Action west chair opportunity volunteer jobs

We are seeking an exceptional leader to be our next chief executive, leading a respected and influential membership organisation at the heart of a thriving grassroots movement.

You’ll be working to build on the success we’ve seen and strong position and voice we have established for ourselves and our members, as a leading force for inclusive and sustainable transport and communities.

You’ll bring an impressive track record in values-based leadership, a proven ability to engage and inspire grassroots change-makers, strategic partners and policy-makers, and a deep belief in the importance of community-led change towards a sustainable, equitable future.

About us

Community Rail Network is a national not-for-profit organisation, which is in the process of applying for charitable status, supporting a growing ‘community rail’ movement, which helps communities get the most from their railways, promotes sustainable and inclusive travel, coordinates volunteering and place-making, and brings people together.

Community rail is made up of 77 community-based organisations, and around 1,300 station volunteer groups and other community-led initiatives around Britain. Their activities range from creative projects for young people, to advising train operators on service improvements, to building travel confidence among marginalised groups, to biodiversity projects at stations, to promoting greener tourism by rail.

Our enthusiastic team of 24 works from home in dispersed locations, but we come together regularly in person and online. We work collaboratively to support members, provide training, events and resources, run campaigns, and champion community rail and its insights. We believe in helping everyone reach their potential while having a good work-life balance.

About this role, and your main responsibilities

Our current CEO is moving on after nine years in role, leaving the organisation, team and wider movement in a strong and empowered position to deliver on the next phase of our development.

Your opportunity is to lead the organisation, and to deliver on our new five-year strategy setting an ambitious course for the future during a period of major transformation for our railways and the wider transport system. You will ensure that we are:

• clear in our identity and our independence, and seen as thought leaders in our field;
• are supporting our members and stakeholders to meet their changing and diverse needs; and
• ensuring the financial and operational resilience of the organisation in an environment that is undergoing a period of rapid change.

As CEO, you will lead a passionate and experienced senior leadership team with three direct reports, while working closely with and reporting into our Board, key partners and funders, and ensuing an engaging, empowering, tenacious approach across all we do.

Advocacy of community rail and its benefits will be high on your agenda, and you will be working closely across multiple stakeholders including UK and devolved national governments, regional and local authorities as well as forging collaborative partnerships with like-minded organisations.

Maintaining our community-centric ethos, you will need to ensure we're effective in enabling members to unlock greater value from the railways at a grassroots level, while drawing on their insights to affect wider change. With hundreds of member groups and organisations across Britain delivering life-changing, place-enhancing work, you will have a solid foundation to build on, to take community rail forward and expand our impact in the years ahead.

Last, but not least, you will be responsible for ensuring the strong and effective governance of the organisation, modelling our governing principles, values and behaviours, and ensuring that we have robust financial and resource management in place.

Skills, competencies and qualities

1. Exceptional leadership skills, including a proven ability to lead, develop and grow third sector organisations or multi-faceted teams delivering complex activities, projects and campaigns;
2. Excellent communication and external leadership skills: articulate, assertive, with the ability to work diplomatically and persuasively with stakeholders at all levels;
3. Experienced in acting as the public face of an organisation, such as through the media, public speaking and high-level meetings, and using evidence and storytelling to articulate and champion a cause;
4. Politically astute, with knowledge of and commitment to social inclusion, social justice and sustainability, and a sound grasp of the importance of public transport, sustainable travel, and community-led action;
5. A proven ability to influence policy and decision-makers, and to identify influencing opportunities, ideally in relation to community development, sustainability and/or transport, including sharing community insights;
6. A strong track record in income generation and development, building strong funder relationships and delivery partnerships, managing programme or organisational budgets and controlling expenditure;
7. Experience of working with and/or reporting to a board, ideally in a not-for-profit and/or membership context;
8. An empowering, engaging approach to leadership, management and change-making;
9. Resilient, pragmatic and determined, with the ability to work under pressure, seize emergent opportunities, manage risk, and support others dealing with competing priorities.

Other information

The role will involve regular travel within Britain as part of building your profile and that of the organisation with central and devolved government in Scotland and Wales, and increasingly with the devolved regions of England.

There is flexibility on location given the requirement to travel and that your office will be home-based. You will need to travel to in-person quarterly team meetings (usually in London or West Yorkshire) and to Board meetings which alternate between online and London. It is expected that travel will be by public transport and easy access to the rail network is therefore required to ensure journeys can be made sustainably. 

This is a full-time position, 37 hours per week. We use a flexi-time system with core hours 10am-3pm, and are committed to being a flexible, supportive and understanding employer. This is a permanent position with a probationary period of six months. 

Benefits: 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays (rising up to 30 days, plus Bank Holidays, in line with long service); pension with employer contribution of 7%; and access to Employee Assistance Programme.

Successful applicants will need to provide proof that they have the right to work in the UK and provide two references.

Community Rail Network is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from disabled people and Black, Asian and other minoritised groups, who meet with the skills and competencies for this role. We will provide reasonable adjustments for interviews as required.

Information Security Manager

£55,000 per annum

37 hours per week

Farnham, Surrey, with opportunity for hybrid working.  Cross site working required.
 

About us

Phyllis Tuckwell are based in Farnham, Camberley and Guildford, and provide bespoke, compassionate palliative and end of life care for people living with an advanced or terminal illness, across West Surrey and North-East Hampshire.

Phyllis Tuckwell is a very special place to work.  Our staff make a real difference to the lives of our patients and their loved ones, providing outstanding care at a time that really matters.  Our support teams are pivotal in helping deliver our vital services, ensuring ‘every day is precious’ for our patients. 

We are shortly opening our new hospice building, creating a modern environment designed around patients, families, and staff. Alongside this, we are investing in our digital capability to better support care, improve efficiency, and strengthen how we work as an organisation.

We are seeking an Information Security Manager to shape how our information security is built into a new environment from the outset, rather than retrofitted later.  Whilst good progress has already been made in our cyber security and information governance provision across the organisation, this exciting, new role will take the next step in managing and developing a more structured, consistent, and visible approach, seeking to embed good practice and build confidence.   

This is not a purely technical or policy focused role.  It will be responsible for ensuring our systems and information are safe, resilient, and used responsibly, helping our teams make secure choices in their day-to-day work, and educating staff to understand what this means in practice. The role will play an integral role in ensuring everything we do, and deliver, is secure by default and will ensure a practical, solutions focused approach to risk, helping teams move forward with confidence, building a positive security culture across the organisation.  

This is a key role at an important point for the organisation.  It will make a tangible impact across the work of Phyllis Tuckwell, both clinically and operationally.

The role will operate under the strategic direction of the Director of IT, Estates and Digital Transformation, while acting as the organisation’s recognised subject matter expert in cyber security and information security. They will be the trusted authority in this area, supporting teams across the organisation and providing credible assurance to senior leaders.

Key Responsibilities of the Information Security Manager will include:

• Leading our approach to cyber security, risk management, and incident response
• Developing and improving our information security management system, aligned to standards such as Cyber Essentials Plus and NHS DSPT
• Identifying and managing risks across systems, processes, and suppliers
• Supporting teams to understand and apply good security practice in real-world situations
• Leading response to any cyber or data-related incidents, ensuring an appropriate and prompt response with a learning mindset
• Working with senior colleagues, including the SIRO and Caldicott Guardian, to provide assurance and oversight
• Building awareness and confidence across the organisation through training and engagement
• Ensuring security is built into new systems, projects, and supplier relationships from the outset

• Develop and deliver engaging information security training and awareness campaigns
• Promote a positive, non-blame culture where people feel confident to report incidents or concerns
• Provide practical advice that helps teams make secure choices in day-to-day work
• Act as a visible and approachable subject matter expert across the organisation

About the candidate

Candidates should possess a balanced skillset across technical cyber security and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) combined with the ability to translate this into clear, organisation-wide governance and assurance.  They will be comfortable with detail, whilst also providing proportionate, practical oversight at an organisational level.  They should demonstrate:

• Strong technical grounding in cyber security including networks, endpoints, identity, vulnerabilities, and incident response
• Experience in applying that knowledge to real world risk management, not just theoretical controls
• Good understanding of governance, assurance, and security frameworks such as Cyber Essentials Plus, ISO 27001, and NHS DSPT
• Ability to move comfortably between technical detail and clear, plain-English communication for non-technical audiences
• Experience in providing assurance to senior stakeholders such as risk reporting, audit, or governance forums
• An enabling, solutions-focused approach with the ability to balance risk, with the need to get things done
• Strong focus on behaviour and culture, not just controls and policy
• Able to challenge constructively while helping teams find workable solutions
• Comfortable influencing across teams and building trusted relationships

Relevant qualifications or certifications such as CISSP, CISM, or Security+ are helpful.

Whilst a hospice background is not required, applicants should understand the importance of working in a people-focused, regulated environment.

We Offer:

Excellent Benefits

• · Six weeks paid holiday plus public holidays
• · Phyllis Tuckwell Group Personal Pension Plan (matched contributions up to 7.5%)
• · Health Cash Plan Scheme
• · Employee Assistance Programme
• · Staff Benefit Scheme
• · Blue Light Discount Card

Career Development

• Leadership Development
• Skill Development, Project-Based Learning and Diverse training courses
• Apprenticeships
• Coaching
• Cross Departmental Projects

A Great Place to Work

• ·Equal Opportunities employer
• ·Flexible working
• ·Supportive colleagues
• ·97% of our staff are proud to work for Phyllis Tuckwell*

We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture, with the principles of fairness and equality at its core.  We are an equal opportunities employer, who values and respects our employees’ unique knowledge, skills and experiences.  We warmly welcome applications from all sections of the community.  All appointments are made following a fair and equitable process, based on merit, job requirements and business need.  

Interested?

If you are looking for a role where you can make a tangible difference, not just manage compliance, we would like to hear from you.  For further information regarding the role or to arrange an informal visit please contact Graham Mayers, Director of IT, Estates and Digital Transformation.  If you have any questions about the recruitment process, contact HR.

 
Closing date for receipt of applications: 10th May 2026. 

Interviews to be held week commencing 1st June 2026.

We reserve the right to close the role ahead of the closing date should sufficient applications be received. Your early response is therefore encouraged. Please note that we do not hold a sponsor licence and therefore are unable to provide sponsorship.
 

This post is subject to a standard Disclosure and Barring Service check.