Starting Salary: £35,668 – £39,005 (Pro Rate to 14 Hours)
Contract: Permanent
Location: Home-Based Role (living within or very close to the area covered)
Hours: Part-time (14 hours per week)The area covered comprises the Catholic dioceses of Birmingham and Portsmouth & the post holder must be able to travel widely around the area covered.
Job Profile
CAFOD works with the Catholic community in England and Wales to tackle poverty and injustice.
As a Community Participation Coordinator (Education Focus), you’ll grow engagement across Catholic schools, parishes and communities in the Birmingham and Portsmouth dioceses. You’ll inspire people to give, act and pray, while recruiting and supporting volunteers and building strong relationships with clergy, school leaders and diocesan partners.
Working within CAFOD’s national Education Team, you’ll collaborate locally to increase school participation and strengthen volunteer networks. This role is primarily school-focused, with occasional parish engagement.
This is a home-based role that requires regular travel across the dioceses and occasional visits to CAFOD’s London office. Flexibility is key, with some evening or weekend work and occasional transport of resources (expenses and time off in lieu provided).
Role Responsibilities
Delivering participation plans
- Share accountability for delivery of annual participation plans for the region (a group of dioceses) with a primary focus on one diocese or area, and share in the delivery of fundraising, education, campaigns and media objectives and targets, as delineated by the participation plan for the region. This role will have a focus on schools’ engagement.
- Contribute to the development of activities to achieve objectives in support of and appropriate for local contexts. Through increased numbers and activity of school volunteers, more Catholic schools will be visited by a CAFOD volunteer.
- Maintain regular outreach, promotion and relationship-building with volunteers and key leaders in parish and school communities and Catholic church and education networks.
Managing volunteers
- Be the lead volunteer manager for an identified portfolio of volunteer roles locally and ensure effective coordination and communication.
- Match the offers, skills, experiences and expectations of volunteers with opportunities and needs in relation to CAFOD’s plans for schools.
- Organise and promote volunteer meetings and training opportunities online/offline to either to deliver themselves or by another member of the Education Section.
Managing relationships and promotion
- Represent CAFOD in the diocese and ensure CAFOD retains a diverse range of relationships including with priests, school staff, academy trusts and others within a diocese
. - Ensure CAFOD is promoted via various diocesan communication channels, working with diocesan communications officers and school communities.
Job-specific competencies
I. A demonstrable commitment to volunteering and understanding of its potential as a force for change.
II. Experience of managing multiple relationships with volunteers and a wide variety of volunteers, including recruitment and retention, and managing volunteer performance.
III. Willingness and ability to travel extensively to all parts of the area covered and to travel to other parts of the region/country as needed. At times, it will be necessary to transport equipment and resources and to be flexible to work evenings and weekends.
IV. A proven ability to work within the Catholic education setting.
CAFOD is a welcoming, supportive workplace committed to a safe, inclusive culture where everyone is respected. CAFOD will make reasonable adjustments at every stage of the recruitment process to ensure candidates with disabilities or individual needs are fully supported.
Safeguarding for Children and Vulnerable Adults
CAFOD recognises the personal dignity and rights of children and vulnerable adults, towards whom it has a special responsibility and a duty of care and respect. CAFOD, and all its staff and volunteers, undertake to do all in our power to create a safe environment for children, young people and vulnerable adults and to prevent their physical, sexual or emotional abuse. CAFOD is committed to acting at all times in the best interests of children and vulnerable adults, seeing these interests as paramount. Any candidate offered a job with CAFOD will be expected to adhere to CAFOD’s Safeguarding policy and sign CAFOD’s Code of Behaviour as an appendix to their contract of employment and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these documents. This post involves contact with children, young people and vulnerable adults, or has responsibility for people who will do, and applicants will be subject to specific checks related to safeguarding issues. If based in the UK the post holder is required to present or obtain a Disclosure from the DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service). If the post is based outside the UK the post holder will be subject to a different checking process.
All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references, and appropriate screening checks can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks. CAFOD also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of, and consent to, these recruitment procedures.
Please click here for a full list of CAFOD’s Staff Benefits
CAFOD is the official Catholic aid agency for England and Wales tackling poverty and injustice across the world.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Head of Communications (Job Share)
Location: Remote
Salary: £19,160 - £21,424 per annum
Vacancy Type: Permanent
2–3 days per week (flexible, subject to agreement)
Please note that the salary has been calculated on a pro-rata basis, reflecting the role's two-day-per-week working pattern.
Join us - transform lives, change minds
We are a leading social justice charity supporting people to recover from addiction and leave behind crime - helping them move on in life with family, friends, jobs, homes, and a sense of belonging. Working in over 80 prison and community settings across England and Wales, we support more than 40,000 people each year to achieve lasting, transformational change.
Alongside frontline local delivery, we are driving change nationally - challenging stigma, influencing policy, and creating a society that believes in second chances and long-term recovery.
The opportunity
We are looking for an exceptional communications leader to join us in a job share Head of Communications role, working alongside an experienced colleague to shape and deliver a high-impact, organisation-wide communications strategy.
This is a unique opportunity to lead high-profile national campaigns, strengthen our voice across the media and digital landscape, and ensure our people - over 900 staff across the country, many with lived experience - remain connected, engaged, and inspired by our mission.
What you’ll lead
You will play a central role in amplifying our impact and growing our influence, including:
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- National campaigns and public engagement — including our flagship Taking Action on Addiction campaign and Addiction Awareness Week, supported by our Royal Patron, HRH Princess of Wales, reaching millions each year
- Media and profile-building — securing high-quality coverage, managing relationships with press, ambassadors, and influencers, including Lily Allen, Alasdair Campbell and many others
- Audience growth and supporter engagement — expanding our network of donors, partners, and advocates
- Digital and content strategy — driving a multi-platform approach that positions us as a thought leader in our field and also helps us reach the people who most need our support
- Internal communications and culture — ensuring our 900+ staff feel informed, connected, and part of a shared purpose
- Team leadership — jointly leading a skilled communications team and working closely with senior leaders, including our Chair, Tony Adams OBE, the CEO and Executive Team and Trustees.
Why this role matters
This role sits at the heart of how we influence change - shaping how we tell our story, how we reach people who need support, and how we mobilise public and political will.
You’ll help ensure our communications are not only compelling, but impactful - supporting service delivery, influencing systems, and ultimately helping more people rebuild their lives.
Who we’re looking for
We want a dynamic, values-driven communications professional who can operate both strategically and ‘hands-on’. You will:
- Bring a strong track record across PR, campaigns, digital, and internal communications
- Be confident leading complex, multi-channel communications activity
- Experience navigating complex organisational environments with diverse operational and service functions.
- Have experience translating organisational mission into clear, engaging messaging for diverse audiences
- Be a collaborative leader, comfortable working in a job share arrangement and across senior teams
- Combine creativity with delivery—able to move from strategy to execution at pace
- Bring a strategic and pragmatic approach to marketing, with strong attention to brand consistency and discipline.
- Be passionate about social justice and motivated by real-world impact
What we offer
- A high-profile, purpose-driven leadership role
- Flexibility through a supportive job share model
- The opportunity to shape national conversations and influence change
- A collaborative and ambitious organisation committed to growth and innovation
- A generous benefits package
If you’re ready to use your communications expertise to drive real social change, we’d love to hear from you.
About Us
We are The Forward Trust, the social enterprise with charitable status that empowers people to break the often interlinked cycles of crime and addiction to move forward with their lives. For more than 25 years we have been working with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past. We believe that anyone is capable of lasting change. Our services have supported thousands of people to make positive changes and build productive lives with a job, family, friends and a sense of community.
To Apply
If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for Forward Trust, please click apply to be redirected to our website to complete your application.