Head of public engagement and communications jobs

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

The Transformation Hub Manager will play a pivotal role in reshaping our service offerings by creating a vibrant, inclusive, and strengths-based hub for our communities - many of who are underserved, including asylum seekers, refugees, residents facing isolation, and those affected by homelessness. You will lead on the delivery and successful management of our National Lottery funded RenewALL Hub, transforming our ideas from concept into a sustainable, impactful centre for community wellbeing. Central to this role is continuing to drive the shift from a crisis-led service model to a holistic, strengths-based approach, ensuring the RenewALL hub empowers Newham residents to connect, grow, and thrive. A major part of this transformation will be designing and delivering a wide range of new activities and services. Crucially, the Hub will not just deliver activities for residents but will be co-designed and co-produced with them, embedding lived experience and the voice of the community at its core. Success will depend on your ability to build and lead a coherent, motivated team of staff and volunteers, uniting them behind the shared vision of the Hub. You will work to create a welcoming space that reflects the ambitions of our Open House strategy, where dignity, inclusion, collaboration and empowerment are lived out in every interaction.

Salary: £31,000 FTE (approx £24,800 pro rata)

Hours: Part time - 28 hours per week 

Days and times: To be agreed

Contract: Fixed term - 2 years

Responsible to: Director of Resources

Location: 3 Chapel Court, 126 Church Road, Hayes UB3 2LW (map) - Age UK HHB operate a hybrid and flexible working policy on successful completion of induction

Closing Date: 12 noon on Monday 22nd September

Interviews: TBC

ACCESS TO A CAR AND A CLEAN FULL DRIVING LICENCE IS A REQUIREMENT OF THIS POSITION

At Age UK HHB we have a wide range of volunteers and volunteer roles that enable us to deliver our services and reach our service users. We could not do what we do without our fantastic volunteers and providing the right support and training enables both Age UK HHB and our volunteers to develop and grow.

Working across Age UK HHB you will lead on the delivery of our volunteer programme and will be responsible for the recruitment of new volunteers and the support of existing volunteers and stakeholders to maintain a positive volunteer experience.

We are looking for someone with good working knowledge of the volunteer sector combined with strong collaborative and communication skills to creatively deliver and drive our strategy to explore new volunteering opportunities across the organisation. 

WDC’s Games For Waves initiative engages the gaming and streaming communities to raise funds and awareness for whale, dolphin and ocean conservation. The Influencer Lead will help drive this mission by developing strategic digital fundraising events, managing relationships with creators and influencers, and creating impactful content.

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.

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.