National Digital Innovation Lead

The National Youth Agency is looking for a National Digital Innovation Lead.

National Digital Innovation Lead
Contract: 12-Month Fixed-Term to cover Maternity leave
Hours: Full-time - 37 hours per week, flexible working
Salary: £47,380 per annum, dependent on experience and qualifications
Location: Home-based in England with occasional travel for meetings, workshops, and team activities. Head Office is in Leicester.

What we do

As the national body for youth work, the NYA has a dual function. We are the professional statutory and regulatory body (PSRB) responsible for qualifications, quality standards, and safeguarding for youth work and services in England. In line with our charity mission and aims, we also champion youth work through research, advocacy, campaigns, and programmes.

We work in partnership and believe in collaborative leadership, listening to youth workers and the youth work sector so that we can understand their needs and respond to the challenges they face. We are ambitious for youth work and for young people and integrate youth voice and influence across our work

About the Role

The National Digital Innovation Lead will drive NYA's digital youth work and innovation agenda, helping to shape the future of youth work through technology, collaboration and sector leadership. The postholder will develop strategic partnerships, lead innovative digital initiatives, influence national policy and support youth organisations to confidently adopt digital approaches that improve outcomes for young people.

Key Responsibilities

As our National Digital Innovation Lead, you will:

• Lead the development and delivery of NYA's digital youth work programmes and innovation activities.
• Build and maintain strategic partnerships with youth organisations, technology partners, policymakers and funders.
• Develop and lead national networks and communities of practice that advance digital youth work.
• Research, pilot and evaluate emerging technologies, including AI and immersive technologies, to support innovation across the sector.
• Develop guidance, frameworks, training and resources that promote safe, ethical and inclusive digital youth work.
• Provide consultancy and subject matter expertise to organisations adopting digital approaches.
• Influence national policy and best practice through collaboration with partners and sector stakeholders.
• Monitor and evaluate the impact of digital initiatives, using learning and insight to inform future developments.

Why Work for NYA?

• NYA operates as a people-focused organisation, prioritising the well-being and needs of its employees.
• NYA offers an exceptional flexible working approach which encourages our team to balance professional responsibilities with their personal life.
• A remote based team, spread across England, fostering inclusivity and diverse talent. Despite geographical distances between team members, NYA maintains a highly motivated and connected team through the optimisation of digital tools.
• NYA is committed to supporting the continual personal and professional development of our team and helping them achieve their ambitions.
• We provide 25 days leave plus 8 days, life assurance scheme, 5% employer pension contribution and a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme via Spectrum.life with unlimited specialist support available to all NYA employees.

Closing date: Monday 30th July 2026 
Please be aware that we will close this vacancy early once we receive a sufficient number of suitable applications.
We therefore strongly encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible and not to wait until the closing date.

Interested?

If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.

The National Youth Agency is an equal opportunities employer.

At NYA our inclusive culture means that we embrace individual differences and understand that we need a diverse team to achieve our organisations mission.

We wish to recruit candidates from all backgrounds to ensure our team reflects the rich diversity of the communities we serve. We encourage applications from anyone regardless of disability, ethnicity, heritage, gender, sexuality, religion, socio-economic background and political beliefs but we particularly welcome applications from global majority candidates and those from other minoritised ethnic groups in the UK as they are currently underrepresented in our team.

No agencies please.