Director of Operations – Finance & Support Services
Dartington (& Torquay as required)
Working Hours: 37.5 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, ideally Monday-Friday 08.30-16.30
Salary: £51,663.00 - £59,597.00 per annum (DOE)
Are you a skilled operations professional with a background in finance?
We have a brand-new opportunity at Lifeworks Charity, for a Director of Operations (Finance & Support Services) to play a crucial role in our Central Support team. You will drive the sustainable growth and operational efficiency of the charity, directly contributing to our charitable impact.
You'll blend your financial expertise with your keen eye for operational oversight in this hybrid role, ensuring our resources are managed effectively to benefit the young people and families we support.
Who we are:
Since 1996, we've been empowering people with learning disabilities in Devon to achieve their dreams and build fulfilling lives. Our core values of kindness, respect, and positivity guide everything we do.
What you’ll do:
Finance
- Manage and maintain all financial aspects of the charity, including (but not limited to), budgeting, forecasting, reporting, ledgers, balance sheets, bank reconciliations, debtor accounts, cash flow management, insurances, property and procurement.
- Take a lead on the development of financial and fundraising processes and strategies.
- Manage and be the main point of contact for all aspects of ESFA and DfE funding compliance and reporting.
- Lead a small team to deliver outstanding support to the charity and act as a key financial advisor to managers across the organisation.
- Produce clear and concise monthly management accounts and provide financial insights to senior managers and the Board of Trustees.
- Working closely with external auditors, prepare and oversee our year end accounts.
Operations
- Ensure that charity governance and compliance is upheld, by contributing to record maintenance, managing registers and supporting with reviews of policies and procedures.
- Work with our external IT partners to manage our technology. You will make sure that the correct infrastructure, systems and processes are in the right place at the right time.
- Lead on IT security for the charity, implementing regular reviews to monitor compliance.
- Act as the Data Controller and manage all areas of data protection regulations, always prioritising data security.
- Develop and review charity policies as necessary, ensuring they align with best practices and legal requirements.
- Ensure compliance of Health and Safety policies, liaising with external advisors to maintain safety within the workplace.
Last but not least, we are looking for someone that is an advocate for people with learning disabilities and shares our common goal of making sure the people we support achieve their best lives with us. You may not be involved in the day-to-day work with our service users, but the work you will do is vital to the success of our charity.
What we're looking for:
You'll be a motivated and experienced professional who is passionate about making a difference. You should be:
- ACCA/CIMA/ACA part-qualified with significant experience (or fully qualified is a bonus!).
- A proven leader with the ability to inspire and develop a team.
- An expert in financial management, from budgeting to reporting.
- An excellent communicator who can clearly explain complex financial information to all audiences.
- Experienced in managing a broad portfolio, ideally including Health and Safety, IT, or facilities.
- Knowledgeable about governance frameworks and risk management.
If you are a strategic thinker with a hands-on approach and a desire to contribute to a vital cause, we would love to hear from you.
We're passionate about supporting our staff just as much as we are about supporting our service users. When you join our team, you can expect:
- An hourly rate above the Real Living Wage
- A holiday entitlement of 33 days’ holiday (inclusive of bank holidays)
- A fully funded DBS check and update service to ensure a smooth onboarding process
- Access to valuable resources including an employee assistance program to support your mental and emotional health
Building a diverse and safe team:
At Lifeworks, we're committed to fostering a workplace that reflects the diversity of our community. As a Disability Confident Employer, we actively encourage applications from individuals with disabilities who meet the job criteria, and we guarantee qualified candidates with disabilities an interview.
Lifeworks is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk. To achieve this commitment, we will ensure the continuous development, improvement and review of robust safeguarding processes and procedures that continuously promote a culture of vigilance in respect of safeguarding within our organisation. All staff undergo Safer Recruitment checks which include pre-employment checks, reference checks, and a DBS check with Barred List checks (where applicable).
Early applications encouraged!
This vacancy is scheduled to close on the 19th of July, but may close earlier if suitable candidates are identified. So, to ensure your application is considered, ensure you apply early!
The interview format will consist of 3 parts; a formal interview assessment, a short presentation and a Q&A with staff members. If you are selected for interview, further details will be shared ahead of the above date.
Apply today and tell us why you'd be a great fit for our team.
Please note that this role was previously advertised as Operations Manager. We ask that previous applicants of this role need not reapply.
We’d appreciate no contact from agencies regarding this role. We are only accepting direct applications.
Registered Charity 
51 - 100
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Charity People is delighted to be partnering once again with Maudsley Charity to recruit an External Affairs and Influencing Manager.
A hugely exciting new role within the Communications team at the charity, the postholder will work across media, external affairs and influencing to engage with key stakeholders, boost the charity's profile, and promote learning and adoption of the solutions the organisation funds. You will be responsible for sharing evidence and learning in order to influence the people who fund, adopt and commission mental health care and services, and will work closely with the CEO to increase engagement with policy work which the Maudsley Charity undertakes through it's work in coalitions.
External Affairs and Influencing Manager
Contract: Full time, permanent role
Salary: £48,000 per annum
Location: Hybrid role between home and London office, with two days per week in the Denmark Hill office
Closing date for applications: 9am on Tuesday 28th July
First round interviews will be held remotely on: Thursday 13th August
Second round interviews will be held in person on: Thursday 20th and Friday 21st August
About Maudsley Charity
Maudsley Charity funds and supports clinical, academic, and community partners to ensure that everyone experiencing mental illness can access the right care, while using insights from their work to drive wider improvements across the UK.
Recognising the profound impact of mental illness and the inequalities in access, experience, and outcomes - particularly those linked to social deprivation and racism - the organisation focusses on addressing gaps in care.
With an approach that combines evidence, lived experience, and a commitment to equity, the organisation backs impactful, evidence-based solutions, ensuring services are shaped by real-world insight, and prioritising support for those most underserved to drive improvements that benefit all.
About the role
This is a core role within the organisation's influencing strategy, and your primary responsibilities will include:
External Affairs & Influencing:
- Develop and deliver influencing plans to promote adoption of effective mental health care initiatives being funded by the charity
- Develop productive relationships with key stakeholders (journalists, NHS trust leaders, ICBs, ICSs, VCSE orgs) to gather intelligence and shape strategy to inform the charity's positioning
- Lead the charity's thought leadership development providing strategic advice to senior leadership on political, NHS and mental health policy developments
- Strengthen the charity's role in mental health policy and advocacy coalitions, by contributing to collaborative advocacy, media and communications outputs
- Lead the charity's response to government mental health care consultations and calls for evidence
- Monitor funder sector trends and conversations, and actively seek out opportunities for the charity to strategically engage and influence by sharing learning from its grant making practice
Media management
- Develop and implement integrated external affairs campaigns that support the charity's influencing work
- Create persuasive materials, including press releases, op-eds, spokespeople briefings, comment pieces, and digital content and pitch to relevant outlets
- Maintain and grow relationships with journalists, broadcasters and sector media to secure relevant high-quality coverage of the charity's activities, grant holders and their projects
- Act as first point of contact for media enquiries, managing proactive and reactive press activity
- This role is expected to grow and develop and the postholder will be fully supported from across the organisation as the position evolves, within an organisation that offers a friendly, values led culture.
We would love to hear from individuals with the following skills and experience:
- Demonstrable track record of developing and implementing successful influencing strategies in the mental health sector
- Experience of stakeholder management within mental health care, including NHS Trust leaders, Integrated Care Boards, commissioners and senior clinicians, and with academics and researchers
- Strong experience in media relations, including briefing senior spokespeople, drafting press releases, media handling, and securing media coverage with a good understanding of the needs and expectations of different outlets and publications
- Keen understanding of the NHS, mental health policy landscape, and the related environment, key stakeholders and sector drivers
- Understanding of the key components and considerations of successful external affairs media and influencing
- Understanding of the sensitivities around mental illness, including working in an empathetic manner with people with lived experience
- Understanding of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion principles and a commitment to apply them in your work and as an organisation
- Influencing skills including confidence and credibility in working with stakeholders,
- Communication skills and the ability to produce clear and effective communications and the ability to confidently and accurately represent the organisation externally
- Written and editorial skills including the ability to craft narratives for different external audiences and communicate the charity's work in press releases, articles, policy briefs
How to apply
Maudsley Charity is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and strongly encourages applications from underrepresented backgrounds. We welcome applications from non-graduates.
Applications are managed via Charity People and involve a structured, anonymised process focusing on your experience and potential. Please send your CV to Alice at Charity People in the first instance.
Please see full job pack and job description attached.
There is also an optional 'Ask Us Anything' Webinar via Zoom on Thursday 16th July at 12.30pm where the Maudsley staff will answer questions. Please get in touch with Reception at Charity People if you'd like to register for this and they will send you the link. Please submit questions in advance to reception at Charity People before 9am on Wednesday 15th July 2026 in order that we can ensure all of your queries are answered.
Equal Opportunities monitoring
We ask that applicants complete our DEI monitoring form when submitting their CV for this role.
Maudsley Charity is an equal opportunities employer, and makes no discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and sex. Specifically, we will also oppose unfair discrimination of those with mental health issues.
Charity People is a forward thinking, inclusive organisation that actively and deliberately promotes equity, diversity and inclusion. We know organisations thrive when inclusion is at the forefront. We evidence our commitment by matching charity needs with the skills and experience of candidates irrespective of background e.g. age, disability (including hidden disabilities), gender, gender identity or gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. We do this because we believe that greater diversity leads to greater results for the charities we work with.
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