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Lead the development and growth of our Vulnerable Children and Families activity, working with charity leaders to strengthen their organisations and maximise their impact.

Venture Partners are at the core of Purposeful Ventures' work. They bring the knowledge, skills and experience needed to help shape our portfolios, identify opportunities for investment and support the organisations we work with to thrive.

In this role, you will help shape the future of our Vulnerable Children and Families work, leading the review and development of our strategy and identifying where Purposeful Ventures can make the greatest difference. You will develop new opportunities and partnerships, work closely with our Philanthropy team to attract and direct funding to charity partners, and support and monitor the progress and impact of the organisations we work with.

Alongside this, you will contribute to the broader work of our Venture Partners, working closely with charity leaders to strengthen their organisations, develop effective strategies and build the capabilities needed to bring about change.

We are looking for a Venture Partner with a deep understanding of the challenges facing vulnerable children and families, and experience of working to address them. We welcome candidates who have developed their expertise in a range of settings, including working in a charity, delivering services, shaping government policy, working within children's social care or making funding and investment decisions related to the sector. What matters most is your ability to draw on this knowledge and experience, exercise sound judgement and work with others to bring about meaningful change for children and families.

We are particularly interested in candidates who can combine their sector expertise with strong strategic and analytical skills, experience of leading projects or organisations, and the ability to build trusted relationships and work collaboratively to deliver impact.

More information on our broader Children and Families portfolio

Our ambition is for every child to grow up in a safe, stable and supportive environment, with the relationships and opportunities they need to thrive.

Across our Children and Families work, of which vulnerable children and families is one pillar, we work with organisations supporting children and families across a range of challenges, from strengthening early childhood development and supporting parents, to preventing family breakdown, improving children's social care and helping children facing some of the most complex circumstances.

Our portfolio includes established charities (investments) as well as new approaches (incubations) being developed to address gaps in support for children and families. We are interested in how effective services, and innovative approaches can be strengthened, sustained and scaled, and how evidence and practice can influence wider systems.

Job Description

Responsibilities and duties

Shape and develop our Vulnerable Children and Families pillar:

• Lead the review and refresh of the Vulnerable Children and Families strategy, identifying where Purposeful Ventures can make the greatest difference and developing clear priorities for future philanthropic investment.
• Draw on a strong understanding of the sector, including emerging needs, policy developments, funding opportunities and gaps in provision, to inform the pillar’s strategic direction.
• Identify, assess and develop relationships with existing and potential charity partners and identify potential new incubations that align with the pillar’s priorities.
• Work closely with the Philanthropy team to develop compelling funding opportunities, engage existing and prospective funders, and help direct philanthropic investment towards areas of greatest potential impact.
• Monitor and review the performance and progress of organisations across the pillar, identifying successes, challenges, risks and opportunities for further support.
• Draw together evidence, insights and learning from across the pillar to inform future decisions, strengthen our approach and communicate progress to internal and external stakeholders.

Work with the Purposeful Ventures leadership team and portfolio leads to identify and build a thriving community of mission-driven organisations:

• Help identify and develop opportunities for new initiatives, partnerships and ventures across Purposeful Ventures' portfolios, working with colleagues to assess their potential for impact.
• Build long-term capabilities and share knowledge across the Purposeful Ventures family, identifying opportunities for collaboration, sharing effective practice and strengthening how organisations operate.
• Build relationships with sector leaders, philanthropists and other partners, strengthening Purposeful Ventures' reputation and creating opportunities that can benefit organisations across our portfolios.

Work with our charity partners to develop strategies that deliver their mission and greatest impact:

• Provide 'high challenge, high support' mentorship to senior leaders, helping them develop, test and implement strategies and operating plans.
• Support the development of business plans and operating models that are mission-driven, impactful and enable sustainable growth.
• Bring strategic and financial insight to help organisations strengthen their sustainability, including identifying funding opportunities and supporting the development of government and philanthropic funding proposals.

Support our partners to build the organisations, teams, governance and capabilities that will give them the best chance of success, including:

• Provide input into organisational design, leadership development, team structures and recruitment.
• Help organisations develop effective governance structures, performance management and reporting arrangements.
• Help organisations understand and develop the resources, skills and capabilities needed to succeed and grow.
• Support organisations to identify and address operational challenges, including finding appropriate solutions for finance, HR, IT and other organisational needs.

Provide direct strategic, operational or business development support to portfolio organisations

• Work alongside leadership teams to identify and address strategic and operational priorities, providing practical support and undertaking short-term projects to help organisations achieve their goals.

The job description is subject to change and the postholder may be required to undertake tasks not specifically referred to above. Such duties, however, will fall within the scope of the job description.

Who we are looking for

We are looking for a Venture Partner with a deep understanding of the challenges facing vulnerable children and families, and experience of working to address them. We welcome candidates who have developed their expertise in a range of settings, including working in a charity, delivering services, shaping government policy, working within children's social care or making funding and investment decisions related to the sector. What matters most is your ability to draw on this knowledge and experience, exercise sound judgement and work with others to bring about meaningful change for children and families.

We are particularly interested in candidates who can combine their sector expertise with strong strategic and analytical skills, experience of leading projects or organisations, and the ability to build trusted relationships and work collaboratively to deliver impact.

We recognise that strong candidates may bring a range of experiences and perspectives, and we encourage applications from people with diverse backgrounds and career paths.

If your experience is not an exact match, but you believe you would thrive in the role, we would still encourage you to apply.

Key requirements

Essential

• Passionate about creating a fairer society where all young people thrive.
• Strong understanding of the challenges facing vulnerable children and families, and experience of working to address them.
• Demonstrable experience in both strategic and analytical roles, such as leadership in an education, charity or social enterprise setting, or in strategy consultancy.
• Demonstrable track record of leading project and / or organisational success and delivering impact.
• Excellent analytical skills with the ability, tools and frameworks to apply logical, critical and methodical process to deconstruct information, identify problems and causes and present solutions and options: an at individual, organisational and sector level.
• Exceptional stakeholder engagement skills with experience of managing and aligning multiple stakeholders and agendas.
• Able to build trusted relationships with senior leaders, influence decisions and provide constructive challenge.
• Experience of supporting and developing leaders, teams or organisations to strengthen their capabilities, effectiveness and impact.
• Curious, collaborative and open to different perspectives, with a willingness to share knowledge, learn from others and contribute to collective success.
• Effective, engaging and nuanced communicator, written and verbal, including the ability to structure and articulate complex information for internal and external audiences.
• Flexible, highly organised, able to scope, structure and lead complex, concurrent work involving others.
• Tenacious and able to work effectively in an agile or uncertain environment.
• Right to work in the UK.