Learning Disability Community Leader, L'Arche London
ABOUT THE ROLE
Hours of work: 37.5 hours per week (including some evening and weekend working, and regular on-call)
Salary: £55,000 (including London weighting)
Reports to: L’Arche UK Director of Care and Communities
Place of work: L’Arche London Community, West Norwood, SE27. Some travel and overnight stays will be required within the UK.
Contract type: Permanent
Closing date: Thursday, 16th April, at midday
Notes: If you have already applied for this role and received an update on your application from us, please do not submit another application.
Main purpose of the role
The Community Leader is responsible for ensuring that the Community is living the mission of L’Arche, by providing excellent and sustainable care and support services, support for spirituality, and engaging with our neighbours and the wider community around us.
The Community Leader will:
- Lead the Community by responding to the needs, choices and context of our members while being faithful to the L'Arche UK Vision and Values, the L'Arche International Identity and Mission Statement, and to a co-created Community Mandate and plan.
- Maintain and enhance high-quality, person-centred care, support, and housing for people with learning disabilities, both at home and in our day services in partnership with the Registered Manager, the Team in London, the National Leadership Team, individual circles of support, and external partners;
- Ensure the Community's financial sustainability through robust financial planning and management, including setting budgets, controlling spending, maximising occupancy, negotiating care contracts, growing day services, and spotting fundraising opportunities;
- Foster a culture that maximises the voice and power for people with learning disabilities, building listening and collaboration between Community members with and without learning disabilities;
- Contribute to the national work programmes of L'Arche UK, as part of the National Council, collaborating with Community Leaders of other L'Arche Communities, to share skills, best practice, and resources
Key essential criteria
- Senior leadership experience in support to adults with learning disabilities (or transferable skills and experience in a closely related field);
- Experience in leading, managing, and developing an organisation or large teams to deliver results, maintain compliance and quality, and to respond to risks and opportunities;
- Good financial planning skills and experiences of successfully managing a substantial budget;
- Ability to think strategically and work collaboratively to develop and implement community plans;
- Experience of living or working alongside people with learning disabilities and/or autistic individuals;
- Passionate about person-centred support and the values and mission of L'Arche;
This role is subject to an enhanced DBS criminal record check.
You may have held these job titles in the past: Registered Manager, Service Manager, Head of Care, Senior Operations Lead, Community Director, Head of Community Services, Country or Regional Lead, Learning Disability Services Manager, Head of Mission and Community Life, Health & Social Care Manager, Local Authority Commissioning Lead;
You can find more details about L'Arche London here.
Additional details about L'Arche can be found here.
Discover what makes L’Arche a rewarding place to work—explore our employee benefits here.
A full job description and person specification can be found in the Recruitment Pack.
To apply, please submit your CV and include a cover letter via our online application form.
The closing date is: Thursday, 16th April at midday
First round interviews are expected to take place either on 22nd or 23rd April 2026 online via Microsoft Teams.
Second round interviews will take place on 30th April 2026 and will take place within the L'Arche London Community.
We encourage you not to wait until the closing date to submit your application, as we may begin interviewing strong candidates before then.
We also reserve the right to close the advert early if we receive enough suitable applications.
Please also read our privacy notice for job applicants.
Registered Charity
501 - 1000
Our inclusive communities challenge people to think differently about disability
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Location: National Support Centre, London SE1
Contract: Full time, permanent
Salary: £40k
Closing Date: 1st May 2026
Marine Society have an exciting new role! Help us deliver and expand our core bursary and welfare services and support the needs of seafarers. You will manage our highly renowned Slater scholarship fund and other training bursaries, together with the Coming Ashore mentoring programme and careers advice and guidance resources.
You’ll be expected to have a good understanding of seafaring training and certification requirements and have experience of working in the not-for-profit sector. A background working in the maritime sector is helpful but not essential.
The Marine Society & Sea Cadets (MSSC) is the leading maritime charity for youth development and lifelong learning. We are a vibrant and growing charity inspiring young people to achieve their potential through challenge and nautical adventure and also enabling seafarers and maritime professionals to realise their potential through learning and career development. Working with our employees, cadets, and volunteers, we have built a strong vision and five-year Future Ready strategy to meet the growing demand for what we provide, both for young people, seafarers and maritime professionals – and the thousands who aspire to be the sea cadets and marine professionals of the future. It is also about equipping them to achieve their potential and thrive in a rapidly changing world, while growing our charity to benefit even more people – including those from under-represented or marginalised groups.
We are currently looking for a Bursary and Welfare Manager to join our team.
About the role
This new role is to manage the bursary and welfare services of Marine Society. This requires an in depth understanding of seafarer’s needs and the training and certification they require to progress in their careers, both at sea and ashore. The manager will also oversee wider aspects of careers information and guidance and assisting with fundraising activity
Responsibilities
· Assess and process all bursary applications, including Slater Scholarships, Worcester, Hanway and Green Skills bursaries against clearly defined eligibility criteria
· Authorise the award of financial bursaries and approve beneficiary claims and expenses
· Maximise the use bursary funding and ensure successful outcomes for beneficiaries
· Identify new bursary funding opportunities and devise bids in collaboration with the fundraising team
· Manage the bursary and Coming Ashore programme restricted funds. Monitor and report on expenditure and activity
· Manage the operation of the Coming Ashore mentoring programme and ensure its sustainability
· Produce statistical reports and analysis pertaining to bursaries and welfare services for internal and external stakeholders.
· Put in place and maintain online and physical resources that provide seafarers with information, advice and guidance and supports maritime career development.
· To lead the annual Matrix accreditation process
· Work with the Digital Marketing Coordinator to ensure the effective marketing of bursary and welfare provision through a range of media and ensure the website remains up to date and relevant to seafarer needs.
· Represent Marine Society on external committees and forums that relate to welfare, including Merchant Navy Welfare Board and Nautilus Slater Management Committee
Requirements
- Educated to degree level or equivalent professional qualifications/experience
- In depth knowledge and understanding of the training needs of UK and international seafarers including their welfare and certification routes within the maritime sector both at sea and ashore
- Experience of working as team leader or manager in the not-for-profit sector
- Experience of preparing and presenting reports to management team and funders as required
- Ability to use social media and press effectively to inform and promote seafarer welfare and professional development.
Benefits
- 25 days annual leave per annum increasing with length of service
- Hybrid working for many roles
- Life assurance (4x salary)
- Private medical insurance
- Generous pension (employer contribution up to 10%)
- Cycle to work scheme
- Wellbeing portal and EAP with 121 counselling
- Employee development: We are investing in our employees' development and have an annual calendar of learning and development opportunities, designed to support employees to develop into their roles and stretch them to achieve their full potential.
Additional Information
MSSC positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates from all backgrounds. Equity, diversity, and inclusion really matters to us, so we can best serve our beneficiaries from every community. We work to ensure a fair and consistent recruitment process and aim to be a charity where diversity of experience, identity and skills are valued and welcomed. MSSC is an equal opportunities employer.
We recognise our responsibilities to safeguard and protect the young people and vulnerable adults with whom we work. We do all we can to promote their health, safety and wellbeing, and we expect our staff to share this commitment and work in line with safeguarding policy, the MSSC’s values and ethos of inclusivity. We adhere to safer recruitment practices and therefore employment is subject to detailed pre-employment checks for successful candidates, including references and criminal disclosure checks and the completion of a disclosure questionnaire.
All successful applicants are required to attend safeguarding training and undergo pre-employment checks including a criminal record check.
Registered Charity
101 - 500
We help launch young people for life through adventure.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.