Hr work experience jobs in harrow, greater london

Are you looking for a new challenge and a great opportunity to make a positive difference at leadership level? Ambition Aspire Achieve is hiring a Deputy Chief Executive / Finance Manager, to support the charity’s growth and next phase of development.

About Ambition Aspire Achieve (AAA):

Ambition Aspire Achieve is a well-established and highly respected children and young people’s charity rooted in Newham, east London. Founded in 2016, we now deliver high-quality, inclusive and accessible services to over 950 children and young people through our youth and play hubs in Canning Town and Stratford. We reach many more through a growing outreach programme delivered in schools and local communities across Newham. 

Our work is grounded in creating safe, nurturing spaces where children and young people can thrive. We place particular focus on those who are vulnerable, disadvantaged or have additional needs, offering meaningful opportunities, enriching experiences and tailored support.

As we continue to grow and deepen our impact, we are seeking a passionate, skilled and values-driven leader to join us in a newly created and pivotal role within our senior leadership team.

The Role: Deputy Chief Executive/Finance Manager

We are seeking a proactive and strategic leader, with strong financial and operational acumen to strengthen the charity’s internal infrastructure. The role will lead on financial management and oversight, supporting the Chief Executive at a senior level, playing a vital part in ensuring the AAA’s long-term financial resilience, equipped the charity to deliver its mission for years to come.

This is an exciting opportunity for a forward-thinking charity professional to combine senior-level leadership with hands-on financial management and organisational insight.

Key responsibilities include:

• Strategic financial oversight and budget planning support.
• Management daily finance operations including payroll, cash flow, audits and reporting
• Leading statutory compliance and financial risk management
• Supporting strategic planning and business development alongside the Chief Executive
• Representing the charity externally and deputising for the Chief Executive at senior forums
• Line managing and overseeing back-office functions
• Providing operational insight and help to develop infrastructure and systems

What we’re looking for:

We’re seeking someone with proven experience in charity, public or social sector leadership who thrives on both strategic challenge and operational delivery. You will have a strong grasp of charity finance, exceptional communication, leadership and problem-solving skills and a demonstrable passion for improving outcomes for children and young people. 

What we offer:

• 25 days annual leave + bank holidays (increasing annually up to 29 days)
• Pension scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• A collaborative and supportive working environment
• The chance to make a tangible difference in young people’s lives
• Flexibility wherever possible to suit individual needs.

How to apply:

For an informal discussion about the role please contact AAA's Chief Executive Jonny Boux.

Application deadline: Friday 27th June 2025 at 5pm.

Ambition Aspire Achieve is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All staff are required to undergo an enhanced DBS check. Our recruitment and selection processes are in accordance with best practice in safeguarding children and young people. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We value diversity and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

The Youth Endowment Fund 

Senior Research Manager (Toolkit)

Reports to: Head of Toolkit

Salary: £52,700

Contract: 2-year fixed term contract

Location: Central London, Hybrid* 

Closing date: 27th June 2025

About the Youth Endowment Fund

We’re here to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence. We do this by finding out what works and building a movement to put this knowledge into practice.

 Last year, 244 people in England and Wales tragically died after being assaulted with a knife. Of these, 32 were children. Every child captured in these numbers is an important member of our community and society has a duty to protect them. Even beyond knife crime, we know that the fear of violence has a terrible effect on children’s daily lives.

The Youth Endowment Fund exists to try and permanently change things. To succeed, we must build an exceptional body of knowledge about violence affecting young people and how we reduce it. This knowledge has to be both rigorous and highly relevant to those making decisions about how to support vulnerable young people. We need to find out what works and what doesn’t through evidence synthesis, data analysis and qualitative research into children’s lives. We then need to convert this into highly accessible content on what works, how delivery organisations need to change their practice and how the systems they operate in need to be reformed.

About the Toolkit Team

The Toolkit team is at the heart of our work to spread knowledge of what works to prevent children becoming involved in violence. We want research to lead actual changes in outcomes for children.

Our flagship resource, the Toolkit, is a free, online resource that summarises the best available evidence about the effectiveness of various approaches to preventing children becoming involved in violence. It explains the evidence, how confident we can be about the findings, and provides actionable guidance to help policy makers, commissioners, and practitioners to turn evidence into action. The Toolkit is influencing real world policy and practice: the Home Office requires Violence Reductions Units to allocate at least 30% of their funding to interventions that have an impact rating of ‘high’ or ‘moderate’ in the Toolkit. Over half of Youth Justice Services use the Toolkit to align their work with the latest available evidence. Our Change team use the Toolkit to influence systems, policy and practice across children’s services, education, health, neighbourhoods, policing, youth services and youth justice.

The Toolkit is a live resource that currently contains 35 approaches to violence prevention, and we will add at least ten updates to the content this year. New research is published every day around the world. We collate relevant studies in our YEF programmes evidence and gap map and YEF systems evidence and gap map, and we collate study results in our Effect Size Database. We are working in partnership with the National Children’s Bureau and the EPPI Centre to implement new technology and to use machine learning to create a ‘living platform’, that contains relevant studies and their results in one place. This is an exciting development that will significantly speed up our production of systematic reviews and meta-analyses to keep the Toolkit up to date.

Key Responsibilities

The Senior Research Manager will be an essential part of the YEF Toolkit Team and will develop a portfolio of impactful projects. The core of your role will be leading the commissioning of evidence synthesis, using our new methodology, across a range of topics and producing Toolkit content.

You will:

Commission new systematic reviews.

• You will lead the commissioning and management of systematic reviews of the evidence through our Toolkit and Evidence Synthesis Partners: the National Children’s Bureau, the EPPI Centre, and the Race Equality Foundation. This will involve scoping and prioritising violence prevention approaches, convening expert advisory groups, reviewing research protocols and technical reports, and ensuring that research products produce actionable insights.

Write accurate and actionable summaries of evidence for the Toolkit.

· You will use findings from evidence synthesis to write new summaries for the Toolkit, and to inform YEF’s guidance and implementation resources.

· You will ensure that Toolkit content is only ever easy-to-understand and written in plain English with incredible clarity.

·You will collaborate with our Research team and our Change team to feed insights from the evidence into systems, sector and practice guidance. 

Lead Toolkit communications.

· Collaborating with the YEF Communications and Public Affairs team, you will produce accurate social media content, blogs, and briefings on new Toolkit content to facilitate accurate journalism and press coverage.

Become an expert on the Toolkit.

· You will be an advocate for Toolkit evidence, and you will ensure insights from this evidence are accurately communicated to policy makers and practitioners. You will do this by delivering presentations on Toolkit evidence and providing briefings.

· You will also ensure YEF colleagues are up to date on the topics and content in the Toolkit by providing training and updates internally and sharing guidance about how to accurately explain the evidence.

About You

You are this sort of person:

· You want to play a significant part in reducing children and young people’s involvement in violence. You care about having an impact.

· You share our belief that an evidence-based approach is our best hope of preventing violence. You are fascinated by research, but you’re not just interested in research for its own sake. You want to achieve actual changes in outcomes for children.

·You’re a confident reader of research and have strong critical appraisal skills. You know when research can be trusted and when it can’t and can confidently articulate your views on the strength of research. You might have gained this expertise through your academic studies, research, or professional experience.

· You have a proven track record of commissioning or conducting high-quality evidence synthesis. You have a good understanding of these methods and can discuss the pros and cons of them. You might have gained this expertise through your academic studies, training, research or professional experience. You can scrutinise a budget to ensure it provides value for money.

· You have at least three years’ experience working in a role that required you to think about research. This could include a range of roles in policy, academia, funding, and practice.

· You write in a way that people easily understand. You have that rare skill of writing in plain English. You have experience of translating complex research findings into plain writing that everyone can understand.

· You have excellent project and time management skills. You can work independently, quickly, and to a high standard.

·You are good with people. You are comfortable working with a wide range of people, including senior academics and other research experts, children and their families, practitioners, and policy makers. You’re able to provide constructive challenges when required.

·You learn fast but remain humble. You like learning. You are very good at synthesising information. You know how much you don't know and that you can always learn more.

·You work well in a team. You care more that good things happen than who gets the credit. You support your colleagues to produce excellent work.

·You’re committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. You believe and act in a way that celebrates and encourages a range of experiences, views and values.

You may have:

·A good level of knowledge and understanding of crime or violence. You know the facts, understand the issues, know the key people, and can discuss the theories. You’re knowledgeable on this topic and very at ease discussing it with experts. Alternatively, you might have a strong understanding of a relevant area such as education, youth work or social care.

·Confident public speaking skills. You’re an excellent verbal communicator. You’ve delivered dozens of talks on complex topics. You’re calm and confident when answering challenging questions.

 While it’s not a criterion, we’re especially interested to hear from applicants who have lived experience of violence.

It’s also important to us that the people we hire do not discriminate. We believe in being inclusive and giving everyone an equal chance to succeed. Applications are welcome from all regardless of age, sex, gender identity, disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, race, sexual orientation, transgender status or socioeconomic background.

Hybrid Working

The office is based in Central London. Those living in and around London are expected to be in the office for a minimum of 2 days per week. If you live outside of London and work remotely, you’ll be expected to work from the London office 2 days per month.

To Apply

To apply, please send a CV and cover letter, and complete the monitoring form click on "Apply for this" button by 27th June 2025.

When applying for this role, please ensure that your cover letter can answer, within a maximum of 1000 words, the following questions:

1. Briefly describe the key evidence synthesis projects that you have undertaken or commissioned and be clear about the role you played in the work.

2. Provide some clear examples of products, presentations, events, or other materials that you have produced to help explain complex research evidence to policymakers, commissioners, and practitioners.

You will also be required to provide proof of your eligibility to work in the UK. As part of our commitment to flexible working, we will consider a range of options for the successful applicant. All options can be discussed at interview stage.

Interview Process

Interviews will take place in the week commencing the weeks commencing 7th and 14th July.

If you are invited to interview, we will send you a systematic review ahead of the interview and we will ask you to prepare a 10-minute presentation to explain the main strengths and weaknesses of the review and its conclusions.  

Benefits Include

• £1,000 professional development budget annually
• 28 days holiday plus Bank Holidays
• Four half days for volunteering activities
• Employee Assistance Programme – 24hr phone line for free confidential support
• Volunteering days - 4 half days per year
• Death in service - 4 times annual salary
• Flexible hours. Core office hours 10am – 4pm
• Financial support including travel and hardship loans
• Employer contributed pension of 5%

Personal Data

Your personal data will be shared for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes our HR team, interviewers (who may include other partners in the project and independent advisors), relevant team managers and our IT service provider if access to the data is necessary for performance of their roles. We do not share your data with other third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and we make you an offer of employment. We will then share your data with former employers to obtain references for you. We do not transfer your data outside the European Economic Area.

Job Role

The café manager is responsible for leading all team members both paid staff and volunteers in the efficient and self sustaining operation of the cafe. They are responsible for managing the day-to-day operations and financial performance of the café and maintaining high standards. They need to foster a positive environment, which provides consistent, fast, efficient, and friendly service and a high quality experience for both our customers and team members. Team members include paid staff and volunteers some of whom have learning difficulties.

The manager will support and work within the Christian aims and purposes of St Thomas Church, and in accordance with its ethos and values, creating a place for all at the heart of the community.

The Church takes the safety of everyone within the church very seriously and expects that everyone will work within the Church safeguarding policy.

The café manager will be responsible to the Team Vicar at St Thomas Church

 Responsibilities

Product:

Manages and develops menus

Initiates, reviews and manages processes to make sure that all staff and volunteers are ensuring food served and delivered is to a high and consistent quality.

Ensures that all team members are educated on our products and services and products are delivered to customers consistently to a high quality.

Initiates, reviews, and manages systems that ensure that all staff and volunteers are inducted and continually trained in food hygiene, allergen awareness and that all statutory records regarding food hygiene, allergens are kept up to date.

Initiates, reviews and manages systems to improve stock control and minimise wastage

Service:

Is the Role Model for outstanding service in the cafe.

Pro-active in solving customer problems and satisfying customers in various situations and can handle conflict and other sensitive issues in a calm and fair manner.

Ensures that all team members provide customers with efficient, friendly, superior service on a consistent basis.

Consistently monitors, coaches and encourages team members to meet excellent service standards.

Assesses and provides adequate resource (paid staff and volunteers) to provide efficient and friendly, superior service and documents this on the weekly rota.

Maintains high cleanliness standards consistently throughout the cafe in the areas of store appearance, merchandise and equipment.

Training and Development:

Ensures a safe, enjoyable place of work for all team members recognising and respecting the unique needs, abilities and potential for development in every individual

Provides ongoing training and development to all team members (staff and volunteers) in the areas of operating standards, customer service and product knowledge.

Demonstrates the ability to lead, effectively communicates and is passionate about the Cafe.

Builds morale and team spirit by fostering a work environment where team members input is encouraged and valued.

Ensures each team member has received proper training to perform as a barista or in any other role effectively and efficiently.

Coaches and counsels team members for improved performance, documenting developmental plans for paid staff as necessary.

With support from your line manager, ensure that employment law and the businesses policies are followed in relation to human resources.

Hold 1 week and 3 month reviews with new employed starters, and with your line manager

Ensure that new starters are fulfilling the duties of their role(s) before the end of their probationary period

Hold annual reviews with employed café staff to celebrate their achievements and to identify areas where additional training or support may be required.

Cafe Operations:

Ensures that all cafe operating procedures are adequately documented and available for all to use

Ensures the Staff handbook is updated regularly

Facilitates on-going training and development of current staff and volunteers.

Promotes and practices safe work habits, identifying and resolving potential safety hazards, operational inconsistencies and any team member or customer incidents.

Provides the necessary health and safety training for staff and volunteers

Documents accidents, conducts initial investigation and determination of root cause in the interest of maintaining a safe work environment

Business

Delivers the agreed financial targets for the café

Develops promotional programmes to deliver the sales targets

Safeguarding

The Church takes the safety of everyone within the church very seriously

and expects that everyone will work within the Church safeguarding policy.

In particular, the Church expects anyone who becomes aware of a safeguarding risk or of actual abuse, to immediately raise this with the Parish Safeguarding Officer.

Those who work with children, young people and/or adults who are vulnerable should have a commitment to:

· Adhere to the church's policies and codes of conduct

· Treat individuals with respect

· Recognise and respect their abilities and potential for development

· Working in ways that meet and develop the personal, spiritual, social and pastoral needs

· Promote their rights to make their own decisions and choices, unless it is unsafe

· Ensure their welfare and safety

· The promotion of social justice, social responsibility, and respect for others

· Confidentiality, never passing on personal information, except to the person you are responsible to, unless there are safeguarding issues of concern which must always be reported to the person you are responsible to and to the safeguarding officer.

Person Specification:

1 Skills

1.1 Good written and oral communication skills

1.2 Good numeracy skills

1.3 Confident, enthusiastic and self-motivated with a great work ethic

1.4 Creative, innovative and willing to implement ideas and professional opinion

1.5 Team player with a demonstrable positive, ‘can do’ attitude and ability to motivate a team including volunteers.

1.6 Motivated by a passion for preparing food with quality and with great service delivery

1.7 Excellent customer service skills and demonstrable experience in a café environment- preferably in management, but not essential.

1.8 Able to show sensitivity and flexibility as circumstances demand

1.9 Resilient and able to work under pressure when faced with complex and demanding situations

1.10 Able to handle conflict and other sensitive issues in a calm and fair manner

Knowledge

2.1 Knowledge of the catering and / or coffee sector

2.2 Possess a high level of coffee art skills and knowledge

2.3 Sound knowledge of Hygiene, Health and Safety

Experience

3.1 Experience of preparing food to safe and high standards

3.2 Experience of working as a barista in a coffee shop

3.3 Experience of working with, supporting and guiding people and volunteers of all ages

3.4 Experience of line managing people

Qualifications

3.1 A good general level of education

3.2 Food Safety and Hygiene level 2

Working Arrangements

40 hours per week between the hours of 8am to 4.30 Monday to Wednesday, 8am to 6.30pm Thursday and Friday, 9 am to 4.30 pm on Saturdays. 10am to 4.30pm Sunday including up to three weekends per month (minimum two)

28 days paid holiday per year plus public holidays.

Plus 1 day paid holiday per year on your birthday

Salary Up to £14.79 per hour depending on experience (Annual £30,763)

Pension scheme

The PCC has a workplace pension scheme with NEST and follows legal requirements . Nest is the workplace pension scheme set up by the government.

You may be automatically enrolled into the occupational Pension Scheme however you may also choose to opt out of this. Should you opt to take out a Personal Pension Plan then this is a private matter between yourself and the financial institution concerned and does not involve the Church in any way.

References:

Excellent and unequivocal references

Current Employer

Former Employer