Head of social investment programmes jobs in west malling, kent

The eoa exists to grow and strengthen employee ownership as a force for powering fairer livelihoods, stronger businesses, and a more resilient economy. With 800+ member businesses and a community of thousands of employee owners, we are the national voice for employee ownership in the UK.

Our refreshed strategy is focused on accelerating impact through people powered growth. We’re here to make employee ownership a mainstream business model choice—by expanding the sector, setting the standard for excellence, and building a connected, values-led ecosystem. We do this through sharp insight, high-impact advocacy, and a thriving member experience.

For founders and business owners exploring employee ownership, or for leaders and managers building Great EO businesses, the eoa offers tools, knowledge, experience and connection. We facilitate powerful peer learning, codify what works, and champion the stories that inspire others to choose EO.

Together with our members, we’re creating the conditions for employee ownership to thrive—seizing the political, cultural, and digital opportunities ahead. and this is where you come in.

As Director of Partnerships and Growth, you’ll be the driving force behind the eoa’s external influence and reach. you’ll lead our advocacy and external affairs strategy, build meaningful partnerships, and deliver powerful events programmes that accelerate adoption of Great EO. You’ll also shape the narrative—ensuring our insights, policy recommendations and thought leadership land with impact.

This is a high-profile, senior leadership role at a pivotal time for the EO community. It calls for someone with a track record in advocacy or external affairs, strong commercial acumen, and the ability to lead high-performing teams. It also needs a big-picture thinker - someone who can champion EO, influence change, and help us build a more inclusive, resilient economy.

If you’re excited about the opportunity to grow an economy that puts people at the heart of business, we’d love to hear from you.

Role Details

At the heart of this Director of Growth & Advocacy role is the opportunity to shape the external environment for employee ownership, champion the voice of our members, and lead high-impact strategies that grow both our reach and the sector itself.

You’ll lead on policy, advocacy, external affairs and events—crafting compelling narratives, building powerful partnerships, and delivering programmes that drive commercial sustainability and sector-wide change.

From shaping relationships with key stakeholders and securing strategic sponsorships, to overseeing the delivery of thought leadership, content, and events, you’ll ensure that the eoa is not just part of the national conversation—but leading it.

Your ability to influence, convene, and inspire will be critical to removing barriers to employee ownership and unlocking the potential of our £1.7m organisation to deliver even greater impact.

Join us on this exciting journey where your leadership will shape policy, grow influence, and contribute to our mission of unlocking the potential of people, businesses, and the economy through employee ownership.

This role is remote, however regular travel to our HQ in Brough and across the UK is expected.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead external affairs, collaborating with stakeholders to shape policy, advocacy and best practice that removes barriers and expands EO.
• Establish relationships and secure commercial partnerships and sponsorships, generating revenue to support advocacy, events, and sector growth initiatives.
• Engage key stakeholders to co-produce content that positively influence EO practice and policy and amplify the eoa’s voice in public affairs.
• Oversee delivery of an effective content strategy that delivers our commercial objectives and positions the eoa as the leading EO authority.
• Oversee events programmes, ensuring they drive knowledge-sharing, sector development, and commercial sustainability.
• Represent the eoa at industry forums, policy roundtables, and public affairs events, championing the employee ownership model.
• Collaborate with the Director of Membership & Operations to align advocacy efforts with member needs and engagement.
• Lead and develop high-performing teams, fostering innovation and delivering measurable impact across advocacy, policy, event activities.

Success in this role

Success in this role means having a positive impact on the growth rate, influence and adoption of great EO across the employee ownership sector. Strengthening and expanding stakeholder relationships, driving advocacy impact and securing commercial sustainability through a diverse mix of sponsorships, partnerships will also be indicators of success.

Key outcomes for the role

• Growth of the employee ownership sector. Measured by increased number of EO businesses, heightened sector awareness
• Strengthened corporate engagement. Measured by growth in strategic partnerships, corporate and government engagement
• Strong Commercial Sustainability. Measured by increased sponsorship revenue, secured long-term commercial partnerships
• Increased policy influence. Measured by policy recommendations adopted, increased government engagement
• Enhanced sector insight and intelligence. Measured by utilisation of high-quality data and insights for regular sector related content outputs.
• Development and adoption of best practice. Measured by creation, adoption and promotion of best practice across the EO network.
• Successful events programmes. Measured by iIncreased participation, sponsorship growth, positive feedback.

About you

• Proven expertise in advocacy, public affairs, or policy leadership, ideally within a business, trade body, or membership association.
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with experience influencing government, media, and corporate partners.
• Demonstrated ability to drive sectoral or policy change, leading successful advocacy initiatives.
• Strong commercial acumen, with experience in sponsorship acquisition, revenue generation, and developing financially sustainable initiatives.
• Exceptional strategic communication and storytelling skills, able to engage and mobilise diverse audiences.
• Experience in event programme development, ensuring high engagement and sector impact.
• Passion for employee ownership and economic models that promote shared prosperity.
• Innovative, creative, and proactive in problem-solving and strategy execution.
• A confident and transparent leader who fosters collaboration and inclusivity through teamwork.
• Self-aware with emotional intelligence, resilience, and integrity.

Role Summary

• Contract: Permanent
• Hours: Full time, 37.5 hours per week
• Location: Remote, with regular travel to eoa offices and national events
• Salary & Benefits: £65,000 p/a + 7% Pensions. 30 Days leave + Bank Holidays.
• Reports to: CEO
• Management: TBC

Head of Grants 

Are you a visionary leader who can turn ideas into reality? Do you have the drive to manage complex projects, inspire teams and create lasting impact on a national scale? Do you love giving charities money? If so, we want to hear from you!

This is a remote working role offering part-time hours, on a permanent basis. 

Position: Head of Grants 

Location: Remote/London

Hours: Part-time (4 days per week)

Salary: £50,000 - £55,000 pro rata

Contract: Permanent

Benefits Include: 25 days per year (pro rata – excluding bank holidays), employer pension contribution of 5% into a personal pension (which does not have to be matched by the employee)

Closing Date: 27th May 2025

About the Role

This role is key to shaping how the organisation maximises impact over the next 5 years, delivering on ambitions for the 2024-2029 Strategy. The aspiration is to help 10,000 young people at risk or experiencing homelessness, to reach their full potential.

By working with key players in the youth homelessness landscape, like-minded organisations, and embedding the voices and experiences of young people in this work, you will help maximise social impact and deliver £150m in social value by March 2029. 

You will ensure the charity is the best possible grant funder in the field, thoughtful, diligent, transparent and efficient, as it works with the very best charities across the country deliver vital support to young people facing homelessness.

You will be in charge of grant programme design, development, and delivery in line with the new strategy.  You will have the opportunity to work on new programmes and ideas, and to gather data and insight from this vital work (and other sources) that will help both future grant-making and our influencing work nationally.

About You

Whilst grant-making experience would be helpful, what truly matters is your ability to strategically lead and drive projects that deliver impact. You’ll be at the forefront of developing and delivering new programmes, ensuring they align with key targets while bringing innovative ideas to life.

This role is not just about achieving KPIs, it’s about leading teams to achieve results. You will have experience of delivering presentations, developing ideas and projects collaboratively, and using data-driven insights to shape future projects and influence decision-making at a regional or national level. Strong project management, monitoring, and evaluation skills are key in this role, as are those of team- and partnership- working.

If you are a senior leader looking for your next role, then we would love to hear from you. 

About the Organisation

The charity has been around since 1986, created by and working with the UK property industry to try and harness a collective desire to do good. Since 2016, the focus has been exclusively on creating a corporate movement within and across the industry to tackle and end youth homelessness. 

Additional Benefits

• Opportunities for flexible working 

• Free annual Flu’ jabs and annual sight tests

• Cycle to Work Scheme (salary sacrifice)

• ½ day a month entitlement to volunteer for a charity of your choice, in work time

• Interest-free Annual Travel Card Loans

• A Professional Development Fund 

• Commitment to wellbeing (we’re signatories of Mind’s Time to Change Pledge)

• An Employee Assistance Programme 

• Private Health Insurance with Vitality (small employee contribution required).

You may have experience in other roles such as Grants, Impact, Grants and Impact, Head of Grants, Head of Impact, Head of Grants and Impact, Impact and Innovation, Director of Grants, Director of Impact, Director of Grants and Impact.

PLEASE NOTE: This role is being advertised by NFP People on behalf of the organisation

About Chapter One

Chapter One is a dynamic, growing charity with a vision of a world in which all children have the literacy skills needed to thrive. Our mission is to close the reading gap by providing children with one-to-one support at the time they need it most. 

Our unique Online Reading Volunteer programme currently supports about 3,000 children a year. It pairs disadvantaged, struggling five to eight-year old (KS1) readers with reading support volunteers who come from over 140 local and national businesses. The volunteer ask is very focused: readers commit 30 minutes a week to read with a child using a bespoke digital platform for an entire academic year. The results are transformative, boosting children's reading confidence and ability. 

We have set ourselves ambitious targets to support thousands more children by 2029, and this role, with responsibility for managing, stewarding and nurturing our existing corporate partners, will be crucial to ensuring that we have sufficient volunteers and support to achieve not only this target, but also to develop other innovative pilot programmes.

For more information about our programmes please visit our website. Please also take some time to visit our social media channels and watch our videos.

About the role 

Chapter One is seeking a proactive, energetic and enthusiastic Corporate Partnerships Manager to be an integral part of a team which aims to both maximise corporate income and deliver an excellent partner and volunteer experience. 

Reporting to our Head of Corporate Partnerships, and responsible for the line management of our Corporate Partnerships Officer, you’ll deliver on our annual volunteer and income targets and maintain our strong partner retention rate (target 87%). This will involve supporting the account management of a portfolio of existing partners and the responsibility to nurture relationships to increase partner investment in Chapter One over time. The role involves collaborating across departments to ensure a seamless and positive experience for volunteers and partners

This is an opportunity for an experienced partnerships manager to take on a more senior role and demonstrate their sales acumen and creativity in a dynamic, flexible and agile charity.

Key Responsibilities

Partner Stewardship

• Lead the account management of a selected portfolio of corporate partners, ensuring Chapter One achieves its annual retention and growth targets 

• In collaboration with the Head of Corporate Partnerships, devise effective schemes of delegation and partner allocation within the Corporate Partnerships Team 

• Focus, in all corporate partnership discussions, on maximising income 

• Identify opportunities to increase a partner’s support eg by identifying other regional/divisional opportunities or inclusion of Chapter One as a social value partner in public sector bids

• Conduct regular partnership meetings, including mid and end of year reviews, proactively proposing tailored opportunities to retain and grow partner support

• Lead on producing high quality written communications, reports, proposals and pitches as per the requirements of each partner, collaborating with the Data and Systems Officer and Fundraising team as needed

• Advocate effectively, with passion and enthusiasm, for Chapter One’s programmes in a variety of internal and external settings

• Proactively network to deepen and strengthen external relationships with Chapter One partners, identifying speaking opportunities for Chapter One where possible

• Strategically use LinkedIn to identify, connect with, and actively engage key stakeholders within corporate partner organisations,

• Attend conference and events to represent Chapter One and talk about its work to existing and potential new partners

• Keep up to date with relevant business news and strategic shifts or developments at key partners and sectors, proactively seeking opportunities to broaden knowledge

• Regularly analyse data in Microsoft Excel / Google Sheets, working with formulas, pivot tables and data analysis tools to aid decision-making and create dashboards. 

• Oversee and maintain all Account Management related processes, including stewardship plans, recording of activity on the Salesforce CRM and internal platform databases

• Ensure, in conjunction with the Finance Assistant, that partners are invoiced for their Chapter One donations accurately and in a timely manner

Line management

• Line manage and develop the Corporate Partnerships Officer, ensuring adherence to all Chapter One’s HR Policies and Procedures

• Be a source of advice and guidance for the Corporate Partnerships Officer as they manage their allocated partner relationships

• Supervise the Corporate Partnerships Officer to lead volunteer recruitment meetings, including stepping in if necessary

• Supervise the Corporate Partnerships Officer to manage new partner onboarding meetings, stepping in to lead them if required

Partner/volunteer onboarding and experience

• Alongside the Head of Corporate Partnerships, use internal systems to assign partner teams and volunteers to specific schools and ensure that their needs are met

• Develop proactive, supportive relationships with Volunteer Coordinators in partner organisations, providing high-quality data and information in a timely manner

• Work closely with the Volunteer Support Team to ensure that partner and volunteer onboarding is a smooth, time-efficient experience 

• Support the Programme Management team to liaise with partner contacts about the organisation of in-person school/office visits and virtual meet and greets

• Attend Chapter One’s internal Volunteer Experience group and Corporate Engagement Group.

Marketing and Communications

• Work with the Marketing and Communications team to ensure that companies and volunteers have access to an array of promotional assets and recruitment materials

• Create and provide content for the regular volunteer and corporate partner newsletters, including working with partners to gather volunteer testimonials and partner profiles

• Work closely with the Marketing and Communications team to develop ways to promote, showcase and celebrate partnerships and individual volunteers across our social media channels and other digital platforms

• Encourage corporate partners to promote Chapter One through their own social media and channels

• Support the organisation of online and in person partner and volunteer recognition events

We are looking for the following key skills, though you might be more experienced in some areas than others:

Account Management Skills:

• Experience of managing Corporate Partnerships, or equivalent relationship-based roles in a fundraising, events, sales or marketing environment

• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build relationships with business professionals at all levels

• Expert meeting facilitation skills 

• Strategic thinker, able to maximise income and growth opportunities

• Understanding of CSR / ESG partner policies and social value trends

Communication Skills:

• Able to eloquently express commitment to Chapter One’s mission and values

• Outstanding presentation and storytelling skills, with the ability to excite and inspire an audience

• An ability to create compelling, attractive written pitches, ensuring messaging and brand are consistent

• Experience of engaging partners on social media (particularly LinkedIn)

• Experience of representing organisations at events 

Technical Skills:

• Excellent proficiency in Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets (including formulas, pivot tables, dashboard creation)

• CRM management (specifically Salesforce)

• Experience of complex data analysis 

You’ll be more successful in the role if you have:

• Experience of working in the charity/non-profit sector

• Line management experience

• Experience of mentoring and developing staff

• Experience of process oversight and improvement

Chapter One is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value and celebrate diversity in backgrounds and experience and are deliberate about the kind of teams we are building. Literacy is a universal concern, and we need people from all backgrounds to maximise our innovation, creativity and impact. We especially welcome applications from persons who have experienced disadvantage and/or from those who are of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities who are currently underrepresented in the organisation. 

Chapter One is committed to safeguarding children and young people. All postholders are subject to a satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service disclosure. Copies of our Safeguarding Policy and Safer Recruitment Policy are available on request.

Location: Remote in Europe

Salary: Depending on experience (including unpaid and other experiences) and capacity to take on responsibility, the salary range is:

• £73,135 - £79,230 for the United Kingdom

• €60,150 - €76,263 for France

• €83,439 - €89,399 for Netherlands

If the successful candidate is outside of the UK, France, or NL, the salary and benefits will be adjusted based on local market equivalencies.

About Us

The Sunrise Project is a global network of independent organizations united by a common mission: scaling social movements to drive the global transition beyond fossil fuels. We've developed a unique model that combines strategic grant-making with campaigning, supporting interconnected organizations to create powerful change aligned with our mission.

The Sunrise Project Inc. is a proud member of The Sunrise Project network. Our organizational culture is dynamic and adaptable. We're committed to supporting our team members to thrive as we tackle the urgent challenge of climate change. We believe that a diversity of experiences and perspectives strengthens our strategies, teams, and movements.

The Sunrise Project Inc. takes the broadest possible view of diversity and encourages First Nations people, people of colour, people living outside of cities, people living with disabilities, neurodiverse, and LGBTQIA+ people to apply. We are continually working on becoming a better workplace for everyone. Find out more here.

About the Program

The Europe Regional Finance program has evolved out of our Financial Regulation and Policy Program that began in 2019 with a narrow focus on European central banks. Since then, we've expanded to shape financial regulation and policy globally to accelerate clean energy and create lasting systemic change in how public finance addresses climate challenges. Now the Europe Regional Finance program will focus on EU Policy and Finance and UK Policy and Finance. 

About The Role

The purpose of this role is to contribute to achieving the objectives in the EU Financial Policy and Regulation project, specifically the work on public finance, fiscal policy and industrial strategy. Together with partners and allies, this role will help stop the political polarisation of net zero and contribute to building the broader case for public investment by establishing and propagating a narrative linking the opportunities of the clean energy transition with improving conditions for households and communities. This role sees the big picture and can translate it into actionable plans for maximum impact.

We support networks of organisations to work together to achieve outcomes that would not be possible by individual organisations acting alone. We expect all roles at Sunrise to actively support the capacity building of these networks and partner organisations. 

About You

You have experience working on public finance, fiscal policy, or industrial strategy. You understand what it takes to hold the big picture, and translate complicated campaign strategies into actionable steps. You enjoy digging into the policy details, but are able to focus on the key ways to move the campaign forward for maximum impact. You’re able to work with diverse networks of organisations from trade unions to business leaders. You have a strong understanding of the political context which dictates our work and what's possible, but also innovative in thinking through solutions and opportunities to do things differently. You have experience working in Europe. You’re flexible and willing to change course when needed and respond to opportunities, but are able to keep the systemic change we want to achieve in mind. 

Key Responsibilities

• Leads on the development and implementation of high-impact campaign strategies and tactics to achieve our programmatic goals, objectives, and key results, in accordance with our values and JEDI commitments. 

• Sources, builds, and maintains strategic relationships with key partners, facilitating collaborative efforts to co-develop and implement strategies.

• In collaboration with the research team, identifies and develops a plan to fulfill complex research and analysis to inform the development of effective campaign strategies and plans.

• Provides strategic advice to partners and community groups to enhance the strategic impact of their campaigns.

• Ensures alignment between global public finance work and associated projects across the wider Global Finance Program.

• Fosters the development and growth of a well-informed, effective, and powerful network and individuals dedicated to our cause, and contributes to the broader movement's progress.

• Designs and evaluates grant proposals and strategies in collaboration with partners, manages grants and oversees a portfolio of grantees ensuring the delivery of high-impact initiatives to support the movement's impact.

• Drives and facilitates inclusive and transparent strategic decision-making processes, including campaign evaluation and impact reporting.

• Acts as a key influencer, coach, and strategic advisor, and may manage consultants and/or teams with responsibility for the management, development and growth of others.

• Regularly evaluate projects at 3 months, 6 months and annually during the first year and every 6 months after that.

• Aligns programmatic strategies and OKR’s with Sunrise’s Values and mission.

Required skills and experience

• Advanced level campaigning experience in European public finance, industrial strategy, and fiscal policy in a similar role including unpaid, grassroots or lived experience.

• Proven experience researching, building, and incubating new strategies in consultation and coordination with partner organizations.

• Ability to work with the team to execute grants. 

• Ability to successfully manage across cultures, and a track record of creating inclusive work cultures, both internally and with partners.

• Demonstrated ability to work in a very dynamic environment with a high degree of flexibility and agility. 

• A high level of emotional intelligence with excellent interpersonal communication and group facilitation skills.

• A passion for action on climate change and a commitment to social justice, equity, diversity.

Desirable Skills and Experience

• Experience grant making would be beneficial. 

• Experience working fundraising would be an advantage.

Job requirements

• You must have full working rights in the country in which you will be working. The Sunrise Project is unable to sponsor applicants for employment visas.

• Previous employment reference checks will be required for successful applicants.

• Attend local in person partner events as appropriate.

• Intermittent travel with advanced notice may be/is required.

How Sunrise supports its staff

The Sunrise Project is committed to creating a workplace that supports our staff to do their best work and develop professionally. Sunrise has the following in place to help us achieve that, noting pro rata will apply for part time staff and/or temporarily appointed-fixed term staff.  The successful candidate will be hired via a Professional Employment Organisation (PEO) on behalf of the Sunrise Project, so conditions of employment may vary.

• Statutory benefits and entitlements of the country/province in which you are employed.

• Sunrise may provide additional benefits, where in-country entitlements are less than our standard package, where applicable including:

  • Paid Parental Leave that is gender-neutral & inclusive of all types of families, incl. Parental Return To Work & Keeping In Touch Program

  • Life Leave (up to 40 days p.a. for significant personal reasons)

  • Public Holiday + Cultural Leave

  • Workspace Benefits incl: Macbook & accessories, initial $2,000* for home workspace & IT equipment + $800* every 2 years + up to $75/mth phone/data/internet (equivalent local currency) .

  • Shared office support

Additionally we offer:

• Flexible Working Policy

• VIDA - An AI tool to support your health and wellbeing

• Regular all-org and team meetings & retreats

• Learning & Development Program incl. a professional development budget for every staff member

• Coaching & manager support with regular 1:1 meetings

• Annual performance & development reviews with 360 feedback

• A co-developed work plan to ensure clarity on your role & key responsibilities

• We provide our staff with a voice on issues that concern them via consultation, caucuses, working groups, and surveys.

How to apply for this job

We recognise that racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, classism and other forms of discrimination creates structural barriers that impact opportunities to formal education and experience. 

You’ll be taken to Be Applied to complete your application.