Head of community jobs

About the role

Community Services at The Passage are delivered from our Resource Centre in Victoria, which provides a single, accessible entry point for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The Resource Centre acts as a central hub, enabling people to be assessed once and supported to access the most appropriate accommodation, services or onward referrals based on their individual needs. 

People are supported by skilled client facing staff who work with them to understand their circumstances and identify the right pathway of support. Alongside assessment and casework, the Resource Centre provides immediate welfare services to help meet urgent needs and stabilise people at times of crisis. 

Following assessment, Community Services deliver a range of specialist and preventative interventions, including rapid rehousing for those at imminent risk of homelessness, advice and advocacy, employment and skills support, housing-related casework delivered in partnership with the local authority, and assertive engagement for people less able to access services independently. The overall aim is to prevent homelessness wherever possible and to support people to move quickly into safe, stable accommodation.

Key responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Service Development 

• Lead delivery of The Passage’s 3-year strategy as it relates to Community Services, ensuring services are preventative, trauma-informed, and outcomes-focused. 
• Develop, implement and monitor an annual Community Services business plan, reporting to the Quality & Services Committee and Board as required. 
• Provide strategic leadership for No Night Out, ensuring it continues to deliver rapid, effective interventions aligned to Westminster’s homelessness strategy and wider system reform. 
• The post holder will be responsible for embedding equality, diversity and inclusion across Community Services, ensuring services are accessible, inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of people we support, and that inclusive practice is reflected in service delivery, staff development and partnership working. 
• Identify, develop and lead new service opportunities, including bid development and commissioner engagement for Community Services. 
• Lead planning and operational delivery for Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) and other system-wide responses.

Safeguarding, Risk and Community Impact

• Act as Safeguarding Lead for Community Services, ensuring robust policies, training, escalation pathways and safe practice across all services. 
• Maintain oversight of risk management, incident reporting, and health & safety compliance within Community Services. 
• Lead locality management across services, including proactive management of anti-social behaviour (ASB) and community impact in a dense residential environment. 
• Hold responsibility for security provision within Community Services, ensuring appropriate deployment, escalation and alignment with The Passage’s values and legal responsibilities. 
• Work closely with local residents, businesses, the local authority and other stakeholders to manage concerns, maintain confidence, and protect The Passage’s reputation. 

Operational Leadership and People Management

• Provide clear leadership and direction to Community Services managers and teams, fostering a culture of accountability, learning and continuous improvement. 
• Recruit, develop and retain high-performing teams, ensuring robust supervision, appraisal and development planning. 
• Ensure consistent application of people policies, including performance management, grievance, disciplinary and absence processes. 
• Support managers to define clear roles and responsibilities aligned to service objectives and contractual requirements. 
• Champion co-production and lived experience involvement in service design and delivery, working closely with the Lived Experience Project Manager. 

Primary Services and Resource Centre Operations

• Hold strategic and operational responsibility for Primary Services, including the catering function within the Resource Centre. 
• Ensure full compliance with food hygiene, health & safety, and all relevant regulatory and legal requirements. 
• Work closely with Fundraising to support corporate volunteering and “Kitchen Takeover” initiatives, ensuring safe, high-quality delivery that enhances supporter engagement while protecting service users and staff. 
• Balance operational integrity, safeguarding and service quality with supporter and volunteer experience. 

Financial Management and Funding Stewardship

• Set and manage realistic budgets and forecasts across Community Services, working closely with Finance and Fundraising. 
• Oversee multiple funding streams, including large trusts, grant-giving bodies and commissioned services, ensuring full compliance with funding conditions and reporting requirements. 
• Support managers to understand and deliver against budgetary and income-related targets. 
• Contribute to the development of funding proposals and service models that align with organisational strategy and funder priorities. 

Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact

• Strengthen monitoring, evaluation and learning across Community Services, supporting teams to evidence impact and improve practice. 
• Analyse service data (e.g. In-Form) to identify trends, risks and opportunities for improvement. 
• Produce high-quality narrative and impact reporting for funders, commissioners and supporters, demonstrating both quantitative outcomes and qualitative change. 
• Work with Fundraising to showcase frontline work through supporter communications, social media and events. 

External Relations and Partnerships

• Develop and maintain strong strategic and operational partnerships across Westminster and the wider homelessness sector. 
• Work closely with Fundraising colleagues to steward corporate partners, major donors and trusts, including hosting visits and events. 
• Represent The Passage in multi-agency forums, contributing to system-wide solutions and best practice. 

Organisational Leadership

• Actively contribute as a member of the Senior Management Group, supporting organisational planning, innovation and culture. 
• Provide reports to, and attend, Board and Committee meetings as required. 
• Deputise for the Director of Housing & Services when appropriate. 
• Role-model The Passage’s values and commitment to dignity, respect and excellence. 
• Work flexibly in line with organisational needs. 

Desired experience

Experience 

1. Senior leadership experience within homelessness, housing-related support, social care, or a closely aligned sector, with responsibility for multiple frontline services and managers. 

1. Proven experience leading preventative or rapid-response services, such as homelessness prevention, assessment services, outreach, crisis response or equivalent, including partnership working with local authorities. 

1. Demonstrable experience of safeguarding leadership, including acting as a designated or senior safeguarding lead and managing complex risk, incident response and escalation. 

1. Experience of managing services in complex localities, including community impact, ASB, neighbour relations and working alongside security provision or comparable risk-managed environments. 

1. Experience of managing multiple funding streams, including trusts, grants, and/or commissioned services, with responsibility for compliance, reporting and supporting income generation. 

Knowledge and Skills 

1. Strong strategic and operational leadership skills, with the ability to translate organisational strategy into effective, high-quality service delivery and measurable outcomes. 

1. Excellent people management capability, including coaching senior managers, handling performance, and fostering a culture of accountability, learning and continuous improvement. 

1. Sound understanding of safeguarding, health & safety, and regulatory compliance, with the confidence to provide assurance across diverse services, including food provision and volunteer-involved activity. 

1. Highly developed partnership and influencing skills, able to build credibility with commissioners, funders, residents, corporate partners and senior stakeholders in a high-profile environment. 

1. Strong financial and analytical skills, including budget management, monitoring performance data, and producing clear, compelling reports that demonstrate impact to funders, boards and supporters. 

Above all we are looking for inspiring and committed individuals who have a genuine desire to support people, and to help them to rebuild their lives.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Citizens UK 

Citizens UK is the UK’s biggest, most diverse and most effective people-powered alliance. We bring communities and local organisations together to work on issues that matter; from campaigning for zebra crossings on dangerous roads, to reforming the immigration system, to the Living Wage campaign. We have a track record of winning change through hundreds of local and national campaigns. We know everyday people have the ability to shape the world around them. We believe that through developing local leaders, we can drive nationwide change and create community-led solutions to big and small problems.

Citizens UK has played a pioneering role in introducing and developing community sponsorship of refugees in the UK. In response to the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015, we campaigned successfully for the introduction of community sponsorship in the UK. Citizens UK was then instrumental in proving the model can work in the UK and through training, advocacy, and coordination, we have helped hundreds of local groups welcome thousands of refugee families. In 2022, Citizens UK expanded its work by launching the Communities for Ukraine programme, matching Ukrainian refugees with UK hosts and most recently has run Communities for Afghans, resettling dozens of refugees. Throughout, it has combined grassroots organising with national advocacy to build a sustainable, community-led model of refugee resettlement. In 2025, we campaigned successfully to persuade the Government to introduce ‘named sponsorship’, giving communities greater choice in who they would sponsor. This creates a huge opportunity to grow community sponsorship and to enable UK civil society to step up and honour our proud tradition of offering sanctuary.

Head of Community Sponsorship Role 

This is a rare opportunity to lead Citizens UK’s community sponsorship campaign and help build the movement that will be at the heart of a community-led welcome.

This new role comes at an exciting and crucial time, as we seek to build and embed this new form of named community sponsorship in the UK. As Head of Community Sponsorship you will lead on our strategy to develop named sponsorship as a transformative part of the UK’s approach to refugee resettlement and community power. This will involve building a broad-base of civil society partners ready to sponsor refugees and to add their voice to the campaign. You will lead on the campaigning and advocacy strategy as we ensure quality in the Government policy and cross-Party political support. Citizens UK acts as the Lead Sponsor for local community sponsorship groups and you will oversee their ongoing support and further engagement.

The role foster collaboration with Citizens UK Organisers and alliances, develop sustainable funding strategies, and ensure alignment with Citizens UK’s broader migration and transformation goals. The role will work alongside Citizens UK’s Migrant and Refugee Organising Team and will contribute to the efforts to build the power to create a more welcoming country. You will lead on relationships with senior stakeholders, policy makers, and funders, and support the creation of campaigns and resources to expand public awareness and support for community sponsorship. With responsibilities spanning communications, and external representation, the role is key to shaping Citizens UK’s refugee resettlement strategy and building its national impact as a driver of cohesion. 

Working as the Head of Community Sponsorship for Citizens UK, reporting to the Assistant Director for Migrant and Refugee Organising (MARO), your main responsibilities will include: 

Career Pathway Headings 

Objectives 

Contribute to Citizens UK and Project Strategic Objectives 

• Build a broad and deep engagement across civil society in named sponsorship, demonstrating the potential for scale and the big tent of support.

• Develop and implement campaign approaches that secure policy goals and build cross-Party political support.

• Develop strategy that develops the leadership of local Citizens members and refugees, strengthens civic institutions and builds trust across difference.

Build and Manage Projects & Achieve Work Targets Effectively 

• Oversee multiple work strands, working in partnership. 

• Develop and manage project workplans, KPIs and budgets, ensuring delivery to time, standard, and impact goals. 

• Establish systems for performance tracking, evaluation, and continuous improvement across project streams. 

Learning, Expertise, Wellbeing & Inclusion 

• Act as a senior expert in sponsorship strategy; coach and mentor staff and partners, and facilitate learning across departments and projects. 

• Influence and lead the integration of equity, wellbeing and refugee voice into strategic decisions and delivery frameworks. 

Develop and Manage External Relationships 

• Lead high-level relationships with national and senior stakeholders, including government departments (e.g. Home Office), civil society institutions and funders. 

• Build and manage partnerships that advance sponsorship reform and position Citizens UK as a sector leader. 

• Ensure stakeholder experience is consistently excellent and take the lead on resolving reputational risks or tensions. 

Communications 

• Act as a senior spokesperson for Citizens UK’s sponsorship work in the media, at public events, and in government or civil society forums. 

• Lead the design and implementation of a high-profile communications strategy to influence narratives on refugee welcome and community leadership. 

• Ensure communications align with ethical storytelling principles and amplify sponsor and refugee voices responsibly. 

Develop and Manage Internal Relationships 

• Lead and develop high-performing cross-functional teams, with clear expectations, direction, and collaboration structures. 

• Effectively line manage senior staff and foster shared leadership culture across sponsorship and Citizens UK team 

• Ensure that the community sponsorship strategy is aligned with Citizens UK’s other campaigns and work closely with other members of Migrant and Refugee Organising team. 

• Contribute to senior leadership structures, including strategic planning processes and transformation initiatives. 

Generate Income and Resources 

• Initiate and grow significant and sustainable income streams to fund Citizens UK’s sponsorship work. 

• Develop and lead high-value funding partnerships with trusts, foundations and strategic donors. 

• Demonstrate strong budget oversight and ensure effective use of financial and human resources in sponsorship delivery. 

Personal Specification 

(D) Desirable, (E) Essential 

Qualifications 

• Degree or equivalent experience in a relevant field such as migration, social policy, international development, or community organising (D) 

• Management or leadership qualification, or relevant CPD in project or programme management, public policy, or team leadership (D) 

Experience 

• Proven experience in leading complex, multi-stakeholder programmes related to refugee resettlement, community organising, or social impact (E) 

• Demonstrable track record of strategic leadership in a charity or community-focused setting (E) 

• Experience of managing cross-functional teams to deliver against ambitious organisational goals (E) 

• Experience of developing and sustaining strategic partnerships with civil society organisations, local authorities, or government departments (E) 

• Experience in leading campaigning and influencing strategies to secure changes in Government policy (E) 

• Experience of designing and implementing systems for monitoring, evaluation, and learning to track progress and report to funders and or government stakeholders (D) 

• Demonstrable experience of driving collaborative campaigns or outreach efforts that engage diverse communities (E) 

Key skills and knowledge 

• Strong leadership and team coordination skills – able to motivate, direct, and support multidisciplinary teams across multiple workstreams (E) 

• Excellent project and performance management skills – able to set strategic priorities, delegate effectively, and ensure accountability (E) 

• In-depth knowledge of refugee resettlement systems, community sponsorship models, and UK migration policy, including recent developments affecting Afghan and Ukrainian pathways (E) 

• Knowledge and skills in community organising and an understanding of how community sponsorship and campaigning connect with and support the method and aims of organising (E) 

• Outstanding written and verbal communication – confident in producing compelling cases for support, policy communications, and public messaging (E) 

• Ability to design and deliver stakeholder engagement strategies, with a clear understanding of influencing policy and public opinion (E) 

• Skilled in developing and managing strategic partnerships with funders, policy-makers, and community groups (E) 

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills – able to assess complex challenges, identify risks, and implement effective solutions (E) 

Personal qualities & values 

• A mission-driven leader with a passion for refugee rights, community empowerment, and social justice (E) 

• Politically astute and able to navigate relationships with stakeholders from civil society, government, and grassroots communities (E) 

• Collaborative and people-centred, able to work constructively across teams and with volunteers, refugees, and community leaders (E) 

• Committed to embedding refugee leadership and lived experience into programme design and delivery (E) 

• Resilient, adaptable, and able to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced and evolving policy environment (E) 

• Comfortable working within an accountable team culture – open to feedback, reflective practice, and continuous improvement (E) 

• Willingness to work occasional evenings or weekends, and to travel when necessary to support programme delivery (E) 

Note: 

At Citizens UK, we work with communities to develop leaders, strengthen organisations, campaign for change and organise across difference. This work is rewarding and can be challenging; it requires a personal commitment to inclusion, a willingness to listen and disagree respectfully, and an interest in working in an organisation where our staff, member institutions and leaders will come from a diversity of backgrounds and often hold views that may be very different from our own. More information about how we operate within this context and build trusted relationships across difference can be found on our website and is covered in induction. Onboarding and navigating this relational culture, and type of work, is supported by line managers and further training.