Head of communications and community engagement jobs

Are you experienced in trust fundraising and ready to help make a meaningful impact?

We’re looking for a Trusts Fundraising Officer to join our Income Generation team at the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association. You’ll help secure funding from charitable trusts and foundations, supporting our vital work and strategic goals. You’ll manage a portfolio of funders, develop new opportunities, and create high-quality proposals that bring our work to life. You’ll also build strong relationships across teams and ensure accurate and timely reporting.

This is a great opportunity for someone who enjoys writing strong, impactful proposals and is keen to be more involved in building relationships, both internally and externally. You’ll be supported by a collaborative, friendly team and given a diverse portfolio with the chance to shape our future approach and influence how we work. We’re looking for someone who brings a thoughtful, tailored approach to trust fundraising, and who is excited by the opportunity to help us grow.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage a portfolio of charitable trusts and grant-making bodies to achieve income targets
• Research and identify new funding prospects
• Develop clear, well-structured proposals for low- and mid-value funders
• Build strong internal relationships to support collaborative working
• Deliver timely and accurate reports and updates to funders
• Provide excellent stewardship to funders to support long-term engagement
• Maintain accurate and consistent records of fundraising data
• Contribute to wider team targets as part of the High Value team

About You:

• Proven experience of trust fundraising, meeting income targets
• Strong writing skills, with the ability to tailor content for different funders
• Confident in identifying and researching suitable funding opportunities
• Able to build and maintain positive working relationships internally and externally
• Highly organised and able to prioritise a varied workload
• Strong attention to detail
• Comfortable working both independently and as part of a team
• Skilled in using Microsoft Office and CRM systems (Dynamics 365 experience is desirable)

About Us:

Our vision is a world free from MND. Our mission is to improve care and support for people with MND, their families and carers. We fund and promote research that leads to new understanding and treatments and brings us closer to a cure for MND. The Association also campaigns and raises awareness so the needs of people with MND, and everyone who cares for them, are recognised, and addressed by wider society.

What We Offer:

• 28 days holiday, increasing to 33 days after 5 years, plus Bank Holidays.
• Access to UK Healthcare, including dental, eyecare, health screenings, and therapies.
• 24/7 GP access via phone and video.
• Life assurance and confidential counselling helplines.
• Salary sacrifice schemes (Cycle to Work, Buy/Sell Annual Leave).
• Access to Benefit Hub for discounts on everyday shopping.
• Enhanced pension scheme.
• Opportunities for training and personal development.
• Hybrid working.

The full job description and further information about working for the MND Association is available in the candidate pack.

We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusivity. We work to remove barriers for everyone affected by MND, employees, volunteers, and stakeholders.

As part of the Disability Confident Scheme, we guarantee interviews for disabled applicants who meet the role's requirements.

Hybrid Working and Flexibility: This role offers hybrid working, with the expectation to attend the office 1 day per week with the flexibility to attend more regularly in line with business needs.

The Woodland Trust is looking for a Lead Policy Advocate - Climate and Nature Finance to drive our advocacy on green finance and ecosystem service markets. Green finance is an emerging priority for UK and devolved governments, and this role provides the opportunity to shape and promote high integrity and high impact approaches for woods and trees.

The Role:

• Influence public policy and market frameworks by working closely with government, regulators, corporate partners and the wider conservation sector.
• Provide expert insight into emerging nature markets and finance models that support the Trust’s strategic and income-generating goals.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with senior leaders, corporate stakeholders and voluntary sector partners to extend the Trust’s policy influence.
• Represent the Trust in external forums, clearly communicating policy priorities in language that resonates with business and policy audiences.
• Monitor public policy developments across the UK, identifying risks, opportunities and informing internal teams accordingly.
• Support cross-organisational collaboration by responding to internal requests, managing external relationships, and adapting to evolving priorities.
• This is a hybrid role with travel to London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and to our Head Office in Grantham, once or twice a month.

The Candidate:

• You have an enthusiasm for the environment and share our core values-Grow Together, Explore, Focus and Make it Count
• Proven experience in policy and advocacy relating to green finance and ecosystem service markets, with a strong understanding of their role in environmental and conservation outcomes.
• Skilled in shaping and delivering policy goals through effective external advocacy and stakeholder engagement across public, private, and voluntary sectors.
• Confident communicator with the ability to influence and build credibility at senior levels and translate complex policy into compelling messages.
• Knowledge of UK policy landscapes, including devolved administrations, and how to tailor approaches accordingly.
• Collaborative and evidence-led, with experience aligning internal teams and expertise to support advocacy efforts.
• Educated to degree level or equivalent, with a commitment to continuous learning and willingness to travel across the UK as needed.

Benefits & Wellbeing: Joining our team means you'll be a big part of tackling environmental and climate issues. We take good care of our staff, offering support and training opportunities. We also offer:

• Enhanced Employer Pension
• Life Assurance
• Flexible & Hybrid Working Options
• Generous Annual Leave - 25 days + bank holidays (pro rata for part time)
• Buy and Sell Annual Leave
• Enhanced Parental Pay
• Employee Assistance Programme

About Us: The Woodland Trust is the UK's leading woodland conservation charity and is dedicated to creating a world where trees and woods thrive for both people and nature. Our mission involves engaging and inspiring individuals to contribute toward tackling the nature and climate crisis through the protection, restoration, and creation of essential woodland habitats.

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion: To achieve our vision of a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature, we need to better reflect society and the communities we work in. All people, no matter their background, identity, ability, or circumstance, should benefit from trees.

People of colour and disabled people are currently under-represented across the environment and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled, we particularly encourage you to apply.

Please contact us to discuss any additional support or adjustments you may need to complete your application.

Application Advice: For fairness we keep our candidates’ personal details hidden from the hiring managers, so they do not see your CV until shortlisting is completed.

Make sure that your Personal Statement clearly shows how your skills and knowledge link to the specifications in the job description and you share with us your passion for the role.

Acceptable Use Policy - Artificial Intelligence (AI): We understand that candidates may choose to use AI tools to support their job applications-for example, to help structure or edit written responses. We welcome the use of AI in this way, particularly where it helps improve accessibility, such as for neurodivergent applicants. However, we ask that any information submitted reflects your own experience, skills and understanding. During interviews, candidates are expected to respond independently without the use of AI tools.

Apply Now: If you're ready to make a difference and grow with us, send in your application today. We might close the job opening early if we get a lot of applications, so it's a good idea to apply soon. If we do close the advert early, and you have an application in process, we will email you prior to closing to give you time to complete.

Interviews will be held via Microsoft Teams on the following dates:

Wednesday 8th and Monday 13th October 2025

You will be joining us at a time that holds the greatest potential for fundraising in our history, following the launch of the UK Government’s Delivery Plan for ME and initial findings of the DecodeME genetics study (co-led by Action for ME) in Summer 2025. 

Building on our charity’s already established level of support from major donors, you will provide exceptional relationship management to existing donors alongside growing our network of high value supporters.

Working closely with the CEO, alongside managing a portfolio of donors and prospects ensuring excellent stewardship, you will support our Breakthrough-ME Group (a group of high net worth and highly networked individuals). There is an established level of support from major donors at Action for ME so this is a role that will require exceptional relationship management to retain our current valued supporters while growing this crucial area of fundraising. 

This would be an ideal role for an experienced philanthropy professional seeking to work for a small but ambitious charity, helping us to achieve our mission to improve the lives of all people affected by ME – better meeting their needs today while taking action to secure change for tomorrow.

Key duties

Major Donor Fundraising

• Successfully develop and implement the philanthropy strategy to secure and maximise funds from high value individuals for Action for ME achieving annual income of £250k+

• Set plans and budgets which will deliver income through major gift fundraising and philanthropic giving through family trusts and foundations, including quarterly forecasting.

• Manage a portfolio of prospects and donors at the £5k to £100k level, to develop and maintain strong and long-standing partnerships

• Work closely with the Director of Fundraising and Development and other colleagues to ensure that plans and activities for fundraising from high value individuals are integrated into the overall fundraising strategy and plan for significant growth.

• Be responsible for our Breakthrough-ME Group with high quality proposition development.  Contribution to Group fundraising activities with a specific focus on ensuring their networks support pipeline growth for future fundraising.

• Lead the delivery of our biennial fundraising gala dinner, maximising income and new opportunities from attendees.

• Develop engaging and inspiring opportunities to steward and cultivate support creating a calendar of activities including events, presentations, approaches, networking and meetings.

• Utilise the CRM database (Raisers Edge) to provide the data required to strategise your approach to philanthropy, monitor progress and provide a high-quality donor experience.

• Ensure utilisation of insight & data, producing management information data to inform planning and strategy development.

• With the Director of Fundraising & Development, create inspiring cases for support and resulting propositions with clear budgets and outcomes.

• Create adequate systems and processes to support the major donor programme.

• Undertake and manage research into prospects and major donors, preparing for approaches and presentations and briefing senior leadership and trustees for donor meetings and events.

• Develop and maintain relationships with donors, a wide range of staff and volunteers from trustee level down.

• Provide regular feedback and internal reporting to line management.

• Work with other fundraisers to ensure that all fundraising opportunities and leads are followed up – particularly in corporate, community and trust fundraising.

• Work with Trustees, the Chief Executive and members of the Leadership Team to develop relationships with major donors.

• Self-administrate including managing your own diary and meetings, keeping accurate and up to date records of activity

• Occasional travel to London, Bristol & events

Other duties

• To positively promote the work and activities of Action for M.E. at all times.

• To contribute to the team’s overall, ongoing and annual planning and budgeting.

• To undertake any other reasonable activity in line with the responsibilities of the post as requested by the Director of Fundraising and Development, Chief Executive or any other senior Action for ME management.

• Act as an advocate for the Charity and its work.

• To work in accordance with Action for ME’s values of collaboration, equity and empathy.

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

About the role

This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced and strong Administrator, preferably with HR recruitment and administrative experience; to support our newly formed people-oriented team. This is a key role within Women and Girls Network (WGN) and requires someone with sound experience of working within a multidisciplinary team within the charity sector. You must have a keen interest in the HR field and keen to progress on this career path.

This is an exciting opportunity to develop and shape the future of WGN’s Human Resources function work and focus so it remains aligned with our principles and approach in an ever-evolving landscape. To make an impact on the candidate experience as well as other stakeholders.

This role is offered on a part-time basis (28 hours / 4 days per week) and will involve working from WGN’s Vauxhall office for a minimum of two days per week. Depending on service and organisational requirements, there may also be a need to work at one of our community-based offices in West London or additional days at the Vauxhall office.

Interviews are expected to take place in person at WGN's Vauxhall office. 

About you

Ideally you will have some understanding about working within the charity / not-for-profit sector and will be looking for an opportunity to contribute to our shared commitment of working towards the eradication of violence against women and girls and challenging inequality.

About us

Women and Girls Network (WGN) is a pan-London organisation that supports women and girls affected by all forms of gendered-based violence. Our overall aim is to promote, preserve and restore the mental health and well-being of women and girls who have experienced, or are at risk of, gendered-based violence, whilst working towards a society free of gendered-based violence.

We do this by:

• Providing women-only holistic and seamless therapeutic services, which meet women and girls’ needs and contribute to total and sustainable recovery from the experiences of violence.
• Evidencing the impact of gendered-based violence and presenting this information in appropriate forums to affect social change in attitudes towards, and responses to, gendered-based violence.
• Developing good practice in the sector by providing training and guidance on specialist service provision and the development of culturally appropriate service delivery.

WGN is proud to be an accredited Living Wage Employer and a member of The London VAWG Consortium, Halo Code, and Helplines Partnership.

Join us and be part of a team that values your well-being, growth, and contribution.

Benefits

At WGN, we are committed to supporting our employees' well-being, professional growth, and work-life balance. Our comprehensive benefits package includes:

Financial Benefits

• Bike Loan Scheme – Provided by Green Commute Initiative
• Pension Scheme – Enrolment into Aviva pension scheme from day one
• Charity Worker Discounts – Access to exclusive discounts
• Death in Service Benefit – Life assurance, including Virtual GP access and additional services

Health & Wellbeing Benefits

• Eye Care Support – Contribution towards eye tests and glasses for VDU users
• Enhanced Sick Pay – Based on length of service
• Employee Assistance Programme – 24/7 confidential support
• Clinical Supervision – For clinical and frontline roles
• Specialist Counselling – Up to six sessions for staff who are survivors of sexual violence
• Sanitary Products – Available at all WGN sites
• Hot Drinks – Provided at every site

Leave & Work-Life Balance

• Annual Leave – 25 days plus public holidays and 3 closure days in December (pro-rata)
• Birthday Leave – A day off to celebrate your birthday
• Enhanced Maternity & Adoption Leave – Support for growing families
• Unpaid Leave – Available for exceptional circumstances
• Flexible Working – Right to request flexible hours or patterns
• Hybrid Working – Balance between office and home working

Learning & Development

• Specialist Training & CPD – Ongoing development opportunities with accredited training
• Regular Supervision – One-to-one support from line managers

Exemption

WGN is an equal opportunities employer. 

The above post is exempt under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, Part 1.

We are a growing, sustainable and ambitious social mobility charity. We know that young people in under-served parts of the country are missing out on opportunities which would unlock their confidence and build their skills for a successful future. 

Our long-term, transformational partnerships with business and civic society which support over 60k+ young people every year discover what they are amazing at. This role will lead our evaluation approaches, data analysis and impact insights for our new five-year strategy - Ambition 2030.

What you will be doing

The insights you bring to our programme delivery will aid our understanding of our short, medium and long-term impact for young people, and our role in careers education and social mobility. Your work will also support us to continue to build on ‘what’s working’ and improve our offer to schools, ensuring our support reaches the young people who are most at risk of missing out on opportunities to spark a successful future.

Responsiblities:

• Evaluation
• Data collection
• Data analysis
• Insight reporting
• Systems management

Read more in our job pack. 

Job details

• £35,000 salary
• Full time (37.5 hrs per week)
• Hybrid working*
• 28 days holiday + bank holidays (inclusive of Christmas closure days)
• Training budget

*Hybrid working

This is a hybrid role. You will be working from home and will join our Team Together Days in a co-working space in London a min of 1 a month, up to a max of 3 per month. These days are considered commuting days. You do not need to live in London to apply for this role, but you will need to consider what you feel is a reasonable commuting distance and to be able to attend our team days in London. You can read more about our approach to hybrid working on our website. 

We take safeguarding seriously, please note for safer recruitment purposes, all applications must clearly state continuous work history for the last 10 years, or since leaving full time education. It is ok to have employment gaps on your CV, please provide a note to explain these. Any CVs without full history (including start and finish months and years) will not be considered. 

To read the full job information pack, download the attachment. Please read this before completing your application as it contains some helpful advice of the key experiences and skills we are looking for. 

Using AI in your application 

Robots need not apply. Human skills and authenticity is incredibly important in the work we do with young people. We want to hear your voice and personality in your application. The best way to learn about our work is from our website, not AI. We receive many applications generated by AI platforms which often include incorrect information about our charity - providing incorrect or misinformation may mean we discount your application. 

Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the wellbeing and welfare of children and we require everyone associated with The Talent Foundry Trust, including all trustees, employees, and volunteers to share this commitment. Successful applicants will need to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the role, including completing our Safer Recruitment process, references from past employers and Disclosure and Barring Service checks.