Head of education and learning jobs

Are you looking for a new challenge? Passionate about making sure all our learners have an excellent education? Look no further come and join us in this critical role!

Ambitious about Autism has an amazing opportunity for an inspirational leader. We are seeking an outstanding and innovative Executive Head to work across Treehouse School and Ambitious College. The successful person will help build on our successes and be responsible and accountable for the operational direction, quality and outcomes of our schools and college. The Executive Head will act as an ambassador for education services with internal and external stakeholders. 

Ambitious about Autism stands with autistic children, young people and their families to champion rights, campaign for change and create opportunities. Our overarching aim is that all autistic children and young people have an excellent and inclusive education that enables them to learn, thrive and achieve. Ultimately, this will support them to have a good quality of life, including the realistic prospect of living and working as part of their communities.

What we offer: 

• Amazing colleagues with a shared passion for autistic children and young people.
• Strong values-based culture. 
• Excellent training and development opportunities including an ILM accredited leadership and management course.
• Flexible working. 
• Re-location package.
• Access to bespoke executive leadership coaching.
• Annual staff recognition awards.  
• Interest free season ticket loans. 
• A wide range of wellness programmes including: virtual fitness classes, art & cooking classes and learning programmes.  
• Employee Assistance Programme, to help you balance your work, family, and personal life.  
• Free physiotherapy.  

Role Closes:  Friday 6th March 2026

Shortlist- Tuesday 10th March 2026

Stage 1 – Stakeholder Engagement Day (Virtual): Thursday 12th March PM- Microsoft Teams call

Stage 2 - Interview and assessment (In person at Treehouse School,Pears National Centre): Monday 16th March

 Start date: September 2026

 To find out more about this position please find attached the recruitment pack entailing the role details. For an informal discussion regarding this exciting senior leadership role, please contact Ben Lowe.

Ambitious about Autism is committed to fostering equity, diversity, and inclusion at every level of our organisation. We warmly welcome applications from all qualified candidates, valuing the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives they bring. We encourage applications from individuals regardless of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or parental status, disability, or age.

Our recruitment process promotes equal opportunities, and we are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for candidates with disabilities or additional needs throughout the recruitment process. Please contact our Recruitment Team for accommodations. We recognise disability as a physical or mental impairment that significantly and long-term affects a person's ability to perform day-to-day activities, as defined by the UK Equality Act 2010. All applications will be considered solely on merit, aligned with our mission to support autistic children and young people.

Ambitious about Autism is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and successful candidates will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check. As part of our Safer Recruitment checks, an online search maybe carried out in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education.

The Safeguarding responsibilities of the post as per the job description and personal specification.
Whether the post is exempt from the rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendment to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2021. This means that when applying for certain jobs and activities certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected', so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS Filter Guidance.

Together we make a difference, develop and learn, and support each other. Every day with us is different, but our mission remains the same: To champion the rights, needs and ambitions of the people we support - they are at the heart of everything we do. We stand by them and we work together for change.

Alongside an incredible team of like-minded peers, you’ll be working behind-the-scenes to support our staff, volunteers, families, and supporters. You will be helping our work happen across the charity; enabling us to care for and champion the rights, needs and ambitions of the people we support.

The Role

As Interim Head of Business Development, you will provide strategic leadership and hands-on delivery to stabilise and strengthen the Trust’s business development approach. You will lead the end-to-end opportunity pipeline - from market intelligence and commissioner engagement through to bid development, governance and mobilisation handover - ensuring opportunities are aligned to strategy, deliver strong outcomes, and are financially viable.

Hours: 37.5 Hours 

Contract : 1 year fixed term contract 

Salary: £48,022.00 

Location: Cheadle, Stockport

Responsibilities include but are not exhaustive

• Provide visible interim leadership for the Trust’s business development function, setting clear priorities and ways of working, and coordinating contribution from service, operational, clinical and corporate colleagues.
• Develop and maintain a Trust-wide opportunity pipeline (tenders, frameworks, spot-purchase growth, strategic partnerships and other commissioned income routes), including qualification, prioritisation, and clear next steps.
• Lead proactive engagement with commissioners, local authorities, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), NHS partners and other stakeholders to understand demand, shape specifications where appropriate, and position the Trust effectively.
• Own the end-to-end bid process: establish bid plans, coordinate contributors, draft and quality-assure responses, and ensure submissions are compliant, persuasive, and submitted on time.
• Work with Finance and service leads to ensure all bids and proposals are underpinned by robust costing, pricing, risk assessment and contract terms review; ensure financial viability and appropriate approvals before submission.
• Create and embed a practical bid governance approach (stage-gates, templates, timelines and sign-off), so that bidding is consistent, efficient and auditable.
• Champion the Together Trust’s vision, mission and values, and role model the Trust’s behaviours.
• Commit to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in how opportunities are developed and how the Trust works with partners.
• Maintain a visible presence across Trust services and corporate teams, balancing hybrid working with on-site engagement as needed.

About You

• Educated to degree level (or equivalent senior leadership experience).
• Evidence of continuing professional development in leadership, commissioning, commercial practice or service transformation
• Significant senior experience in commissioning, business development, service development or strategic partnership working within a public service environment (e.g. local authority, NHS, education, social care, VCFSE).
• Proven track record of developing successful proposals, business cases, tenders or commissioning documentation - including coordinating multiple contributors to deadlines.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, including experience engaging credibly with senior commissioners and partners.
  • Good understanding of public sector commissioning and procurement routes, including tendering, frameworks and contract governance.
  • Understanding of the importance of safeguarding, quality and regulatory expectations when developing and mobilising services for children, young people and adults.
• Ability to analyse complex problems, identify options and recommend proportionate solutions.
• Full UK driving license with ability to travel across Together Trust locations and to partner/commissioner meetings as required.

Benefits

• Annual Leave 27 day holiday plus 8 days bank holidays rising to 30 after 5 years, 33 days after 10 years
• Generous pension scheme and death in service benefit, up to 7% company pension contributions initially rising with length of service and up to 6 x basic salary death in service benefit.
• Occupational sick pay and family friendly policies including enhanced maternity, paternity and adoptive leave.
• Reward and Discount platform offering discounts at high street shops, travel, insurances etc.
• Eligibility to apply for Blue Light card
• Proud to be a real living wage employer
• Refer a friend scheme, be rewarded for recommending a friend to work with us
• Comprehensive training and development opportunities, including apprenticeship qualifications
• Long service awards including cash gifts and extra holiday.
• Promotion of Wellbeing across the organisation including Mental Health First Aiders offering wellbeing support from trained colleague and free weekly yoga session  in person or online
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme for you and adults at your home

Find out more — watch our short video to see what it’s like to work with us:

https://youtu.be/SEnw2o00T6E

Applications are very welcome from all regardless of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief, race, sex, sexual orientation, trans status or socio-economic background. We are committed to making reasonable adjustments for disabled people. We positively encourage applications from those with lived experience. 

If there is any part of your lived experience you want to keep confidential in some way please talk to the Recruitment or HR shared service teams and we will do what we can to support you

The Together Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the people we support and expects all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. 

Safeguarding checks will be undertaken for the successful candidate in line with our safer recruitment policy.

First Give

First Give is a national charity that partners with secondary schools to inspire and equip young people with the knowledge, confidence, and skills to drive change. Through our structured programmes, students explore social issues, connect with charities, and take tangible steps to improve their community.

Empowering and equipping young people to meaningfully contribute to their community is a first step to addressing many of the challenges we face at this time of social disconnection and division. Our vision is of a more generous society where everyone is willing and able to give their time, money and skills to the causes they care about.

The Route to a Million Campaign

This is an exciting time for First Give, as we seek to expand and diversify our fundraising streams into Corporate and HNWI. To support this, we are launching the Route to A Million campaign in March, aiming to raise an additional £1.5 million over the next 3 years on top of our forecast income. The campaign is supported by a newly recruited campaign board, and the new Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships will spearhead the work required to achieve this target.

Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships

We are seeking a dynamic, strategic and entrepreneurial Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships to supercharge First Give’s next phase of income growth. This is a pivotal role at the heart of our mission, offering the opportunity to shape and deliver a multi‑year fundraising strategy that fuels real, measurable impact for young people and society as a whole. First Give is a small charity, with a growing fundraising team and big ambitions. You will therefore be someone who thrives in a start-up environment, brings new ideas to the table and is comfortable leading a brand-new team.

As the senior leader for all income streams, you will own and drive our major donor programme; unlock new philanthropic partnerships; and build a talented team across other income streams to achieve ambitious goals. Working closely with the Director and our emerging Campaign Board, you will play critical role in growing our £1m+ annual income, deepening donor engagement and building the culture, systems and relationships that will propel First Give into its next phase of expansion.

This is an exciting opportunity for an exceptional fundraiser who thrives in a values‑driven, high‑ambition environment and wants to make a lasting contribution to a fast‑growing education charity.

Contract: Full time (35 hours per week), Permanent

Salary: £60K (+£2K London weighting if applicable)

Location: This is a hybrid contract. The successful candidate will be expected to work from our London office or attend in-person meetings and host donors at school Final events as required. The remainder of the week can typically be worked remotely, with flexibility as required.

The students we work with come from a diverse range of backgrounds, and so do we.  We want to foster a diverse and inclusive culture, to empower our teams to achieve our vision drawing on the broadest possible range of experiences. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates from minoritised groups currently underrepresented on our executive team, particularly black and minority ethnic and disabled candidates.

Please download the candidate pack for more details, and don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like a chat about the role or any reasonable adjustments we can make before applying: contact details provided in the candidate pack.

The person who currently leads ADUKs education and training work is moving into an exciting new role within our team. We’re now looking for someone marvellous to take on part of their work, alongside some exciting new initiatives we want to develop. We’re not looking for a direct replacement - we want someone who will relish the opportunity to shape and grow this role into something truly impactful, supporting our work and strengthening the sector.

Key Purpose: The postholder will play a key role in strengthening knowledge, understanding, and best practice both within the sector and externally with service providers and the public, helping to remove barriers for assistance dog partnerships.

Internal focus: Coordinate the learning and development of ADUK member organisations, ensuring access to high-quality resources, training, and support to maintain knowledge sharing and best practice development across the sector.

External focus: Deliver education engagements and training to stakeholders, including businesses, service providers, and the public, through ADUK’s wider education initiatives and the new Corporate Allyship Programme.

Key Responsibilities

Learning:

• Manage ADUK’s shared Learning Management System (Moodle) and training platform, supporting members to make the most of the available content and resources.

Knowledge Sharing:

• Collaborate with staff and volunteers from member organisations and candidates to identify learning needs and expertise.
• Coordinate engaging and effective knowledge-sharing programmes aligned with member needs.

Education Delivery:

• Work with ADUK colleagues to coordinate and deliver engaging education initiatives, both in-person and virtually, for service providers and public services.
• Coordinate logistics for external training events, including venues and registrations.
• Support delivery of training for the ADUK’s Corporate Allyship Programme in collaboration with relevant colleagues.

Partnerships and Collaboration:

• Identify opportunities to work with external bodies, partners, and stakeholders to deliver training and share knowledge with the wider community.

Evaluation and Impact:

• Evaluate and assess the effectiveness of knowledge-sharing programmes and external training and explore how best to leverage this evidence. 
• Prepare and present impact reports to inform continuous improvement.

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Attributes:

• Recent and relevant experience (3 years +) in designing and delivering in-person and online training and educational workshops and programmes.
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills, with the ability to engage diverse audiences.
• Experience in managing learning management systems (LMS) and digital learning tools, (preferably Moodle based LMS)
• Excellent organisations skills with the ability to prioritise tasks and coordinate multiple organisations and stakeholders.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to convey complex information clearly and concisely.
• Confident relationship building skills.
• A collaborative and adaptable approach to teamwork, with the ability to work effectively as part of a small team that sits within a large membership network.
• Be able and willing to travel extensively (across England, Wales and Scotland) to deliver in person training.

All applicants should be aligned with ADUK’s values of championing a standards-based approach to the training and welfare of assistance dogs.

See Recruitment Pack for more information and full job and person spec. 

We are looking for an experienced museum and heritage professional with a curatorial and/or learning and engagement background to ensure our collection, archive and content development has relevance for diverse audiences and partners.

The role of Head of Content, Learning & Engagement offers a hugely exciting opportunity to join a young and ambitious charity at a pivotal moment in its evolution.

You will develop our work across the collection and archive, including having curatorial oversight for Crystal Palace Museum, ownership of which will be transferring to the Trust during 2026. You will also lead our learning and engagement programmes, ensuring all activity is audience-driven and rooted in our mission, values and strategic principles and taking inspiration from our rich heritage and landscape and fascinating creative, cultural, and sporting legacy.

We are recruiting a Head of Income and Engagement to provide strategic leadership and vision for two critical functions—Fundraising and Marketing & Communications—bringing them together into a unified, high-performing team. This role focuses on shaping strategy, building external relationships, and driving organisational growth through income generation and brand engagement, rather than day-to-day operational management.

You will set the direction for attracting significant funding, particularly through corporate partnerships, while strengthening what PAPYRUS already does well:

• Securing grants and trusts funding
• Harnessing the passion of our large, committed supporter base - including bereaved families and others who raise voluntary income for us

In a challenging financial climate, you will lead efforts to grow these income streams and maintain a strong, values-driven presence across press, social media, and broadcast channels. The role requires influence, innovation, and the ability to inspire all managers and staff, as well as external stakeholders.

Please visit the careers site for the full job description and person specification for the role.

Salary: £58,523 per annum (Scale SCP 46) progressing by increments to £62,852 per annum (Scale SCP 49)

Hours: 36 hours per week Location: Remote with regular travel across the UK

Contract: Permanent 

Benefits: You will receive 28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays (pro rata for part time workers), hybrid and flexible working arrangements, an attractive pension scheme, Simply Health membership, enhanced sick pay and enhanced parental pay. Please visit our website for more details.

Closing date: midnight on 22nd February 2026

We reserve the right to close the vacancy earlier if we receive sufficient applications so, please submit your application as soon as possible.

PAPYRUS is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in employment, and its recruitment policies are designed to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, disability, gender re-assignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

PAPYRUS is committed to safeguarding all children, young people and adults at risk that interact with the organisation. The organisation recognises its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of these vulnerable groups by a commitment to procedures to protect them. The charity expects all staff and volunteers to fully support and promote these commitments.

HEAD OF PARTNERSHIPS & DEVELOPMENT

About Us

Portobello Business Centre (PBC) is a not-for-profit organisation that helps people start, grow and scale successful businesses. 

Build our first fundraising function and secure transformational partnerships that drive social mobility.

For 30 years, we have been committed to social mobility, inclusion and entrepreneurship and have supported thousands of businesses. Alumni include household names such as Charlie Bigham’s, Innocent Drinks and Karen Millen, as well as countless sole traders and early-stage founders.

We are a small, ambitious, growing team working to deliver a new organisational strategy and expand our impact.

About You & The Role

You are a natural builder who enjoys closing deals, developing relationships and creating meaningful social impact. You will shape and lead PBC’s first dedicated fundraising function, building a portfolio from the ground up with limited existing donor relationships.

The role focuses on securing six-figure corporate partnerships and cultivating high-net-worth individual donors, alongside a smaller trusts and foundations portfolio. You thrive in a strategic, relationship-led role and are comfortable using a broad range of fundraising approaches.

Working closely with the leadership team, you will secure funding to support long-term sustainability and expand PBC’s impact across London and beyond. Initially the sole fundraiser, you will have the opportunity to develop and lead a team as the function grows.

Key Responsibilities

• Fundraising Strategy Delivery: Take ownership of multi-year fundraising strategy working closely with the CEO and Board to diversify and increase revenue streams that support PBC’s service expansion and reach

• Relationship Management: Research, identify and cultivate funding opportunities from companies and high-net-worth individuals, alongside trusts and foundations

• Trusts & Foundations: Oversee the grant pipeline, with external support for high-value applications and build relationships with decision-makers

• Develop Compelling Fundraising Material: Collaborate with CEO and wider team to evidence, quantify and articulate PBC’s social value using data and storytelling to position PBC as a high-impact partner for donors and partners

• Performance Monitoring & Reporting: Track and evaluate fundraising performance against financial and operational targets. Provide regular updates to the CEO and Board, ensuring compliance with fundraising regulations, sector and the Chartered Institute of Fundraising best practices

• Proactive Self Starter: Though collaborative, you are motivated to build and maintain momentum, identify and create opportunities and take full ownership of projects from initial idea to delivery

• Commercial Development: Support development, sales and delivery of commercial income strategy, specifically helping to grow the paid membership scheme and securing sponsorship for commercial programmes and offers

Benefits

• Annual Leave: 21 days’ paid annual leave, plus UK public and bank holidays.

• Christmas Closure: Additional 10–14 days of paid leave as the office closes between Christmas and New Year.

• Season Ticket Loan: Interest-free season ticket loan available to support travel costs.

• Training & Professional Development: Access to relevant fundraising, partnerships and leadership training, including external courses, sector events and conferences.

• Supportive working environment: A small, collaborative and ambitious team.

#Fundraising #HeadOfDevelopment #Partnerships #CorporateFundraising #CorporatePartnerships 
#SeniorFundraising #SocialImpact #London #Head Of Development #Partnerships #Corporate Fundraising #Corporate Partnerships #Senior Fundraising #Social Impact #Business Development #StrategicFundraising #Strategic Fundraising #StrategicPartnerships #Strategic Partnerships

The Role

As Wilder Learning Manager, you’ll lead a small, passionate team delivering inspiring outdoor learning and engagement programmes that connect schools, educators and young people with nature across Sussex. You’ll oversee the delivery and ongoing development of high‑quality accredited training, INSETs, school sessions and advice that supports schools to improve their grounds for nature and outdoor learning.

You’ll be an enthusiastic and confident leader, able to step into delivery when needed, and excited by innovation, collaboration and partnership working. Bringing experience of managing people, you’ll foster a positive, supportive and inclusive culture, encouraging creativity, continuous improvement and professional development.

This varied role combines leadership, project management and hands‑on involvement, playing a key part in ensuring our learning offer inspires and empowers educators and young people to connect with, care for and benefit from nature across Sussex’s land and marine environments.

A valid drivers licence is required for this role.

This role is subject to an Enhanced DBS with Barred List check

The Person

You will be a professional, values-led leader who enjoys supporting others to do their best work. You’ll bring a positive, practical and reflective approach; enabling you to navigate complexity, manage competing demands and support decision-making. You’ll be comfortable building trust, having honest conversations, and creating space for others to grow; balancing encouragement with clear expectations.

You’ll be organised and reflective, able to manage your time and priorities while remaining approachable and supportive. You’ll share Sussex Wildlife Trust’s commitment to inclusion and safeguarding, and reflect our values in your practice.  You’ll demonstrate a personal passion for wildlife, outdoor learning and the benefits nature connection for young people in Sussex, which will underpin everything you do.

The role is 20 hours per week, negotiable, working remotely but with frequent visits to the NCC
Head Office in Portsmouth for training and assimilation into the Caseworking team.

Working as part of the NCC Casework Team, the Triage Caseworker (Education) will be the first
point of contact for beneficiaries seeking educational support through the Greenwich Hospital Go
Learn - Free online tutoring for Naval families and the NCC University Bursary Programme. This role
involves following the triage processes to assess the needs of the children to provide
recommendations for tutoring/bursary support. Assessments may lead to referrals being made to
the NCC for financial assistance for other child/family needs, advice, and support in the
management of finances, and child specific needs

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

Caseworkers provide support and advice to eligible individuals in line with the policies of the Naval
Children’s Charity. They work closely with other organisations to ensure that children and families
receive appropriate and prompt support.

The role of Triage Caseworker (Education) is to assess the eligibility for support through the
Greenwich Hospital Go Learn and The NCC University Bursary Programmes. Where additional child
and family needs are identified, recommendations for appropriate assistance to the NCC
Casework Team will be required. Caseworkers should be empathetic and non-judgmental.
Caseworkers will receive induction training in the NCC’s Beacon database, Microsoft forms and
other tools necessary to the role. The role is subject to DBS checking.
 

• To act as the first point of contact for enquiries and applications from beneficiaries, providing a calm, supportive and professional welcome
• To complete an initial assessment of eligibility and, where necessary, further assessment through telephone calls and emails
• To use active listening and empathetic communication to build trust and ensure beneficiaries feel heard
• Provide appropriate information to the Go Learn providers to enable the family to receive appropriate support.
• Accurately record beneficiary information into Beacon, ensuring timely, detailed, and confidential case notes
• Log and track applications and progress of tutoring delivery
• Assess and evaluate outcomes from tutoring
• If necessary, refer the family to the NCC Triage team for additional support.
• Provide clear information about available support, signposting, or referrals
• Follow up with beneficiaries once support has been completed to ascertain impact
• To act as the first point of contact for enquiries and applications from beneficiaries, providing a calm, supportive and professional welcome
• To complete an initial assessment of eligibility and, where necessary, further assessment through telephone calls and emails
• To use active listening and empathetic communication to build trust and ensure beneficiaries feel heard
• Provide appropriate information to the Aspire platform to enable the young person to receive the support
• Accurately record beneficiary information into Beacon, ensuring timely, detailed, and confidential case notes
• Log and track applications and progress of bursary delivery.
• Assess and evaluate outcomes from bursary.
• If necessary, refer the young person to the NCC Triage team for additional support.
• Provide clear information about available support, signposting, or referrals
• Follow up with beneficiaries once support has been completed to ascertain impact

General duties:

• Ensure confidential handling of all information concerning beneficiaries in accordance with The Naval Children’s Charity’s confidentiality and data protection policies
• Keep thorough, confidential and systematic records of all matters concerning enquiries, applications, and grant awards in accordance with The Naval Children’s Charity’s data protection policies
• Regularly update personal training and skills
• Such other relevant duties as may be assigned from time to time

Essential 

• Professional background in education with an understanding of additional needs
• Be able to demonstrate empathy, emotional intelligence, and non-judgmental communication
• Evidenced knowledge and experience of charitable and financial support to beneficiary groups
• Strong communication, organisational and record keeping skills
• Ability to work unsupervised

Desirable

• Confident using IT including Microsoft Office; knowledge of grants or other CRM
• Experience of recording information into a CRM (training will be provided)
• Evidence of working effectively in co-operation with other charities and organisations
• Understanding of military life and the impact on serving personnel, veterans and their families
• Familiarity with the Royal Navy and the Service charity sector

Personal qualities 

• Adherence to NCC’s values
• Integrity, honesty and professionalism at all times
• Able to treat all people with respect and dignity
• Willing to take responsibility for actions and remain accountable
• A team player

The tasks listed in this job description are not designed to be exhaustive and may vary from time to time according to the needs of the Charity. This document will be reviewed in consultation with the post holder as the role and services provided by the organisation develop.

The Naval Children’s Charity is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and associated professionals to share this commitment
 

L&W is growing our research team and looking for a Head of Research to lead innovative, impactful research and evaluation projects across our focus areas of employment and skills.

This role will expand our capacity to win and deliver evaluation and qualitative research, while strengthening our methodological capability. We’re open-minded about what that means—but we want people who can go beyond standard process evaluations and basic qualitative approaches. You might have experience mapping and evaluating complex system-level change, applying realist evaluation methods, or developing co-design and participatory research projects. You will have have applied these while working alongside the practitioners and policymakers who need these insights to make decisions.

You will join a team that is enthusiastic about learning and improving, and a peer group of experienced qualitative and quantitative research leaders who you will work alongside.

If you have research consultancy experience and want to join a purpose-driven organisation that delivers real impact locally and nationally, we’d love to hear from you. But you might come from a different professional background and still meet our criteria. 

Location: Hybrid working: 40-60% in an L&W office. Our offices for this role are currently in Leicester and London, but if you are based elsewhere, please contact us to talk about how the role could work for you.

Team:Research and Development

Salary:£45,650-£59,080 per annum (pro rata), dependent on experience and location

Duration:Permanent

Working hours:0.6 to 1 FTE, with flexible working supported (eg, condensed hours, flexible start and finish times

Main Purpose

The Head of Research: Evaluation and Qualitative Methods is a new post for L&W – as we seek to deepen our capability and expand our capacity.

The post-holder will direct research projects across all of our areas of work, providing specific leadership and expertise in programme and system-level evaluations, and projects mobilising innovative or advanced qualitative methods (such as system mapping, co-design methods, ethnographic methods, creative methods and/or theory-based/realist evaluation).

They will work with the Head of Research: Employment and Better Work to develop the wider qualitative and evaluative skills of the wider research team.

They will also play a key role in leading and writing responding to tenders and working with colleagues to develop pro-active research proposals that fill key evidence gaps and respond to the interests of our funders. They will be a good relationship manager – who can understand what commissioners are interested in, and shape projects to deliver meaningful insights that solve the problems practitioners and policymakers face across employment and skills.

Duties and Responsibilities

Leadership and management

• Line manage members of the R&D team
• Co-lead the qualitative methods group at L&W: supporting the wider research team to develop their skills. 

Income

• Write and contribute to reactive and proactive funding proposals across L&W’s areas of work, with a specific focus on process and theory-based evaluations, and proposals using advanced/innovative qualitative methods
• Build relationships with current and potential funders
• Identify and build relationships with research partners

Impact

• Ensure that all projects under their direction generate meaningful insights and recommendations that respond to the real-world concerns and challenges faced by practitioners and policymakers
• Communicate insights clearly and effectively to funders and other stakeholders

Delivery

• Act as Project Director for research and evaluation projects: liaising with funders; shaping research proposals and plans; supporting project managers; leading project meetings; ensuring project margins are delivered effectively; carrying out research directly where appropriate
• Work with External Affairs team to develop appropriate comms and influencing plans for projects under your direction
• Use your research skills and experience to support the wider development of the Learning and Work team

Person Specification 

Expericence 

Experience of delivering and directing high-quality programmes evaluation and policy-relevant research: shaping research plans, working with funders and delivering meaningful insights -Essential 

Experience of responding to research and evaluation tenders and writing proposals. -Essential 

Experience of managing, supporting and developing researchers and research managers -Essential 

Experience of carrying out research and evaluation in the areas of employment and skills -Desirable

Skills

Advanced qualitative evaluation and research skills, eg. One or more of theory-based evaluation, ethnographic methods, creative/art-based methods, co-design methods, system-level evaluation -Essential 

Effective and efficient relationship management -Essential 

Clear and direct written communication style -Essential 

Knowledge

Knowledge of, and commitment to, L&W’s charitable aims and purpose -Essential 

Demonstrable knowledge in the areas of employment and skills policy and practice -Desirable

Learning and Work Institute works across the UK. Our work in Wales is led by a Cardiff based team, but all staff are required to follow the guidance set out in our Welsh language scheme when working in Wales.

About Grow
Grow is a youth development charity working with 16-24 year olds facing significant challenges in Sheffield. Many young people we work with experience mental health difficulties that have resulted in social isolation and a lack of engagement in work or training prospects. Our programmes combine coaching with gardening and nature-based activities to help our trainees combat social isolation, boost their wellbeing and develop employability skills.

For our full candidate pack which introduces you to Grow, our strategy and how we work, as well as a full role description please visit our website.

Role Description
The Head of Programmes and Impact is a strategic leadership role responsible for shaping Grow’s overarching programme strategy and ensuring its successful delivery against our five-year plan. The role oversees everything from green space expansion to the growth of our employer networks, ensuring every project delivers transformative results.

A key priority will be evolving our impact framework by gathering the evidence and long-term data needed to showcase our success to partners and funders. This is a high-level leadership role for a passionate professional dedicated to operational excellence, equality, and the future of youth development in Sheffield.

Programme Strategy & Governance

• Develop Grow’s overarching programme strategy, ensuring seamless alignment with the overall five-year strategic plan.
• Oversee programme delivery and green space development.
• Execute strategic reporting, providing clear programme updates and maintaining accountability for all related actions.
• Cultivate strategic partnerships with external organisations to expand Grow’s reach, open opportunities to deliver programmes in new areas, and increase overall impact.
• Expand Grow’s employment partner network, securing new partners to provide meaningful work experience placements.
• Develop a co‑production strategy that brings alumni together to shape Grow’s future direction and share their insights with staff and Trustees.

Impact Monitoring & Evaluation

• Develop Grow’s monitoring and evaluation framework, ensuring all team members are fully inducted in its use and understand the importance of consistent data collection.
• Coordinate the production of impact reports, presenting clear evidence of Grow’s success by analysing and communicating data from across all programmes to stakeholders and funders.
• Develop and oversee robust systems to track long‑term trainee outcomes in education, employment, and training, integrating national benchmarks and sector‑wide data to assess Grow’s performance against best practice in the youth and charity sectors.

Leadership & Team Management

• Oversee the Programme Team in the delivery of all Grow activities.
• Develop a culture of continuous learning within the team, encouraging feedback and professional growth.
• Deliver effective budget management for the Programme Team.
• Oversee and feed into health and safety and risk assessment processes for programmes.

Central Operations

• Work alongside the Operations Manager to ensure Grow’s central systems are working efficiently and that the Programme Team has the necessary tools and resources to succeed.
• Act as a driver for equality, diversity and inclusion; supporting the development of effective policies, procedures and the delivery plans and projects are in place and promoted.

Head of Health Information and Education

We’re the UK’s leading bowel cancer charity. We’re determined to save lives and improve the quality of life of everyone affected by bowel cancer. We support and fund targeted research, provide expert information and support to patients and their families, educate the public and professionals about the disease and campaign for early diagnosis and access to best treatment and care.  

We currently have around 95 staff based in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we’re in a privileged position to be able to grow our staff team to deliver our ambitious strategy, On a mission. There are huge challenges facing bowel cancer patients across the UK and our community needs us now more than ever. We’re building a strong and united team to bring us closer to a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer. 

Job summary for Head of Health Information and Education

The Head of Health Information and Education is a key role at Bowel Cancer UK, leading the delivery of our health information and health professional education. We currently provide high quality support, but we know we need to do even more, reach more people and have an even greater impact.

The Head of Health Information and Education will, alongside our Clinical Lead, lead the development and delivery of our services in this area. This is a pivotal role with key areas of focus:

• Drive innovation in health information.
• Drive innovation in the content and delivery of health professional education.
• Expand our reach and accessibility to ensure no one faces bowel cancer alone.
• Build strong partnerships with stakeholders.
• Champion technology and digital solutions to enhance service delivery.

You’ll work closely with the Director and the Services Leadership team to set strategic direction and ensure our services are impactful, inclusive, and evidence based.
 

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and at Bowel Cancer UK we are committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Successful candidates may be subject to either a satisfactory basic, standard or enhanced DBS check from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) dependent upon the role.

This is a challenging, exciting and rewarding role for a highly motivated, enthusiastic and pro-active fundraising professional with a strong background in community engagement and communications. You will continue building the public profile of St Petrock’s and be responsible for generating the income needed to run and further develop our vital and life-saving services.

About St Petrock’s (Exeter) Ltd:  St Petrock’s is Exeter’s local, values-led and much-loved homelessness charity, created and supported by the local community to provide vital services for rough sleepers and other people experiencing homelessness, and those at risk of homelessness in Exeter. For more details, please visit our website.

About the role:  You will be creative, self-motivated, conscientious and energetic, and have superb interpersonal and communication skills to engage effectively with a wide range of people and build the supporter base of St Petrock’s. You will have strong project and event management skills to lead on major fundraising campaigns and events such as our annual Christmas fundraising video campaign, the Big Night Out sponsored sleepout, and the Big Night In fundraising dinner, along with the imagination and drive to develop a full programme of public fundraising challenges and events. You will also have the knowledge and drive to develop legacy giving and major donor programmes and, supported by the Fundraising and Communications Officer, will be responsible for our social media platforms, website, media relations, and other external communications.

You will be primarily based at the St Petrock’s homelessness centre, with the opportunity for some hybrid working (at home or at local co-working venue). Given the nature of the role, it is essential that you have a suitably insured vehicle and are able to attend meetings and events outside normal working hours to share about St Petrock’s as needed.

Applications:For more detail (including a full Job Description & Person Specification) and how to apply, please download the Job Pack from our website or in the ad attachments.

To complete your application, please send us your CV, covering letter and a disclosure form as per the details in the Job Pack, outlining why you feel you are an ideal candidate for this post..  (These can also be emailed to us following the details in the pack). 

Closing date for applications: Monday 16th February 2026 at 9am

Please contact Peter Stephenson, Chief Executive via the contact details in the Job Pack if you would like to have an informal discussion before applying (including a contact phone number if you would like to arrange a call back).

St Petrock’s is fully committed to safeguarding the welfare of vulnerable adults and children. We use “safer recruitment” practices throughout our recruitment processes, and all successful candidates will be subject to the highest level of DBS check that is legally permissible for their role. Any offer of employment is subject to a satisfactory DBS check. Applicants should understand that a criminal history will not necessarily bar applicants from this role but will be subject to risk assessment.

The Difference is an education charity, founded to change the story on lost learning. Our vision is to see lost learning falling nationally by 2030 and for schools to be better equipped to support all children, particularly those most vulnerable.

Leading national policy strategy

As Head of Policy and Public Affairs, you will work closely with the CEO to develop and execute a four-year influencing plan.  Together we’ll aim to shift local and national incentives on inclusion by 2030, which see the national trend of rising suspension and absence begin to fall. 

You will hold relationships with the Department for Education and Ofsted and advise on policy priorities ahead, such as:

• Widening the definition of inclusion beyond special needs, recognising the needs of those young people historically or currently interacting with social services

• Reducing perverse incentives for schools to alter their school roll through admissions and pupil exits

• Expectations for multi-academy trusts in capturing and analysing data on lost learning, including how it disproportionately affects different groups

• Improving local alternative provision eco-systems, to improve outcomes for young people

• National standards for inclusive school practice, at a universal and targeted level

• Professional development standards for school inclusion

Developing implementation expertise in the middle tier

In your first six months, you will advise on the internal development of a new programme for middle tier policy actors: multi-academy trust and local authority leaders.  You will support the Programme team in its design, to plan strategically for the recruitment of trusts and local authorities, and you will plan the research and influencing work which will seek to share their success nationally.

Building the evidence base

In your second six months, you will work with the CEO to build out our research function. Your influencing plan will include how The Difference can learn from the work across our multi-academy trust, local authority and internal AP pioneer partners over the next four years, to develop influential publications. Research work ahead will include publishing sector-facing publications of The Difference’s own research, carried out by our research lead and associates; alongside managing external contractors and internal colleagues to bid for and deliver aligned research disseminating our ideas.

Raising your voice

This is an exciting opportunity for someone committed to inclusive policy change. The Difference has always punched above our weight in national and sector press reach. In post,  you will publish blogs and comment pieces, disseminating our shared ideas.  You will be a prominent voice on inclusion.

The Difference is still a small and growing charity. This means that our work is fast-paced, our roles are broad, and there is a culture of being highly autonomous, reactive and flexible, as the needs of the organisation evolve. If this sounds exciting rather than daunting, then this could be the role and team for you!

The Role
This is an exciting time to join The Difference as we increase our impact, reach more schools, and develop our influencing strategy. As Head of Policy and Public Affairs you will: 

Design and execute an impactful influencing plan 

• Design an influencing plan - Identify via horizon scanning opportunities to influence national policy using open policy windows, or by nudging/creating new ones. 

• Execute an influencing plan - Utilise own assets and assets across the organisation, including the Director team, to deliver against the influencing plan.

• Relationship building - Build highly credible and impactful relationships with a variety of stakeholders who hold power. This will include policy makers in national governments, local government officials, politicians, other third sector organisations and think tanks. 

• Leadership - Play a significant role internally and externally in communicating the organisation’s policy position, raising organisational and own brand.

Build policy capacity and credibility across the organisation

• Policy positions and solutions- Use the concepts, work and experience of The Difference’s programmes to develop new, and refine existing, national policy positions to shift incentives. 

• Thought leadership - Be the organisation’s education policy and political expert. 

• Generating income - Use own and team’s expertise and credibility to generate income via speaking engagements and consultancy to support the organisation’s financial sustainability. 

Person Specification

Essential – We are looking for someone with the following knowledge, experience and skills, though you may be stronger in some areas than others:

• Deep expertise in education policy, particularly on the topic of lost learning and the various policy and political debates, including areas of controversy, surrounding this policy topic. 

• Strategic thinker with a proven track record in identifying policy windows and designing activities that lead to meaningful national policy change. 

• Excellent relationship builder, who brings with them their own network of influential stakeholders and has a plan for building new relationships. Adept at navigating tricky situations and explaining complex, sometimes difficult, messages.

• Expert convener with a strong knowledge of the education sector, including which schools, trusts and local authorities are influential and experience in bringing a variety of perspectives together to generate consensus. 

• Persuasive and clear writing style for publication, including reports, press, blogs and ghost writing for members of the senior leadership team, often based on consensus positions, and designed to communicate key messages for impact. 

• Confidence and credibility in communicating nuanced messages in a contentious landscape, in writing, verbally and in public (e.g. on panels), to raise the profile of The Difference. 

• Strong project manager who can design systems and processes to keep self, team and other stakeholders on task and on time. Experience of designing programmes of work and monitoring their effectiveness. Flexible project management style that can adapt to a changing environment. Confidence in managing a variety of stakeholders and supporting them to deliver on time. 

Desired – You are more likely to be successful in your application if you have one or more of the following: 

• Familiarity with The Difference’s programmatic work, theory and practice. 

• Lived experience or insight into the school experiences of marginalised young people (e.g. those with experience of the care system, mental ill health, special educational needs, exclusion, and racism).

We know that some people, especially those from marginalised backgrounds, may hesitate to apply unless they meet every listed requirement. If this role excites you and you believe you could make a strong contribution, we warmly encourage you to apply. 
We actively welcome applications from people whose backgrounds are under-represented in the charity sector, including but not limited to: people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, people with experience in the case system, non-graduates and first-in-family graduates.