Literacy project manager jobs in Milton keynes

For more than 140 years, the Forces Employment Charity has helped the military community succeed beyond service – building careers, shaping futures, and living with purpose. Last year, we provided dedicated and specialist employment and justice support to over 23,000 people to create careers and long-term stability.

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Are you a passionate leader with a commitment to supporting the Armed Forces community? We’re looking for an experienced and driven individual to lead and shape our national employment support service, helping veterans and their families build meaningful and sustainable careers.

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This is a unique opportunity to lead a high-performing team, influence strategy, and make a real difference across the UK.

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Brief role description

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The Programme Manager plays a pivotal leadership role in delivering the Forces Employment Charity’s Ex-Forces Employment Charity Programme. This programme provides regionally-based, comprehensive employment support to all who have served in HM Armed Forces, ensuring personal and locally informed guidance for veterans seeking employment or career change.

Working closely with the Director of Veterans and Families Employment, the Programme Manager drives operational excellence, strengthens service consistency across the UK, and represents the charity’s employment offer in the devolved nations. They ensure that our national network of Advisors is supported, empowered, and aligned to strategic goals, enabling the very best outcomes for the veteran community.

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It’s essential that they have experience managing multi-site or national teams, alongside a strong understanding of employment support or careers guidance. They will be confident working with a range of stakeholders, able to use data to inform decisions, and an excellent communicator. Strong IT skills and a genuine commitment to supporting the Armed Forces community are also key.

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Ideally, they will bring experience from the veterans or employability sector, along with some understanding of devolved nation policy or frameworks such as safeguarding or vocational training.

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This role requires an Enhanced DBS check.

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Interested? Want to know more about the Charity? Check our website.

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Eager to know more the role? Have a look at the Job Description.

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What’s in it for you? Check out our Benefits.

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Have we convinced you to apply? If so, submit your CV and Covering Letter by closing date Wednesday, 6 May 2026.

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Please note: Applications will be reviewed and interviews conducted throughout the duration of this advert; therefore, we may at any time bring the closing date forward. We encourage all interested applicants to apply as soon as possible. If you are an internal applicant, please ensure you have made The People Team aware before applying.

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We are committed to equal opportunities and improving the working lives of our staff by fostering an inclusive, supportive environment where everyone, including those with disabilities, can thrive, develop, and achieve their full potential. We actively encourage applications from individuals with diverse backgrounds and ensure reasonable adjustments are made to support candidates with disabilities throughout the recruitment process.

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We actively recruit citizens of all backgrounds, but the nature of our work in specific departments means that residency and security requirements can be more tightly defined than others. You will be asked about this throughout the recruitment process.

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#LI-DNI

We are looking for an inspiring Support Services Manager to lead our supported housing schemes, ensuring high‑quality, person‑centred support for women and children across our services.

If you are passionate about transforming lives, improving service quality and leading dedicated teams — we’d love to hear from you.

About the Role

As Support Services Manager, you will:

Lead and develop high‑quality support services

• Provide operational leadership across supported housing schemes
• Ensure trauma‑informed, person‑centred support plans and risk assessments
• Monitor KPIs, contractual compliance and service performance
• Drive service improvement and co‑production with clients

Manage, motivate and develop staff

• Line manage Support Workers and Volunteers
• Ensure supervision, training and performance management
• Support recruitment and staff development across the region
• Build a strong, motivated and skilled team

Champion safeguarding & risk management

• Act as a safeguarding champion across supported housing
• Ensure robust risk assessments, incident reporting and GDPR‑compliant records
• Support staff to maintain the highest safeguarding standards

Ensure housing & compliance excellence

• Work closely with Estates teams to maintain safe, compliant accommodation
• Support quality improvements across physical properties and service delivery

Build impactful partnerships

• Liaise with local authorities, commissioners, health partners and referral agencies
• Represent Life at case conferences, multi‑agency meetings and contract reviews
• Identify and respond to new referral opportunities

Drive quality, governance & reporting

• Produce performance reports and maintain audit readiness
• Support strategic growth and contribute to the department’s business plan
• Promote Life Charity within local communities and public forums

Manage budgets & resources

• Monitor expenditure and support resource planning
• Support with funding bids and service redesign
• Work with finance teams to ensure clients receive appropriate financial support

We’d love to hear from you if you have:

Essential experience & skills

• Experience managing or delivering support and/or care services
• Understanding of supported housing and estates management
• Strong knowledge of support planning, risk assessment and safeguarding
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage at all levels
• Strong organisational, leadership and problem‑solving abilities
• Ability to work independently, handle pressure and prioritise workloads
• Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion
• Full UK driving licence

Desirable

• Relevant housing qualification (e.g., CIH Level 4)
• Experience working in a charity environment
• Experience in troubleshooting or service improvement roles
• Good strategic awareness

About Life: 

Life is a national pregnancy support charity that helps over 60,000 people a year. Through our services, we help people – whoever they are – to meet pregnancy or pregnancy loss with courage and dignity so they can flourish. 

Our services include:  

• Supported housing and community support   
• Counselling and skilled listening   
• Free pregnancy tests and baby supplies  

Our values :

All our work is underpinned by the following universal human values: 

• Humanity – All people are special and equal 
• Solidarity – We’re with you and for you 
• Community – We’re better together 
• Charity – Doing good for one another 
• Common good – Building a better world 

Information about the role: 

For further information, please see the attached job description. 

Salary: £34,000 per annum

Hours: 35 hours per week over 5 days

Location: Home Based with Extensive Travel across the Midlands and South East England

Benefits:  

At Life we are passionate about providing our employees with a supportive and engaging environment. As well as ongoing development and training, we offer our:  

• Generous holiday allowance, starting at 25 days per year, plus 8 Bank Holidays (pro rata for part time hours) 
• Birthday Leave  (applicable after 1 years service)
• Additional annual leave for long term service  
• Company Pension Scheme  
• Signed member of the Menopause Workplace Pledge 

Safeguarding and Equality: 

Life is committed to protecting all staff, volunteers and service users from harm of any kind. Life expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct.   

We are committed to ensuring diversity and equality within our organisation by encouraging applications from all backgrounds.  

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks. Life takes its obligation to protect the rights of children and vulnerable people very seriously; therefore, the successful candidate for this post will be also subject to extensive background checking, including an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS) which is paid for by the Charity.  

We are seeking a proactive, strategic and donor-centred fundraiser to lead and implement our

Individual Giving and emerging Legacy Giving programmes. This role is ideal for a fundraiser with experience in donor stewardship, campaign development and relationship-based fundraising who is ready to play a key role in growing sustainable voluntary income.

You will lead on the end-to-end delivery of supporter acquisition, retention, and stewardship plans, ensuring that every donor feels valued and understands the impact of their support. Alongside managing an established portfolio, you will proactively build a strong pipeline of new prospects, driving year‑on‑year income growth.

In addition, you will lead the development of our first Legacy Giving programme. With no formal legacy activity in place and a large, engaged volunteer network, this is a unique opportunity to establish a long-term income stream from the ground-up – raising awareness, creating accessible materials and nurturing warm supporters who may consider leaving a gift in their Will.

This role blends strategic planning with “hands-on” campaign delivery. You will use insights from supporter data to refine supporter journeys across both digital and traditional channels, managing budgets and key relationships to achieve our growth targets. We are a growing charity, and this role offers the opportunity to innovate and shape the future of our Individual Giving and Legacy Giving programmes with strong support from Head of Fundraising and the CEO.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement a year‑round Individual Giving strategy to acquire new supporters and increase donor loyalty.
• Plan and deliver multi‑channel fundraising campaigns including two established annual Big Give campaigns.
• Plan and deliver legacy awareness moments throughout the year (e.g., Remember A Charity Week).
• Monitor and strengthen donor retention, reactivation and upgrade strategies through consistent, high‑quality stewardship.
• Build strong relationships through meetings, events, tailored communications and impact reporting.
• Work with Head of Fundraising, SMT and Trustees to support high-value donor engagement.
• Lead the creation and delivery of Schoolreaders first Legacy Giving strategy.
• Develop clear and accessible legacy information for supporters, volunteers and the wider public.
• Collaborate closely with the Comms Manager to develop impactful campaign assets and compelling stewardship content and legacy messages across multiple channels.
• Ensure all donations and supporter interactions are promptly and accurately recorded in the fundraising CRM (Salesforce) and ensure donors receive timely and well‑managed acknowledgements.
• Create personalised cultivation plans, stewardship strategies and donor engagement touchpoints, particularly for the charity’s 100 Club members and HNWI’s.
• Represent Schoolreaders at face-to-face meetings and events to raise the charity’s profile and secure individual support.
• Work alongside colleagues and volunteer County Teams to maximise local and national fundraising opportunities.
• Identify PR opportunities generated by fundraising activities and coordinate with the Comms Manager to optimise visibility and income.

Benefits:

As part of our commitment to making Schoolreaders a great place to work, we offer access to the following employee benefits:

• 25 days annual leave (3 of which must be taken over Christmas), 1 day paid leave for your birthday, plus public/bank holidays (pro-rated for part-time staff)
• Contributory pension scheme
• Access to a free 24/7 support service providing legal, financial, emotional, and medical advice
• A positive, supportive working environment which actively supports a healthy work-life balance
• Charity away days and social events
• Free parking and on-site facilities such as a canteen

Do you want to join an organisation committed to addressing low literacy and numeracy levels amongst people in the criminal justice system?

We’ve made substantial progress in recent years, with improvements and expansions to our delivery model and significant growth in our staff team. In Spring 2026, we will launch our refreshed organisational strategy, which will shape our work over the next three years and beyond. To support this growth, we are recruiting for a full time National Director of Operations to lead our delivery across England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and emerging community settings, with an ambition to reach Scotland. This is an exciting opportunity to play a central role in scaling our impact and strengthening our presence across the criminal justice system and beyond.

As National Director of Operations, you will provide strategic and operational leadership for our learning programmes in prisons and community settings. You will ensure high‑quality, consistent and accessible delivery, overseeing a team of six Regional Managers and a wider workforce of around 65 staff, volunteers and over 2,000 peer mentors trained each year.

Working closely with senior colleagues, partner organisations and national bodies such as HMPPS, you will drive programme excellence, innovation and partnership working. You will also play a key role in new business development, operational strategy, contractual delivery and ensuring we can reliably demonstrate the impact of our work.

The role requires an experienced operational leader with a deep commitment to improving outcomes for people facing disadvantage. You will bring:

• Senior leadership experience in a complex, multi‑site environment.
• A track record of delivering large-scale programmes and leading distributed teams.
• Strong strategic thinking, problem‑solving and relationship‑building skills.
• Experience working with statutory bodies or large public-sector partners (e.g. HMPPS).
• Excellent judgement, communication skills and the ability to influence at all levels.
• Understanding of the criminal justice system, safeguarding, or alternative education environments (desirable).
• A collaborative, inclusive leadership style aligned with Shannon Trust’s values.

We want to hear from applicants who are as committed to the cause as we are.

This is a home-based role but will require travel around the UK including overnight stays. This role is 5 days per week (35 hours) with working days/hours to be mutually agreed in line with business needs.

Employee benefits include a company contribution to pension scheme of up to 5%, 30 days holiday plus bank holidays, life insurance, paid volunteering days, discounts via Reward Gateway and an Employee Assistance Programme. The biggest benefit though is our culture – our people really want to work for the organisation.

We welcome job applications from people with lived experience of the criminal justice system and do not routinely ask for details of any criminal convictions. This role does require prison security clearance, so we will need to ask for details of any relevant criminal convictions before an offer of employment is finalised.

Interviews, which will be held online, are planned for the w/c 18th May.

Event & Engagement Coordinator 

Remote based in North West England. Please note, the role requires working one day a week in Manchester. 

Fixed term contract: initially 12 months with potential to extend.

Job Purpose: 

To plan, coordinate, and deliver a range of local events across North West England, ensuring each event is well-organised, inclusive, and engaging for local communities. The Local Event Coordinator will collaborate closely with partners, local authorities, suppliers, volunteers, and members to deliver high-quality, unique and memorable experiences.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Plan and manage logistics for a variety of local member events, making sure all events are accessible and attractive to both existing and potential members. 

• Liaise with relevant external and internal contacts such as venues, suppliers, CSSC’s ticketing platform, Head Office departments, and volunteers. 

• Complete all relevant compliance work such as risk assessments and public liability checks. 

• Develop and manage event budgets, ensuring value for money and accurate financial tracking. 

• Promote events via social media, email campaigns, posters, and local press in collaboration with marketing teams. 

• Manage and grow the North West’s CSSC TikTok presence, including content planning, filming, editing, posting, and community engagement. 

• Demonstrate strong working knowledge of TikTok trends, algorithms, analytics, and best practices. 

• Create engaging, on-brand short-form video content tailored to target audiences. 

• Monitor performance metrics and use insights to optimise content strategy and increase reach and engagement. 

• Stay up to date with emerging social media trends, tools, and platform updates. 

• Show a genuine interest in communications, digital marketing, and social media strategy. 

• Oversee event setup and breakdown where applicable, managing on-site logistics and resolving any issues on the day. 

• Recruit and coordinate volunteers to assist with events. 

• Evaluate event success through feedback, data collection, and post-event reporting. 

Key Skills & Experience: 

Essential: 

• Proven experience in planning and delivering events. 

• Strong organisational and time-management skills. 

• Ability to manage budgets and handle multiple projects simultaneously. 

• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills. 

• Flexibility to work evenings and weekends when required. 

• Full UK driving licence and willingness to travel across the region. 

• Ability to analyse member insights to inform event planning for CSSC members and to attract potential new members. 

• Work collaboratively with the Regional Team to develop and implement strategies aimed at supporting membership growth and ensure positive member experiences. 

• Build a rapport with CSSC volunteers and understand skillsets in order to correctly identify support necessary for events. 

• Confident in using IT systems and ticketing platforms to effectively promote events across appropriate channels. 

• Supporting Regional Hub Manager with member and volunteer engagement events 

• Experience with processes 

Desirable: 

• Experience working with community groups, charities, membership organisations or not for profits. 

• Knowledge of health and safety and safeguarding procedures. 

• Familiarity with marketing or PR for events. 

• First Aid or event safety training. 

• Previous experience with ticketing platforms or willingness to learn. 

• Understanding of how comms and events align with one another.

• Data literacy or willingness to understand some basic data analytics