It service delivery manager jobs in birmingham
Using Anonymous Recruitment
This organisation is using Anonymous Recruitment to reduce bias in the first stages of the hiring process. Submit your application as normal and our system will anonymise it for you. Your personal information will be hidden until the recruiter contacts you.
We’re looking for a passionate and relationship-driven Partnerships Lead to grow and manage our organisation's impactful collaborations with schools, communities, and corporate partners.
About Khulisa:
Khulisa, meaning 'nurture' in the Zulu language of South Africa, is an award-winning charity dedicated to providing therapeutic support to young people. We focus on reaching those who are most at risk – young people from deprived communities who are often marginalized, vulnerable to exclusion, and at heightened risk of becoming involved in crime.
Our approach centres on safe, exploratory methods that aim to understand behaviour and experiences often rooted in trauma, abuse, and neglect. We deliver intensive therapeutic programs within educational and community settings, empowering young people to confront the underlying causes of their emotional distress and work toward healing. To create lasting, sustainable change, we also work to establish trauma-informed environments around young people by equipping parents, caregivers, educators, and other professionals with the tools they need to offer effective, supportive care. Currently, our services are active in London and Manchester.
About the role:
The purpose of this role is to build and manage Khulisa's high-impact partnerships with schools, communities, and corporates that generate income and expand the reach of our therapeutic programmes. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Identifying, initiating, cultivating and managing relationships with schools, Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), Local Authorities
- Working closely with Khulisa's Head of Programmes and Participation to develop, implement and regularly review our schools engagement plan
- Developing and maintaining relationships with corporate partners to generate financial support, sponsorships, and other forms of engagement
- Maintaining a record of and report on partnership pipelines, engagement outcomes, and income forecasts and actuals
For a full list of duties and responsibilities, please see the attached job description below.
The post holder will be required to work from home permanently but be willing and able to easily travel to various locations across the London and the North West as necessary to fulfill the requirements of the role and to engage with stakeholders and colleagues.
What we're looking for:
Abilities/Experience
- Experience of generating new partnership engagements from schools and/or other youth spaces and to secure their participation in social impact projects where resources are pooled.
- Ability to identify new opportunities for partnerships and initiate engagements, including knowing when to bring in senior colleagues to maximise the chance of success.
- Experience of manage multiple and diverse stakeholder groups, to recognise shared values, and secure commitment to joint-working.
- Experience of creating compelling digital presentations for a variety of audiences, using PowerPoint or similar software. • Ability to buy strongly into strategic objectives and reflect passion for Khulisa’s work with young people.
- Willingness to work evenings and weekends as the job requires, and to travel.
- Commitment to inclusive, wellbeing-led approach to supporting young people.
Knowledge/Skills
- Strong verbal and written communication skills and to engage others in a compelling manner to securer their ongoing interest.
- Deep understanding of the education sector, secondary schools in particular, and the factors that could contribute to young people becoming excluded or marginalised.
- Sound knowledge of the various stakeholders in the education sector, including the complexities of building relationships with multi-academy trusts and understanding of the relationship between schools and local authorities.
- Good understanding of the realities of delivery to young people and able to build the knowledge base necessary to engage others convincingly on the effectiveness of therapeutic practices in ensuring young people’s wellbeing.
- Advanced knowledge of safeguarding legislations, policies and practices relating to children and young people.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: We are actively looking to recruit a diversity of talent. We embrace, respect and value the difference in our employees and believe that we and our work is better for it. We are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive environment that consists of fairness, dignity, and caring for everyone, and one that enables every employee to flourish and realise their potential.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: MONDAY 21ST JULY AT 12 NOON
To apply, please submit a CV and Covering Letter, both of which should be no more than two pages, outlining how your skills and experience meet the requirements for the role as laid out in the Job Description.
We advise candidates to review the attached Job Description and Person Specification prior to applying, to see if this role and organisation is a good fit for you.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Location: Home based
Contract: Fixed term until 31 March 2026 – Full time 35hrs per week
Salary: £27,250 gross per annum
Closing Date: 21 July 2025
Assessment Day: 5 August 2025
Are you looking for a new opportunity?
The Marine Society & Sea Cadets (MSSC) is a vibrant and growing charity delivering life changing nautical adventure for young people through the Sea Cadets to give them the best possible head start in life. We also provide personal and professional development opportunities for seafarers with the Marine Society. Working with our staff, cadets, and volunteers, we have built a vision and five-year strategy to take us forward and further improve the astounding contribution already made through our work to the lives of thousands of young people and seafarers, while fully supporting our volunteers who are vital to our success.
We are currently looking for a Growth and Development Worker based in England to join our team. This is an externally funded post which will be focused on opening new provision and supporting existing provision in order to reduce waiting lists within specific funding areas. This is a very varied and rewarding role that requires someone who is self-motivated, organised, creative, tenacious, positive, IT competent and with a real interest in people. You need to be able to coach, empower and inspire our volunteers and cadets, both in person and remotely, to grow the Sea Cadets.
Responsibilities
- Delivering a variety of training sessions on, for example, recruitment of cadets and volunteers
- Developing new growth and recruitment tools and ideas
- Promoting flexible volunteering and the volunteer strategy
- Assisting with running our social media accounts
- Working with and empowering our volunteers to develop plans for growth
- Planning and setting up Juniors Sections in new and existing locations/units
- Delivering assemblies in schools
- Forming part of various working groups with colleagues to develop the tools, resources and processes needed to increase the positive impact of the Growth and Development team.
- Supporting the delivery of funded outreach projects
Requirements
- Previous experience of working with volunteers
- Experience delivering on multiple project plans simultaneously
- Ability to build and maintain excellent relationships with a variety of stakeholders remotely and face-to-face
- Experience delivering workshops and/or training
- Self-motivated and able to manage your time and workload effectively
- Flexible and enthusiastic
- Able to work as a team player with creative ideas and solutions who will empower our volunteers to make a difference to the lives of even more young people across the UK
For further information, please download the attached Recruitment Pack.
Benefits
- Flexible Working hours and a hybrid culture
- Cycle to work scheme and Season Ticket Loan
- 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
- Life assurance (4x salary) for those that join the pension
- Private medical insurance
- Pension (employer contribution up to 10%)
- Wellbeing portal and EAP with 121 counselling
- Employee development: We are investing in our employees' development and have an annual calendar of learning and development opportunities, designed to support employees to develop into their roles and stretch them to achieve their full potential.
- National staff conference: All employees come together once a year to reflect on the past year and celebrate success at our offsite staff conference. This is a great opportunity to listen to employees' views, and for employees to network, share information and socialise.
If you are interested in this Growth and Development vacancy, please apply now!
Additional Information
MSSC positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates from all backgrounds. Equity, diversity, and inclusion really matters to us, so we can best serve our beneficiaries from every community. We work to ensure a fair and consistent recruitment process and aim to be a charity where diversity of experience, identity and skills are valued and welcomed. MSSC is an equal opportunities employer.
We recognise our responsibilities to safeguard and protect the young people and vulnerable adults with whom we work. We do all we can to promote their health, safety and wellbeing, and we expect our staff to share this commitment and work in line with safeguarding policy, the MSSC’s values and ethos of inclusivity. We adhere to safer recruitment practices and therefore employment is subject to detailed pre-employment checks for successful candidates, including references and criminal disclosure checks and the completion of a disclosure questionnaire.
All successful applicants are required to attend safeguarding training and undergo a criminal record check.
We help launch young people for life through adventure.




The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
About the role:
When a family member sustains a spinal cord injury it is a life changing experience for the whole family. They can feel very isolated and that no one understands what they’re going through.
Back Up’s Family Support Service is there to help. We enable a wide range of family members of all ages whose loved one is affected by spinal cord injury (SCI) to improve their wellbeing, build a support network and transform their lives through Back Up’s services.
The Family Support Coordinator will assist in supporting family members on an individual basis as well as in group settings as appropriate, together with providing support in the process of identifying, recruiting and training new family support volunteers.
A Family Support Coordinator will be comfortable and efficient with data management and GDPR compliance.
Lived experience of having a relative with SCI is essential, together with sharing our commitment to transform the lives of everyone affected by spinal cord injury.
For full details please see our role description.
About us:
At Back Up, we have big ambitions. Over the next few years, we’re going to be transforming the lives of even more people affected by spinal cord injury.
Together we’ll be working hard to make sure everyone affected by spinal cord injury has access to the support they deserve; and we are the only spinal cord injury charity in the UK providing specific services to children and young people.
At Back Up, inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. Please read our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy Statement. We are committed to creating an inclusive working environment where all our employees are encouraged to reach their full potential, and individual differences are valued and respected. We particularly welcome applications from those from black, Asian or ethnic minority backgrounds or those with higher level spinal cord injuries.
In 2024 Back Up won The Times and The Sunday Times Spotlight Award for Best place to work for disabled employees. As well as this, Back Up has been voted one of the top ten charities to work for (Third Sector Best Charities 2020). The enthusiastic, inclusive and supportive spirit of our very skilled staff ensure excellence in the services we deliver.
At Back Up, we inspire people affected by spinal cord injury to get the most out of life.




The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Job Title: Family Activity Co-ordinator
Reports to: Head of Family Support
Full Time: 37 hours per week
Start Date: September 2025
Location: Home based within England or Wales
Salary: £26,500 p.a.
Are you interested in working for an organisation making a real difference to the lives of blind and partially sighted children, young people and their families?
Here at the Royal Society for Blind Children we believe that every blind and partially sighted young person should have the chance to live life without limits. Our values of Trust, Energy, Ambition, and Motivation underpin everything we do, and by giving children and young people the essential skills to take control of their life, they can unleash their true potential.
We have a new and exciting Family Activity Co-ordinator role available that will be instrumental to RSBC reaching even more children and families right across England and Wales. You’ll be working with a fantastic team focused on Family Support, and have the opportunity to create real impact for vision impaired children and their families.
The main purpose of the Family Activity Co-ordinator role is to:
· Organise quality, evidence led family activities for families with vision impaired children, that ensure RSBC is a consistent support for families throughout their journey with sight loss.
· Develop a comprehensive programme range of workshops and groups ensuring that these are co-produced and evidence based with VI children, young people and their families.
· Co-ordinate a range of groups, workshops and family events both online and in person across England and Wales, including effective promotion of those activities, ensuring RSBC reach even more families and improving current engagement.
The ideal candidate will be a highly organised individual with a real passion for making a difference for vision impaired children and their families. You will need some experience in organising/ co-ordinating an event or activity.
In return we offer a competitive range of benefits including a generous annual leave allowance of 28 days (rising to 29 days after 3 years’ service) + bank holidays, Employee Assistance Programme, Perkbox, flexible working opportunities, 3% contribution towards pension, and season ticket loan. We are a welcoming, diverse and inclusive workforce and are a Disability Confident Employer. We also hold the Investors in People Silver Award.
For further details on the role, please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification.
Please apply by emailing your CV and a supporting statement which details how you meet the requirements of the role and person spec
Closing date: 21 July 2025
Interview: week commencing 11 August
To apply you will need to have the right to work in the UK
The Society is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Therefore, all posts are subject to an Enhanced Disclosure check from the Disclosure and Barring Service and 2 satisfactory professional references. Registered Charity No.307892
Please submit a detailed supporting statement alongside your CV
To be there for blind children and their families with specialist support throughout their journey.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
An exciting opportunity to be involved in the development of a growing adult literacy charity as it expands across Central England
One in 20 adults in the UK has never learnt to read at all. This can have a serious impact on their confidence and wellbeing, limiting access to training, employment, and everyday opportunities that many take for granted. Being unable to read as an adult can be isolating and dangerous, reinforces social inequality, restricts economic growth, and worsens intergenerational disadvantage - but it is never too late to learn.
Read Easy helps adults transform their lives by learning to read. It does this by supporting its growing network of locally run, volunteer-led affiliated groups that offer free, confidential, one-to-one reading coaching—both in person and online to adults - aged from 18-88.
With its free, flexible, confidential approach, Read Easy encourages people who are too embarrassed to join a class to come forward for one-to-one support. Each new reader is provided with their own personal Reading Coach, so that they can learn in private and at their own pace. Learning to read transforms their lives in many other ways as well, including enabling them to support their children’s and grandchildren’s reading, and so transfers the benefits to the next generation.
There are currently 80 affiliated Read Easy groups across England, together involving more than a thousand volunteers. Read Easy UK is the registered charity and umbrella organisation which supports this network of affiliated volunteer groups and provides the structure, training and support to enable volunteers to establish groups in new areas.
As our Central Regional Adviser, your role would be to provide strategic leadership, guidance, and oversight to ensure that all volunteer groups consistently deliver high-quality services aligned with Read Easy UK’s strategy.
You will support local volunteer leaders to strengthen group performance, and foster collaboration across affiliated groups, so that that they deliver coaching to Readers with consistent quality, and a positive and worthwhile experience is had by all.
You will also find volunteers to ‘pioneer’ three new groups in the counties where there is no Read Easy presence in the East and West Midlands and East of England and provide them and our 29 existing groups and pioneers in the region, with high-quality support. Your quality support will ensure that they provide the same for their volunteers and new Readers. From meeting (mostly online) with Team Leaders to provide one to one support, and hosting online and annual in-person volunteer forums, to delivering presentations and occaisonal training for small groups of volunteers, this is a dynamic and rewarding role.
This is a home-based post requiring flexibility, some early evening working and occaisional travel to visit groups. The role is available on either a full or part time basis (min 32 hours p/w, 85% of 37.5 hours p/w FTE).
The successful candidate will be expected to:
- Live within one of the following areas: West Midlands (Defined as the 7 metropolitan boroughs of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, and Wolverhampton), Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire or Rutland;
- have been employed to work with volunteers for at least two years;
- have strong people management and interpersonal skills; excellent communication skills; and the confidence to run meetings and deliver presentations.
Salary & Benefits
- Annual Salary £25,075 (85% FTE) -£29,500 (100% FTE)
- 25 days holiday plus bank holidays and Christmas closing and 2 days volunteering leave – pro-rata for part time roles
- Company sick pay to financially support you when you are unwell (above statutory upon completion of probationary period)
- Support when extending your family – company parental and adoption pay (above statutory after 12 months service)
- Access to RewardHub – which gives retail discounts and has a ‘Wellbeing Centre’ with tools, tips, recipes, workout videos and guides which will help you to reach your own wellbeing goals
- Training and Development opportunities and resources – we are developing personal plans in this area to enhance employee experience and opportunity
- A collaborative, creative and inspiring working environment full of committed and passionate employees and inspirational volunteers
We strive to ensure our recruitment practices are fair, open, easy to access and as inclusive as possible. We aim to recruit a team which broadly reflect the local communities which we serve; to work with and learn from each other to continually improve the service we deliver to our Readers. Our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Group is actively promoting and advancing diversity and inclusion, ensuring a culture where everyone can be themselves and thrive. We welcome you to apply and be your authentic self.
When applying for a job with us, if an applicant has a disability covered by the definition outlined within the Equality Act 2010 and can show that they meet the ‘essential criteria’ described in the person specification for the role being applied for, they are guaranteed an interview for the job for which they are applying through our Disability Confident scheme.
If you need any support with your application, please contact us,
The closing date for this post is 10:00 Tuesday 15th July 2025. Should you be shortlisted, the first round of interviews will take place online on Wednesday 23rd July, with in-person interviews, being held in Gloucestershire or West Midlands, on Tuesday 29th July 2025.
The successful candidate will be invited to meet the team on 31st July in Birmingham, should they be able to do so.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Youth Futures Foundation is looking for a senior External Affairs professional to lead a busy multi-disciplinary team to drive our reputational, influencing and engagement work as the What Works Centre for Youth Employment.
About the role
- This is a newly created role where you will have responsibility for driving an integrated approach to our audience influencing to deliver our strategic objectives, through collective oversight across our public affairs, stakeholder relations, communications and marketing work.
- The post holder will report to the Director of Policy and External Affairs and work closely with the CEO, wider Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and the Deputy Director of Strategic Development to enable purposeful reputational growth, enhanced brand recognition and the delivery of external impact.
- The post holder will need to be an experienced leader and manager; a people person able to inspire, nurture and support a team of motivated engagement and communications professionals as well as deputising for the Director more widely when required.
- To be successful, the post holder will need to be able to balance big picture thinking with driving practical implementation and outcomes across the team and thriving in ambiguity when needed. The skills and experience to drive and support internal change to foster an optimal operating environment and ability to design and embed future focused ways of working will be important to the success of the role
This role can be based at any of our hubs located in Birmingham, Leeds or London. We currently operate a hybrid model of two-days per week in the office and three-days from home.
For more information, please download our recruitment pack.
We are the national What Works Centre for youth employment, with a specific focus on marginalised young people.




The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Using Anonymous Recruitment
This organisation is using Anonymous Recruitment to reduce bias in the first stages of the hiring process. Submit your application as normal and our system will anonymise it for you. Your personal information will be hidden until the recruiter contacts you.
Interim Head of Finance & Operations
Career Ready is a social mobility charity that believes that every young person deserves the opportunity to enjoy a rewarding future.
We were founded in 2002 by leading business figures with a mission: to boost social mobility by empowering young people and giving their talents a platform from which to flourish. Since then, we’ve grown in England and Scotland to support young people in areas of need.
We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced, qualified Finance professional to lead our Finance & Operations function.
About the Role
Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer the Interim Head of Finance & Operations leads on and assumes day to day responsibility for providing high quality, strategic financial management for Career Ready.
You will lead on business operations to ensure the ongoing effective functioning of the charity and drive sustainable growth.
The Interim Head of Finance and Operations plays a key role in leading greater organisational efficiency and simplifying processes and will continue the delivery of a project plan reflecting the 2025-30 strategy.
You will play a critical role in driving the increased quality of Career Ready’s offer to our stakeholders in line with our strategy, vision and values.
Member of our SMT, comprising of the CEO, Director for Scotland, Director of Programme and Partnerships and Heads of functions.
This is an interim role to cover a period of maternity leave.
Main responsibilities and accountabilities
· Lead, direct and manage the finance and operations functions, overseeing two direct reports, ensuring they deliver a high-quality service to all internal and external stakeholders and are seen as adding value, in enabling Career Ready to achieve its vision and strategic objectives through its people.
· Continue the delivery of a project plan reflecting the 2025-30 strategy, ensuring that activities happen at pace, are deadline-driven and achieve a high level of impact.
· Assume overall responsibility for the financial management of Career Ready, working with the SMT to ensure high quality and effective use of charitable funds.
· Input into and review the financial elements of funding applications and ensure that fund accounting processes align with funders’ requirements for project reporting.
· Produce financial reports for various stakeholders, as well as leading on financial modelling.
· Have oversight of all financial and accountancy matters including month end reports, management accounts, cash flow management, compliance, tax liability, presentation of management information and KPIs. Ensure that the CEO and Trustees are provided with accurate, timely information and analysis.
· Oversee and coordinate the fully managed payroll services with the external bureau for all Career Ready employees and for some internship students (Jun to Aug during the Summer)
· Administration of the Staff Opt-In Pension Scheme, including onboarding new staff (Royal London)
· Act as a role model in our ‘one team’ culture. Lead in the development of efficient working practices across the charity, creating momentum and supporting motivation within the charity.
· Lead risk management strategies and internal control procedures to minimise the risk of loss, or damage to, Career Ready’s assets.
· Prepare and submit annual operational budgets and annual accounts to the CEO for review and approval.
· Draft and deliver papers for Trustees and Finance and Fundraising Committee (F&FC) meetings.
· Attend Board and F&FC meetings to present papers and answer questions related to areas of expertise.
· Provide day to day line management of the Senior Finance Officers and support their ongoing growth and development.
· Management of organisational governance and compliance activities, including policy management.
· Oversee and manage the organisation’s risk management register and process, with input from SMT.
· Oversee reviews and renewals of all insurance policies that affect the organisation.
· Lead on the compliance of statutory and charity regulatory reporting, giving guidance to colleagues where required.
· Ensure any changes to processes and procedures across the function are clearly documented.
Person Specification
Essential skills and experience
- Belief and commitment to Career Ready’s mission and values
- Qualified (ACA/ACCA/CIMA/AAT) accountant with at least 5 years’ experience in financial management including budgeting, preferably in the charity sector.
- Significant experience in producing management and financial accounts
- Skilled in financial reporting and producing VAT returns
- Preparing for and ensuring a successful year-end audit, and demonstrable knowledge of UK Charities SORP and other reporting standards
- Experience in budgeting to support strategic decision making.
- Financial dexterity and strong analytical skills.
- Strong IT skills, including advanced MS Excel skills and extensive of using an accounting software, preferably Xero
- Excellent organisational and prioritising skills and ability to work independently and with autonomy
- Strong starter finisher with ability to lead and drive projects
- Knowledge of charity governance and compliance requirements
- Ability to build excellent relationships and have effective engagement with stakeholders
- Good communication skills and ability to communicate financial concepts to non-finance staff
- Attention to detail
- Ability to present financial information to various audiences
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and sensitivity of financial information
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment
- Ability to cope with competing demands to deadlines
- Honest and dependable
Desirable skills and experience
- Experience of leading a team, strong team building skills
- Line management experience
- Experience of using MS Planner or other project management tools
- Genuine interest in the work done by the Charity
- Experience of using a CRM (Salesforce)
- Degree in financial management or accounting
Full details are provided in the candidate pack
Salary and Benefits
Salary: £52,000 to £54,000 FTE (salary will be pro-rata for part time hours)
28-35 hours per week. Career Ready is committed to supporting condensed/flexible working patterns.
Permanent and remote. Travel to London required on an occasional basis
You will be rewarded with the following benefits:
· 6% contribution to personal pension plan, subject to 3% employee contribution.
· Annual leave: 27 days per annum plus bank/public holidays (pro rata for part time). The charity is also closed between Christmas and New Year. Career Ready also allows flexible use of some Bank & Public Holidays
· Cycle to Work Scheme
· Access to both our Reward Gateway Portal and an Employee Assistance Programme.
· Flexible working
· Work from home allowance and paid travel expenses.
We regret that Career Ready is unable to offer visa sponsorship and candidates must be able to demonstrate their right to work in the UK. In accordance with our commitment to safeguarding, offers of employment are subject to completion of a DBS check.
Timetable
Applications close at 9am on Monday 21 July 2025
Please note that the closing date may be brought forward if we receive strong applications.
This is an interim role to cover a period of maternity leave, with a provisional start date of late September for a handover period.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
The Youth Endowment Fund
Research Lead –Local Violence Prevention
Reports to: Head of Guidance and Reporting
Salary: £55,000
Contract: 2 years fixed term
Location: Central London, Hybrid*
Closing date: Tuesday 15th July at 12pm
Interviews: Week commencing 28th July 2025
About the Youth Endowment Fund
We exist 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 when violence doesn’t strike directly, we know that the fear of violence has a terrible effect on children’s lives.
At the Youth Endowment Fund, we are working to create lasting change. To succeed, we must build a world-leading body of knowledge on the violence that affects young people and how it can be stopped. This means producing rigorous, relevant evidence — through synthesis, data analysis and in-depth research into young people’s lives. But knowledge alone isn’t enough. We must make it accessible and actionable: showing what works, how services need to change, and how the systems around them must adapt. And we must partner with the people who can make change happen — across policy, practice and local systems — to turn evidence into impact.
About the role
The Research Lead will lead the development of YEF’s research, resources and recommendations in our neighbourhood focus sector.
We focus our efforts on seven essential sectors: education, policing, youth justice, youth sector, children’s services, health, and neighbourhood. “Neighbourhood” refers to our work supporting local partnerships – such as Violence Reduction Units (VRUs), community safety partnerships or the new Prevention Partnerships - and hyper-local approaches like our neighbourhood fund.
Their primary responsibility will be to develop a series of actionable and evidence-informed guidance and resources for use by local violence prevention partnerships. This will include self-assessment tools for partnerships to assess their effectiveness, tools for understanding the nature of local violence problems and how they could be solved, and resources to support partnerships to identify and safeguard vulnerable children. Creating these resources will require the Research Lead to collect insights and evidence from across YEF’s work and develop YEF positions on fundamental questions about violence prevention. If successful, the Research Lead could have an outsized impact on YEF’s strategy and mission.
These resources will support YEF colleagues to deliver our new ‘Area Leaders Programme’ (ALP). This is a new programme which you will help form. It helps local multi-agency partnerships to find and implement the best ways to prevent violence. YEF is working directly with partnerships, providing high-quality professional development, tailored advice and support, system mapping, and a national community of practice. The ALP focuses on strengthening five key elements of effective violence reduction:
- Building strong and accountable partnerships
- Understanding local patterns of violence
- Identifying and supporting children most at risk
- Improving safety in high-risk places
- Sharing best practice across agencies
Following a pilot in four areas in 2024/25, the programme will expand to 20 more areas over the next two years. This will lay the groundwork for wider national initiatives, such as the Young Futures Prevention Partnerships, and support implementation of the Serious Violence Duty. The Research Lead will develop resources and guidance for the ALP. As the programme is delivered iteratively, they will work closely with YEF programme leads and local partnerships to test, refine, and improve materials before wider rollout.
The Research Lead will be part of YEF’s Research team. The Research team is at the heart of our efforts to learn what works and put it into practice. We do this by developing the YEF’s funding strategy and creating free, highly accessible research summaries and actionable recommendations for policy makers, commissioners and practitioners. We’re a high-performing team which values intellectual rigour and getting to the truth, compassion for children, ambition about what we can achieve and humility about what we know. We love to discuss the latest developments in research methods, but we’re not just interested in research for its own sake. We want research to lead to actual changes in outcomes for children.
Key responsibilities
The Research Lead will develop a portfolio of impactful projects.
· You’ll lead the research team’s work in our local neighbourhoods and partnerships priority sector. You’ll become the YEF’s expert in this area. You’ll make sure we understand the key issues, stay on top of the latest research and are connected to the right people.
· You’ll ensure we produce accessible, evidence-based resources and guidance that local partnerships can use to develop more effective strategies. You’ll work with YEF colleagues to test, refine, and improve materials before wider rollout
· You’ll set the YEF’s research agenda for your sector. You’ll make sure we invest in research that fills important gaps in knowledge and leads to important changes. You’ll ensure that our strategy and decision-making are informed by the best available research. This is a great opportunity to influence large amounts of funding and direct it towards the most impactful projects.
· You’ll develop great relationships with experts and represent YEF in external meetings and events. You’ll promote evidence-based policy and practice by speaking at conferences and events.
· You’ll lead the development of evidence-based recommendations in your focus area. You’ll draw on research and expert insight to identify potential changes to policy and practice. You’ll design and develop innovative and impactful resources which support the application of your recommendations.
· You’ll take on other responsibilities appropriate to your role. This could include leading the publication of YEF’s evaluation reports or writing ad hoc briefings and evidence summaries for the Government and other partners.
About You
You are this sort of person:
· You want to play a significant part in reducing the level of violence affecting young people. You care about having an impact. This might mean you’ve worked directly with young people at risk of becoming involved in crime, for organisations that fund or deliver relevant programmes, or have conducted research on this topic.
· You share our belief that an evidence-based approach is our best hope of preventing violence. You’re 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 know a lot about violence prevention, especially local partnerships and structures like VRUs or Community Safety Partnerships. You know the key ideas and debates, recent policy developments and key people. You’re comfortable talking about this topic with experts. There are many ways to acquire this knowledge. You might have worked in a local authority or local violence prevention organisation, conducted research on them or learnt about them during a degree.
· 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 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 or 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 have experience of managing contractors or budgets.
· You are good with people. You’re 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’re 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.
While it’s not a criterion, we’re especially interested to hear from applicants who have lived experience of youth 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 social economic background.
Hybrid Working Details
The office is based in Central London. Those living in and around London are expected to be in the office 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.
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.
To Apply
To apply, please send a CV and cover letter, and complete the monitoring form click on "Apply for this" button by 12:00pm Tuesday 15th July 2025.
When applying for this role, please ensure that your cover letter, within a maximum of 1000 words, covers the following questions below:
1. A clear example of a situation where you have translated research into actionable resources or recommendations.
2. A clear example of a situation where you’ve supported an external partner or colleague to apply research evidence to an important decision.
Interview Process
Interviews will take place in the week commencing the 28th July 2025.
There will be a task to prepare for in advance.
PLEASE NOTE: We do not sponsor work permits and you will be required to provide proof of your eligibility to work in the UK.
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.
We exist to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence.
