Programme Lead - Maternity Cover (London and South East)
Salary: £34,237-£36,853 depending on experience, skills and qualifications* (see below for more details on remuneration)
Contract: Temporary position linked to maternity leave cover
About Voice 21
Voice 21 is the national oracy education charity. We exist to empower every child to use their voice for success in school and life. Our work transforms learning and life chances through talk by increasing access to a high-quality oracy education for those that need it most. Follow the links to find out more about why oracy is so vital and the impact Voice 21 has.
Your purpose
To lead professional development and school improvement programmes facilitating the Voice 21 approach in our Voice 21 Oracy Schools by delivering our high impact learning experiences and materials for teachers and school leaders. To be part of the team, designing and reviewing programme content.
Your opportunity
Tackle a vital challenge, with great people. Voice 21 exists to transform children' s learning and life chances through talk and we are currently working with 1100 schools. To reach this goal we recruit great people and give them real responsibility, training and support.
Output focused culture, with flexible working opportunities. We have an agile and flexible approach – our team can work when and wherever works best to deliver the requirements of their role. For staff working at home, we support them to create a workspace and provide technology that enables them to work effectively.
Real development opportunities. We believe in supporting people to develop the skills they need to be excellent – whether this means funding external training, finding a mentor to support them or giving them the time to learn from others in the organisations through our regular CPD sessions. We also offer paid study leave for team members taking part in formal studies outside of work.
Great benefits. 36 days holiday (inclusive of bank holidays and Christmas closure period). Holiday entitlement increases linked to length of service, 5% employer contribution to pension, interest-free season ticket, cycle and technology loans, employee assistance scheme.
Remuneration. Our pay is a band and spine point approach where there is up to 7 years progression available (depending on starting point)
Your responsibilities
Quality programme delivery
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Lead high quality professional development and school improvement programmes in our Pathway programmes and Open Learning for groups of teachers. These may be delivered in person, online or in school.
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Deliver transformative consultancy support, working with teachers and school leaders to design and implement bespoke improvement plans for their oracy provision, including through in school and online consultancy support, and one-to-one advice.
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Build credibility and purposeful relationships with programme participants, both at programme days and touchpoints, and on an on-going basis to drive impact in our schools.
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Be responsible for participant learning and experience on your programmes, upholding high standards for all elements such as preparation, adapting to participant needs, content and rigour, on-going interactions and support, and participant feedback.
Learning content & programme development
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Proactively share insights and learning from the programmes you deliver, proposing and shaping solutions to enable Voice 21 to continually improve its programme offer.
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Apply and share expertise through varied outputs such as teaching materials, online learning content, resources, written or video outputs. Proactively identify and respond to opportunities or gaps and fulfil briefs or commissions.
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Contribute to the continual improvement of Voice 21’s programmes, through development and review cycles, based on first-hand learning from our schools, content expertise, programme insights and external research and evidence.
Team and organisational contribution
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Act as an ambassador for Voice 21’s national oracy expertise, communicating the value and impact of our approach at conferences, events and through publications.
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Embody and communicate oracy teaching and learning expertise within the organisation, acting as a resource for the wider team and making contributions to organisational priorities, projects, campaigns and events, outputs and publications etc.
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Continually and proactively develop your own and others’ expertise in Voice 21’s approach to a high quality oracy education, and use this to leverage impact for our schools through tangible learning outputs.
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Identify and carry out other tasks commensurate to the level and spirit of the role as required.
Your experience
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You are an excellent teacher (primary or secondary)
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You are passionate about teaching and learning, and the role of talk in learning. You have used talk to support learning in your classroom.
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You have experience leading whole-school change and inspiring teachers to embrace new approaches and ideas.
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You have a knowledge of a range of speaking and listening techniques and contexts for oracy, these could include: debate, dialogic teaching, storytelling, public speaking or communication and language development.
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You are a strong communicator both when working in a small team and when facilitating learning for large groups of adults.
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You are flexible, can think on your feet and can bring your own experiences to the work we do.
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You are highly-organised, look for solutions and can prioritise and manage a varied workload.
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You are enthusiastic, willing to learn and feel you would be energised by our mission. If you do not fully meet all the above criteria, but are happy to work towards developing into the role, we would be happy to consider your application.
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You are willing to travel nationally on a frequent basis (3 days a week) during term time; this will include regular overnight stays.
Further details
Start date: September 1st 2026
Terms: Temporary, linked to maternity cover and subject to successful probation review.
Contract: This is a full time post
Location: Home-based with frequent national travel, including overnight stays, to work with schools and attend meetings. Applicants must hold a valid UK driving licence and have access to a car they can use for work.
Application details
To apply:
Please submit your most recent CV and a document answering the questions below:
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Tell us why you want to work at Voice 21. What is it about us and our mission that excites you? (Max. 400 words)
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Making direct reference to the job description, please tell us the three main reasons why you would make an excellent Programme Lead (Max. 400 words).
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Tell us about something you have achieved recently that you are proud of? (Max 200 words)
Please do not apply for this position if you are not based in this area of the UK
Closing date: Wednesday 22nd April
Interview date: Provisional dates for initial phone interviews week commencing Tuesday 5 May, with second round interviews on Zoom week commencing 11th May.
Questions: If you have any questions before applying for the role, please contact Catherine Pass
Valuing every voice
Voice 21 believes that every voice should be heard and valued. We are committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and do not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.
We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join Voice 21.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
- Travel required: 15 days / year (approx.)
- Location: Home-based in either UK, Germany or Spain.
We are seeking a Researcher to support the activities of the Patient Evidence Department of Myeloma Patients Europe (MPE).
Please send your CV and cover letter at recruitment @mpeurope. org. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK, Germany or Spain. Applications without a cover letter will be rejected.
The following tasks and core responsibilities are non-exhaustive and subject to change depending on needs of the organisation.
Job Purpose
The Researcher will support the Patient Evidence department in generating, analysing and communicating patient-centred evidence to inform clinical, regulatory, industry, academic and policy decision-making, and to fuel progress across MPE programmes and activities. The role involves working with qualitative and quantitative data, supporting research projects and contributing to evidence-based outputs that amplify patients’ experiences and needs. The Patient Evidence department conducts our own patient-focussed research and collaborates on external projects with patient and medical organisations, universities, clinical teams, industry partners and regulatory bodies.
Main Duties and responsibilities
Perform the following duties in conjunction with and under the guidance of the Head of Patient Research:
- Independently design research projects and develop research protocols aligned with MPE’s research strategy, including surveys, interviews and literature reviews.
- Support the development of proposals to secure public and private funding to support research activities.
- Independently conduct assigned research tasks in accordance with project deliverables and timelines.
- Conduct and analyse qualitative (interviews, focus groups) and quantitative research (surveys).
- Conduct desk research (systematic and non-systematic literature reviews) on topics such as patient experiences, health systems and psychosocial impacts of myeloma.
- Maintain accurate records of participant data, safeguarding the confidentiality of participants and patient data, as necessary.
- Write up research results and prepare visualisations of data for different audiences (including for patients, clinicians, academic journals).
- Disseminate research results including presentations at international and national conferences, internal and external meetings and workshops. Represent MPE at internal/external meetings when needed.
- Collaborate with communications colleagues to design strategies to disseminate our research to wider audiences.
- Collaborate with relevant stakeholders to develop recruitment and involvement strategies to enhance participation from underserved groups and from different parts of Europe.
- Engage with patients, families, clinicians, patient organisations and other stakeholders involved in MPE patient evidence projects and other myeloma research.
- Provide administrative and organisational support for the Research Advisory Committee.
- Contribute to our member research support training programme including delivering workshops and training events on research design and methodology.
Other responsibilities
- Undertake any other reasonable duties as required by the Head of Patient evidence.
- Critically appraise and provide advice to the wider MPE team on research and evidence requests.
- Build good relations with members, internal and external stakeholders (including doctors, researchers and medical representatives within companies).
- Respond to external patient organisations’ requests on research and evidence topics.
- Attend scientific congresses and meetings and stay abreast of important developments related to myeloma patient evidence.
- Develop content for MPE website, social media and other communications.
- Participate in advisory boards for the pharmaceutical industry.
- Engage with training and continuing professional development.
Essential criteria
- An undergraduate degree in a relevant subject (such as psychology, social sciences, health policy, health and social care, public health or related fields)
- Master’s degree in a relevant subject (MRes Health Research, MPH, or health-related subject MSc with substantive research component)
- A minimum of 3 years experience conducting applied health research
- Knowledge and experience of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies including surveys, focus groups and interviews applied to health-related research
- Strong skills in qualitative, quantitative or mixed-methods analysis.
- Understanding of principles of Good Clinical Practice in research.
- Proficient at Office suite – Word, Excel, PowerPoint (or equivalent), and specialist quantitative/qualitative analysis software (e.g. SPSS/R, or Atlas/Nvivo).
- Ability to work from home in a virtual setting with a team spread across Europe.
- Strong listening, communication and presentation skills.
- Rigorous work methods and high attention to detail.
- Demonstrated excellence in writing, proofreading, and editing in English.
Desirable criteria
- A PhD in a related field
- Project management experience
- Experience in cross-national research
- Experience in working with patients, researchers, doctors and representatives from the pharmaceutical industry desirable
- Experience in systematic or non-systematic literature review
- Publications in peer-reviewed journals
- Familiarity with patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and patient experience data
- Knowledge/expertise of cancer patient experience research
- Knowledge of drug development process and clinical trials
- Knowledge and experience of ethical review procedures
- Fluency in additional European languages
Personal attributes
- Organised, with excellent project management and time management skills.
- Ability to lead and work independently on assigned tasks and take appropriate initiative.
- A motivated and self-aware team player, who can work independently or collaboratively with equal success.
- Ability to explain complex scientific terms and knowledge into lay language.
We offer:
- Opportunity to contribute to impactful, patient-centred work at a European level.
- An exciting position in the emerging field of evidence-based patient advocacy, working together with key patient advocacy leaders across Europe.
- Permanent position with flexible hours giving the opportunity to progress and to integrate in a dynamic, friendly and multi-cultural team working from different European cities.
About MPE
Myeloma Patients Europe (MPE) is a pan-European organisation representing 57 myeloma and amyloidosis patient groups from over 35 European countries. It is registered as an international non-profit organisation under Belgian Law. A Board mainly composed of patients and caregivers is elected by the membership to oversee the strategy and governance of the organisation. A team of 14 staff members runs remotely the day-to-day operations, programmes and services within 4 divisions: Access and Policy, Medical Education and Scientific Engagement, Patient Evidence and Member and Patient Community Programmes.
MPE’s vision is a world where every person affected by myeloma has access to the knowledge, diagnostics, treatment and care they need to have the best possible outcomes and quality of life.
Our mission is to drive advocacy by empowering the myeloma community through research, education and collaboration.
Read more about our strategic goals for 2025-2030 here: w ww.mpeurope.or g/about-mpe/our-goals/
About the Patient Evidence department
The MPE Patient Evidence department was established in 2020 to generate evidence to better understand and articulate patients’ perspectives, influence decision-makers and use evidence as a driving force for progress across our strategic goals. The team is led by Dr Eilidh Duncan and our goal is to lead the development of robust patient evidence to improve experiences, outcomes and access for myeloma patients and their families. We achieve this by spearheading novel patient research initiatives that address gaps in the evidence and ensure the meaningful inclusion of patient perspectives in research design, conduct and interpretation. We use the evidence we generate internally to fuel progress across all MPE programmes and activities and externally by decision-makers including those in clinical, regulatory, industry, academic and policy settings.
The deadline for applications is 1 May 2026 and all applications will be reviewed immediately afterwards. Our hiring team will schedule interviews with successful candidates to take place in the following weeks. We will be in touch following the review period regarding next steps.
If you have any questions in the meantime, please reach out to us at our recruitment email address.