Operations and business development lead jobs

Does every child have the right to "sparkle"? We think so.

At Thriving Through Recreation, we believe that equitable access to hobbies, sports, and the arts is a fundamental part of growing up. We work with children and young people navigating social, emotional, or educational difficulties, helping them find and fund the activities they love in their own communities.

We are looking for a proactive, empathetic, and highly organised Activities Support Co-Ordinator to join our team.

The Role

Working directly with our CEO, you will be the engine room of our Activities Support Programme. This is a primarily remote role, but because our heart is in the community, you must be based in Cambridgeshire to facilitate local connections and occasional travel within the county.

Your day-to-day will involve:

• Connecting: Triage and assess applications, building relationships with families and referring professionals to understand a child’s unique needs.
• Vetting: Conducting risk assessments and due diligence to ensure every activity provider we partner with meets our gold-standard safeguarding requirements.
• Facilitating: Managing the "matchmaking" process—finding the right club, negotiating payments, and tracking the budget.
• Evidencing: Collecting the stories and data that prove our impact, helping us grow and reach more young people.

Who You Are

You are someone who balances a big heart with a sharp eye for detail. You understand that "equity" means doing whatever it takes to level the playing field.

• Experienced: You have a background in social work, youth work, teaching, or a related field. You’ve worked with families facing disadvantage, and you know how to navigate complex family difficulties.
• Qualified: A degree or certification in Social Work, Youth Work, Education or a related field.
• Safeguarding Savvy: A deep understanding of safeguarding principles and child protection procedures.
• Independent: You’re comfortable leading frontline operations autonomously and can manage a budget with precision.
• A Multitasker: Ability to manage a budget, family case load and calendar without breaking a sweat.
• A Great Communicator: Whether you’re on a video call chatting with a parent and child about finger painting or liaising with a local activity provider, you can adjust your style to build rapport instantly.
• Local Knowledge: As a resident of Cambridgeshire, you’ll use your local insight to help expand our reach across the county.

Why Join Us?

• Be a Pioneer: You’ll be instrumental in shaping the future of a rapidly growing charity.
• Impact-Focused: You will see the direct results of your work as children gain confidence and thrive through recreational learning.
• Flexible & Inclusive: We offer remote working and value your unique journey. We encourage applications that evidence these requirements through paid or unpaid roles, as well as personal and professional experience.

Thriving Through Recreation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All short-listed applicants will need to submit a Safeguarding Self-Declaration Form, and all appointments are subject to an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references.

Head of Finance Business Partnering

Exciting opportunity for a Head of Finance Business Partnering - make an impact today!

Anna Freud is seeking a Head of Finance Business Partnering to join our world-leading mental health charity for children, young people and their families. Our mission is to close the gap in wellbeing and mental health by advancing, translating, delivering, and sharing the best science and practice with everyone who impacts the lives of children, young people and their families. More information about Anna Freud is available on our website.

Our EDI commitment

We are dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace and being an equal opportunities employer, whereby equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are core to our recruitment practices. All candidates who meet the job criteria will be considered for employment, regardless of ethnic origin, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, socioeconomic background, caring responsibilities and care experience.

We ask candidates to share their diversity dimensions with us to help us identify, tackle and prevent bias across the employee lifecycle. We believe a diverse workforce enhances our ability to support mental health and wellbeing, allowing us to better meet the needs of the children, young people and families we serve.

As a Disability Confident employer, disabled candidates meeting our criteria are guaranteed an interview. Applications are submitted anonymously and assessed using a fair evaluation process based on the criteria set out in our job profiles.

What we offer

We offer a range of staff benefits, including an all-in-one rewards and recognition platform called Perkbox and wellbeing offers such as finishing early on Fridays and free counselling through our Employee Assistance Programme. We are proud to have staff-led Diversity Networks offering unique opportunities for learning, connection and impact.

This is a rare opportunity to step into a strategic, Exec-facing role where your work will directly shape key decisions and the organisation’s long-term direction. You’ll build and lead a Finance Business Partnering function from the ground up, with real ownership and the chance to make a lasting impact, while tackling complex, high-value financial challenges that will stretch and develop your expertise, all within a purpose-driven organisation improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.

What you’ll do

This is a senior, strategic finance leadership role responsible for shaping long-term financial planning, leading business partnering across the organisation, and providing insight to support Executive decision-making and organisational sustainability.

• As the Head of Finance Business Partnering, you will lead financial strategy and modelling, Develop long-term financial plans, including income and expenditure projections, scenario modelling, and sustainability metrics (e.g. cash flow, reserves, EBITDA)
• You will own budgeting and reporting, Oversee budgeting, forecasting and management accounts, ensuring accurate, timely and insightful financial reporting
• Drive business partnering, build strong relationships with budget holders and senior stakeholders, providing challenge, insight and support to improve financial performance
• The Head of Finance Business Partnering will lead and develop the team, manage and grow a high-performing Finance Business Partnering team, supporting capability and continuous improvement
• You will be tasked to enhance systems and processes – Improve financial systems, tools and processes to strengthen data quality, insight and organisational decision-making

What you’ll bring

You will be a senior, qualified finance leader with strong business partnering experience, able to combine strategic thinking with advanced technical expertise to influence decision-making, lead high-performing teams, and drive financial insight across a complex, mission-driven organisation.

• You will be a fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA) with significant experience in financial management within a complex organisation
• You will have strong business partnering and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence and challenge senior leaders and non-financial stakeholders
• As the Head of Finance Business Partnering, you will bring advanced financial modelling and analytical capability, including scenario planning, data interpretation, and translating insight into action
• You will have proven experience leading and developing high-performing teams, managing competing priorities and delivering to tight deadlines
• For this role, you will have experience in budgeting, forecasting and management reporting, ideally within the charity sector, including knowledge of restricted funds and compliance

Key details

Hours: Full-time: usual working hours are Monday to Friday, 09:00-17:00. Flexible working is possible.

Salary: £60,000 FTE per annum, plus 6% contributory pension scheme

Location: Hybrid (a mixture of home/onsite working): staff are working onsite for at least 20% of their working hours at our London site (4-8 Rodney Street, London N1 9JH). There may be occasions where additional office attendance is required, depending on business needs.

Contract type: Permanent

Next steps

Closing date for applications: midday (12pm), Wednesday, 06 May 2026. Please note that due to high application volumes, we may close this advert early. We encourage you to apply promptly and to keep an eye on our future vacancies for more opportunities.

Notification of interview: shortlisted applicants will be notified no later than Thursday, 07 May 2026. During shortlisting, applicants are anonymously assessed using the criteria visible in the Job Profile. Please note: due to the high volume of applications received, we will not be able to provide feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

Interviews: There will be 2 interviews with the first being held in-person on Friday, 15 May 2026 and Tuesday 19 May for the second in person interview. For the 1st interview, there will be a short task and presentation.

How to apply: click on the 'apply now’ button to apply online. We are unable to accept CVs and kindly request no contact from agencies

Questions?

Please email our reruitment team with any job enquiries, or if you require assistance or experience difficulties when applying. Please note that successful candidate(s) will be asked to evidence their Right to Work in the UK post-job offer – we do not hold a sponsor license therefore we are unable to provide Visa sponsorship.

As the Interim Director of Services, you will join our Leadership Team as the driving force behind our service delivery and performance, cultivating an inclusive and supportive culture.

The successful candidate will bring strong operational leadership and a deep understanding of mental health services. They will be committed to building trusted, empowered teams and strengthening authentic partnerships that reflect the diversity and needs of our local communities.

The Interim Director of Services will have overall responsibility for the strategic oversight and operational management of MindTHNR services, ensuring services are user-led, safe, evidence-based, and sustainable. Working as part of the Leadership Team and reporting directly to the Chief Executive, you will champion the internal culture at MindTHNR, specifically driving forward our commitment to being a truly anti-discriminatory and inclusive organisation and creating space for honest conversations and feedback.

We are looking for a candidate who has demonstrable experience in a senior operations role and is excited by the challenge of leading high-impact and successful operations teams.

Job description

Role: Partnerships and Programme Development Manager

Directorate: External Affairs

Team: Corporate Partnerships

Manager: Senior Strategic Partnerships Manager

Direct reports: N/A

Role purpose

This role supports the development of WorldSkills UK’s income and partnership activity by turning programmes and ideas into clear, compelling funding opportunities. You will work across teams to develop proposals, manage partnerships, and support reporting and planning processes that contribute to long-term financial sustainability.

You will play a key role in strengthening how we plan, communicate and deliver partnership activity, helping to build strong relationships with funders and partners while improving internal systems and processes.

Key tasks and responsibilities

Partnership and project delivery

· Manage delivery of partnerships and events, ensuring they are well planned, on time and within budget

· Support management of key strategic partner relationships

· Coordinate teams and stakeholders to deliver partnership activities

· Ensure partnerships align with WorldSkills UK’s strategic priorities and equity, diversity and inclusion commitments

Income development and proposals

· Develop funding opportunities from programmes and organisational activities

· Produce high-quality proposals, presentations and funding applications

· Support applications to trusts, foundations and corporate partners

· Contribute to the development of partnership agreements and documentation

Reporting and planning

· Support delivery of income and fundraising plans through regular monitoring and reporting

· Track progress against agreed objectives and provide clear updates and analysis

· Contribute to income forecasting and financial tracking, working with colleagues in Finance and across the organisation

· Support the development and reporting of project plans (Project Initiation Documents) and associated performance measures

Systems, processes and knowledge management

· Use and help improve our CRM system (HubSpot) to manage relationships and track opportunities

· Maintain accurate records, documentation and reporting systems to support partnership activity

· Identify opportunities to improve ways of working and streamline processes across the team

Research and pipeline development

· Carry out research to identify potential partners, funding opportunities and sector trends

· Support the development of a strong and diverse pipeline of prospective partners

· Contribute to internal decision-making by providing relevant insights and analysis

General

In addition to the key tasks and responsibilities set out above, employees at this level are expected to:

· Produce specification requirements in line with procurement processes for outsourced activity

· Contribute to organisational risk and issues management processes.

· Support delivery of WorldSkills UK’s strategic priorities and annual business plan

· Ensure resources (staff, suppliers, partners, volunteers) are managed efficiently and effectively

· Contribute to a performance‑driven culture with robust monitoring, evaluation and reporting

· Demonstrate WorldSkills UK’s values in all aspects of the role, contributing to a collaborative, inclusive and high-performing organisational culture

· Promote and comply with WorldSkills UK’s policies, including safeguarding, health and safety, equality, diversity and inclusion

· Carry out any other duty as may be reasonably assigned that is consistent with the nature of the role and its level of responsibility. Any significant changes will be made in consultation with the post holder taking account of their experience, skills and capability

We’re looking for a hands-on General Manager to lead an exciting new social enterprise in Lambeth — combining a busy bike repair workshop with a welcoming community café.

This is a unique opportunity to run and grow a business that not only serves the local community but also supports people with mental health challenges and other barriers to employment to gain skills, confidence and move into work.

You’ll oversee the day-to-day running of the bike shop and café, balancing commercial performance with meaningful social impact. This is a varied, fast-paced role where you’ll need to be proactive, organised and happy to get stuck in.

Abbevilles Bikes is part of First Step Trust, a charity with over 30 years’ experience supporting people into employment.

Key responsibilities:

• Leading daily operations across the bike shop and café
• Managing a small team and supporting volunteers
• Driving sales and working towards financial sustainability
• Delivering excellent customer service and building local relationships
• Supporting on-site training and development activity

What we’re looking for:

• Experience managing a service, project or small business
• A hands-on approach and confidence taking ownership
• Strong organisational and people management skills
• A commercial mindset with a passion for social impact

You don’t need to be a bike expert — just a willingness to learn.

What we offer:

• The chance to build and grow a new social enterprise
• A supportive and friendly working environment

Fauna & Flora is seeking a highly experienced conservation professional to fulfil the role of Country Director, South Sudan, assuming responsibility for the development, management and implementation of F&F’s growing South Sudan programme.

The successful candidate will have experience in providing technical input into the design, development, implementation and evaluation of biodiversity and conservation projects within conflict affected countries in Africa. They will also demonstrate a strong proven track record in operational, project, grant and financial management at a similar level and be skilled in providing strategic advice.

Strong leadership and people management skills are essential to the role to build and lead a professional team that delivers effectively against project aims, objectives and timelines.  The role also requires a skilled and credible communicator, who is confident in developing and managing relationships at senior level with partner organisations and relevant stakeholders, including donors, funders and government.

Please visit our website and download the job application pack for further details on how to apply.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday, 20 April 2026. Interviews are likely to take place the week commencing Monday, 25 May 2026.

About The Role

Join us as Marketing & Communications Manager and play a pivotal role in promoting Place2Be’s services and mission: ensuring no child has to face mental health issues alone.

In this role, you’ll work closely with key stakeholders to plan, implement, and evaluate marketing and communications strategies that drive engagement and impact. You’ll lead projects from brief to delivery, collaborating with our digital and design teams to create campaigns that truly resonate.

This is an exciting opportunity for a strategic thinker with strong project management skills and a passion for making a difference. If you’re ready to help shape the future of children’s mental health support, we’d love to hear from you.

 Together we can change children’s lives. At Place2Be, we believe every child should have easy access to mental health support whenever they need it. We create a safe place in schools where children and young people can open up without pressure or stigma, allowing our highly skilled and diverse counsellors to reach children, young people and their families who need us.

For a career with purpose, this is your place.

Recruitment Process:

As part of your application you will need to answer some shortlisting questions. Please answer these as fully as you can, we recommend using the STAR model. Situation, Task, Action Result.

Closing date for applications: Midnight on 11 May 2026

1st Interview date: 13 May 2026 via Teams

2nd Interview date - 21 May 2026 - In person

Our Benefits

When you work at Place2Be –whether that's in a school, supporting families, providing clinical supervision, or in IT, Finance, or Fundraising –every role can make the difference to a young person. To achieve this, we ask that you bring your best self to your role and our commitment to you, is to welcome you into our community, and help you progress. Because we know that you being at your best, means the best outcomes for the children we support.

Here’s just a few things we have on offer:

• Annual Leave that increases with service
• Comprehensive learning and development to enable you to progress your career
• 5% contributory pension scheme
• Life assurance of four times your annual salary
• A comprehensive employee assistance programme
• Mobile Phone Discounts (EE network)
• Wellbeing days to allow you some ‘you’ time
• Christmas holidays closure period in addition to your annual leave

We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability. We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic candidates and disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented within our organisation.

We are proud to be a disability confident employer and will ask you during your application If you wish to be considered for a guaranteed interview under the disability confident scheme. Under the scheme we commit to offering an interview to disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria as outlined in the job role.

We recognise that AI is becoming part of daily life and you may want to use it to help you format your CV, create responses to application questions or even help you prepare responses. AI can be a powerful enabler and we are open to you using it to apply for roles with us, but we ask you to ensure anything you submit truly represents your capabilities and viewpoint. We value honesty, integrity and creativity and want to understand what you will uniquely bring to our team.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

ID: 1782 Operational Manager, Northeast

Service: Stockton on Tees Family Time, Stockton Family Outreach & Volunteer service and South Tees Perinatal service

Salary: Grade 4 Point 34-38: £42,562 – £46,703 FTE (£34,049.60 - £37,362.40 per annum, pro rata for 29.6 hours per week)

- Additionally, £480 home-based allowance FTE per annum

Location: Home based

Hours: Part-time (up to 29.6 hours per week)

We offer flexible working arrangements - please see below for more details.

Contract: Permanent

Family Action & the Role’s Impact:

At Family Action we support people through change, challenge or crisis. It’s what we’ve done for over 150 years. We protect children, support young people and adults and offer direct, practical help to families and communities.

We see first-hand the power of family to shape lives, for better or worse, so we speak up for the

importance of family in national and local policymaking, amplify family voices and represent the changing needs of families in the UK today.

This is an exciting opportunity to lead the operational delivery of services across Stockton on Tees and South Tees (Recar & Middlesbrough) area.  The Operational Manager will provide strategic and operational management to our services in the Northeast and line management of 2 - 3 service managers.

Stockton services are delivered under our successful strategic partnership with Stockton Borough Council. This unique partnership was formed nearly 5 years ago with the aim of transforming service provision using a collaborative approach to service development and innovation. Our South Tees Perinatal service operates over Redcar and Middlesborough and are just entering a 3 year extension to our current contract.

Main Responsibilities:

· Provide leadership, management and supervision to operational services that provide Family Time sessions, Family Outreach support and Volunteering support, plus perinatal support to families.

· Ensure that services are delivered to a good quality standard in relation to practice and performance and that services can demonstrate their impact using evidence based outcomes tools.

Main Requirements (for details check the job description and person specification):

· Experience of providing effective management, leadership and safeguarding oversight of case work and group work based support services, which overall improve the lives of  service users.

· Experience of setting up and/or managing innovative projects.

· Strong interpersonal skills, with the confidence and ability to present and communicate information effectively both in person and using a range of mediums to internal and external stakeholders, including children and young people, parents and carers, and funders.

· Appointments are subject to Family Action receiving a satisfactory disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service –Enhanced

Benefits:

- an annual paid leave entitlement that commences at 25 working days, rising each April by one day, subject to a maximum of 30 working days plus bank holiday pro rata

- up to 6% matched-pension contributions

- flexible working arrangements and new starters have the right to make flexible working requests from day one of employment

- enhanced paid sick leave and paid family leave provisions

- eye care and winter flu jabs vouchers

- cycle to work scheme

- investing in your professional development with ongoing quality training and career development opportunities

We are forward looking, ambitious and committed to continuous improvement. We are a people focused, can-do organisation, which strives for excellence in all we do and operates with mutual respect.

To Apply:

· Click the “Apply Now” link below and fill out our digital application form

· Closing Date: Sunday 10th May 2026 at 23:59

Interviews are scheduled to take place on: 20th May 2026

For direct queries or if you would like to discuss any aspect of the selection process or flexible working requests, please email: Claire Meek (email address available on advert document).

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion:

We are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that candidates may need during the recruitment process and you will be asked whether you require any adjustments if shortlisted for interview. We also make reasonable adjustments on the job, where required.

We are committed to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion in all that we do and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Intersectionality is important to us and we particularly welcome applications from ethnically diverse communities, LGBTQIA+ candidates and disabled candidates because we are committed to increasing the representation of these groups at Family Action. We know that greater diversity will lead to even greater results for families and children and strive for our workforce to be truly representative of the diverse communities we support.

All candidates with a disability are welcome to apply under the Disability Confident Scheme and request priority consideration for an interview, provided they meet the essential criteria for the role.

To help remove financial barriers to working with us, we will reimburse reasonable travel costs if you are invited to attend an interview in person.

*Ordinarily Family Action appoints new starters at the starting point of the salary scale (with subsequent annual pay progression), unless you have experience that would justify appointment further up the salary scale or there are any other exceptional reasons.

Mary’s Meals is a global movement supported by people from all walks of life and we are focused on one goal – that every child receives a nutritious daily meal in a place of education. We offer more than just a career, we offer the opportunity to support our global movement in a dynamic and inclusive environment with a real focus on personal development.

We are seeking an experienced, Glasgow-based fundraiser to join us as a Regional Development Officer. In this role, you’ll be a confident, visible champion for Mary’s Meals, someone who knows the city, understands its communities, and can build relationships that spark action. You’ll bring boldness and creativity to your work, whether delivering inspiring talks in churches and schools, making fundraising asks or forging genuine partnerships with local businesses and networks.

Using your deep knowledge of Glasgow’s people and places, you will identify high‑potential opportunities, grow income and participation, and cultivate a committed local movement of supporters and volunteers. Through strategic, outward‑facing work, you’ll turn first conversations into committed, long‑term support that strengthens our movement and fuels our mission.

Working closely with the Head of Scotland, you will co‑design and deliver a local growth plan shaped by the pulse of your region. You will represent Mary’s Meals across faith communities, schools, community groups, business networks, and key connectors, bringing energy, authenticity, and a passion for our mission.

Highly autonomous, you’ll combine insight, data, and local intuition to focus on areas of greatest opportunity. You’ll collaborate across the organisation to create seamless supporter journeys and tell compelling, meaningful stories. Everything you do will reflect Mary’s Meals’ warmth, simplicity, and dignity.

Key responsibilities include

• Work with the Head of Scotland to create and deliver an insight‑driven regional growth plan, with clear priorities around income, visibility, and volunteer mobilisation.
• Use local knowledge, data, and community insight to focus your time on the strongest opportunities for growth.
• Balance relationship‑building with a proactive, opportunity-led approach, identifying new supporters, networks, and partnerships and developing them from prospective supporters into committed donors.
• Actively network across Glasgow to initiate new meetings, build connections, and follow up purposefully.
• Represent Mary’s Meals with authenticity and enthusiasm across schools, churches, parishes, universities, community groups, and local businesses.
• Deliver engaging talks, assemblies, parish visits, small events, networking sessions, and partnership meetings that increase income, participation, and visibility.
• Build a diverse pipeline of leads and partnerships that reflect Glasgow’s communities and faith landscape.
• Create the environment for a strong volunteer network and empower volunteers through thoughtful delegation, coaching, encouragement, and recognition.

• Strengthen local visibility by nurturing community connectors and supporting appropriate local media engagement.

Please see the recruitment pack on our website for full list of duties.

To apply for the role of Regional Development Officer based at Mary’s Meals UK, please follow the apply instructions on Charity Job where you will be redirected to our website.

Your covering letter or video should make a compelling case for why you feel motivated to apply for this role within Mary’s Meals UK, as well as giving a concise overview of your most relevant skills and experience, and should fill no more than two pages of A4.

Applicants must hold full right to work in the UK.

We welcome applications from candidates of all different backgrounds and identities to apply. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse charity providing a supportive place for you to do the best and most rewarding work of your career.

Closing date for applications is Friday, 8th May

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Please note: If you have any special requirements or adjustments before an interview, please let us know.

Head of Operations

Suzy Lamplugh Trust

Hybrid (40% office-based)
Full-time (35 hours)

Permanent
£46,200
Start: ASAP

Lead and shape services supporting victims of stalking and abuse

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust is seeking a Head of Operations to provide strategic leadership across our services, ensuring they are safe, effective, compliant, and sustainable.

This is a senior leadership role, responsible for overseeing service performance, infrastructure, and delivery at an organisational level. You will play a key role in shaping strategy, driving continuous improvement, and ensuring our services meet the needs of victims and funders alike.

About the role

You will:

• Provide strategic and operational leadership across all services, ensuring high-quality and compliant delivery
• Lead on organisational performance, including KPIs, quality standards, and reporting frameworks
• Oversee contract and grant delivery, ensuring all obligations and compliance requirements are met
• Hold senior relationships with commissioners, funders, and external stakeholders
• Lead service development, mobilisation of new contracts, and organisational change
• Ensure effective systems, infrastructure, and processes are in place to support delivery
• Provide leadership across safeguarding, risk, and organisational compliance
• Work as part of the Senior Management Team to shape and deliver organisational strategy

This role focuses on service infrastructure, performance, and strategic oversight, rather than direct frontline management

About you

You will be an experienced senior leader with a strong track record in operational and strategic service delivery within a safeguarding or related environment.

You will have:

• Significant experience leading multiple frontline services within a safeguarding or VAWG-related sector
• Experience operating at senior leadership level, contributing to organisational strategy
• Strong experience of performance management, KPIs, and quality assurance frameworks
• Experience managing statutory contracts or grant-funded services
• Proven ability to lead organisational change, service mobilisation, or transformation
• Strong understanding of safeguarding, compliance, and information governance
• Experience working with commissioners and senior external stakeholders

Desirable:

• Experience within stalking, domestic abuse, or VAWG services
• Experience in a charity or commissioned service environment
• Experience in organisational restructuring, service redesign, or systems implementation

Why join us

• Lead and shape services that support victims of stalking and abuse
• Join a collaborative and mission-driven senior leadership team
• Play a critical role in organisational strategy, growth and impact

How to apply

Please submit your CV and a supporting statement demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria detailed within the person specification.

Applications will not be considered without a supporting statement

Additional information

• This is a senior leadership role reporting to the CEO

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 extensive 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.

Harris Hill is delighted to be supporting Consumers International in their search for a Strategic Growth and Engagement Lead, Sustainability. This is a brilliant opportunity for someone who wants real ownership in their role—where you can take an idea, build it, and run with it on a global stage.

Working at the heart of Consumers International’s sustainability programme, you will drive partnerships, funding and influence across areas such as energy, materials and food systems. This is not a role focused on maintaining the status quo; instead, you’ll have the freedom and trust to shape new opportunities, test ideas and deliver growth that creates genuine global impact, with scope to truly make the role your own.

Key responsibilities

· Build and manage a strong pipeline of global funding and partnership opportunities

· Develop compelling proposals and innovative partnership models

· Lead on relationship management and supporting partners in their Change Network ( you can view here.)

· Shape and deliver a growth strategy for the sustainability programme

· Represent the organisation at international events and forums

· Create opportunities for global members to engage, collaborate and influence

About you

· Proven experience in partnerships, fundraising or business development

· Track record of securing income from foundations, corporates or multilateral organisations

· Experience working across international and cross-sector environments

· A strategic and proactive mindset, with the ability to spot opportunities and run with them

· Strong communication, influencing and relationship-building skills

· A genuine interest in sustainability and systems change

Key details

Salary: Up to £50,000

Location: Fully remote – open to candidates globally

Contract: Full-time

Applications: Rolling basis – please apply ASAP as applications are reviewed weekly

Apply to Hannah at Harris Hill to learn more and get the full job pack

As leading charity recruitment specialists and a certified B Corp™, Harris Hill is committed to high and ever-improving standards of equitable and inclusive recruitment. We actively welcome applications from all sections of the community regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion, sexuality and other protected characteristics

BGCI Vacancy Announcement

Position Summary

BGCI is seeking an experienced, committed and strategic Director of Conservation to provide leadership across the organisation’s policy, conservation prioritisation and conservation action portfolio. The postholder will translate BGCI’s 2026–2030 Strategic Framework into coherent programmes, partnerships, monitoring systems and resource mobilisation, ensuring that BGCI’s work delivers measurable outcomes for plant conservation, ecological restoration and community resilience.

The Director will help position BGCI as the most effective and renowned plant conservation network in the world, working across an expanded global network of botanic gardens and other conservation organisations to bring more plant species under conservation action. The role requires a strong combination of conservation leadership, programme oversight, partnership development, fundraising and people management.

Title of post: Director of Conservation

Job Purpose: To provide strategic direction to the organisation’s plant conservation activities worldwide.

Reports to: Secretary General

Contract Type: Full-time (35hrs/week)

Duration: Permanent

Location: BGCI Offices, Kew, London; Hybrid *

Remuneration: £55,000 - £60,000pa dependent on level of experience within a broad range (experience, required qualifications, training) and performance related to budget management, project management and other measures.

*Please note that our temporary office address in 2026 is in Putney, London

About BGCI

Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) is the largest global plant conservation network with over 950 member institutions in more than 120 countries. BGCI plays a key coordinating role, facilitating collaboration between botanic gardens and other conservation organisations, and supports the development and long-term functioning of botanic garden networks. BGCI ensures that local expertise contributes to global impact, and mobilises funding and technical assistance for practical conservation efforts worldwide.

Person Specification

BGCI is seeking to appoint an individual with strong track record in strategic leadership in plant conservation, with the ability to translate global frameworks into impactful programmes and partnerships. Candidates will have a proven track record working within a conservation or scientific organisation, ideally in plant conservation, with demonstrable experience delivering complex, multi-partner initiatives at international scale. The post holder will be an experienced team leader with demonstrable success in inspiring and motivating diverse teams. They will bring a sophisticated understanding of the institutional landscape in which BGCI operates, including botanic gardens, governments, NGOs, and multilateral processes, and will demonstrate cultural awareness and political acuity in navigating complex, multicultural and multinational contexts.

Application Process

If you are interested in this role, please send us your CV and a cover letter (two pages maximum), explaining your motivation for the role and providing examples and evidence of how you are suitable for the position. Please also confirm in your letter that you are eligible to work in the UK. 

Please note that the role is UK based so you must be eligible to work in the UK. We are unable to provide sponsorship for this role. Please confirm in your cover letter that you are eligible to work in the UK.

Closing date for applications is 10.00am 5th May 2026 

The interviews will be conducted online week commencing 25th May 2026 

BGCI is committed to putting equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of our organisation. We are committed to ensuring a working environment in which all individuals are free from discrimination and in which opportunities are equal to all. We encourage applications from all sections of the community, particularly those underrepresented within our sector. 

We’re looking for an organised, proactive and community-minded Project Officer to join our small and supportive team. This is a genuinely varied role, spanning project delivery and network development as well as operational support for our growing OxFarmToFork food hub. It’s a great opportunity for someone who enjoys working across different kinds of tasks and wants to contribute to real change in the Oxfordshire food system. 

The role is 0.8 FTE and can be worked flexibly across the week. Full-time is available if preferred. We encourage interested candidates to discuss working arrangements that suit their needs. The successful candidate will ideally be based within Oxfordshire and able to work from our Oxford office on a Wednesday, our team day.

What You’ll Be Doing 

Project Support (approx. 1.5 days/week) 

Working closely with the Project and Comms Leads, you’ll support the delivery of GFO’s local projects and public-facing campaigns. This includes contributing to initiatives such as the Great Big Green Lunch, and the WISH initiative with our partners at Cherwell Collective, a groundbreaking project that empowers the community to build more sustainable daily habits, including reducing food waste. You’ll help coordinate activity, track progress, and make sure things run smoothly from planning through to delivery. 

Organisational Development (approx. 1.5 days/week) 

You’ll steward GFO’s member network, nurturing robust community and connections. This means attending events, visiting network members and community food groups, and making sure GFO remains well-connected and able to support the people and organisations it works with. 

You’ll also work with the CEO on opportunity horizon scanning: helping to identify income prospects, partnerships, and strategic developments relevant to GFO’s mission, and keeping track of these in a structured and accessible way. 

OxFarmToFork Operations (approx. 1 day/week) 

GFO hosts OxFarmToFork, an exciting local food project and the UK’s first regenerative B2B online marketplace, connecting agroecological growers with buyers in local institutions such as Oxford University colleges. You’ll provide the weekly operational backbone that keeps it running: managing the online marketplace platform (Tream), coordinating with producers and buyers around weekly market cycles and deliveries and supporting the onboarding of new producers and buyers. It’s hands-on work that sits at the heart of a genuinely innovative local food project. 

What You’ll Bring 

• Experience of project coordination or support, in any sector – non-profit, community, food, or otherwise. 

• Strong organisational skills and the ability to juggle a range of tasks. 

• Confidence engaging with a wide variety of people, from community food groups to institutional procurement teams. 

• A methodical approach to admin and data – comfortable with spreadsheets, invoicing processes, and keeping accurate records. 

• Good written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to share updates clearly and promptly. 

• A proactive mindset: you spot what needs doing and get on with it. 

• Genuine interest in food sustainability, community development, or the local food economy. 

We’re a small team and we value warmth, reliability, and a willingness to muck in. If you don’t tick every box above but feel the role is a good fit for your skills and experience, we’d still love to hear from you – particularly from candidates with a range of lived experiences.