Project support jobs

Salary: £27,391 per annum + £750 Homeworking Allowance per annum + £4,184 London weighting per annum- (if eligible)

Hours: 35 Hours Per Week

Contract: Fixed Term - 1 year

Location: We are seeking candidates located in London, and in one of the following boroughs: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Havering, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Newham, Redbridge, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Westminster as travel is required across London, Essex and Hertfordshire.

As a ‘not for profit’ organisation, TACT puts the needs of our children and carers first and look to appoint individuals who are as passionate about fostering as we are. We are a homeworking organisation, and we pride ourselves on our flexible working opportunities, available from day one, an extensive wellbeing programme and our benefits package, all curated to nurture a healthy work life balance for all our employees so they can give an excellent service to our carers and the young people and children we care for.

As a foster care charity, TACT invests all surplus income into services, staff, carers, and child development. This means that we have been able to invest unique projects like TACT Connect, our unique and ground-breaking scheme for TACT care experienced young people and adults,  as well as our expanding Education and Health services. All our activities are built on our commitment to becoming a fully trauma informed organisation, in line with our key values and ethos.

In 2024 TACT became one of the top 5 charities to work for in the UK, placing 5th in the UK Best Companies Work For survey results , and a top 25 mid-sized company to work with across the whole of the UK.   97% of our people feel proud to work with TACT and think that TACT cares about their wellbeing, while 92% of our people would say they “ love working for TACT”.

This is an exciting opportunity to join TACT in the new role of Fostering Recruitment Officer as they grow their presence in East, North & South London, Essex and Hertfordshire, the successful candidate will be required to travel across London, Essex and Hertfordshire. 

The Fostering Recruitment Officer will drive recruitment of Foster Carers across the area, innovating engagement and participation alongside the Fostering Recruitment Manager, in collaboration with the whole team.

If you want to be valued as a professional, be appreciated at work and contribute to better outcomes for the children and young people connected with TACT,  apply now.  

Overall Duties of the Fostering Recruitment Officer will include:

• Working collaboratively across relevant teams to progress enquiry management
• Support community recruitment activity to create a consistent pipeline of carer applicants
• Facilitating a smooth application and assessment process for potential carers
• Undertaking essential administrative tasks relating to record keeping, creation of data for analysis, evidence for measuring objectives
• Creatively contribute to innovation and improvement of strategies and local activities
• Maintaining an understanding of regulations and requirements for provision of foster care services

 TACT offer an excellent employee benefits package including:

• 31 days paid holiday plus 8 annual bank holidays.
• Progression to salary target rate upon completion of 18 months service.
• 45p per mile for business travel.
• Flexible working arrangements (including compressed hours, flexibility around core hours, volunteer days policy).
• Family friendly policies.
• Homeworking ‘bundle’ including annual allowance, IT equipment and a loan for home office set up.
• HelpHand Employee Assistance Programme (including CBT counselling, 24/7 remote GP appointments, physiotherapy, mental health support and second opinions on serious diagnosis).
• An hour a week of live, expert led activities through the Annual Employee wellbeing Programme.
• Menopause Policy and free Menopause Clinician Appointments.
• Stakeholder Pension Scheme (salary sacrifice).
• Fantastic learning and development opportunities for all roles.

Travel to attend monthly face-to-face meetings in London, alongside team wellbeing events and training is also required.

An Enhanced DBS clearance is required for this role and will be processed by TACT on your behalf.

• Closing Date: Monday, 6th April 2026
• Interview Date: Wednesday, 15th April 2026 (via Microsoft Teams)

Safeguarding is everyone’s business and TACT believes that only the people with the right skills and values should work in social work.  As part of TACT’s commitment to safeguarding, we properly examine the skills, experience, qualifications, and values of potential staff in relation to our work with vulnerable young children.  We use rigorous and consistent recruitment approaches to help safeguard TACT’s young people.  All our staff are expected to work in line with TACT’s safeguarding policies.

We reserve the right to close a vacancy earlier than advertised if the volume of applications is excessive. You are therefore advised to apply at your earliest convenience.

TACT does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies, nor the fees associated with them

JOB TITLE:                         Centre Based Assistance Dog Instructor (Maternity Cover) 

LOCATION:                        Based at our Centre in Milton Keynes, with travel up to 3 hours 

SALARY BAND:                 £26K - £32K per annum, depending on experience. Line management experience desirable.

JOB TYPE:                          Full time and Part time applicants considered. Fixed Term of 12-18 months 

REPORTS TO:                    Interim Head of Assistance Dog Programme 

Medical Detection Dogs trains dogs to save lives. 

We train specialist dogs to detect the odour of human disease, providing life-saving alert assistance dogs to people with complex health problems across the UK and collaborating with NHS Trusts and other researchers and Universities both in the UK and internationally to advance the early diagnosis of disease.

We have an exciting new opportunity to join this small but fast-growing charity that is a world leader in its specialist innovative field. 

The Role 

We are looking for a passionate and driven person who has previous proven experience and skills working as an Instructor within an Assistance Dog organisation, who has worked with clients and partnerships. The role includes supporting both clients who have had a MDD dog placed with them and also our own dog applicants with their puppies and young dogs to ensure they receive the highest standard of socialisation and early training in terms of obedience, public access and developing an alert to the applicant’s condition, with the aim to reach an accreditable assistance dog partnership status. The role will also include carrying out client specific and odour training for MDD own dogs, placing these dogs with their new clients and looking after a number of established partnerships. This role would suit somebody residing up to an hour from our centre in Milton Keynes.  

Duties that encompass the role of an Instructor include:  

• Be the first point of contact for the allocated partnerships in your area. To provide guidance and instruction to applicants who have applied to the charity to have their own dogs considered for the training programme guidance and instruction on handling, behaviour and obedience and odour training as well as newly placed partnerships.

• Alongside the Instructing team, to run puppy classes, public access training, recall sessions in small groups for applicant own dogs that are in line with the charity’s quality standards and in accordance with timescales and targets. 

• To also carry out support visits and home interviews for applicants and clients that have been allocated to you.  

• Regularly monitor progress of any young dogs and partnerships in training in your area and provide detailed, evidenced feedback to Interim Head of Assistance Dog Programme.

• To carry out client specific training with any MDD owned dogs that have been matched, including the required odour scent training.

• Instructing, guiding and supporting new assistance dog clients in managing and handling a Medical Alert Assistance Dog effectively, via pretraining, placement training and aftercare visits.

• Supporting partnerships in training in successfully reaching an accreditation standard and in maintaining this standard throughout the life of the partnership.

• To support a number of established partnerships in the form of aftercare, refresher training and yearly re-accreditations, assisting further afield on occasions as required.

Responsibilities  

• To escalate issues and problems to the Interim Head of Assistance Dog Programme as appropriate.

• To carry out scent assessments on any MDD dogs in socialising as and when required with the support of the rest of the Instructing Team.

• To plan, organise and deliver practical and theoretical training to clients, meeting their individual needs in line with agreed standards to include areas such as dog welfare, appropriate handling, commanding and overall management. This will involve working with the parents as Team Leader and child as Client and working with adult clients.
• Assess the team dynamics of the family & balancing the needs of all family members as well as those of the dog.
• Assess the individuals preferred learning style and amending as relevant to aid a client.
• To accompany the client into all regular environments that they will take the dog to, ensuring the dog behaves in an acceptable manner and that the client and others are aware and clear in terms of where they dog should reside and behave for e.g. public transport, place of work. To complete a check list of environments for any applicant own dogs in training who are on the programme to be assessed within.
• To support and advise clients in transferring the odour training from pot training and recognising alerting behaviours to establish real life alerting.
• To ensure all partnerships are in line with the ADUK regulations with regards to behaviour, obedience and welfare and branding.
• Due to the nature of the role, flexible working hours may be required in some instances to facilitate the effective delivery of the work e.g. working during the school holidays with school age clients.
• To monitor the correct and false alerting percentages of allocated partnerships via data analysis, advising where necessary until the correct alerting levels are achieved.
• To complete comprehensive reports and paperwork for any time spent with applicants or partnerships in training or established. Maintain accurate records by providing verbal and written information with agreed timescales about clients, dogs, applicants and apprentices as appropriate.
• To work alongside allocated partnerships with the aim of the partnership reaching an accredited standard and feeding back to the Interim Head of Assistance Dog Programme if there are any concerns that the accreditation cannot be achieved.
• To provide clients with appropriate aftercare services at regular intervals in their own homes in the form of annual visits, support visits or at refresher workshops run at the Centre to agreed standards.  This will include continual re-assessment of the dynamics of family and dog, formulating and training on appropriate solutions, as well as offering additional dog training advice.
• To deliver handling days as part of an applicant’s pretraining to include ‘Introduction to Assistance Dog’ ‘Advanced Handling’ and Family Handling.
• To scent train and seizure proof advanced dogs in preparation to be partnered with an adult or child client and ensure that applicant own dogs have received this at the earliest opportunity.
• To maintain the ongoing public access training with any advanced dog in scent training that has been allocated to them.
• To liaise with Independent Contractors as relevant.
• To provide support to the Charity’s public relations and fundraising functions as required, specifically in your area.
• To act as the ‘contact’ person for the assistance dog programme in relation to training policy procedures with clients and their families, other professional service providers and members of the public.  This will include on-going research and development of the project.
• As required, to liaise and provide support for Volunteers of the Charity.

Other 

• Share best practice with colleagues across the charity.

• Any other duties or tasks that are required to ensure the successful running of the Medical Alert Assistance Dog Department and the Charity overall.

PERSON SPECIFICATION 

SKILLS AND ABILITIES 

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• High level of preparation, organisational and co-ordination skills
• Strong and clear teaching and instructing skills
• Experience of running puppy classes, carrying out public access training and recall sessions
• Able to develop training plans for any dogs in training under your care
• High level of self-motivation and planning
• Approachable, calm and empathetic to children and adults with debilitating and life-threatening conditions
• Happy to travel alone within the UK to visit any clients as necessary
• Willing to be on call for partnerships as and when required
• Willing to stay away from home in local accommodation when client locations are too far to travel back home
• Happy and able to have Medical Alert Assistance Dogs in training reside in your home
• Good team player, but equally able to work independently
• Positive, empathetic and calm attitude
• Able to embrace a constantly evolving organisation
• Flexible

KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE 

Essential 

• Previous Assistance Dog Instructing and Dog Training experience
• Knowledge of AD(UK) and ADI regulations
• Law in relation to dogs 
• Knowledge of medical conditions relevant to puppies between 8 weeks and 2 years of age
• Knowledge of dog and human psychology
• Proven evidence and experience of dog handling and training skills
• Previous experience of teaching and instructing
• Sound dog training and dog behaviour knowledge
• IT literacy and report writing skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, Teams, Zoom and SharePoint
• Full UK driving licence
• Pass a DBS (CRB) check due to regular contact with children

Preferable  

• Knowledge of debilitating medical conditions and understanding of how they can impact people, both physically and psychologically, particularly when they are unstable and fluctuating
• Previous knowledge of odour/scent training
• Previous line management experience 

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES ​

• Strong and clear teaching and instructing skills 

• Approachable, calm and empathetic to children and adults with debilitating and life threatening conditions 

• Able to embrace a constantly evolving organisation

• You should be supportive of the charitable aims of Medical Detection Dogs and capable of working as part of a team, as well as able to motivate yourself

• You should be adaptable and positively embrace change by not only being flexible towards the ideas of others but also putting forward ideas to colleagues. This will involve creativity in problem solving and making appropriate responses to new ideas and unexpected situations

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

• You should be supportive of the charitable aims of Medical Detection Dogs and capable of working as part of a team, as well as being able to motivate yourself.
• You should be adaptable and positively embrace change by not only being flexible towards the ideas of others but also putting forward ideas to colleagues. This will involve creativity in problem-solving and making appropriate responses to new ideas and unexpected situations.

DIVERITY, EQUALITY & INCLUSION

We are a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive Charity. Medical Detection Dogs thrives when everyone feels comfortable bringing their best self to work. We celebrate difference, whilst striving to create an environment where colleagues feel respected and valued for their unique potential. We are committed to our values on equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Charity Values

All employees are expected to uphold the charity’s core values in their daily work. This includes demonstrating respect through open and considerate communication, fostering cooperation by working collaboratively, maintaining honesty in all interactions and ensuring fairness through just and transparent decision-making.

Finally, the successful candidate will also be expected to: 

• Hold a full UK Driving Licence 

• Provide proof of identity and eligibility to work in the UK. 

• Undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check 

• Work some evenings and weekends 

• Be willing to travel to the Centre based near Milton Keynes

Key information 

Salary: £50,000 – £55,000 depending on experience (plus benefits) 

Contract: Full time, 12-month fixed term contract, with potential for extension (part-time considered for the right candidate). 

Location: UK based (remote); occasional UK travel for team meetings and events 

Reports to: CEO

Closing date: Tuesday 31 March 5pm

Right to work in the UK required 

About FutureDotNow 

FutureDotNow is a charity uniting business to close the UK workforce’s essential digital skills gap. We are the leading authority on workforce essential digital skills, with hundreds of organisations signed up to the Workforce Digital Skills Charter and direct reach to more than 2 million people. Yet over 22 million working-age adults still lack at least some digital basics. Closing that gap requires coordinated, high-quality delivery at scale. 

FutureDotNow is bringing focus to the digital upskilling needs of working age adults, raising awareness and bringing specificity to the action required whatever sector or role people might work in. We work with business and government to surface and solve systemic issues and provide scalable solutions every organisation can use. 

This new senior role sits at the intersection of marketing, communications and commercial development, owning the propositions, pipelines and channels through which we engage and support businesses. You’ll work closely with our CEO and COO and play a significant role shaping and delivering the organisation’s business model and financial sustainability.

Why this role matters 

This is an exciting time for FutureDotNow as we enter a new phase of growth and delivery. We’re a small but mighty organisation with a reputation for making a difference. Our 5-year strategy is called Routes to 20 million for good reason. That’s the number of people of working age in the UK that don’t currently have all the essential digital skills and we are working to reach them at scale through their employers and other routes.

This new role will own and deliver FutureDotNow’s growth programme, increasing membership numbers, expanding Charter signatories and building a stronger, more diverse funding base. Ultimately, it’s all about action designed to increase the number of business helping people build their essential digital skills. 

You’ll design and deliver strategies to raise awareness of what we call ‘the hidden middle’ among businesses and organisations in the UK. You’ll help businesses see the relevance, inspire them to want to help people of working age build the digital essentials, sell the benefits of being part of the FutureDotNow coalition and provide them with solutions that make doing that as easy as possible. 

Key responsibilities 

This role’s primary focus is developing our member value proposition and driving growth in both membership and Workforce Digital Skills Charter signatories.  

• Charter & Membership Growth. You will design and execute strategies to significantly grow the number of companies who are signatories to the Workforce Digital Skills Charter and / or FutureDotNow members, alongside strategies that retain and engage the existing community.

• Membership management. You’ll own and manage the membership pipeline end-to-end, from inbound interest through to conversion, onboarding and retention. You will drive self-service into our processes so it’s easy for organisations to see the value and sign up as members and charter signatories, minimising the need for calls and meetings. For some organisations that extra bit of hand holding to get them over the line will be necessary and, in these circumstances, you’ll act as the front face of FutureDotNow.

• Member Value Proposition. You will shape and refine our value proposition to members, bringing the features and benefits to life in new and compelling ways that talk to the needs of business in their language. Effectively, you’ll be responsible for ‘productising’ our bank of reports and other resources into tools and solutions and identifying value that may have been overlooked. As part of this, you’ll maintain and develop the FutureDotNow’s training directory so it’s easy for employers to find high-quality training content that already exists.

• Organisational Maturity Framework Mapping. You’ll lead our work to position the Organisational Maturity Framework as a new way for businesses to understand the journey they may be on and position against peers (ideally creating FOMO along the way). You’ll own the first mapping of existing FutureDotNow tools and solutions to the Organisational Maturity Framework, prioritising quick wins that unlock member action, and developing this into a BAU process.

• Members Area. You will lead the strategy and delivery of our Members’ Area on the FutureDotNow website, defining the information architecture and content governance. You’ll use WordPress to add new content and keep existing content up-to-date and relevant. You’ll work closely with our Communications and Campaigns Manager to improve both the UX and value offer of the Member’s Area on our website, working with a third-party web development agency when required. 

• Digital Strategies & Campaigns. You will be responsible for setting digital strategies to engage existing members and grow the pipeline of new members and Charter signatories. You’ll create and deliver digital content and campaigns (website, social, email etc.) that drive membership engagement and growth, working with our Communications and Campaigns Manager. 

• Partner Engagement & Storytelling. You will establish efficient ways to engage with partner businesses and key stakeholders. You will work closely with our Communications and Campaigns Manager to create and deliver content that showcases what works and raises the profile of members, including case studies and other compelling content. 

• Data, Insight & CRM. You’ll own our CRM (HubSpot). You’ll use our CRM data, website analytics and member feedback to manage and enhance our value proposition, track engagement, segment the audience, and drive continuous improvement. This will include setting KPIs and monitoring campaign performance and reporting. 

• Empowering others. We have a significant community of influential organisations and individuals, and you’ll be responsible for developing and delivering content that enables us to work through them, making it easy for them to be advocates and encourage their peers to be part of the FutureDotNow coalition.

Skills, experience & attributes 

We don’t have big budgets to play with, but we do have creative licence, huge energy for our mission and a powerful community of leading businesses on which to draw. So, we’re looking for an experienced growth-minded marketer, a self-starter with bundles of energy, who thinks strategically and can make things happen.

In return, we’ll offer you a brilliant platform to make a huge impact on a mission of national importance, with your work directly shaping national progress on digital skills.

Essential 

• Strong marketing and sales skills, gained in an environment where success was measured by growth, uptake or revenue, not just outputs, (ideally in a coalition, charity, or industry body). 

• Proven ability building acquisition and retention programmes. You’ll love getting to grips with all the content we have available, translating it into user journeys for our members, slicing and dicing it in new ways that speak to business challenges, and using it to create compelling messaging and campaigns. 

• Strong stakeholder management skills including experience owning commercial conversations, influencing decisionmakers and converting interest into commitment. 

• Strong CRM skills - ideally Hubspot as that’s the platform we use - and you’ll be comfortable using web and other analytics to drive improvement. 

• Confident using a content management system (CMS), ideally WordPress to add and maintain website content. 

• Strong end-to-end project delivery skills, including planning and reporting. You’ll be very organised and methodical, able to balance competing priorities and multiple streams of activity.

• You’ll be a clear communicator, adept at turning complex ideas into clear, motivating messages in line with brand voice.

• Experience working with senior leaders from a variety of industries and sectors. 

• And of course you’ll have strong digital capabilities! 

Desirable 

• Experience of HubSpot and WordPress. 

• Experience curating or product managing a content directory or learning catalogue.

• Knowledge of UK digital skills policy and employer led upskilling. 

Mindset & values 

• A self-starter; someone that drives for impact and results at pace. 

• Enjoy working in a small, fast-paced organisation, with evolving priorities. Ambiguity won’t phase you. And because we don’t have big budgets (unless you really knock it out of the park and grow our member numbers even faster than we hope!) you’ll like getting stuck in and making a little go a very long way. 

• Collaborative and purpose driven, relentlessly focused on practical action that drives FutureDotNow’s mission forward and helps employers make progress now.

Equality, diversity & inclusion 

We’re committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of the UK workforce and to creating an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive. If you’re excited by this role but don’t meet 100% of the criteria, we’d still love to hear from you. 

Application Process 

Our application process is designed to be straightforward and proportionate, while giving candidates a clear opportunity to demonstrate their skills. 

• Stage 1: Submit a CV and short cover note outlining your interest in the role and relevant experience. 

• Stage 2: Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a short initial interview. 

• Stage 3: Candidates progressing from the first interview will be asked to complete a short practical task, reflecting the type of work involved in the role. 

• Stage 4: A final shortlist will be invited to a final interview. 

We aim to keep the process clear, fair and respectful of candidates’ time.