Programme development director jobs in Sunbury on thames, surrey

Do you want to support people with mental health issues in a moment of crisis? Are you calm, non-judgemental and able to work effectively with people experiencing distress?

If you can embody our values of Hope, Courage, Togetherness, and Responsiveness, and want to help others build resilience and manage their wellbeing, we’d love to hear from you.

Services Manager (Nightlight Crisis)
Reference: 346
Salary: £41,000 - £42,000 per annum
Hours: Full time, 37.5 hours per week
Typical working pattern: 10am-6pm or 11am-7pm, with some flexibility required
Contract: Permanent
Reports to: Director of Crisis, Counselling and Children & Young People
Working base: Watford Wellbeing Centre or Hemel Crisis House – can be negotiated

About the Nightlight Crisis Service

Hertfordshire Mind Network (HMN) has been delivering Nightlight, part of Hertfordshire’s crisis alternatives pathway, for the last 8 years. We are proud to provide urgent support, crisis intervention and emotional support to people experiencing a mental health crisis in Hertfordshire as an alternative to statutory pathways. We provide support to adults across Hertfordshire 7 days a week, 365 days a year through our Helpline, Crisis Cafes and 24/7 Crisis House.

We aim to provide a safe space for people in crisis to talk and feel supported, be listened to without judgement, access relevant support with problem solving and facilitate access to external services when necessary.

As a senior member of our diverse team, you will work closely with service users in crisis by using a person-centred approach to ensure that each individual is supported with dignity and respect. By honouring the individual experience of each service user, we are able to respect their autonomy as well as encourage and facilitate positive steps towards management of crisis and recovery.

The objectives of HMN’s Nightlight Crisis provision is to:

• Improve the mental and emotional wellbeing of people experiencing a mental health crisis in Hertfordshire.
• Provide 24/7 365 support for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.
• Increase early access to help for people experiencing a mental health crisis in Hertfordshire, by providing a clear and effective pathway to other services provided by HMN and other third sector and statutory providers.
• Remain a source of independent support for all service users.
• Provide an alternative pathway to people in distress and crisis to support better outcomes and reduce the demand on statutory crisis services and emergency services.

About the Role

As a member of the HMN Senior Management Team (SMT) and the Service Manager for our Crisis provision across Hertfordshire (Nightlight), you will be leading the total provision of our 24/7 365 week Crisis House, Daylight, Helpline and Crisis Cafés. You will also oversee our A&E Liaison Project, supporting staff operating in A&E to divert individuals into community crisis provision.

You will ensure the provision is safe, effective and person centered; be accountable for achieving KPI’s, data reporting to Commissioners and the wider SMT & CEO, and develop the service using evidence based data, strategic thought & planning.

The successful candidate will be highly proficient manager with proven knowledge, skills and abilities as a leader and manager and have experience of developing and delivering mental health services within a health and social care setting, strong experience of managing the delivery of contracts, working to deadlines and achieving outputs, significant proven knowledge and skills around services working with adults with mental health needs and demonstrable understanding of relevant legislation and policies such as the Data Protection Act, Safeguarding and Protection of Vulnerable Adults, Safeguarding Children and the Mental Health Act and they will have a willingness to travel to locations across Hertfordshire.

We offer:

• Annual leave entitlement of 25 days per year pro rata, rising in increments to a max. of 29 days after 5 years employment (plus 8 days Bank Holidays)
• An additional day of leave each year for your birthday following completion of probation period.
• Ongoing training relevant to your role.
• An Employee Assistance Programme.
• Health cover (after 6 months employment) – compensation payment for Optical, Dental, Chiropody and Therapy Treatments.

Being able to drive and having access to your own vehicle is essential for this role.

Closing date for receipt of applications is Monday 25th May 2026.
Interviews to be held on Monday 1st June 2026 at our Watford Wellbeing Centre
N.B. Please quote reference number 346 when completing your application for this role.

Interested? 

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

We welcome applications from all suitably-qualified candidates, irrespective of gender, disability, marital or parental status, racial, ethnic or social origin, colour, religion, belief, or sexual orientation. In addition, during the various stages of recruitment, specific measures can be taken to ensure equal opportunities for candidates with disabilities or special needs.

Hertfordshire Mind Network is committed to the Disability Confident and Mindful Employer charters. We actively recruit staff who have a lived experience of mental ill health. Our inclusive approach recognises the unique skills, knowledge, and perspectives that lived experience brings to our team.

No agencies please.

Job Title: Investment Associate

Reports to: Investment Director

Grade and Salary: £50,400 - £55,000 based on experience

Contract: Full time; Permanent

Location: Hybrid - London, EC1Y and homeworking

About Better Society Capital

Better Society Capital (BSC) is the UK's leading social impact-led investor.  Our mission is to grow the amount of money invested in tackling social issues and inequalities in the UK; we do this by investing ourselves and enabling others to invest for impact too.  Since 2011, we have helped the social impact investment market grow twelve-fold to over £10 billion.  This capital has financed social purpose organisations tackling everything from homelessness to mental health and fuel poverty.  BSC manages £634m of its own investments as well as acting as portfolio manager for the Schroder BSC Social Impact Investment Trust (SBSI) managing its £83m portfolio.  As BSC begins delivering its next five-year strategy, the organisation is embarking on a period of significant opportunity, growth and impact.

The opportunity:

We have a unique opportunity to accelerate your career in Social Impact Investment through Better Society Capital’s Investment Associate Development Programme. Whilst playing a key role as part of a dynamic and supportive team, you will develop your impact investment management skills, knowledge of social issues and your strategic and design thinking in order to help solve some of the UK’s most entrenched social issues.

This is an exciting time to join BSC as we begin delivering our strategy for 2025-30, building upon what we have learnt since we started our impact investing journey in 2012.  Our team comes from a wide range of backgrounds, and are driven by transforming the way mainstream financial markets help deliver deep and lasting impact on people in the UK.

If you are someone who shares our passion to improve people’s lives, and who is enthusiastic about designing and developing creative solutions to complex problems, we would love to hear from you.

What you will do:

Help us make and manage investments through research and analysis, including:

• Undertaking research and detailed analysis to help us understand social issues and market gaps where social impact investment can help support a solution, within our market systems (social property, social lending, impact venture and social outcomes); synthesize and present these; and monitor relevant market data and update the team on relevant developments in the market systems, for example related to the issues, asset classes and policy areas.

• Undertaking supplementary analysis of performance, benchmarks and other research that helps enhance our understanding of performance of the portfolio.

Support prospective investments through our investment process across our market systems, including:

• Undertaking detailed investment analysis, including of the market, the prospective investee, and the financial, social impact and systems change cases;

• Assisting in preparing and presenting investment recommendations to our Investment Committee;

• Project management such as ensuring the consistent application of our investment process and the tracking of new investment opportunities in the pipeline; and,

• Helping deal leads and legal team negotiate legal documents and close transactions.

  This will likely involve specialising in one market system for a period of time.

Support management of our existing portfolio investments, including:

• Supporting and co-ordinating fund manager reporting of that helps BSC to assess the contribution of the investments to our systems change, impact and financial goals across our portfolio and in the relevant market system

• Undertaking data gathering, aggregation and detailed analysis to evaluate impact and financial performance across portfolios of investments in our market systems, including working with fund managers on individual investments

Systems change agent

• Supporting delivery of key strategic projects in BSC’s market systems, including through project management

• Supporting our engagement work with investors and with charities and social enterprises to deliver on our market system goals, for example helping to co-ordinate networks and events in partnership with Investment Networks and Engagement teams .

Team and approach

• Helping to build a world class social impact investment team and approach at Better Society Capital, such as acting as a champion for part our investment management approach or being part of a working group to deliver a strategic priority

• Contributing to organisation-wide initiatives that help us deliver our mission such as working groups to improve the way we work or how we engage with certain stakeholders.

What you will bring:

Skills, Abilities and Attributes

• Structured thinker - able to deal with complexity and uncertainty

• Innovative, creative and strategic approach to problem solving

• Solves problems with multiple stakeholders in an open and empathetic way

• Collegial team player - Flexible and willing to work with and contribute to a team

• Self-starter - able to work under own initiative and source new opportunities

• Relationship management – excellent interpersonal skills and able to build relationships at all levels

• A confident and effective communicator when writing and speaking

• Hunger for continued learning and development, including developing others

Embody Better Society Capital core values:

Ø  Purposeful –We are passionate and energetic in our work to bring about our long-term vision of a thriving social investment market that enables positive social impact.

Ø  Pioneering Spirit - We give our team the autonomy and flexibility to be entrepreneurial and creative. We have the courage to push boundaries and a restless drive for change

Ø  Openness - We listen, learn, experiment and collaborate.  And we are adaptive and flexible in responding to what we learn.

Ø  Rigorous - We take a rigorous approach in all we do.  We expect the highest standards and continually strive for excellence

Ø  Respectful - We are genuine in both our approach and aspiration.  We value each member of our team and our partners for what they bring.

Experience

Experience (essential)

• A passion and demonstrable commitment to improving lives in the UK

• Experience of undertaking detailed analysis of social issues and/or financial considerations

• Work experience that faces the financial, social or public sector

• Proven relationship building and influencing skills

Experience (desirable)

• Work experience in social impact investment

• Proven project management skills

• Knowledge of housing or real estate, venture investment, social outcomes contracts or lending

Don’t meet every requirement? Studies have shown that women and people from racialised communities are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

How to apply:

Closing Date:  11.59pm on Sunday 10th May 2026

Please apply via Applied which is designed to minimise unconscious bias in recruitment. We will review your CV and a short cover letter which should answer the following:

Think of one piece of professional work from the last 3 years that best demonstrates why you’d be a strong fit for this role at Better Society Capital. Please cover:

- Context: Where were you working and what was the goal?

- Your role: What were you personally responsible for?

- Two key decisions you made: What options did you consider, and why did you choose the path you did?

- Impact: What changed as a result? Please include any concrete outcomes (numbers, stakeholder feedback, decisions taken, etc.).

- Looking back: What, if anything, would you do differently now, and why?

Your CV will be anonymised and reviewed by the hiring panel to help minimise unconscious bias.

NB we screen for answers and CVs generated by Gen AI. To get a 5 star score, we ask that your statement and CV are authentic and reflect your own knowledge, skills and motivations.

Interviews

Initial Screening calls: w/c 18 May 2026

Round 1 virtual interviews: w/c 01 June 2026

Round 2 in-person interviews: w/c 08 June 2026

As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee an initial telephone interview for all candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria for the job. We are defining a disability in accordance with the Equality Act 2010, as a person who has a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. You will be asked in your Applied application whether this applies to you.

If you have a disability or other access needs and require any support to assist you through the recruitment process, please get in touch.

You can find out more about our recruitment approach here

Other terms

Location: We are a UK-based business with an office in the Old Street area of London, accessible via a number of public transport links. Colleagues typically spend 40% - 60% of their working hours in the office, and the remainder from home. However, the exact requirements for this role can be discussed at interview. We hope that this working pattern encourages Better Society Capital employees to achieve a healthy balance between work and personal life, as we adapt to the needs of our diverse workforce.

Right to work: Unfortunately we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK at the time of application and for the duration of employment.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Better Society Capital is committed to being a diverse organisation that is truly representative of the communities we serve. We therefore welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, particularly those under-represented in the social impact investment sector (e.g. people from LGBTQIA+, racialised, disabled, or under-served communities).

We are an equal opportunities employer with an inclusive environment where all employees can contribute to their fullest potential. We want every colleague to be able to deliver their work with dignity, equality, comfort and independence. Our office is fully accessible with step-free access and an open-plan set up. We are open to accommodation requests regarding assistive technologies, accessibility tools, flexible working or any other reasonable adjustments that will make working or visiting here more accessible for you. If you have a disability or other access needs and require any support to assist you through the recruitment process, please get in touch.