Head of Programme Management

Salary:                                 £62,651 per annum

Contract Type:                     Fixed Term Contract – Paternity Cover (up to 10 months)

Closing date:                       12 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+.