project managers, enforcing consistent standards of budget management, forecasting, and financial reporting.
- Oversee the monthly payroll process, ensuring accuracy, compliance with local regulations, and timely coordination with external providers.
- Manage internal accounts payable and receivable processes, ensuring appropriate controls, approvals, and segregation of duties.
- Manage and maintain PLH’s expense management and banking systems.
- Oversee PLH’s donation processing systems, with a strong focus on fraud prevention, anti-money laundering, and donor due diligence.
Financial Compliance
- Review accounting records and supporting documentation prepared by the outsourced accounting firm.
- Ensure compliance across all donor-funded projects, in line with donor regulations and PLH’s internal financial policies.
- Enforce and evaluate strong financial policies and internal controls, regularly reviewing and aligning these systems with UK Charity Commission guidance and reporting requirements.
- Lead audit preparation, coordinate internal inputs, and act as primary day-to-day contact for external auditors.
- Organise the completion and submission of PLH’s annual return and HMRC corporate tax return.
- Monitor exchange rate fluctuations and advise the Executive and Operations teams on mitigation measures (including approved salary adjustments) to buffer sharp decreases in currency value, in line with organisational policy.
Essential criteria:
- Fully or part-qualified professional accountant (ACCA, CIMA, ACA, CPA, or equivalent), or demonstrably equivalent professional experience.
- Minimum of five years’ experience in a finance role, including at least two years in a finance management or senior finance position.
- Demonstrable experience overseeing monthly close processes and producing high-quality management accounts and financial reports.
- Strong experience monitoring budgets, maintaining rolling forecasts, and updating financial models based on actuals and revised assumptions.
- Experience preparing for, coordinating, and supporting audits, including liaison with external auditors.
- Advanced Excel or Google Sheets skills, including complex formulas, linked models, and scenario-based inputs and assumptions.
- Strong experience working with cloud-based accounting systems and the ability to rapidly become fully proficient in PLH’s finance systems.
- Strong understanding of internal financial controls, segregation of duties, and financial policy compliance in a regulated environment.
- Ability to work with outsourced accounting or payroll providers, ensuring accuracy, quality control, and timeliness.
- High attention to detail, analytical rigour, and ability to interpret financial data to support evidence-informed decision-making.
- Ability to communicate financial information clearly to non-finance colleagues and support budget-holder capacity-building.
Preferred criteria:
- Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, economics, business administration, or a closely related quantitative discipline.
- Experience working within a UK-registered charity and familiarity with Charity Commission guidance and reporting requirements.
- Experience implementing or maintaining financial policies and procedures aligned with UK charity governance standards.
- Experience managing multi-currency transactions and foreign exchange exposure, ideally using Xero or comparable systems.
- International donor compliance experience, particularly with institutional or multilateral funders (e.g. UNICEF, UN agencies, WHO, major foundations).
- Demonstrated success working in early-stage or scaling organisations, with the ability to operate both independently and collaboratively.
- Experience working with globally distributed teams and multiple country contexts.
- Confidence delivering financial guidance or training to project managers and non-finance staff.
- High level of proficiency in written and spoken English.
Please note that Parenting for Lifelong Health uses AI-assisted tools to help review and shortlist applications. See our Privacy Statement for more information.
Thank you!
Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end-of-life charity. We are the largest non-NHS provider of end-of-life care in the UK, the only provider across all 4 nations, delivering community nursing and hospice care across the country, while providing information and support on all aspects of dying, death, and bereavement. Our leading research pushes the boundaries of what we know about good end-of-life, and our campaigns fight for a world where everyone gets to have the best possible quality of life while living with an illness, they’re likely to die from.
Job Description
Philanthropy will play a defining role in delivering this ambition. With plans to significantly scale income over the coming years, we are seeking a senior, commercially-minded Philanthropy Lead to drive high-value growth and deepen engagement with influential supporters across the UK.
As Philanthropy Lead, you will take ownership of a high-value donor portfolio, securing and stewarding five and six figure gifts while driving forward a donor-centric fundraising strategy.
You will operate as a trusted partner to senior leaders and influential stakeholders, leveraging networks, insight and opportunity to build a sustainable pipeline of philanthropic support.
Alongside income generation, you will play a key role in shaping how Marie Curie engages high-net-worth individuals bringing innovation, credibility and strategic thinking to a growing function.
What you’ll be doing
- Building a pipeline of new high-net-worth individuals through proactive outreach, networking and relationship building
- Owning and driving your own workload, managing your prospect pipeline and identifying new opportunities
- Initiating conversations, arranging face-to-face meetings and creating bespoke cultivation journeys
- Working closely with senior leaders and volunteers to develop and progress donor relationships
- Developing compelling propositions and confidently making five and six-figure asks
- Using creativity, curiosity and insight to spot opportunities others might miss
- Representing Marie Curie externally and helping grow our profile with influential audiences
Who we’re looking for
- Proven experience in major donor or philanthropy fundraising
- A proven record of securing significant philanthropic income, including five and six figure gifts
- The credibility and presence to engage and influence high-net-worth individuals and senior stakeholders
- Strong commercial judgement combined with a donor-centric, relationship-led approach
- Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to craft compelling cases for support and lead high-value conversations
- Strategic thinking, resilience and the ability to navigate complexity and ambiguity
- A collaborative mindset, with the confidence to contribute across a high-performing national team
You don’t need to come from a traditional charity major gifts background transferable experience from relationship-led, high-value environments is welcome.
Please see the full job description here.
Application & Interview Process
- As part of your online application, you will be asked for a CV and a set of questions. Please review both the advert and job description and outline your most relevant skills, experience and knowledge for the role.
- Close date for applications: Monday 8th June 2026
Salary: £40,000 - £45,000
Contract: Full time, perm
Based: Hybrid position, with 1–2 days per week based in Marie Curie offices or hospices, including some travel as required.
Benefits you’ll LOVE:
- Flexible working. We’re happy to discuss flexible working at the interview stage.
- 25 days annual leave (exclusive of Bank Holidays)
- Marie Curie Group Personal Pension Scheme (we will match your contribution up to 7.5%)
- Loan schemes for bikes; computers and season tickets
- Continuous professional development opportunities.
- Industry-leading training programmes
- Wellbeing and Employee Assistance Programmes
- Enhanced bereavement, family friendly and sickness benefits
- Access to Blue Light Card membership
- Subsidised Eye Care
Additional Information
At Marie Curie, our values are central to everything we do. They guide how we care for people, how we work together, and how we make decisions every day. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe for everyone — staff and volunteers alike — supportive, inclusive and rewarding. We take stringent steps to ensure that anyone who joins our organisation are suitable for their roles and are committed to safeguarding all our people from harm. We actively consider our impact on the planet, embedding sustainability into everyday decisions to create a lasting, positive difference for the individuals we care for and the world we share.
We believe everyone should have the opportunity to thrive and fulfil their potential. Marie Curie is deeply committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, recognising both the social justice imperative and the strength a diverse workforce brings. We actively encourage applications from people of all cultures, perspectives and lived experiences.
We are happy to make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process. If you require any support, please contact us directly.
Every application we receive is personally reviewed by a member of our Talent Acquisition team, and in return, we ask that your application authentically reflects you — your experience, perspective and voice.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.