Livelihood advisor jobs

Lead a Movement Advancing Universal Energy Access

Chief Executive Officer - SolarAid

Location: UK - hybrid
Travel: c. 8-10 weeks per year (Africa programmes, partners, global forums)
Salary:  c. £100k
Type: Full-time

About SolarAid

SolarAid is an ambitious international charity working to achieve a world where everyone has access to clean, renewable energy. With a strong track record of impact across sub-Saharan Africa, SolarAid has helped transform access to energy through solar solutions that improve lives, livelihoods and the environment.

Today, SolarAid is entering a pivotal new phase. Building on proven delivery models, the organisation is shifting towards systems change - scaling impact through partnerships, influencing markets, and shaping policy to accelerate universal energy access. Alongside this, SolarAid retains active operational programmes in countries such as Malawi and Zambia, ensuring deep, real-world insight informs its work.

This is a rare opportunity to lead an organisation with both credibility on the ground and growing influence at the highest levels.

What You Can Look Forward To

As CEO, you will lead SolarAid through an exciting transition - balancing external influence and internal leadership to unlock its next phase of impact.

You will:

• Shape and Deliver Strategy
  Bring clarity, focus and prioritisation to SolarAid's ambitions, ensuring resources are aligned to the highest-impact opportunities
• Drive Global Influence
  Act as SolarAid's primary ambassador, building credibility with governments, funders, multilaterals and partners
• Scale Impact Through Partnerships
  Expand and strengthen partnerships to deliver scalable, replicable models across sub-Saharan Africa

Why This Role Matters

• You will lead a mission that is fundamental to human development and climate progress
• SolarAid combines proven delivery with growing global influence
• You will have the opportunity to shape the future of energy access at scale

About You

SolarAid is seeking an experienced, credible and decisive leader - someone equally comfortable representing the organisation externally and leading it internally through change.

Skills and Experience

• Proven senior leadership experience (CEO, Executive Director or equivalent) within international development, social enterprise or a related field
• Experience of programme delivery in sub-Saharan Africa, with a deep understanding of operating contexts
• Demonstrable ability to build credibility and influence with governments, funders, and global partners
• Track record of leading organisations through complexity, change or transition
• Strong strategic judgement, with the ability to prioritise and align ambition with capacity

Highly Desirable:

• Relevant sector expertise - in energy access, climate, or adjacent sectors

Personal Attributes

• Decisive and empowering, able to lead with clarity and confidence
• Credible and articulate ambassador, with presence at senior levels
• Emotionally intelligent, able to build trust and stability in a mission-driven culture

Recruitment Timeline

To ensure equitable access to information and uphold SolarAid's commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, the charity will be hosting a Q&A webinar in place of individual informal calls with the Chair/Outgoing CEO. We encourage all interested candidates to submit questions in advance, which will be addressed during the session. Please register your interest in attending this webinar on Thursday 4th June 6-7pm and we will send you a link.

Application Deadline: 5pm, Monday 22nd June 2026

First Interviews: w/c 6th July 2026

Final Interviews: w/c 13th July

How to Apply

Charity People Ltd is acting as a recruitment agency advisor to SolarAid on this appointment. Interested candidates are invited to submit a CV to Charity People and request a candidate pack in the first instance. For an informal conversation about the role or if you have further questions prior to applying, please contact Fabrice Yala or Tiku van Houtem or send an email to Senior Appointments at Charity People

We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability, and potential; please contact us if you require any assistance or adjustment so we can help make the application process work for you.

Charity People is a forward thinking, inclusive organisation that actively and deliberately promotes equity, diversity and inclusion. We know organisations thrive when inclusion is at the forefront. We evidence our commitment by matching charity needs with the skills and experience of candidates irrespective of background e.g. age, disability (including hidden disabilities), gender, gender identity or gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. We do this because we believe that greater diversity leads to greater results for the charities we work with.

Job title: Operations & People Lead
Contract: 1.0 FTE - 1 year fixed-term contract with the possibility to become permanent
Location: Hybrid working: office base is at Somerset House, London: we are flexible on approach, within a hybrid model of in-person & virtual. This can be discussed at interview (*) 
Salary: £45k to £50k p.a. (pro rata), depending on experience
Reporting to: CEO
Start date: ASAP - depending on candidate’s notice period 
Normal hours: Office hours are 9.30 - 5.30pm, Monday – Friday. As this is ideally a 0.8 FTE role, there is flexibility on how the time is spread across the week. Please state how you would intend to allocate your time when you apply. (requests for flexible working hours will be considered) 

Other: 

• Annual leave is 25 days per year (pro rata) plus standard bank holidays
• Cultural entitlement of £250 per annum (pro rata) to spend on arts/cultural events & activities
• All employees are able to claim 1 hour a week for personal wellbeing
• Pension scheme enrolment and 6% employer contributions (reviewed annually)

(*) Access to office space in London is always available to staff who can't or don't want to work from home. 

Some travel is involved in this role, to visit organisations and run programme activities.

If you would like this application pack in a different format (e.g. large print or audio file), please email us (information in the link provided). 

About Julie’s Bicycle (JB)

JB unites culture, creativity and climate action to drive change. For nearly two decades, we’ve been at the forefront of the creative climate movement - one of the first to position culture as a powerful force for radical change. Our mission is to mobilise the creative sector, equipping thousands of artists, cultural organisations, and creative leaders with the tools, knowledge, and confidence needed to transform their practice into climate action. We focus on tackling the root causes of the climate, nature, and justice crises by shaping thinking, informing policy, and scaling practical solutions. Together, we can turn creativity into a powerful force for a just and regenerative future.

Role summary

As our new Operations and People Lead, you will help us continue to build and nurture a strong, can-do, and empowering operational culture that is rooted in collaboration, equity and care. You will support the CEO in ensuring the right systems and processes are in place for the smooth running of the organisation and support the Head of Programmes in the seamless delivery of our programs during a period of rapid change. You will collaborate with the whole team to continue to strengthen our equitable foundations and ensure our internal structures fully reflect and sustain our core values of justice and care.

Your goal will be to balance operational efficiency with team well-being, optimising people and teams allocations and implementing new approaches and processes so that we deliver outstanding work, while our people thrive. You will allow the leadership to focus on high-level strategy while you support us in continuing to nurture our supportive, empowering, and equitable working environment.

Key Responsibilities

People strategy - (Approx 40%)

• Operations strategy and ways of working: Work with the CEO and SLT, co-design and implement a robust operations strategy and clear ways of working for effective allocation of team and resources to achieve the organisation's objectives, strengthening further our  principles of deep collaboration, equity and care.

• Equitable recruitment and retention strategy: Building on our existing progress in inclusive hiring, you will work closely with the CEO and SLT to evolve and champion our recruitment and retention strategy. You will continue to refine our processes, ensuring we remain at the forefront of removing access barriers and nurturing a diverse, flourishing, and long-term workforce. You will be responsible for timelining, creating Job Descriptions; advertising strategy and budget; liaise with hiring manager; referencing; offer letters & contracts.

• People development & care: Working closely with the CEO and SLT, contribute to the development and lead on the implementation of training, continuous professional development processes and policies that enable transparency, peer to peer feedback, psychological safety, professional development and empowerment.

• Delivery strategy: Working closely with the Head of Programmes, design and drive a capacity planning strategy for the team across 20+ projects to ensure impact delivery as well as balanced workloads. 

• Cross-cutting principles: Working closely with the CEO, leading internal policy work, you will steward and expand our internal policy framework, ensuring that our established principles of wellbeing, diversity, accessibility, and anti-racism continue to be deeply woven into the fabric of every new and existing policy.

Operational excellence (Approx 30%)

• Systems improvement: Enhance and adjust systems, processes, and best practices to ensure they are flexible enough to respond to the lived realities of a diverse team.

• Digital access: Lead the planning and implementation of IT and digital strategies that facilitate accessible and collaborative remote/hybrid working.

• Compliance and safety: Maintain and communicate health, safety, and security protocols through a lens of collective care and team protection.

• Process standardisation: Working with the CEO and Finance Manager, drive consistency across HR, admin, and finance to reduce cognitive load and administrative friction for the team.

HR & financial administration (Approx 20%)

• HR: 

  • HR Software & data ownership, maintenance and ensuring consistency in colleagues use of the software. 

  • Act as the primary point of contact for HR enquiries, accessibility requests, and leave calculation.

  • Act on behalf of the CEO in handling confidential issues with care and restorative intent & liaising with external HR advisor.

• Financial support: In partnership with our Finance Manager, coordinate confidential finance administration, including payroll, pensions, and audit preparation, ensuring all team members are supported by stable financial operations.

• Resource management: Manage IT and Operations budgets.

• Contract management: Oversee the administration of employment contracts and agreements and NDAs for freelancers, as well as internship placements to ensure fair and clear working agreements.

Executive support & governance (Approx 10% of the time)

• Leadership partnership: Support the SLT in strategic direction, planning, and workforce development so they can focus on fundraising, advocacy and high-level impact work.

• Support the CEO on internal communications, business travel, scheduling, diary management, technical assistance.

• Board: Manage all JB Board administration, including arranging quarterly meetings, minutes, etc.

• Funding & tenders: Provide necessary operational and organisational information for funding applications and manage portal processes for payments and offers.

• Office Management: Lead on the management of JB’s office, ensuring that the office is a comfortable working environment and equipment is maintained. Be the first point of contact for Somerset House, facilities, and for office related issues.

Person Specification

Essential

• HR Expertise: Six to eight years of demonstrable practical experience in designing and implementing People centred strategies with a focus on collaborative leadership rooted in inclusion, equity, diversity and care (six to eight years of experience). We’re particularly interested in someone experienced and/or genuinely interested in participatory design methods that incorporate the lived experiences of a diverse team.

• Operational excellence: Six to eight years of demonstrable practical experience of developing and implementing effective operations strategies and effective systems and processes that enable organisational excellence and staff wellbeing.

• A genuine, demonstrable commitment for the role of culture in addressing the climate, environment and justice crises, preferably with experience of working with values-led teams working on systemic issues especially working across climate, environmental and justice issues.

• Demonstrable experience of planning and implementing streamlined digital operations, bringing a seamless and cohesive approach to IT and software solutions.

• Strategic thinking with an eye for detail: Ability to contribute to high-level strategy while maintaining excellent attention to detail.

• Excellent communication skills: Ability to communicate key messages effectively across various written and verbal forms.

• Broad familiarity with financial and business principles.

• Effectively manage competing priorities and adapt and respond as business needs require

• Experience of planning using organisational and project management skills with the ability to work under pressure and manage time and resources effectively.

• Creative problem solving skills

• A proactive, flexible approach, and ability to progress work independently in a fast paced environment.

Why Join Us?

At Julie’s Bicycle, you’ll join a passionate team working at the intersection of creativity and climate action. We offer a collaborative, inclusive, and flexible working culture, where your voice will shape how the cultural sector responds to one of the greatest challenges of our time. 

How to apply

If you’d like to apply, please: 

• Complete the application form and equal opportunities monitoring form found on our website.

Submit these via our application portal by 11.59pm on Sunday 17th May 2026.

We strongly encourage early applications as we may close the recruitment early if we have reached a sufficient number of viable applications.

We know job descriptions can feel daunting and that people who are from the global majority, from working class backgrounds, those without formal qualifications and some LGBTQ+ candidates are statistically less likely to apply even when they are well suited to a role.

If you read this JD and felt you *almost* matched (if you have built relevant skills through freelance work, lived experience, activism, organising or routes outside formal education) we very much want to hear from you! We also believe class is not defined by education or parental occupation alone. If you identify as working class by your current financial experience and lifestyle, that counts.

Our commitment to meeting underrepresented individuals in the sector:

Guaranteed Interview Scheme and Positive Action

As part of our ongoing commitment to building a team that better reflects the people, communities and causes we serve, we operate a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for disabled candidates, in line with the Equality Act 2010.

This scheme is available to candidates who identify as disabled (including under the social model of disability, encompassing physical, sensory, cognitive, mental health and long-term health conditions) and who can demonstrate within their application that they meet all of the essential criteria outlined in the job description. Candidates will be asked within the equal opportunities form whether they wish to be considered under this scheme. This information will be handled in confidence and will only be shared with those involved in the shortlisting process where necessary to apply the scheme.

We are committed to increasing the diversity of our workforce and recognise that some groups are underrepresented within our organisation and sector. We therefore actively encourage applications from people from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Where candidates are equally qualified, we may apply positive action in line with the Equality Act 2010 to select a candidate from an underrepresented group, where this is a proportionate means of addressing underrepresentation.

A note on AI

While we understand that some people may use AI tools for accessibility (and recognise and support that many assistive technologies may use elements of AI), we ask candidates to consider what tools are most appropriate during the application process. For example, we recognise the value for many people of machine learning language tools like Grammarly. On the other hand we would discourage the use of generative AI tools in writing your application, as we'd like to understand your personal interest in working for Julie's Bicycle, and be able to understand your non-AI-assisted communication skills just as they are. We also recognise that for many of the people and creative communities we work with, the rise of generative AI poses a threat to their livelihoods, while the environmental impacts of AI are only set to grow: this means we also have a responsibility as Julie's Bicycle to consider where and when (and if) we use AI in our work. 

Thank you for your interest in working at Julie’s Bicycle.

We are seeking a creative and conscientious communications leader with exceptional attention to detail and demonstrable expertise in developing and delivering high-impact strategic communications outputs in the international development or third sector. We are a relatively small team and are therefore looking for someone who is both highly strategic and able to see the ‘big picture’, while also being happy getting stuck in at an operational level to ensure timely, on-budget delivery of outputs. Experience of working with or within networks or membership organisations would be a particular asset in this role. It is also important that you are comfortable working across all areas – from digital, to design, to publishing, to events – as well as being an exceptional project manager, confident liaising with a range of partners and stakeholders at different levels, and an experienced line manager.

The Global Distributors Collective (GDC) is in an excellent position, with a strong track record of delivery and impact, a solid funding pipeline, and a clear 2026-30 strategy. High-impact communication crosscuts the entire GDC programme and is essential to ensuring that beneficial products can be made affordable and available to all. As Communications Manager (maternity cover), you will therefore need to both hit the ground running to deliver our ambitious schedule of upcoming communications activities – from in-person and online events, to high-profile research, publications, and digital outputs – as well as to work proactively with the Head of GDC, Bopinc team, GDC strategic advisors, and fellow communications colleagues to shape and embed communication activities across a range of new projects that are kicking off in 2026-27.

About Practical Action and the GDC

Practical Action is an international development organisation putting ingenious ideas to work so people in poverty can change their world. For the past eight years, Practical Action has been hosting and building the Global Distributors Collective (GDC): a collective of 300 last mile distribution companies that cumulatively reach millions of the poorest consumers in the world with beneficial products like solar lanterns, water filters and improved cookstoves. GDC activities are delivered in collaboration with strategic and implementing partner Bopinc.

The GDC provides a collective voice for distributors to ensure their priorities are heard; drives research and innovation across the sector; facilitates the exchange of information, insight, and expertise; and provides critical services that leverage economies of scale.

Moving into our 2026-30 strategy phase, we are proactively shifting from creating and setting up advisory services and tools that support last mile distributors to embedding and scaling these initiatives. Specifically, we will focus on four key strategic pillars:

· Unlocking finance: Prepare more last mile distributors (LMDs) for investment and help to unlock country-level financing mechanisms and create LMD-focussed debt facilities. 

· Strengthening business performance: Deliver training, shared services, and data tools that reduce business costs and improve efficiency, in scalable formats.

· Scaling innovation: Identify, test, and replicate high-value business innovations and remove eco-system barriers.

· Shaping systems and local leadership: Build local chapters and influence global and national agendas so LMDs are visible, valued and represented. 

About you

We are looking for a go-getting, ambitious and proactive communications specialist who is ready to lead the GDC communications team to deliver a range of high-impact, top-quality, communications activities over the next 12 months. To succeed in this role, you must be a communications all-rounder, an experienced line manager, and an excellent written and verbal communicator with exceptional attention to detail, robust project management and interpersonal skills. You will be a strategic thinker with the ability to multitask, work independently and adapt in a fast-paced environment, while also being willing to “muck in” in our relatively small team. Depending on where you are based, demonstrable experience of managing remote staff will be important; as will the ability to thoughtfully support and coach team members to achieve their full potential.

Why join us?

This is the opportunity to lead a globally recognised initiative driving innovation and impact in last mile distribution. At Practical Action, you will be part of a values-driven organisation committed to reducing poverty and inequality through sustainable, practical solutions. You will work alongside passionate colleagues and partners, contributing to meaningful change for communities around the world. We offer a collaborative and inclusive working environment that supports learning, innovation, and personal growth.

We treat all applications for employment on their merits and do not take into consideration any factors that are not relevant to the job such as disability, race, age, religion, gender, gender reassignment or sexual orientation. Practical Action is committed to safeguarding and protecting children and vulnerable adults and as such candidates will be subject to pre-employment checks including criminal checks and terrorist financing.

Additional information

We are seeking candidates based in ether Kenya or the UK. The successful applicant must have the pre-existing right to both live and work in the country in which they will be based. Please note this is being recruited as a 12-month fixed term contract. Hybrid working pattern; if UK-based, the role could be predominantly home based

To apply please submit a copy of your CV and supporting that includes the answers to the following questions:

1. Why do you consider yourself a strong candidate for the role of GDC Communications Manager at Practical Action?

2. What most excites you about working on the Global Distributors Collective programme?

3. What do you think would be your biggest strength and steepest learning curve in this role?