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Salary: £39,000–£42,000 per annum (£65,000–£70,000 FTE equivalent)
Contract: Permanent – Part time, 3 days a week
Location: London or Birmingham
Working pattern: Hybrid. Cross-region travel up to twice a month for in-person SMT meetings.
Envision is at an exciting moment. Our programmes are working, our partnerships are growing, and our team cares deeply about getting it right. What we need now is someone to help us build the infrastructure to match our ambition – reaching and impacting more young people from less-advantaged backgrounds across London, Birmingham and Bristol.
As our Chief Operating Officer, you will join our Senior Management Team and take clear ownership of Envision's finance, compliance, HR governance, and operational efficiency. This is a newly defined role – created to give the function the senior leadership it needs and to free the CEO to focus on external leadership, fundraising, and strategy.
You will join an SMT of four, working alongside the Director of Programmes and Impact and the Director of Philanthropy and Partnerships, led by the CEO. It is a collegiate team that operates with a high degree of mutual trust and collective ownership – and we are looking for someone who is as comfortable in a strategic conversation about Envision's future as they are reviewing a set of management accounts.
Key Responsibilities
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Play an active role in SMT – contributing operational and financial insight to organisational planning, strategy development, and decision-making alongside the CEO and senior leadership team.
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Lead finance oversight and board reporting: overseeing monthly and quarterly management accounts, leading the annual budget-setting process, owning the audit cycle, and preparing papers for the Finance, Audit and Risk Governance (FARG) Committee.
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Own HR policy and governance: maintaining Envision's HR framework, handling complex employee relations matters, and overseeing the full employee lifecycle with execution led by the Business Admin and Finance Officer.
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Line manage the Finance Manager and Business Admin and Finance Officer, providing clear direction and developing a high-performing team.
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Lead operational improvement: conducting a review of processes and systems, building a live improvement register, and implementing agreed changes through to completion – not just to proposal.
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Explore and pilot AI and automation tools for high-friction tasks. Genuine curiosity and willingness to experiment matters more than technical expertise.
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Hold compliance and risk governance oversight – GDPR, Health and Safety, regulatory filings – ensuring a clear calendar of requirements is owned and met.
Essential Experience, Knowledge and Competencies
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Qualified or part-qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent), or demonstrable equivalent finance expertise.
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Proven experience in a senior operational leadership role with finance oversight responsibility.
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Experience of audit management and board-level financial reporting.
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Track record of leading and developing small teams.
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Working knowledge of GDPR and charity compliance obligations.
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Demonstrable ability to operate at a strategic and governance level
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Experience leading operational process or systems improvement, from diagnosis through to implementation.
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Active interest in AI and automation tools, with a practical approach to exploring and applying them.
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Commitment to Envision's vision, mission and values and ability to work well in, and contribute to, our organisational culture.
Envision actively encourages applications from those from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, as they are currently under-represented in our organisation. We seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce and that all applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or nationality. Envision graduates will be guaranteed a first-round interview.
Please note: we are unable to support visa applications and therefore applicants must have the right to work in the UK.
To apply, please apply through CharityJob.
Closing date for applications- Wednesday 10 June (midnight)
Round 1 interviews (online) : Thursday 18 June
Round 2 interviews (in person- London): Thursday 25 June
We will only be contacting candidates who have been shortlisted for interview. The safety and wellbeing of the young people we work with is paramount at Envision. Successful candidates will be subject to a full Enhanced DBS check and reference checks. All new staff must attend safeguarding training during their induction period.
For more information on this role, please see the full application pack.
All answers should be no longer than 250 words.
Registered Charity 
21 - 50
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
We are looking for an entrepreneurial leader to relaunch and build the next phase of the UK Democracy Network: a national network that helps organisations working to strengthen democracy across the UK connect, collaborate and coordinate more effectively.
This is a rare opportunity to shape a growing national network. The Network already has strong foundations, sector backing, and three years of core funding secured. The next step is building it into an independent, trusted and influential organisation that helps the democracy sector work together more effectively.
About the Network
The Democracy Network exists to help make collaboration across the democracy sector more effective. It connects organisations, practitioners and professionals across the UK democracy ecosystem, helping to reduce duplication, strengthen relationships, share intelligence, and enable more coordinated collective action.
About the host organisations
The Network is jointly incubated by two organisations with deep roots in UK civic tech, democratic education, and sector-wide network building:
The Politics Project supports young people to use their voice by giving them access to brilliant democratic education. They work with young people, teachers, youth practitioners and politicians to help them learn about, teach and actively participate in democracy. The Politics Project also leads the Democracy Classroom Network, a sister network of over 100 organisations across the democracy, education and youth sectors which support over 3,500 teachers and youth practitioners to engage young people in democracy.
Democracy Club produces the most comprehensive election data in the UK. Established in 2010 and registered as a Community Interest Company in 2015, it runs the national polling station finder Where Do I Vote and candidate lookup service Who Can I Vote For, serving election information to millions of UK voters each year and supplying data to the Electoral Commission. Democracy Club brings a mailing list of 35,000, an active community of 1,200 volunteer contributors collaborating on election information, and strong digital and data expertise to the Network.
Our vision for the Network
Over the last year, we have carried out extensive consultation with members of the UK Democracy Network, the Network’s Steering Group and funders. Through this process, we have developed a new vision for the Network that is designed to reflect and support the diversity of the democracy sector, and the wide range of approaches, perspectives and organisations within it.
Our model is built around a series of smaller thematic, geographic and demographic-based “hubs” within the wider Network. These hubs will create spaces for organisations and individuals working on particular issues, in particular places, or with specific communities to collaborate more effectively, while remaining connected to the wider democracy ecosystem.
Alongside this, the Network will support stronger coordination and information sharing across the sector through activities such as a monthly bulletin, shared events, an annual conference and practical tools and databases that help partners collaborate more effectively.
Importantly, we want to build on and strengthen the excellent work that already exists across the democracy landscape, rather than duplicate it. Over time, we also hope the Network can help incubate and support new hubs and collaborations around emerging issues and opportunities within the democracy sector.
About the role
The Network will be delivered by a small core team: a Network Director (this role), a Network Manager (in post), and a Network Coordinator (to be recruited).
Our medium-term ambition is for the Network to become an independent organisation in its own right. We see this role as central to shaping that transition, with the successful candidate expected to lead the Network into its next phase as an independent organisation over the course of the grant period.
Key responsibilities
The Network Director provides overall leadership of the Network and is responsible for its long-term sustainability and strategic direction.
Specifically:
- Strategic leadership. Set strategic direction for the Network in consultation with members, hosts and the Steering Group / Board.
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Represent the Network. In networking and fundraising events, high-level roundtables and in high-profile relationships with government, funders, media and sector leaders.
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Lead on fundraising. Develop relationships with major funders, alongside Harriet Andrews at The Politics Project, building a diversified, sustainable funding base.
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Oversee the Network's transition to an independent legal structure. Support the establishment of the Board, working with Harriet Andrews and Sym Roe to recruit members with a mix of professional expertise and elected network representatives.
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Build an inclusive, supportive team culture. Line manage the Network Manager and Network Coordinator.
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Oversee monitoring and evaluation. Lead reporting to funders, and support the annual review process with the team and Steering Group / Board.
Person specification
We are looking for a values-driven, experienced, strategic leader. They will have strong people and financial management skills, and the ability to build trusted relationships across the democracy sector. They will be an excellent communicator, comfortable leading through complexity and change, and motivated by a commitment to strengthening UK democracy.
The postholder will be expected to work in-office two days a week and attend regular in-person engagements in London.
Benefits
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33 days’ annual leave pro rata, including Bank Holidays (with three days off between Christmas and New Year).
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4% employer pension contribution.
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2 working days / 15 hours of volunteer leave a year.
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Cycle to Work scheme.
Further information about the role and job specification can be found in the Candidate Recruitment Pack.
Equity, diversity and inclusion
The UK democracy sector has historically been less diverse than the country it serves, and we want to help change that, starting with how we recruit. We particularly welcome applications from people who are underrepresented in democracy sector leadership, including people of colour, disabled people and people from working-class backgrounds.
How to apply
Please apply via charity job with the following:
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Your CV (no more than two pages).
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A supporting statement of no more than 500 words, setting out how your experience, skills and knowledge meet the person specification and why you are drawn to this role.
The closing date is 11.30pm, Sunday 14th June 2026.
We will shortlist on the basis of the supporting statement against the person specification.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Senior Service Designer
Location: remote. This role can be based at any of Barnardo's national offices. Regular local and national travel will be required.
Help us design services that transform childhoods
At Barnardo's, we believe every child deserves a safe, happy and hopeful future. For over 150 years, we've been innovating to improve the lives of children, young people and families across the UK. Today, we run more than 800 services and are committed to making them excellent, inclusive and designed with the children, young people and families who use them.
As a senior member of the Service Design team, you will play a vital role in applying service design methods to deliver measurable improvements in service quality, efficiency, value and outcomes for children, young people and families.
We are continuing to strengthen how we design and improve services across Barnardo's, working across a complex and evolving portfolio that spans children's services, digital delivery and business development.
This role offers the opportunity to shape not only individual services, but how service design is used to support decision-making, prioritisation and innovation across the organisation.
This is a hands-on role as well as a strategic one – you'll be actively designing, prototyping and iterating services as well as shaping direction and decision-making.
As a Senior Service Designer, you will:
- Work across a portfolio of projects, balancing priorities and adapting to changing organisational needs
- Contribute to service development and proposals, working with business development colleagues to shape service models
- Influence decision-making and prioritisation, using evidence and insight to guide direction
- Identify opportunities to improve services in ways that deliver better outcomes, greater efficiency and value for money
- Lead the end-to-end design of services in complex environments, shaping user-centred, evidence-based solutions that respond to organisational priorities, and creating service maps, blueprints, prototypes and other design artefacts to bring ideas to life
- Test and iterate service concepts in response to feedback and learning, refining solutions to improve outcomes
- Ensure services are coherent and integrated across online and offline channels
- Work across functions including business development, digital, finance, operations, research and policy to engage stakeholders and support organisational change
- Mentor and support colleagues – developing confidence and skills, with the potential to provide line management support to junior designers where appropriate
- Develop practice and contribute to standards, frameworks and reusable design patterns
- Share learning internally and externally, contributing to professional communities of practice and helping raise the profile of service design at Barnardo's
This is a varied, hands-on and project-focused role that allows for autonomy, creativity and real impact. You'll be part of a warm, committed team that shares learning, supports wellbeing, and is united in a clear mission: designing for better outcomes for children and families.
You'll work with a high degree of autonomy, navigating complexity and ambiguity, delivering tangible improvements to services and contributing to a growing and evolving design practice.
What We're Looking For
We're looking for a Senior Service Designer who can:
- Work autonomously to lead the design of complex services
- Manage competing priorities effectively across projects, balancing time, focus and trade-offs
- Influence stakeholders and support organisational change beyond immediate project teams, communicating design decisions and complex ideas clearly to a range of audiences
- Understand how services operate within wider organisational systems, and use this to inform decision-making and support effective change
- Confidently use a range of evidence, including user research, service data and performance insights, to inform decisions and guide direction
- Conduct in-depth user research to generate actionable insights and guide decision-making
- Create and iterate prototypes and other design artefacts
- Integrate offline and online service delivery into coherent end-to-end services
- Design and facilitate collaborative workshops with a range of stakeholders and partners
- Evaluate and evidence the impact of service design work
Previous experience in children's services, health, education or related public/third sector contexts is desirable – but if you bring transferable skills, we want to hear from you.
What You'll Get in Return
- 26 days annual leave (rising with service) plus bank holidays
- Access to the Barnardo's pension scheme
- Flexible working and hybrid/remote options
- Wellbeing initiatives and Employee Assistance Programme
- Regular supervision and career development opportunities
- The opportunity to shape how service design is used across a national organisation
- The chance to work on services that support children, young people and families across the UK.
Inclusion and Belonging
We are committed to building a diverse workforce. We particularly welcome applications from disabled candidates, LGBTQ+ people, people from racially minoritised communities, and those with care experience. If there's anything we can do to support you through the application process, please let us know.
Ready to Apply?
Together, we can change childhoods and change lives.
When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification and Job Description.
Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.