Head of Volunteering

Position: Head of Volunteering
Type: Full-time (35 hours a week), permanent 
Location: Office-based in London, N4 with flexibility to work remotely
Salary: £65,118 per annum plus excellent benefits  
Salary Band and Job Family: Band 4  

About us 

We make sure people living with MS are at the centre of everything we do. And it’s this commitment that unites us across the UK.

Our strategy is based on what people affected by MS have told us is important to them. It gives us a clear and determined focus. 

Our work is based on the hopes and aspirations of our MS community. Together we campaign at all levels, fund ground-breaking research and provide award winning support and information. 

Our people are our greatest asset and the key to our success. We offer a vibrant, progressive working environment where you'll be able to make a difference.

About this job 

This year, we’ve embarked on introducing a bold, exciting new operating model and structure to improve our services and support to help everyone affected by MS.  

We’re making it easier for people who use our services to find and connect to the support they need. And we're looking at ways to make our support more accessible and personalised to meet people’s individual needs, no matter where they are on their MS journey. 

We’re creating services that are flexible so that, when someone's circumstance changes, we’ll change too. As demand for our services grows, we’ll always be ready to support everyone who needs our help.  

Our new structure and our new ways of working will bring all of these services together under one delivery model launching next year. We're creating a new virtual support hub to bring together everything our community needs to manage their MS or support and care for someone living with MS.  

Our Head of Volunteering is a key leadership role in our Services and Support directorate, as part of our Services Development function.  

We rely heavily on our volunteers to support our mission and improve the lives of people affected by MS. Our volunteers who generously donate their time are critical to our success. 

Our volunteers play an important role in: 

• fundraising events 
• delivering resources to people affected by MS 
• advocating for MS research and policy 
• providing care and support to the MS community 

Our Head of Volunteering will be: 

• leading on the development and implementation of the organisation's volunteering strategy   
• growing organisational capacity and capability in volunteering, maximising the unique contribution volunteering can make to support the MS Society's strategic aims. 
• leading a team who will support our volunteer journey, volunteer experience and volunteering systems, developing a high-performing and motivated culture within teams. 
• ensuring volunteer-related policies, products and procedures are aligned with sector best practice and opportunities are increased to support the engagement and retention of volunteers, leading to an increase in flexible volunteering roles and volunteers. 
• seeking new opportunities to grow and develop volunteer capacity, engagement and impact. 

We’re looking for: 

• extensive experience of development and successful implementation of a volunteering strategy or plan 
• a proven track record of operating at a senior level within a volunteering function or organisation, engaging significant numbers of volunteers. 
• significant experience in developing and implementing volunteer journeys, policies and processes focussed on improving the volunteer experience. 
• substantial experience of successfully leading and managing a large and geographically dispersed teams of staff and volunteers, embedding change and fostering a high performing culture. 

Closing date for applications: 9:00 on Friday 7 November 2025

Interested?

PLEASE PRESS THE 'HOW TO APPLY' BUTTON FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Equal Opportunities 
We particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities and or from ethnic minority backgrounds.

We’d be grateful if you downloaded and completed the equality and diversity monitoring form and submit it with your application. 

Disability Confident Employer 
We’re a Disability Confident Employer and we’re committed to promoting equality and diversity.

You can ask for reasonable adjustments as part of both our recruitment and new starter on-boarding processes.

If you need any help or adjustments to apply for this role, please contact us. You can also ask for the application materials to be sent to you in a different format. Such as for them to be sent to you by email or in a larger word format.

More about our employee benefits:  
We have a wide range of employee benefits including (but not limited to): 

Encouraging work life balance

• 38 days paid annual leave (including bank holidays), pro-rata for part-time
• More annual leave entitlement, based on length of employment
• Smart working options (with the opportunity to work remotely and find a smart working pattern that suits both you and us) 
• Flexible working options 

Caring for you and your family 

• Generous sick pay entitlement
• More sick pay entitlement, based on length of employment 
• Opportunity to buy and sell annual leave in each calendar year 
• Free access to a GP virtually 24 hours a day/7 days a week allowing you unlimited advice, reassurance and where appropriate diagnosis 
• Enhanced leave for new parents 
• Free access to a confidential 24 hours a day/7 days a week helpline service for both you and your family with a specialist range of support and information
• Special leave options (such as up to 5 days paid leave for domestic or personal emergencies a year)
• 10 days paid disability leave a year, pro-rata for part-time 
• 10 days paid carers’ leave a year, pro-rata for part-time 
• Cycle to work scheme 
• Death in service scheme
• New family-friendly benefits, including paid leave:
  • In the event of miscarriage or still birth 
  • To support fertility treatments
  • For antenatal appointments for both parents

Thinking about your finances 

• Enhanced salary sacrifice pension scheme
• Discounted season ticket loan and interest-free emergency loans
• Give as you earn to support other charities of your choice before tax
• New employee portal including lifestyle savings vouchers and personal wellbeing  

Enriching your life at work

• Personalised development plans with a wide range of training courses and opportunities to source additional training options with your line manager
• Yearly internal apprenticeship opportunities  
• New, modern offices that embrace working together both in-person and remotely 
• Various opportunities to influence how we internally operate (including surveys, and focus and committee groups) 
• Active and supportive internal employee networking groups for collaboration and peer support 
• 2 days paid leave a year for volunteering for MS Society activities during normal working hours (such as fundraising events, or campaigning in the local community) 
• 2 days paid leave a year for volunteering with other charities during normal

Safeguarding 
We’re committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of everyone who uses our services and we come into contact with.

This is regardless of Gender, Race, Disability, Sexual orientation, Religion or belief, Pregnancy, Gender reassignment.

We recognise our particular responsibility to make sure vulnerable adults and children are protected.

We have measures in place to protect everyone we come into contact with from abuse and maltreatment of all kinds.

Your right to work in the UK 
You must have the right to work in the UK to work in paid employment with us. You’ll need to share documents showing you’re eligible to work in the UK if we offer you employment.

You can find the UK visas and permits granting you the right to work in the UK on the UK Government website. We currently don’t have a Sponsor Licence agreement with the Home Office and aren’t able to support you with your visa applications.

No agencies please.