Salary: £62,651 per annum
Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract – Paternity Cover (up to 10 months)
Closing date: 7 April 2026 at 11pm
Interview date: 4 – 15 May 2026
About CARE
CARE International is a global humanitarian organisation leading the fight to end poverty in the world’s most challenging situations. Women and girls are at the centre of our work, because we cannot overcome poverty and inequality until all people have equal rights and opportunities. We know that when a crisis erupts, women are often the first to pick up the pieces, so we work alongside women, so they have the power to make change where it’s needed most. Founded in 1945, CARE currently works in over 100 countries and last year alone reached 53.4 million people through nearly 1,500 projects.
Why work for CARE International UK?
CARE International UK is currently developing its new 4-year Strategy working within the CARE International Vision 2030, which will launch in July 2026. The strategy will build on our focus on women’s leadership in crisis, and expand on our strengths in anticipatory action and women’s access to economic opportunities. This includes investing in CIUK’s Early Action Fund, which sits within the Programme Management Team and works with country offices to support communities to prepare for and respond to climate and conflict-related emergencies. The Programme Management Team is at the centre of driving the impact we want to achieve through our new strategy, and continuing to work towards our goal of giving more power, resources and space to local organisations and communities, in particular to women-led organisations and women activists, so they can lead the decisions, debates and programmes that affect their lives.
The Head of Programme Management is a key organisational leadership role and will be part of the CIUK Extended Leadership Team working with other heads of team and the senior leadership team to help run the organisation effectively and deliver the 4-year strategy. CIUK’s restricted income from donors is significant and is CIUK’s largest income stream; as such the Head of PMT has a high level of responsibility for stewardship and effective management of the ongoing programme portfolio. Our largest programmes are complex multi-partner consortia in fragile contexts with budgets of up to £60m. The role-holder also has a crucial role to play in identifying learning from our programmes and sharing these across CARE and the sector.
About you
You will have demonstrated experience working with a range of donors, including the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), with deep knowledge of how the FCDO operates, how they are structured and contract programmes, as well as their current priorities. You will also have experience delivering programmes with corporate partners, and trusts and foundations. You will have the ability to build strong relationships and have demonstrated ability to negotiate complex contracts with donors and influence donor positions. You will have a strong programme management and risk management background that allows you to understand and work across multiple projects and contexts, and manage risk at the portfolio level, dealing effectively with new risks and issues as they emerge.
As a leader of a large team, you will have strong people leadership and interpersonal skills, with the ability to translate strategy into action, motivate colleagues and demonstrate to team members how their role links to organisational strategy and objectives. Your leadership style will be aligned with CIUK’s feminist leadership principles and values. You will need to have experience of working in donor-funded organisations, understand cost recovery models, and have experience working to deliver large-scale programming in development and/or humanitarian contexts. A good understanding of the current debates in the sector on local leadership and a commitment to the principles set out in the pledge for change are essential.
About the role
The Head of Programme Management leads a large team to oversee all of CIUK’s active humanitarian and development projects funded by UK donors. The team leads CIUK’s relationships with Country Offices and Regions and develops close partnerships to help us achieve long-term and effective programming across the humanitarian and development arena. The team also builds strong relationships with institutional donors and works with the Partnerships and Philanthropy team to deliver corporate-funded programmes. The Head of Programme Management is responsible for ensuring strong grant management and donor compliance including programme financial management. The team ensures that CARE provides and is recognised by donors for offering excellent value for money and real impact for its programme participants. The team also leads CIUK’s approach to delivering smart development and humanitarian programmes with an increasing focus on equitable partnership approaches.
The role covers four main areas of responsibility:
Representation and relationship management
Holding relationships with a set of senior stakeholders including FCDO Senior Responsible Owners, other donor counterparts, CARE Country Directors, Programme Directors and Regional Directors. Negotiating contract terms with donors and troubleshooting delivery issues with country offices. Positioning CARE’s work to external stakeholders, including personally representing CIUK in external forums and with donors.
Organisational and team leadership, strategy and planning:
Set and drive the programme management team’s annual plans and contribution to the organisation’s strategic priorities. Be accountable to delivering on team KPIs and organisational KPIs that link to PMT’s work. Play a key role in the leadership of the Programme and Policy department. Provide strong line management to direct reports and demonstrate a strong personal commitment to CIUK’s equity, diversity and inclusion goals and feminist leadership principles.
Financial and compliance management
Provide close and effective management of multi-million pound budgets. Reforecast accurately throughout the year, identifying and working with country offices to rectify implementation issues. Manage risks and issues at portfolio level, raising high and critical risks for attention by senior leadership and board as necessary. Ensure donor compliance is followed.
Programme quality, monitoring evaluation and learning
Ensure that CIUK closely monitors project implementation, relevance of programme outputs and outcomes and ensures programmes meet relevant technical standards and up to date best practice. Programmes fulfil requirements on programme quality and adhere to do no harm standards, the Core Humanitarian Standard, and ensure that CARE’s safeguarding standards are met throughout the life of the programme. Proactively share knowledge from CIUK’s programmes across the confederation and externally.
Right to Work in the UK
All applicants must have the legal right to work in the United Kingdom at the time of appointment. Proof of right to work will be required as part of the recruitment process. For more information, please visit the UK Government's guidance on right to work. Where you do not have current right to work in the UK, then this will be discussed with you as part of the recruitment process. Please note that not all roles are eligible for sponsorship and further information (should you require sponsorship to work in the UK) on eligibility can be found here.
Safeguarding
CARE International UK has a zero-tolerance approach to any abuse to, sexual harassment of or exploitation of, a vulnerable adult or child by any of our staff, representatives or partners. CARE International UK expects all staff to share this commitment through our Safeguarding Policy (link here) and our Code of Conduct (link here). They are responsible for ensuring they understand and work within the remit of these policies throughout their time at CARE International UK.
Safeguarding our beneficiaries is our top priority in everything we do, including recruitment. All offers of employment at CARE International UK are subject to:
· Satisfactory references. CARE International UK participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (link here). In line with this Scheme, we will request information from successful applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment.
· Appropriate criminal record checks (including a Bridger check, link here).
By submitting an application, the applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.
Equality and Diversity
We are committed to Equality and value Diversity. We are a Disability Confident Employer and particularly welcome applications from disabled people. We guarantee interviews to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role (see person specification). If you require the candidate brief or need to submit your application in an alternative format, because of a disability, please do get in touch by sending an email to HR.
We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and respected. We particularly welcome applications from people of underrepresented backgrounds, including those from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority communities, and individuals who identify as LGBTQ+.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Location: Contracted to our Peterborough office with the flexibility for hybrid working
Contract Type: 12-month fixed term contract – maternity cover
Full time: 37.5 hours per week
Salary: £36,000 - £42,000 depending on experience
Benefits: We want all our employees to feel valued and engaged and are committed to offering a positive working culture along with a good work-life balance. As well as ensuring we pay our employees fairly, we offer the following benefits: Flexible working, Generous annual leave, Private Medical Insurance, including dental and optical, Pension Scheme, Sick Pay, Death in Service, Employee Assistance Programme, Bike Loan Scheme, Cycle2Work Scheme, Eyecare, Discount Portal.
Closing date: Sunday 29 March 2026
Telephone interviews will be held week commencing 30 March and in-person interviews will be held in Peterborough week commencing 6 April 2026
No agencies please
Be a part of an energetic and vibrant team who are driven by the desire to improve the lives of people living with kidney disease. Our vision is the day when everyone lives free from kidney disease.
This is an exciting opportunity for anyone who thrives in a fast paced, ambitious environment. We want to prevent kidney disease from becoming a public health emergency and find better treatments for kidney patients sooner.
We are looking for a talented philanthropy manager who will be responsible for a portfolio of prospects and donors to build long lasting and highly engaged relationships. Working closely with the head of philanthropy and the major appeals manager you will play a key role in growing our income from major donors over the next 3-5 years by building a pipeline of new and existing donors and securing five and six-figure gifts.
This external facing role will manage our mid to high value prospects and donors and you will build personal relationships though understanding donor motivations, delivering tailored funding proposals and communications, and creating a bespoke donor journey with the aim of increasing their giving and connection to the cause.
We operate a hybrid, flexible working style and regular weekly office attendance is encouraged. The role is contracted to our Peterborough office. You will also be required to regularly attend external meetings and events.
If you are interested in the position, please complete the online application form and submit together with your CV.
We are committed to providing equal opportunities for everyone and encourage applications from all sections of the community.
About Kidney Research UK:
Kidney Research UK is the leading charity in the UK focused on funding research into the prevention, treatment and management of kidney disease. Our vision is the day when everyone lives free from kidney disease and for more than 60 years the research, we fund has been making an impact. But kidney disease is increasing as are the factors contributing to it, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity, making our work more essential than ever.
At Kidney Research UK we work with clinicians and scientists across the UK, funding and facilitating research into all areas of kidney disease. We collaborate with partners across the public, private and third sectors to prevent kidney disease and drive innovation to transform treatments.
Over the last ten years we have invested more than £71 million into research. We lobby governments and decision makers to change policy and practice to ensure that the estimated 7.2 million people living with all stages of kidney disease in the UK have access to the most effective care and treatment, and to make kidney disease a priority.
Most importantly, we also work closely with patients, ensuring their voice is heard and is at the centre of everything we do, from deciding which research to invest in to how we plan our priorities and our work across the charity.
Those patient contributions are vital, always helping us and our partners to understand what life is like with kidney disease, always ensuring we see the patient behind the treatment and always reminding us that behind every statistic and every number is a person – the patients and the carers who inspire our mission and push us forward to make a difference and change the future of kidney disease.
You may have experience of the following: Philanthropy Manager, Partnerships Manager, Head of Philanthropy, Head of Partnerships, Fundraiser, Senior Fundraising Officer, Fundraising Manager, Head of Fundraising, Major Gifts, Corporate Partnerships, Business Development Manager, Charity, Charities, Third Sector, NFP, Not for Profit, etc.
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