Learning and development lead jobs in Birmingham

Join a small global team where you'll organise and oversee our UK-based coaching and leadership programmes for education and non-profit leaders. From responding to new enquiries, launching programmes and setting up online learning journeys, to building trusted relationships with senior stakeholders, you'll need to be hands-on and able to prioritise across multiple workstreams. In return, you'll get genuine variety and ownership of your work, a friendly and supportive team, and opportunities to work with new digital tools and platforms and help us pioneer AI-powered ways of working from the ground up. 

About BTS Spark

BTS Spark is the social impact and education practice of BTS, a global professional services firm which specialises in supporting organisations to develop their leaders and build the people capabilities to deliver effectively on their strategies. Our mission at BTS Spark is bring that expertise to help education and non-profit leaders do their best work, building stronger organisations and a better world.

We provide expert 1:1 leadership coaching, powerful group experiences and bespoke team and organisational development programmes, all designed to enable profound and highly impactful learning. To date we have worked primarily with schools, colleges and multi-academy trusts, but we are now actively seeking to grow our work within higher education and the non-profit sector.  Whilst most of the work delivered by our UK hub is with UK-based organisations, we also deliver programmes elsewhere in Europe and manage several international programmes.

Our UK core team is small — just our Director and our Programme Manager — supported by wider BTS colleagues, our global BTS Spark team and a network of 30+ UK-based coaches and facilitators.

Job Description 

Working closely with our UK Director, but with a significant degree of independence, you'll support almost every part of our UK operations:

• Plan and enable smooth programme delivery — allocating coaches and facilitators, scheduling group sessions, and managing logistics for face-to-face events
• Set up and launch coaching and leadership programmes on our digital platforms, and use Claude and other AI tools to speed up routine tasks like data entry, reporting and client updates
• Act as a trusted first point of contact for clients, managing relationships, delivering briefings and platform demos, and preparing data-led impact reports
• Handle new enquiries, follow through with quotations and information, and support business development and proposal writing with the Director
• Help grow our profile — co-ordinating social media content (particularly LinkedIn), updating our website, building landing pages, and supporting our alumni and marketing campaigns
• Forecast income, keep our financial systems up to date, and manage letters of engagement, purchase orders and invoicing requests.
• Provide occasional live support for virtual workshops, and executive assistant support to the Director

The balance of your week will shift through the year, with programme launches taking priority at times and more space for development work during school holidays. A key priority is to make full use of our AI capability (especially Claude) to speed up our processes and free up more time for the relationship-building and engagement work that matters most. This is something we’ll support you to build into your working practice from day one.

We're looking for candidates with the following attributes:

Essential:

• A strong, sustained track record in programme planning and project/operations management
• Confidence managing relationships with senior education and non-profit leaders, with excellent, professional customer service skills
• Excellent written communication and proof-reading skills, with sharp attention to detail
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to prioritise across multiple workstreams
• A proactive, can-do attitude and comfort working independently
• Strong financial literacy and experience with CRM/database systems (e.g. Salesforce, Hubspot)
• Enthusiasm for digital tools and AI assistants, and intermediate Microsoft Office skills
• Flexibility for occasional calls outside business hours with North America and Australia-based colleagues

Desirable:

• Experience working in or closely with the education sector
• University graduate-level education

Benefits

• 25 days' annual leave, plus bank holidays and a Christmas–New Year office closure
• 5% matched pension and life insurance
• Private medical insurance
• Free access to a wellness coach and healthcare app (video GP appointments, mental health and nutritional consultations)
• Cycle to work scheme

See attached job description for further details.

Application Process

Please apply with an up-to-date CV and a supporting statement (max. 2 sides) showing how you meet the knowledge, skills and experience above. Applications without a supporting statement will not be considered.

We review applications on a rolling basis, so please apply as soon as you can. The closing date for applications is 12 noon on Tuesday 1st September.

Initial interviews for shortlisted candidates will be held on a rolling basis until 4th September.

Final interviews will be held in London at the BTS Offices on 10th and 11th September.

The School for Social Entrepreneurs backs people with purpose — entrepreneurs building organisations that change their communities. We're looking for a National Partnerships Lead to work directly with our CEO, driving high-priority national funding partnerships, diversifying our income, and building the relationships that fund our impact. 

You'll identify major funding opportunities, negotiate with trusts, corporates and government partners, and lead complex proposals from first conversation through to a signed agreement — including the budgets, risk assessments and value propositions behind them. You'll also act as a sounding board for the CEO, pressure-testing ideas and sharpening how we tell our story to funders. 

We're looking for sustained experience supporting a CEO or senior leader, a track record of leading multi-million pound funding initiatives end-to-end, and the versatile writing skills to move between board papers and detailed funder tenders without losing accuracy under pressure. Sharp budgeting and numeracy matter for this role, alongside real comfort building trust with senior external stakeholders. 

This position is for someone who thrives on ambiguity, enjoys solving complex problems, and wants their work to directly fund entrepreneurs changing their communities. 

ID: 1861 Senior Website & Digital Content Manager  

Service: Digital Marketing

Salary: Grade 4 point 38: £37,867.30 pro rata (£46,703 FTE) per annum, plus £480 home-based allowance FTE per annum (£389 pro rata)

Location: Homebased

Hours: Part time, 30 hours per week

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

Contract: Temporary 12 month contract (mat leave)

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 Website and Digital Content Team through a crucial period. You will have the chance to manage a portfolio of websites, including Family Action’s and Relate’s, and oversee the development and creation of digital content for a range of channels. You will manage a small team and work collaboratively across the wider development and external affairs directorate to drive brand awareness and income generation.  

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

· Strategically manage a portfolio of websites across two distinct brands and a number of sub identities, ensuring they meet organisational goals, user needs, and sector best practice.

· Lead on the development and creation of digital and multimedia content across Family Action and Relate brands to support key business objectives

· Lead continuous optimisation of sales and donation journeys across Family Action and Relate websites, including testing, personalisation, and conversion rate improvements.

· Oversee the development of a new Relate website as part of a wider adaptive change programme, working closely with the Website and UX Manager and other key stakeholders.

· Use sophisticated analytics, data and insight tools to test, measure and evaluate content and website performance against KPIs, drive decisions and prioritise enhancements.

· Line manage a small team including a Website and UX Manager, Digital Marketing Executive, Content Executive and two temporary Website Project Managers

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

· Extensive experience of website development and management within complex organisations

· Extensive experience of managing complex digital projects with multiple stakeholders such a website builds

· Experience of optimising website user journeys to drive a measurable increase in conversions such as sales and donations

· Ability to drive and manage content generation, working with a range of subject matter experts and within a robust governance architecture Extensive experience of using tools such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster to successfully plan, measure and evaluate content performance

· Experience of line management

Benefits:

- an annual paid leave entitlement of 30 working days plus bank holidays

- 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: Monday 31st August at 23:59. Please note, we may close the position early if we find the right candidate.

· To learn more about Family Action: Careers

Interviews will likely to take place virtually during the first week of September 2026.

For direct queries or if you would like to discuss any aspect of the selection process or flexible working requests, please email: matthew.dennis (full email address located 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. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role, and will reimburse your travel cost if you attend an interview.

We are looking for a dynamic, technically skilled Head of Evaluation to play a senior role in shaping and delivering Youth Futures’ evidence strategy.

You will lead a team of Evidence and Evaluation Managers and oversee a portfolio of complex evaluations, helping us generate credible, useful evidence about what works to support marginalised young people into good work.

• Reporting to the Deputy Director of Evidence and Evaluation, you will be responsible for ensuring high-quality delivery of a portfolio of complex impact evaluations.

• You will have a sound understanding of youth employment and/or skills and design evidence-generating projects in a complex field that includes partners from national and devolved government, the third sector and employers.

• You will manage a team of Evaluation Managers, supporting their development while delivering projects that inform Youth Futures’ strategic goals.

This is an opportunity to shape some of the most important evidence being generated on youth employment in England. The role suits someone who enjoys combining technical evaluation expertise with leadership, judgement and collaboration, and who wants their work to influence real decisions about how services, funders and policymakers support young people.

We currently operate a hybrid model of two-days per week in the office and three-days from home.

Please download our recruitment pack for more information on this opportunity. To apply, please visit our website.

Due to receiving high volumes of interest in our opportunities, this vacancy may close earlier than the advertised deadline. To ensure your application is considered, please submit it as soon as possible.

Women's experiences of gambling harm are still poorly understood across the sector. GamCare's Women's Pathway is changing that, and we're looking for a Training Lead to help lead the way. You'll design and deliver engaging CPD-accredited training to professionals, volunteers, community organisations and women's groups, building strong partnerships that increase awareness, early identification and access to support.

Working closely with stakeholders across the sector, you'll combine training delivery, partnership development and content design to help ensure the Women's Pathway reaches the women who need it most. As an independent charity and the leading provider of support for anyone affected by gambling harms, the work you do will help GamCare improve outcomes for women across the UK.

About you

We're looking for an experienced and engaging trainer who is passionate about empowering women and supporting behaviour change through high-quality learning experiences. You'll have experience designing and delivering training to a range of audiences and be confident adapting your approach to meet different learning needs. Importantly, you'll bring experience of working directly with professionals and/or women's groups, ideally within community, support, recovery, health, social care or voluntary sector settings.

You'll understand how to create inclusive and trauma-informed learning environments and be skilled at building relationships with both professional stakeholders and community-based organisations. Strong facilitation, communication and organisational skills, along with a commitment to safeguarding and confidentiality, will enable you to deliver impactful training that increases awareness, builds confidence and improves pathways into support. 

Working at GamCare

Founded in 1997, GamCare is one of the leading providers of information, advice and support for anyone affected by gambling harms. We operate the National Gambling Helpline, provide treatment for anyone who is harmed by gambling, create awareness about safer gambling and treatment, and encourage an effective approach to safer gambling within the gambling industry. 

Staff Benefits we can offer you:

• 33 days basic annual leave entitlement per annum (pro-rated for part-time colleagues) including bank holidays, which increases with service
• A generous Pension Scheme – we contribute 6% and you contribute 2%
• Discretionary company sick pay after 6 months' service
• Employee Assistance Programme – 24-hour support
• Premium access to the CALM app for you and up to 5 dependents

Closing date for applications: Sunday 23rd August 2026 (23:59)

Interviews will take place: In person at GamCare's London HQ (online interview available if required) – week commencing 31st August 2026.

GamCare is committed to offering the best support to people affected by gambling harms, as such we welcome applications from candidates with lived experience.

GamCare is an equal opportunities employer and doesn’t discriminate based on race, religion, gender, age, sexuality, gender identification, or physical ability. We are only able to facilitate visa sponsorship in very limited circumstances, so candidates outside of the UK or who don’t have the right to work in the UK need not apply.

Are you interested in improving the lives of people with a learning disability? Can you turn complex ideas into evidence-based policy? Are you a skilled communicator able to influence decision-makers? If so, we would love to hear from you!

We are currently looking for a Policy Specialist to join Mencap. This position sits within the Policy and Public Affairs teams of Mencap’s Campaigns, Advocacy and Activism Directorate (CAA). You will work closely with our influencing, information and advice, campaigning, and research work, as well as sector partners.

This is an exciting new role to deliver policy change and enhance the rights of people with a learning disability. At a key time to influence health reform, we are seeking a policy specialist to shape policy work that reflects the needs and experiences of people with a learning disability and their families. Working within the policy team, you will be responsible for developing evidence-based policy work and influencing decision-makers. 

This is a 4-day a week position (30 hours per week). We are flexible with your work location, but there may be some occasional travel needed to our London office or Westminster.

You will: 

You will bring to this role:

If you're passionate about driving meaningful change for people with a learning disability and you're ready to use your policy expertise to make a real impact, please apply now with an up-to-date CV. Applications close on Tuesday 1st September, 2026. Interviews are scheduled to take place via Microsoft Teams during the week commencing 7th September 2026.

• Translate complex work into clear and persuasive policy briefings, consultation responses and reports.
• Work within wider coalitions of charities, building collaborative relationships and ensuring that the needs and priorities of our community are addressed.
• Develop and expand Mencap’s ‘Policy Shapers’ work, ensuring our work reflects the health needs and experiences of people with a learning disability and their families.
• Support our information and advice team, briefing them on important developments, inputting into casework discussions relevant to your areas of work, and supporting the creation of public information resources.
• Represent Mencap at meetings and events, with MPs, civil servants, and sector partners.
• Identify and analyse relevant research to develop evidence-based policy recommendations.
• Experience of working on health policy issues.
• Strong communication skills: experience tailoring your messaging to a variety of different audiences and representing an organisation.
• Experience building positive relationships and working collaboratively to achieve outcomes; able to positively challenge, negotiate and compromise.
• The ability to work on your own initiative while contributing to team priorities and sustain enthusiasm under pressure.
•  Experience analysing evidence to develop recommendations.
• Knowledge of the health issues facing people with a learning disability, as well as the health and wider parliamentary system. 
• Passion about making the world a better place for people with a learning disability. 

Benefits

Here at Mencap, we offer an impressive range of benefits designed to support and reward our employees to ensure that our teams feel valued and appreciated. 

Our benefits package offers 32 days of paid holiday (including bank holidays, pro rata), along with a range of perks such as discounts at leading high-street retailers, access to health cash plans, interest-free loans, and many more exciting offerings. 

For more details on what we have to offer, please see the attached document outlining all the fantastic benefits available to you as a member of our team! 

About Mencap

Our vision is for the UK to be the best place in the world for people with a learning disability to live happy and healthy lives. 

We're here to support people with a learning disability, their families and their carers. We fight for a kinder, fairer and more inclusive society for people with a learning disability to live in. 

At Mencap, everyone works with people with a learning disability either providing support or advice, or alongside one another as colleagues. 

Belonging at Mencap is for everyone, every day, everywhere. 

· Everyone is expected to treat people well and make Mencap an inclusive organisation. 

· Every day we grow and learn. It’s okay to make mistakes but we learn from them and make changes 

· Everywhere people will feel respected, valued, and safe to be themselves. 

We have Belonging network groups that meet online and are open to all colleagues. The groups include people who identify as Black and Asian, LGBTQIA+, disabled or with a long- term health condition, women, parents and carers, and their allies. 

We want to encourage everyone to apply to work at Mencap and we offer a variety of different contract types and working patterns. We’re not looking for specific experience. It is your personality and values that will make you a great colleague. We will train and develop you to succeed in the role you’re applying for. 

Purpose of the Role

The Youth Insights Programme Lead is responsible for leading the effective design, planning and delivery of assigned Youth Insights panels and projects. The role bridges strategic leadership and operational delivery, ensuring that panels are well designed, well facilitated, well coordinated and deliver high-quality insight for partners.

The Programme Lead manages day-to-day partner relationships, leads delivery planning, supports facilitators, oversees programme outputs and ensures young people have a positive, inclusive and meaningful experience.

The role contributes to insight generation and reporting, working within the frameworks and quality standards set by the Programme Manager.

Key Responsibilities

1. Programme Design and Delivery

• Lead the design and delivery of assigned Youth Insights panels, within the methodology and standards set by the Programme Manager.
• Translate partner objectives into clear delivery plans, session structures and participant journeys.
• Develop and adapt session plans, materials and activities for assigned panels.
• Ensure sessions are engaging, inclusive, purposeful and appropriate for young people.
• Lead or support facilitation of Youth Insights sessions as required.
• Ensure delivery remains aligned with agreed outcomes, quality standards and partner expectations.
• Identify practical improvements to delivery and share learning with the Programme Manager.

2. Operational Partner Management

• Act as the primary day-to-day relationship manager for assigned partners.
• Lead operational planning meetings, delivery updates and routine partner communications.
• Manage partner expectations around timelines, outputs, session planning and reporting.
• Maintain strong working relationships with operational partner contacts.
• Identify risks, issues or opportunities in partner relationships and escalate appropriately to the Programme Manager.
• Support strategic partner conversations by providing delivery insight, evidence and learning.
• Where a partner contact holds both strategic and operational responsibilities, act as the primary day-to-day contact while ensuring the Programme Manager retains senior oversight.

3. Insight Generation and Reporting

• Analyse youth feedback and identify key themes, patterns and insights from assigned panels.
• Draft reports, summaries, presentations and recommendations for partners.
• Ensure reports go beyond description and begin to translate youth feedback into meaningful insight.
• Work within the reporting frameworks, standards and templates agreed by the Programme Manager.
• Incorporate quality feedback from the Programme Manager and strengthen outputs accordingly.
• Support the development of case studies, impact stories and evidence of partner value.
• Contribute learning from assigned panels into wider Youth Insights service development.

4. Delivery Quality and Facilitation

• Ensure all assigned programmes are delivered to a high standard.
• Brief, support and coordinate freelance facilitators for assigned sessions.
• Ensure facilitators understand the purpose, method, safeguarding requirements and desired outcomes of each session.
• Monitor delivery quality and participant experience.
• Provide feedback to facilitators and escalate quality concerns where needed.
• Ensure session materials, resources and activities are prepared and appropriate.
• Support consistency of delivery across panels, while adapting appropriately to different partner contexts.

5. Youth Engagement and Inclusion

• Ensure young people are meaningfully involved, listened to and supported throughout their participation.
• Work with the Programme Coordinator to support recruitment, onboarding, retention and engagement.
• Monitor participant experience and respond to issues or barriers to participation.
• Identify gaps in representation within assigned panels and work with the Programme Coordinator and Programme Manager to address them.
• Ensure delivery is inclusive, accessible and responsive to young people’s needs.
• Support young people to build confidence, skills and understanding through their involvement.

6. Programme Coordination and Project Management

• Develop and maintain delivery plans for assigned Youth Insights panels.
• Coordinate timelines, milestones, partner inputs, facilitator availability and reporting deadlines.
• Work closely with the Programme Coordinator to ensure logistics, communications and records are well managed.
• Ensure risks, actions and dependencies are tracked and communicated.
• Support effective use of HubSpot and other systems to manage participant journeys and partner activity.
• Ensure programme information is accurate, up to date and accessible to the team.

7. Team Support and Development

• Support and mentor the Programme Coordinator in relation to assigned programmes.
• Delegate appropriate tasks clearly and support effective workload management.
• Share learning, tools and good practice across the Youth Insights team.
• Contribute to training, reflection sessions and process improvement.
• Support a positive, collaborative and values-led team culture.
• Help build team confidence in delivery, facilitation, insight generation and partner communication.

8. Safeguarding, Compliance and Risk

• Ensure safeguarding, consent, data protection and risk processes are followed across assigned programmes.
• Identify and escalate safeguarding concerns or risks in line with S4TP policies.
• Ensure facilitators and delivery contributors understand relevant safeguarding and compliance requirements.
• Support accurate record keeping and documentation.
• Contribute to risk assessment and mitigation for sessions, panels and partner activity.

Key Relationships

Internal:

• Youth Insights Programme Manager
• Youth Insights Programme Coordinator
• CEO where required
• Wider S4TP team
• Freelance facilitators

External:

• Operational partner contacts
• Strategic partner contacts where appropriate
• Young people and alumni
• Schools, colleges and youth networks
• Delivery partners and stakeholders

Success Measures

Success in this role will include:

• Assigned panels are delivered effectively, safely and to a high standard.
• Partners receive timely, useful and high-quality reports and outputs.
• Young people have a positive, inclusive and meaningful experience.
• Operational partner relationships are well managed.
• Programme delivery runs smoothly, with clear plans, timelines and communication.
• Insight reports demonstrate analysis, themes and recommendations, not just summaries.
• Facilitators are well briefed, supported and consistent in delivery.
• Learning from delivery contributes to wider Youth Insights improvement.

Job Title People Assistant (Inc. L&D)

Duration Permanent

Hours 36 hours per week – Monday to Friday

Salary £27,000 per annum, plus pension and benefits

Location Homebased

Overall job purpose

We are looking to appoint an enthusiastic and highly organised individual in a supporting role to the People team. The role will assist with day-to-day operational tasks, providing managers and staff with effective administrative support in all aspects of Human Resources.

You will provide People generalist support for the full employee lifecycle, as well as support with the end-to-end recruitment cycle in line with The Churches Conservation Trust’s policies and procedures, best practice and legal requirements.

To be successful in this role, you must be able to work as part of a small team, whilst also independently and proactively completing tasks. Excellent communication and IT skills, accuracy and attention to detail are essential requirements.

 We have recently published our TRUST values, which outline the behaviours and expectations that act as our foundations at CCT. We have attached the pack, outlining each value, which we will also be using as part of our shortlisting and interview process to find the right candidates that align with our values.

If you would like to apply for this role, please visit our recruitment portal to begin your application. You will be asked to submit a CV and a short supporting statement (max 2 sides A4) outlining why you’d like to apply and how you fulfil the person specification for this post, so you’ll need to refer to the job description.

The closing date for receipt of applications is 8am on Friday 14th August 2026

Please note: We will be conducting online interviews throughout this period and we reserve the right to close the role earlier if someone is found before the closing date.

As part of our recruitment process, we undertake candidate psychometric testing. If your application is successful and you are invited to interview, you will receive an email asking you to complete a series of activities, these need to be completed at least 2 days before your interview.

All successful applicants will be subject to a basic DBS, credit check, references and right to work checks.

We are a Disability Confident Committed Employer. Candidates who declare that they have a disability and who meet the essential criteria for the job will be offered an interview.

If you have any queries about this role, or if you have a disability and wish to request a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, please contact us.

We are an inclusive employer and offer equal opportunities to all regardless of an individual’s age, disability, gender identity, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

We are not a licensed sponsor at this time. Any offer of employment will be made subject to valid right to work in the UK being provided.

For nearly 20 years, Lively Minds has been proving that parents are the sleeping giants of early childhood development. With strong evidence and a national scale proof point in Ghana, we have shown that parent powered approaches delivered through government systems can transform children's lives at scale.

We are now at a pivotal moment. We have the evidence, the model and the momentum, and we need the funding, profile and influence to match our ambition. This is a rare opportunity to lead income generation and external voice for an award winning NGO entering an exciting new phase of growth. You will lead our fundraising strategy and direct engagement with Funders ensuring that we maximise all funding opportunities as we continue our strategic evolution. You will also shape a compelling external narrative that will help position Lively Minds as the definitive partner for governments strengthening their early childhood development systems.

If you are an exceptional fundraiser and communicator who is equally comfortable in a strategic conversation and writing a winning proposal, we would love to hear from you.

Read the full advert and apply below. Closing date: 3rd September 2026.

About Lively Minds

Lively Minds is an award-winning NGO with nearly 20 years of experience designing, testing and scaling early childhood development (ECD) solutions across the Global South. Our core idea is simple but radical: parents are the sleeping giants of ECD. Governments and donors have long overlooked parents, assuming that poverty and low literacy make them unable or unwilling to support their childrenʼs development. We have spent two decades proving otherwise. With RCT-backed evidence and a national-scale proof point in Ghana, we have demonstrated that parent-powered approaches, delivered through government systems, can achieve meaningful child development outcomes at scale.

Our 2026–2028 strategy marks a pivotal shift. Having demonstrated what is possible, we are now helping pioneer an innovative model of country-led sustainable scale. Rather than delivering programmes ourselves, we provide lean, time-limited technical advisory support to governments to help them integrate parent-powered ECD into their own systems, budgets and institutions. We are currently working with the governments of Ghana, Uganda, Oromia state (Ethiopia) and The Gambia in 2026, growing to six or more country engagements by 2028. Our ambition is to catalyse a sector-wide shift, positioning Lively Minds as the definitive partner for governments seeking to strengthen their ECD systems.

Our scale strategy rests on three interdependent pillars: fixed-term Technical Advisory partnerships with governments; the development of a modular radio model simple and affordable enough for governments to adopt and fund independently; and an advocacy and sector influence agenda designed to make parent-powered ECD the norm globally.

Purpose of the Role

Lively Minds is at a critical inflection point. We have the evidence, the model and the momentum. We now need the funding, profile and sector influence to match our ambition. The Director of Fundraising and Communications is a priority hire, created to provide the dedicated, experienced leadership that this moment demands.

The Director will own and drive Lively Mindsʼ income generation, building new funder relationships, managing and deepening existing ones, and ensuring the organisation has the pipeline, discipline and quality of engagement to meet and exceed its fundraising targets. Working in close partnership with the Founding CEO, who retains ownership of a small number of long-standing strategic relationships, the Director will take primary responsibility for securing the funding that makes the 2026–2028 strategy deliverable, and that opens the door to greater scale beyond it. We need to raise approximately £3.4m over the next 3 years to deliver our strategy. But our ambition is to exceed that target so we can support additional governments.

Alongside fundraising, the Director will provide strategic leadership to Lively Mindsʼ communications and advocacy work, ensuring that the organisationʼs external voice is compelling and that we are building credibility in the spaces where funding decisions are made. The Director will lead and provide strategic coherence to a small but outward-facing team, including Head of Partnerships and Advocacy Lead who are active on the international stage. Lively Minds is committed to thought-leadership and active external engagement, but equally committed to ensuring that communications resource is deployed with discipline and rigour. The Director will set a clear strategic filter for where the organisation shows up, what it publishes and who it engages: prioritising focus and quality over volume, and always asking whether external activity is building the relationships and reputation that ultimately drive income and/or systems change.

Lively Minds is a dispersed, remote organisation. The Directorʼs team the Advocacy Lead, Development Manager and Communications Officer - are internationally distributed. The ability to lead, develop and maintain high standards across a dispersed team is essential. The role requires regular travel to international conferences and events.

Key Responsibilities

Fundraising Strategy & Income Generation

• Own and deliver the multi-year fundraising strategy with clear priorities, targets, income streams and a disciplined pipeline to support the 2026–2028 strategy and future scale
• Steward existing funder relationships, turning strong partnerships into long-term supporters, advocates and connectors to new funding opportunities.
• Lead the shift towards Big Bet and catalytic funding, personally cultivating and negotiating high-value, multi-year partnerships and positioning Lively Minds for system-level scale
• Maintain a high standard of fundraising quality, pipeline management and forecasting, while coaching the team to produce compelling, sophisticated fundraising materials
•  Build and continuously strengthen a diverse funding pipeline, identifying emerging opportunities, new funding markets and strategic partnerships that reduce concentration risk and support long-term financial sustainability

Communications, Brand & Advocacy

• Own and deliver Lively Mindsʼ communications and marketing strategy, balancing visibility and sector influence with the need to strengthen fundraising and systems-change objectives
• Partner closely with the CEO to shape and steward a coherent external narrative, brand and messaging framework across all audiences and channels
• Oversee high-quality core communications and fundraising materials, including cases for support, pitch decks, website content, proposals and donor reports
• Provide strategic communications expertise to Advocacy, Partnerships and MEL, ensuring evidence and learning are translated into compelling narratives and consistent external messaging
• Lead efforts to strengthen Lively Mindsʼ profile and thought leadership in the ECD sector, identifying opportunities for strategic media, events, publications and external platforms that reinforce its positioning and influence

Organizational Leadership&TeamDevelopment

• Contribute actively to SMT and organisational strategy, bringing funder intelligence, external perspective and communications expertise to strategic decision-making.
• Work closely with Finance and MEL to align fundraising targets, forecasting, budgets and evidence, ensuring proposals are credible, accurately costed and evidence-led
• Act as the organisationʼs communications subject matter expert, providing guidance and challenge to ensure high-quality, consistent external communications
• Lead and develop the Advocacy Lead, Development Manager and Communications Officer, fostering a team culture of quality, accountability, strategic clarity and continuous improvement
• Build strong cross-organisational collaboration, ensuring teams understand how fundraising, communications, advocacy and evidence work together to advance Lively Mindsʼ strategic priorities

Person Specification

Essential Experience & Skills

• 10+ years of significant senior-level fundraising experience within international development, education, philanthropy or a comparable sector
• Proven track record of securing major grants from foundations, institutional donors and high-net-worth individuals, alongside demonstrated experience securing or meaningfully progressing large-scale, catalytic funding from Big Bet philanthropy programmes such as the Audacious Project, Skoll Foundation or comparable funders. A strong understanding of what these funders look for and how to position an organisation compellingly within their processes is essential
• Exceptional fundraising writing skills, with the ability to personally develop compelling cases for support, funding proposals, award applications and pitch decks tailored to sophisticated impact funders. This is a hands-on role requiring both strong writing capability and the ability to coach others to consistently produce high-quality fundraising content
• Experienced in developing and owning a marketing and communications strategy, with a strong understanding of how to balance organisational visibility, thought leadership and sector influence with coherence, strategic focus and income generation
• Demonstrated ability to work closely with a Founding CEO to shape and steward the organisationʼs external narrative and brand. Comfortable working in a founder-led environment, providing expertise and constructive challenge while ensuring the organisation maintains a clear, consistent and coherent external voice

Desirable Experience

• Experienced fundraising for a technical advisory, systems change or government-facing organisation
• Knowledge of the ECD, education or early childhood sector and its funding landscape
• Familiarity with the Big Bang Philanthropy network or equivalent impact-focused funder communities
• Experience working alongside advocacy and partnerships teams, providing communications expertise and strategic coherence to their external activity
• Familiarity with the funding landscape for organisations operating in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Experience working remotely across multiple countries and effectively collaborating with cross-cultural teams

Behaviours & Ways of Working

• A doer, equally comfortable in strategic conversations and writing a funding proposal
• Sets a high bar for quality and clarity in all external communications and holds it consistently
• Builds a strong, trust-based partnership with the Founding CEO, provides honest challenge and operates effectively within a founder-led dynamic without losing their own voice or judgement
• Collaborative and cross-organisational. Invests in strong relationships with programme, MEL and finance colleagues, understanding that the best fundraising is grounded in organisational reality
• Calm and focused under pressure - able to manage competing priorities and maintain quality when the stakes are high

What We Offer

• Competitive salary commensurate with experience
• 25 days annual leave
• Health insurance
• Pension contribution
• Generous learning and development budget
• Flexible, remote working

Application Instruction

Interested candidates are encouraged to read the Job Description carefully before applying to ensure they understand the role and meet the required criteria.

To apply, please complete the pre-screening questions and submit your updated CV

PLEASE NOTE - Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Timeline

Closing Date: 3rd September 2026

Our Stance

Lively Minds operates a strict Safeguarding Policy and is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of children and vulnerable people. As part of our recruitment process, the suitability of successful candidates will be verified through appropriate background checks including professional references and police checks.

Lively Minds is fully committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and to providing equal opportunities throughout our recruitment process. We want this commitment to be reflected in the diversity of the people who work for us, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, identities, experiences and perspectives.

We are committed to ensuring that recruitment decisions are based on merit, skills, experience and suitability for the role, and that all candidates are treated fairly and with respect throughout the recruitment process.

We are looking for a Safeguarding Lead to provide dedicated safeguarding leadership as our flagship Drive Project working with high-harm, high-risk perpetrators of domestic abuse, scales across England and Wales. Acting as a Safeguarding Lead, you'll hold oversight of safeguarding governance across our network, lead a shift from compliance towards collaborative, relational learning, and support delivery partners as a trusted peer and source of expertise. This is a pivotal, newly created role for someone energised by culture change, skilled at holding both accountability and compassion, and comfortable working in complexity.

Closing date: Tuesday 25th August, 9am. Please refer to the job description for further details.

To apply, please visit Respect UK website 

Location: Hybrid – Home-based with some regional travel in England

Reports to: Head of Programmes and Impact

Contract: Fixed-term/Temporary maternity cover, approx. 12-month secondment

Salary: £30,600 per annum

Application deadline: Thursday 27th August at 9am

Interview information: We plan to hold online interviews from week commencing 7th September

About The Girls’ Network:

The Girls' Network is a national charity with a mission to inspire and empower girls from the least advantaged communities by connecting them with a network of professional women role models and volunteer mentors. We believe no girl should have her future limited by her gender, ethnicity, background, or parental income. Our vision is a future where all girls are supported to realise their ambitions, discover their self-worth, and shape their own futures.

We partner with secondary schools and colleges across multiple regions in England, including London, Merseyside, Portsmouth, Southampton, Sussex, Tees Valley, Tyne & Wear and the West Midlands. We match girls aged 14–19 with trained volunteer mentors for one-to-one support. In addition to this core mentoring, workshops, and access to an Ambassador Community that provides continued opportunities for development, career support, and connection.

Role Summary:

The Programme Development Officer is responsible for ensuring that The Girls' Network develops high-quality, consistent, and impactful programmes for girls and young women across all regions. Working closely with the colleagues in the Programme team, volunteers, and education establishments, the post-holder will support the development and continuous improvement of our mentoring, workshop, and ambassador offer. They will ensure that programmes are grounded in best practice and aligned to organisational strategy. Key responsibilities include leading programme quality assurance, developing resources, and delivering staff and volunteer training, while embedding learning from delivery to strengthen outcomes.

Alongside programme development duties, the post-holder will also be a member of the safeguarding team, acting as a Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO). In this capacity, they will support the organisation's commitment to providing safe and inclusive programmes to girls and young women. This role involves supporting delivery staff on day-to-day safeguarding issues, refining policies as required, carrying out risk assessments, and auditing procedures to guarantee that safeguarding frameworks are consistently understood, accurately recorded, and central to service delivery.

Key Duties/Responsibilities:

Programme Development

• Support the development and continuous improvement of The Girls' Network's programme offer, ensuring delivery aligns with organisational strategy and responds to the needs of the girls and young women we serve.

• Develop and maintain programme standards, frameworks, and guidance to drive consistent, high-quality delivery across all regions.

• Take ownership of The Girls' Network volunteering platform, ensuring it effectively supports volunteer engagement and delivery.

• Ensure mentoring, workshops, and wider programme activities are aligned with The Girls' Network Theory of Change.

• Work collaboratively with the wider programme team to identify opportunities to strengthen and evolve programme delivery.

• Stay informed of sector research and emerging practice on mentoring, youth issues, and girls' empowerment, embedding relevant learning into programme design.

• Collaborate with the Head of Programmes & Impact to ensure programme development activity reflects both operational needs and strategic priorities.

Quality Assurance and Improvement

• Design and implement robust quality assurance processes that underpin excellence and consistency across programme delivery.

• Conduct programme reviews, fieldwork, and quality assurance activities, identifying strengths, risks, and opportunities for improvement.

• Work closely with the National Programme Manager to embed programme standards in day-to-day delivery and support the sharing of best practice across teams.

• Produce actionable recommendations and improvement plans to enhance programme effectiveness and operational delivery.

• Ensure programme resources, guidance, and delivery materials remain current, relevant, and aligned to organisational priorities.

• Foster a culture of learning, collaboration, and continuous improvement across programme delivery teams.

Programme Resources and Training

• Support the development, review, and maintenance of programme resources, workshop content, and mentoring materials.

• Design and deliver training, guidance, and support for programme staff and volunteers to enable effective and consistent delivery.

• Facilitate learning opportunities that build programme delivery capability across the organisation.

Safeguarding

• Act as a Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) and support the development, implementation, and regular review of safeguarding policies and procedures across the organisation.

• Act as a key point of contact for day-to-day safeguarding concerns, informing the Designated Safeguarding Lead(s) or relevant statutory bodies of situations/outcomes

• Provide quality safeguarding advice and guidance to staff and volunteers as required.

• Manage and respond to safeguarding concerns, disclosures and referrals, ensuring accurate documentation and appropriate action is taken in line with statutory requirements and The Girls’ Network policies. Initiate and coordinate referrals to external agencies and services, ensuring follow-up actions are carried out and monitored

• Contribute to the delivery of safeguarding training and the promotion of best practice across the organisation

• Keep abreast of safeguarding practice, making recommendations as appropriate, to ensure compliance with statutory and organisational guidelines

• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding legislation, emerging risks, and sector best practice.

• Collate and produce safeguarding reports, data, and narrative for Head of Programmes and Impact as/when required.

Note: This job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of the role. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of responsibilities and duties required.
 

Person Specification:

Essential

• Qualified teacher or experienced trainer, with a proven ability to design and deliver engaging learning programmes.

• Experience of developing, implementing, and improving youth, mentoring, education, or employability programmes.

• Experience of quality assurance, programme reviews, or service improvement activities.

• Experience developing resources, frameworks, guidance, or training materials.

• Experience using feedback, learning, and evaluation findings to inform programme development.

• Strong organisational and project management skills, including accurate record-keeping, case management, reporting and the ability to manage multiple priorities effectively.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to build effective working relationships across a wide range of internal and external partners.

• Commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion, with a clear understanding of the barriers faced by girls and young women from disadvantaged backgrounds.

• Strong knowledge of child and adult safeguarding legislation, risk assessment, statutory guidance, and best practice.

• Experience managing safeguarding disclosures and referrals, including liaison with statutory agencies (e.g., social care, police, safeguarding boards).

• Ability to handle sensitive and complex cases with professionalism, discretion, and sound judgement.

• Ability and willingness to travel across our regions, as/when required (travel expenses will be reimbursed).

Desirable

• A full, clean driving licence.

• Experience working within the charity, education, youth, or mentoring sectors.

• Experience developing youth participation and voice programmes.

• Experience designing and implementing quality assurance frameworks, including evaluation approaches focused on outcomes and engagement.

• Knowledge of social and emotional learning, employability, or youth development approaches.

• Experience facilitating training and professional development for staff or volunteers.

• Experience using digital platforms or developing digital resources to support learning, engagement or programme delivery.

• Understanding of charity sector governance and the specific safeguarding considerations when working with volunteers.

• Knowledge of current trends and best practice in mentoring, education, or youth development programmes.

How to apply

Please apply as soon as possible. You will be asked to complete your application by submitting your CV and answering a few application questions.

Appointees are subject to a DBS check. You must have the right to work in the UK to apply.

The deadline to submit your application is 27th August at 9am. Please note that we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. We therefore encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.

Use of AI in applications

AI can be a helpful tool for inclusivity and accessibility, and we recognise that it may support applicants with spelling or grammar. However, when it comes to our selection process, what matters most to us is hearing your authentic voice and personal experiences. We're not looking for polished answers — just your own experiences, in your own words.

Diversity at our core

The Girls' Network is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating discrimination. In line with the Equality Act 2010, if you require any reasonable adjustments to support you with any stage of this recruitment process, please contact the HR team.

Our Benefits

• 27 holiday days per year, plus public holidays (pro-rata for part-time staff)

• Option to purchase up to 5 additional days of annual leave every year

• Gifted birthday leave

• 3 days volunteering leave per year

• Extended and comprehensive sick pay policy

• Enhanced Family Leave pay policy

• Pension scheme

• Annual professional development fund to help you grow

• 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme for wellbeing support

• Benefit from flexible, remote working options with a full suite of home office equipment.

• A dedicated Girls’ Network buddy, available beyond the induction period for ongoing support

We can’t fix issues like poverty, inequality, health and climate change alone. We are fully conscious of the scale of the challenge that faces the country and the urgent need to respond. That’s why the School for Social Entrepreneurs exists, to empower and equip people with entrepreneurial ideas and solutions to grow the social economy. The social economy is a movement of organisations and enterprises that prioritise people and planet. Together, we are committed to tackling the greatest social and environmental challenges of our time.This is a new and exciting role at a significant time of growth for the School for Social Entrepreneurs. In the coming year. we are developing new programmes, working with leaders who are developing small community led social and environmental projects as well as leading larger charities and social businesses developing social investment and housing solutions.

We’re not a traditional funder. Our grants tend to be small, but they punch above their weight, helping social and environmental entrepreneurs take the next step to grow their organisations. Our grants run alongside learning programmes, challenging and supporting leaders. We’re innovative in how we do this, through both traditional and enterprise grants. We lead on Match Trading™, a grant that challenges leaders to grow their trading income, and we are working on further grants innovations.

You will work with our Grants Team, Project Co-ordinators and Assessment Lead to develop and support grant management across a range of programmes. Your role will be to lead on specific programmes, including supporting assessment, onboarding and grant management. You will ensure that grantees are fully supported to manage their grants and ensure that grant management is compliant, auditable, efficient, and timely. You will support the development of grant policies and processes, writing grant paperwork and documentation, overseeing payments, and reporting to the wider Programmes Team and others about our work.

You don’t need to have managed grants before, but you do need to have a good understanding of a wide range enterprises and charities, gained through experience of training, business consultancy or development support. You will have a good understanding of business models, legal structures and financial systems that social and environmental organisations and community run and owned businesses may use. You will need to understand social enterprise finances, be able to read accounts, budgets, cashflows and have a good knowledge of social enterprise income streams.

We need someone who understands how hard it is to start up and grow social and environmental enterprises and can support people from diverse backgrounds in managing their grant, finances and growing their business.

Are you up for the challenge?

Interviews: Friday 18th and Friday 25th September (online)

We’re looking for an experienced debt adviser who wants to lead practice, develop colleagues, influence service delivery, and make a lasting difference for people facing financial hardship.

This is a senior, hands-on role that combines expert debt advice with practice leadership. As our lead debt specialist, you will manage a complex caseload while driving quality, supporting adviser development and helping shape the future of debt advice within a trusted local charity.

Working closely with colleagues and partners, you will influence service development and ensure that clients receive high-quality, compliant and person-centred support.

If you're an experienced debt adviser ready to influence practice, support colleagues and make a real difference in your community, we'd love to hear from you!

About Us

We are an environmental charity with science at our heart. We help people to take action to protect the nature around them; by connecting them with it and giving them the tools they need to do so. We passionately believe in citizen science and are leaders in it. Our current focus areas include helping to create nature-friendly urban spaces, growing the impact of internationally known citizen science programmes such as Freshwater Watch, developing early career scientists and sharing learning internationally, and working with partners to advance the science, tools and thinking behind citizen science.

Role purpose:

To drive the growth of income from businesses, local authorities and public sector funders by identifying, developing and securing strategic partnerships. The role will build high-value relationships, generate new funding opportunities, and lead the development of compelling proposals, working closely with colleagues across Earthwatch to convert opportunities into longterm partnerships and sustainable income. This role will focus on building connections and opening doors, working closely with the Director to convert opportunities into funding to meet organisational targets.

Key deliverables:

Partnership Management and Development

• Lead on building and maintaining positive relationships with existing contacts in businesses, local authorities, and other partners in line with organisational priorities.
• Carry out excellent stewardship and management of partnerships, overseeing delivery plans, strategic activities and routine partnership activities.
• Lead all aspects of the partnership development process, including prospect research, proposal development and pitching, ensuring a seamless pathway from opportunity identification to funding secured.
• Cultivate relationships with other charitable organisations to expand Earthwatch’s network of partners and collaborate on joint environmental initiatives.

Proposal Writing and Project Development

• Lead the preparation of compelling funding proposals, tailored to meet the specific interests and priorities of potential partners.
• Ensure proposals are timely, impactful, and demonstrate clear outcomes.
• Work closely with the Finance team to develop accurate project budgets, ensuring all proposals are cost-effective and financially viable.
• Manage a portfolio of prospects and funding opportunities, contributing to agreed annual income targets. 

Sector Awareness and Marketing

• Monitor plans and strategies from businesses, local authorities and government bodies with a view to spotting opportunities for partnership working.
• Collaborate with the Communications teams to create high-quality marketing materials that support partner engagement and public relations.
• Represent Earthwatch at partner and networking events. 

Monitoring and Reporting

• Oversee the end-to-end grant management process, including timely submission of progress reports and financial narratives to ensure full compliance with donor requirements.
• Maintain a comprehensive reporting process via the CRM, providing accurate income generation updates, dashboards, and pipeline forecasts.
• Monitor environmental and sustainability issues in the media including emerging policies, trends and the performance of organisations with whom we have relationships. 

Collaboration and Team Support:

• Work closely with colleagues across the organisation, particularly the Income Generation, Programmes, Communications, and Finance teams, to ensure that funding proposals and reports are aligned with Earthwatch’s programs and objectives. 

In undertaking these roles, the postholder should also have regard to:

• Acting as an ambassador for the work, vision and values of Earthwatch Europe.
• Ensuring continuous development of skills and knowledge required for the post, undergoing training and performance review as required.
• Working within all the policies and procedures of Earthwatch Europe, ensuring compliance with health & safety policies and all legal and contractual obligations associated with the post.
• Collaborating with other Earthwatch teams to ensure effective delivery of partnership programmes.
• Carrying out any other reasonable duties commensurate with the level of responsibility of the post, as requested by the postholder’s line manager.

Please see the full job description attached.

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK; Earthwatch is unable to support visa applications. 

Earthwatch is committed to making any adjustments we can for short-listed candidates, to facilitate participation in our interview process. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

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.