Managing director jobs in castle cary, somerset

HR Manager

Location: Fully Remote or flexible hybrid working in London
Pay: £17.95 per hour plus £2.17 per hour holiday pay (equivalent to £35,000 FTE)
Hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week (open to flexible/reduced hours 30 hours minimum)
Contract: 3-month temporary role

Charity People are delighted to be partnering with a fast-paced, purpose-led organisation supporting people from refugee backgrounds to rebuild their lives through meaningful employment.

As an HR Manager, you will be reporting to the Director of People and play a pivotal role in ensuring they remain an inclusive, effective, and people-led organisation. You'll provide high-quality HR advice and support across the employee lifecycle and help drive forward strategic initiatives focused on staff wellbeing, inclusive recruitment, learning and development, and equity in the workplace.

Key Responsibilities

General HR & Advice

• Act as first point of contact for all staff on HR-related matters
• Provide advice and coaching to managers on people issues including employee relations
• Represent the People Team across internal working groups, embedding HR best practice
• Ensure a culture of inclusion, support and psychological safety

Recruitment, Onboarding & Offboarding

• Oversee and improve inclusive recruitment practices
• Coordinate recruitment processes and onboarding with hiring managers
• Lead the Buddy Scheme and ensure meaningful inductions
• Track and analyse exit interview feedback for organisational learning

Learning & Development

• Support delivery of the Learning & Development strategy
• Coordinate and support annual appraisal processes
• Deliver internal training aligned with organisational values and goals

Employee Wellbeing & Benefits

• Champion and coordinate wellbeing initiatives
• Support health and risk assessments, reasonable adjustments, and safeguarding
• Manage benefit schemes including Cycle to Work

HR Systems & Compliance

• Maintain and improve use of the HRIS (currently BreatheHR)
• Track employee engagement surveys and action plans
• Keep up to date with employment law and ensure policy compliance (including GDPR)
• Support the annual HR policy review and delivery

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

• Chair and coordinate the DEI Working Group and Forums
• Drive delivery of the annual DEI action plan
• Contribute to the implementation of the Lived Experience Strategy

Payroll & Administration

• Work with Finance and payroll providers to ensure accurate and timely pay
• Maintain accurate employee records including absence, pensions, and contractual changes

About You

You will have demonstrable experience across the full employee lifecycle, including recruitment, employee relations, learning and development, and diversity, equity and inclusion. You will have a strong working knowledge of employment law and HR best practices, alongside the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. You will have exceptional communication and relationship-building skills, strong IT and HRIS experience, and a proactive, problem-solving approach with excellent attention to detail. You will be well-organised, resilient, and confident working with stakeholders at all levels. Experience working in a charity or not-for-profit setting is desirable, as is a clear alignment with our mission and values.Bottom of Form

How to Apply

If you're available immediately and interested in this role, please send your CV as soon as possible, as we're reviewing applications on a rolling basis.

Closing date: Thursday 12th June

Interview: Tuesday 17th June

Start date: week commencing 23rd June

Charity People actively promotes equality, diversity and inclusion. We match charity needs with the skills and experience of candidates, irrespective of 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 know greater diversity will lead to even greater results for the charities we work with.

Join our friendly and mission-driven team at NFER, where you’ll help bridge the gap between research and classrooms. This is your chance to bring vital insights directly to schools – raising awareness of the NFER Classroom brand and increasing the reach and impact of our research findings within the education community.

Pay: £36,000 - £40,000 (FTE)
Contract: 18-month fixed-term contract
Hours: Part-time (21 hours)
Location: Remote within the UK, with occasional visits to our Slough office (approx. 6 times per year)
Annual Leave: 30 days plus 4 paid closure days FTE
Pension Contributions: 10% employer contributions
Family Support: Enhanced maternity/parental leave and paid compassionate leave

What you’ll be doing
In this role, you’ll be at the heart of our mission to connect schools with powerful, practical research. You’ll take a leading role in shaping how NFER communicates with educators, using your creativity and insight to bring our work to life across digital channels.

One day you might be crafting social media content that sparks conversation among teachers, the next, you’ll be writing an email newsletter that lands just right with a headteacher seeking evidence-based ideas. You’ll help turn research into engaging, accessible summaries, so schools can quickly grasp key insights and put them into action.

You’ll also update and improve our For Schools website pages, ensuring every word is useful and user-friendly. Behind the scenes, you’ll track performance using analytics, learning what works and what could work even better. And throughout it all, you’ll collaborate with researchers, designers, and communications experts to deliver thoughtful, impactful campaigns that schools actually want to read.

PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential skills and experience:

• Experience in marketing communications or a related role
• Excellent writing skills and creative flair
• Confidence using digital tools such as social media platforms, Canva, Google Analytics and CRM systems
• Strong time management and the ability to work independently
• A collaborative approach and a clear focus on impact
• Experience working in or with schools is a bonus, but not essential.

If you meet only 70% of our essential skills, still apply; you may have skills we didn’t know we needed.

Other roles you may have experience of include: Marketing Executive, Marketing Officer, Marketing Assistant, Marketing Coordinator, Marketing Specialist, Brand Executive, Communications Executive, Digital Marketing Executive, Social Media Executive, Content Marketing Executive, Email Marketing Executive, SEO Executive

WHY NFER?
At NFER, we are recognised globally for providing trusted research, resources and insights that drive meaningful change. By joining us, you’ll contribute to a mission that prioritises impact over profit, working in an environment where collaboration, flexibility, and inclusion are valued.
What we offer:

• A supportive and inclusive workplace culture.
• Opportunities to develop your skills and advance your career.
• Flexible working arrangements to support work-life balance from day 1.
• The chance to make a real difference in the education sector.

APPLICATION PROCESS
We are reviewing applications on a rolling basis and encourage you to apply early. Shortlisting will commence from 23rd June 2025.

We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require any adjustments or accommodations at any stage, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re here to support
you and ensure a positive experience. For further details, please review the Job Information Pack.

If you’re ready to bring your skills and passion to a role that makes a difference, we’d love to hear from you. Apply now and start your journey with NFER.

We are looking for a CEO for our ambitious maths charity. Will you help us make life easier for teachers and more interesting for students?

About the charity 

Dr Frost Learning is an education charity that believes there should be no barriers to a student’s desire to learn. Our product, Dr Frost Maths, allows students to learn maths online whether independently or via their school. We also provide learning materials and resources to support teachers, so children can maximise their potential in mathematics in and out of the classroom.

Tens of thousands of teachers, and hundreds of thousands of students use our product every month. Over 1000 schools subscribe to our paid product which is subsidised by our generous funders and donors. As we enter our fourth year as a charity we have some key priorities:

- Continue to migrate from a reliance on philanthropic funding to a subscription model

- Deepen our offerings in maths to support more teachers and more students

- Increase our focus on schools which have either high levels of social deprivation or teachers who are not STEM trained

We need a leader who is going to help us deliver on those and work with us to decide what the future strategy should be.  We are positive about our future, keen to use the latest technologies to improve our offerings, and ambitious to meet the requirements of students and teachers in new and exciting ways.

Our name recognition is incredibly high. Our reach into schools, across the UK and beyond, is very strong. Our charitable status differentiates us from our competitors.

About the role

We are looking to appoint a CEO to lead our Charity. You will be working with a committed Board, alongside our founder and Chief Mathematician, Dr Jamie Frost, and with a staff team all dedicated to delivering a top class, online, maths education.

We have a lot of maths expertise, and our developers are excellent. What we need is someone who can lead the team, create a great working environment, and grow the business. So we need a proven leader who has an entrepreneurial mindset, perhaps with experience growing a start-up business, but definitely passionate about the transformational power of a good maths education.

Jamie Frost joins Board Meetings as an advisor. He has handed over all his intellectual property to the Charity. He much prefers creating teaching materials and going out into schools than managing staff and getting involved in the day to day running of things. He will report to the CEO.

Job description

Lead all aspects of DFL, exciting stakeholders with the vision and inspiring staff to give their best every day

Create a high performing culture across the organisation which makes people proud to work at DFL and which produces content that delights and inspires all who use it

Work with the Board to define strategy, focusing on deepening our offer in maths and potentially broadening our offer in other subjects

Translate the strategy into action plans, and clear measurable milestones and objectives, and drive the organisation to meet them 

Develop a sustainable funding model that balances subscriptions, philanthropy, and seeks sources of income from areas outside but close to our vision

Keep abreast of changes in the education landscape, both policy and technology, ensuring that DFL is never left behind as new areas develop

Person Specification

Essential

· Passion for the transformative power of a good maths education

· Have led teams and can demonstrate and breadth of experience and understanding which means that could be the CEO of a small, but ambitious, organisation

· Able to demonstrate a growth mindset

Desirable

· Experience of growing a small business or startup, in a leadership role

· Experience of technology business, ideally software

· Knowledge of VC or philanthropic funding

Salary and terms

· £90,000 p.a.

· 10% employer pension (5% employee contributions, with the option to contribute more via salary sacrifice)

· Fully remote working with the option of using our London co-working space as much or as little as you like

· 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays

Closing date is Sunday 29th June

Join Birthrights as Our New CEO!

Location: Remote (UK-based). Must be prepared to travel to London and other UK locations for frequent meetings with staff, funders and stakeholders.

Salary: £70,000 to £75,000 per annum, dependent on experience

Why Join Us?

• Impact: Make a real difference in the lives of women, birthing people and families.
• Flexibility: We offer flexible working arrangements, including remote work and compressed hours.
• Culture: Join a kind, progressive, and inclusive team dedicated to respectful care during pregnancy and childbirth.
• Growth: Be part of an organisation with ambitious plans for growth and innovation.

About Birthrights: Birthrights is the UK's leading authority on the rights of women and birthing people during pregnancy and birth in the UK. Our work is critical to not only transforming the experiences and outcomes for individuals but also in shifting wider policy, practice and systems. We champion respectful care during pregnancy and childbirth, ensuring that all women are treated with dignity and humanity. Our work is grounded in the belief that every woman has the right to make informed choices about her care and to be supported in those choices.

The Role: Are you passionate about making a difference in the lives of women and birthing people? Do you thrive in a collaborative and supportive environment? Birthrights is looking for a dynamic and compassionate CEO to lead our dedicated team. This is a unique opportunity to drive change, advocate for birth rights, and work alongside a group of passionate individuals committed to our cause.

Key Responsibilities:

• Leadership: Provide compassionate and bold leadership to a remote-working team, fostering a collaborative and supportive culture.
• Strategic Vision: With the Board and staff, refine and lead the successful implementation of the organisation's strategic and operational plans.
• Influencing: Lead creative and bold external campaigns, policy development, and influencing efforts to advance birth rights.
• Financial Management: Oversee financial operations, ensuring sustainability and growth.
• Fundraising and Business Development: Oversee the fundraising efforts and business development initiatives to support Birthrights' mission.
• Board Collaboration: Work closely with the board to shape and implement strategic goals.

Person Specification:

• Essential:
• Background in the charity sector.
• Genuine passion for Birthrights' cause.
• Strong people management skills.
• High emotional intelligence (EQ).
• Competence in financial management.
• Skills in business development and fundraising.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to work closely with the board.
• Strategic and radical leadership skills
• Ability to oversee delivery of policy and programmes to drive impact aligned with organisational strategy and principles
• Ability to build relationships and foster strong collaborative partnerships
• Ability to lead courageously
• Desirable:
• Lived experience of birth or professional experience in maternity care or significant involvement in campaigning or representing people's rights.
• Experience in policy development and influencing.
• Experience in leading bold external campaigns.
• Experience managing remote working or hybrid teams of part-time staff
• Experience of community power building and working as part of movements for change

Our Team: At Birthrights, we believe in the power of collaboration and teamwork. Our team is close-knit, passionate, and dedicated to making a positive impact. We work remotely but stay connected through regular meetings and touchpoints, ensuring that everyone feels supported and valued. We are committed to fostering a culture of kindness, inclusivity, and mutual respect.

Equity, Diversity and inclusion: Birthrights is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in our organisation and our external work. We know that diversity in all its forms brings more perspectives, experiences and knowledge, and it makes us a better, stronger organisation.

As an organisation, our employees have recently trained with the Queer Birth Club on LGBTQ+ competency and have undertaken extensive training with JMB Consulting on anti-racism.

We are using positive action in our recruitment as part of our commitment to EDI. This means we are actively seeking candidates from under-represented groups (people of colour, women, LGBTQ+, disabled people, socioeconomic background). If two candidates are equally qualified for the role, we will appoint the candidate with this background under the provisions of the Equality Act 2010. Please let us know if you require reasonable adjustments so we can accommodate your needs.

How to Apply: If you are passionate about advocating for birth rights and have the skills and experience to lead our organisation, we would love to hear from you. Please submit your CV to and we will forward you the candidate pack.

Webinar: Join our informational webinar on Thursday 22 May, 12.30 - 1.30 to learn more about the role. The registration link is in the candidate pack.

Application Deadline: Please submit your application by 5.00pm on Monday 9^th June, 2025.

Join Our Mission at Neuroendocrine Cancer UK

We are seeking a passionate and experienced Individual Giving Fundraiser to join our small, dynamic team during an exciting period of growth. This newly created role is pivotal in shaping and delivering our individual giving strategy, helping to secure the long-term sustainability of our work.

You will lead on developing and implementing initiatives to grow our regular giving and legacy programmes, while identifying new opportunities to engage and inspire individual supporters.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who is ambitious, creative, and ready to make a real impact in a growing charity.

About Neuroendocrine Cancer UK (NCUK)

Neuroendocrine Cancer UK is a national charity with a clear mission: to support and inform patients and families from diagnosis, enable access to the best care and treatment, stimulate research, raise awareness, and influence improvements in outcomes.

We deliver our mission through four strategic priorities:

1. Patient support and advocacy
2. Education and awareness
3. Research and innovation
4. Policy and service improvement

If you’re ready to bring your skills and passion to a cause that matters, we’d love to hear from you.

The Noah’s Ark Charity supports the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales in providing world-class care, helping to ensure the best outcome and experience possible for children and their families.

Having raised more than £30 million to build and equip the hospital, today we continue to work hand in hand with the NHS, providing funding for the most up-to-date equipment and facilities. We also fund services like the play specialist team and emotional support for families.

This is an opportunity for a motivated and enthusiastic individual to join a small but determined team.  Working closely with the wider charity team, this role offers a real opportunity to see the impact that your work has on the children and families we support and to grow our fundraising reach within your geographical region.

The geographical region will cover anything west of Bridgend and up to Aberystwyth. Ideally, candidates would be based in the Carmarthen/Llanelli area. This is a home-based role, with frequent travel throughout Wales, and monthly travel to Cardiff.

Scope of role

This recently created role within the Noah’s Ark Charity, which will grow our regional community fundraising presence and offering.  The postholder will know the West Wales area well and will become the expert in fundraising opportunities within the region, building strong relationships within the community, including companies and will develop supporter-led activity. The postholder will plan for and deliver income for the charity within the region, in line with wider fundraising strategy. 

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Income generation

- To plan for and deliver income to target through key performance indicators as agreed with community fundraising manager.

- To develop new supporter relationships within the community, in a planned way, to achieve income and provide excellent supporter care to ensure the relationship is ongoing, beyond one-off support for the charity.

- To lead on and deliver community fundraising within the region, through relationships with patient families, third party fundraisers, community groups, schools and education establishments and public bodies.

- To build strong corporate partnerships within the region, to an agreed income level, with the support of the community fundraising manager and head of fundraising and development.

- To lead on key projects to develop income generation.

- To contribute to the strategic development of community fundraising.

- Plan and deliver events in the community where necessary.

- Secure and deliver engaging presentations to groups and organisations.

2. Ambassador programme

- To build the family ambassador programme within the region, growing the network of key supporters who will represent and be the face of the charity within their local community.

- Support the community fundraising manager with the development of the ambassador programme including training and thanking opportunities.

3. Supporter experience

- To champion consistent and excellent supporter care.

- To record all communications accurately on the database, ensuring information is gathered and recorded in accordance with the requirements of the data protection act, GDPR and the charity’s data protection policy.

- To respond to supporter enquiries in a timely manner and deal with complaints, escalating as appropriate.

- To deliver an excellent supporter journey and contribute to the central supporter journey for community fundraising. 

4. Cross team working

- To work collaboratively with fundraising colleagues across the team to deliver wider fundraising income and charity objectives.  For example, gifts in wills, regular giving, event participation, volunteering and communications.

5. Budgets

- Work with the community fundraising manager and head of fundraising and development, to build and manage a detailed fundraising budget, including income and expenditure.

- Provide forecasts throughout the year, for agreed streams of income.

6. Best practice

- Ensure all fundraising practice is in line with organisational guidelines and policies.

- Encourage and champion compliance and best practice within the fundraising team.

- Ensure own compliance with fundraising standards and requirements, keeping up to date with key policies and regulations, including the fundraising regulator, chartered institute of fundraising and the charity commission.

7. Undertake any other duties which might be required to fulfil the general purpose of the post.

Location: Homebased

Contract: Full time, fixed term 1 year contract.

Salary: Salary £34,000 per annum

Closing Date: 26 June 2025

If you have the creativity and skills to develop engaging and accessible elearning content that supports youth development, then joining Sea Cadets as a Senior Virtual Learning Officer could be a good move for you!

The Marine Society & Sea Cadets (MSSC) is a vibrant and growing charity delivering life changing nautical adventure for young people through the Sea Cadets to give them the best possible head start in life. We also provide personal and professional development opportunities for seafarers with the Marine Society. Working with our staff, cadets, and volunteers, we have built a vision and five-year strategy to take us forward and further improve the astounding contribution already made through our work to the lives of thousands of young people and seafarers, while fully supporting our volunteers who are vital to our success.

We are currently looking for a Senior Virtual Learning Officer to join our learning development team.

This role will be involved in the development of training covering subjects such as:

• Safeguarding
• EDI topics such as Autism and Gender Diversity
• Health and Safety
• Onboarding new adult volunteers to Sea Cadets

If you enjoy eLearning development this could be the role for you.

Responsibilities

• Work with course designers to develop new, and maintain existing, elearning and media content.
• Translate storyboards into interactive learning content, creating activities, graphics, animations, audio and videos, using tools such as Articulate (Storyline and Rise), Canva, H5P, Murf and Adobe.
• Ensure learning meets development guidelines, and is accessible, functional and engaging.
• Integrate learning content to create courses on our learning management system (Moodle).
• Test learning content, including using screen readers and other accessibility software.
• Help to maintain the guidelines for course development.
• Support the day-to-day administration of the Sea Cadets learning management environment
• Cultivate strong working relationships across multiple teams (internal and external)
• Stay up to date with latest system upgrades and advise on their potential impact on existing or new courses

Requirements

• eLearning development experience ( e.g. tools such as Articulate Storyline and Rise, or similar)
• Experience in media creation for graphics, sound and video editing.
• Good MS Office skills

Desirable

• Experience using Teams and SharePoint
• Knowledge of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
• LMS Administration experience (our platform is based on Moodle, Mahara and Alfresco but other LMS skills will be transferable)
• Subject matter knowledge in one of the following areas:
  • Supporting Autistic young people
  • Specialised educational needs
  • Other Equity, Diversity and Inclusion subjects
  • Safeguarding
  • Onboarding new people

For further information, please download the Recruitment Pack.

Benefits

• Some hybrid working opportunities
• Cycle to work scheme and Season Ticket Loan
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Life assurance (4x salary) for those that join the pension
• Private medical insurance
• Pension (employer contribution up to 10%)
• Wellbeing portal and EAP with 121 counselling
• Employee development: We are investing in our employees' development and have an annual calendar of learning and development opportunities, designed to support employees to develop into their roles and stretch them to achieve their full potential.
• National staff conference: All employees come together once a year to reflect on the past year and celebrate success at our staff conference. This is a great opportunity to listen to employees' views, and for employees to network, share information and socialise.

Additional Information

MSSC positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates from all backgrounds. Equity, diversity, and inclusion really matters to us, so we can best serve our beneficiaries from every community. We work to ensure a fair and consistent recruitment process and aim to be a charity where diversity of experience, identity and skills are valued and welcomed. MSSC is an equal opportunities employer.

We recognise our responsibilities to safeguard and protect the young people and vulnerable adults with whom we work. We do all we can to promote their health, safety and wellbeing, and we expect our staff to share this commitment and work in line with safeguarding policy, the MSSC’s values and ethos of inclusivity. We adhere to safer recruitment practices and therefore employment is subject to detailed pre-employment checks for successful candidates, including references and criminal disclosure checks and the completion of a disclosure questionnaire.

All successful applicants are required to attend safeguarding training and undergo a criminal record check, and successfully acquire MoD security clearance.

Location: Home based, or office based at Society Building, 8 All Saints Street, London N1, in line with NCVO’s flexible working policy or home working policy.

About the role

As a Finance Business Partner, you will have responsibility for the leading the annual budget setting process for the organisation – circa. £8m.

You'll report to to the CEO, Executive Team (ET), and with the Finance and Commercial Director (FCD) support the preparation of papers for the Board on the numbers, with narrative, detail and analysis where appropriate.

The role will not line manage but will be expected to coach, mentor, collaborate with and contribute to the development of the other members of the finance team - we are, all of us, internal customer facing.

As Finance Business Partner, you will be responsible for supporting budget holders to produce robust forecasts for the Management Accounts and to produce monthly Management Accounts with the Finance Manager.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

NCVO is fully committed to equity, diversity and inclusion in our sector. We want this to be reflected in the diversity of the people who work for us and we welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and identities.

We particularly welcome applications from under-represented groups in the voluntary sector and those with diverse, lived experience. As part of our commitment to employing disabled people, all disabled candidates who meet the minimum requirement for all competencies on the person specification will be guaranteed an interview.

If you have access needs or require reasonable adjustments as part of the recruitment process, please let us know.

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to complete a pre-interview task and will have one week to complete the exercise. Interview question themes will be shared in advance. NCVO is an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from everyone.

Benefits for NCVO employees

NCVO offers attractive benefits including:

• ​25 days’ annual leave (for full time staff and pro-rata for part-time staff) and office closure between 25 December and 1 January inclusive. After three years' service annual holiday increases to 27 days, and after five years to 30 days, (pro rata for part time staff)
• ​the option to purchase or sell up to five more days each year
• ​five days’ volunteering leave (pro rata for part-time staff)
• ​2.5 extra ‘wellbeing’ days off during the year
• ​enhanced pay for sick/maternity/adoption leave
• ​subsidised gym membership
• ​season ticket loan
• ​flexible working, including opportunities to work from home/off site
• ​monthly homeworking allowance for permanent homeworkers
• ​monthly office worker allowance for those who have to work from the office on a daily basis
• ​generous employer pension contribution of up to 8.5% of salary, into our stakeholder pension scheme (linked to employee contribution)
• ​training and development opportunities.
• ​The opportunity to join Hospital Saturday Fund health cash plan for free at the basic level of cover, or at a reduced rate for other levels of cover
• ​24-hour free and confidential employee assistance programme

​We’re located a short walk from London King’s Cross station in a modern accessible building, overlooking Regent’s canal.

About NCVO

We are the charities charity. For over 100 years, NCVO has stood shoulder to shoulder with communities, championing and celebrating voluntary action.

​Our membership is made up of over 17,000 voluntary organisations across England, from small, grassroots community groups and social enterprises, to large, far-reaching charities.

​We believe that communities are strengthened by voluntary action. We therefore want charities to thrive and be empowered to deliver for people and communities.

​We focus on empowering charities and volunteers by making sure they have the knowledge, tools, and resources they need. We advocate for and with our members, giving voice to those not often heard, and harnessing the collective power of partners to ensure the voluntary sector is valued. We bring charities together so they can learn, connect, and create greater impact.

​As the voluntary sector and volunteering adapt to new challenges and a changing context, so must NCVO. We are therefore prioritising work to evolve as an organisation to ensure we live our values of ambition, inclusion, openness and collaboration in everything we do internally and externally.

​We have around 80 staff and income of more than £7m per year. With our members at the heart of everything we do, our mission is to unite to champion the remarkable role of charities and volunteers. Because stronger charities make for stronger communities.

Closing date: 10 June 2025 at 08.00

Shortlisting date: 11 June 2025

Interviews: 20 June 2025

We are looking for an experienced and passionate Senior Programme Officer to work as part of our National Programmes Team.

This is a 25 hour a week fixed term position until July 2026

Imagine being part of an organisation whose common purpose is to help those who are severely impacted by mental illness. We believe that everyone should be treated with respect and dignity – and that’s why equity is one of our core values. We draw on the expertise, unique perspectives and lived experience of our people – regardless of who they are or their background – to help us become inclusive and anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider that reflect the diverse communities we support as a mental health charity.

Mental Health UK brings together the heritage and experience of four charities from across the country who’ve been supporting people with their mental health for nearly 50 years.

With our local service delivery and national expertise in supporting people whose lives are affected by mental health problems, we have been able to mark a significant footprint in the areas that deeply challenge our mental health and stability.

We provide support and services for some of the biggest societal challenges that pose a threat to people’s mental health, including money problems, navigating through the system to get the right support, understanding mental health, loneliness and isolation, and resilience in young people.

The Mental Health UK programmes team is responsible for the delivery of high-quality programmes and projects that: meet the aims and objectives of Mental Health UK’s 2025-2030 Strategy, strategically align with the needs and expectations of our four founding charities, deliver for all stakeholders including funding partners and beneficiaries.

We design, deliver and measure the impact of our projects and services, ensuring that they meet the needs of people living with mental health problems and have a positive impact on the lives of individuals and communities across the UK.

One in four people in the UK have experienced a mental health problem. At Mental Health UK, we won’t stop until everyone has the tools they need to live their best possible life.

How you will make a difference

As Senior Programme Officer, I will support the Head of Commercial Insight & Development to ensure Mental Health UK delivers high quality projects and programmes that:

• Meet the aims and objectives of our 2025-30 strategy.
• Are strategically aligned with the needs and expectations of our four founding charities.
• Deliver for all stakeholders, including funding partners and beneficiaries.

In this role, I will support the Head of Commercial Insight & Development to identify opportunities to grow and expand our existing programmes. I will work with the Communications and Marketing Team to identify opportunities throughout our programmes to demonstrate our impact as an organisation.

I will oversee the day-to-day delivery of projects within Mental Health UK’s portfolio, supporting colleagues across Mental Health UK and the four founding charities to ensure outputs are delivered on time and to budget, and outcomes are achieved as planned.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion 

Diversity is important to us and we appreciate difference through difference, inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we’re working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer.  We recognise and support staff networks and support groups for our ethnically diverse and LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter. 

We aim for our workforce to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve; for those who work for us to feel heard, valued and feel they belong; and for our work to help tackle wider mental health inequalities. We therefore actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience of mental illness, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and any other gender identity not expressed here (LGBTQIA+); people who are neurodiverse, have a health condition, or a disability or hidden disability and people from an ethnically diverse background - regardless of your age, religious or spiritual belief, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, political view or socio-economic status.

Becoming a truly anti-racist organisation 

We have an ambition of become a truly anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider - and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in our anti-racist statement . We have designed a multi-year anti-racist programme of work contained in our Race Equality Action Plan which demonstrates our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti-racist organisation. You can read more about our progress here. 

One of our fantastic clients is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Head of External Affairs to develop and implement a comprehensive external affairs strategy. This pivotal role will be instrumental in strengthening societies and changing lives, working closely with senior leadership to lead government relations across the UK and cultivate relationships with elected representatives, the Civil Service, and key partners within the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sectors.

The successful candidate will lead a team of public affairs, policy, and influencing professionals, contributing to the wider communications strategy. They will leverage an extensive network of stakeholders and a deep understanding of policy and public affairs to stay abreast of significant developments, ensuring the organisation remains proactive in its positioning and sensitive areas.

This role requires a leader who can inspire and develop a team of External Affairs professionals, devising and executing projects in a fast-paced environment while ensuring alignment with strategic goals. The External Affairs mandate is exceptionally diverse, spanning devolved governments across the UK and increasing regional devolution within England. Regular travel to attend meetings and spend time with colleagues across the UK will be required.

The Head of External Affairs will provide a professional, consistent, and expert service, supporting strategic activity across the organisation. They will oversee tailoring outputs to effectively reach key external affairs stakeholders and play a senior role in assessing areas of reputational risk.

Key responsibilities

• As a member of the communications leadership team, take ownership of, create, and implement a comprehensive external affairs strategy to deliver the organisation's missions and strategic objectives, including significant activity in the national portfolios, integrated and aligned to its communications strategy.

• Provide strategic oversight of government relations, public affairs, and strategic engagement across the UK, including relationships with sponsor bodies, working closely with the CEO Office and Portfolio Directors. Offer strategic guidance, sound judgement, and advice to senior leadership and other teams, driving a consistent organisational approach to relationship management.

• Take responsibility for strategic horizon scanning for external affairs activity across the mission areas, ensuring information and advice is shared directly with the CEO and senior colleagues, and opportunities for stakeholder engagement and influencing are maximised.

• Devise and lead a programme of external engagement with key policy, political, and mission-related stakeholders for the Chair, CEO, Board Members, and other senior leaders. This includes owning and coordinating key messages and briefings, attending meetings as appropriate, and ensuring actions are followed up.

• Oversee the design and delivery of engagement programmes that measurably increase engagement with key political and other audiences. Identify and manage risks, trends, or opportunities to protect and enhance the organisation's reputation and ensure successful influencing among key stakeholders.

• Plan and deliver a continuous review and evaluation of activities, including external benchmarking, measurement of engagement levels, and performance standards to ensure effective delivery of the External Affairs strategy across the four nations.

• Lead and develop a high-performing team, delegating work effectively, ensuring appropriate use of resource across the team, and providing and commissioning external suppliers and internal stakeholders to deliver high-quality plans.

Person Specifications

• Substantial experience leading government relations, public affairs, policy, and advocacy in a large, matrix organisation, ideally interacting with devolved administrations (national and mayoral).

• Experience in building and maintaining relationships with senior political and other stakeholders, fostering collaboration across diverse communities and perspectives.

• Experience of planning and executing strategic engagement across a range of high-profile audiences and activities, including responsibility for Chair/CEO/Board-level engagement.

• Experience of strategic planning and decision-making at a local, regional, and national level, including with peer organisations and local governments.

• Excellent interpersonal, networking, and communication skills, with the ability to engage diverse audiences with clarity and inclusivity.

• Experience of briefing and working with senior leaders in support of organisational and engagement objectives, often at short notice, including providing counsel in times of reputational risk and navigating complex organisational dynamics.

• Demonstrable leadership and project-management ability, with experience developing high-performing teams, resource management, and working in a matrix-management and collaborative environment.

• Experience commissioning agencies and third-party suppliers to work with internal stakeholders to deliver high-quality plans.

• Experience of continued professional, managerial, and personal development within the relevant discipline.

• If this role is based in Wales, or supports customers or colleagues in Wales, an understanding of Welsh language legislation and the Welsh Language Standards of the organisation is required.

What’s on Offer:

• Salary of £54,277-£60,000 outside London or £59,000-£66,500 inside London 

• Full time role 

• 12 month contract

• Immediate start 

How to Apply: To apply, please submit your CV demonstrating your suitability for this role by clicking the “apply now” button via our website.

The process: If your experience aligns with what we're looking for, a member of our team will be in contact to discuss the role with you in more detail before presenting your profile to the client. We will also ensure that all applicants receive an email to inform them of the outcome of their application.

To avoid any potential delays or your application being missed, please apply solely via the 'Apply Now' button.

Commitment to Diversity: The Talent Set and our partner organisation are committed to diverse and inclusive recruitment practices, ensuring equal opportunities for all applicants regardless of race, sexual orientation, disability, age, or gender. We actively encourage applications from a wide range of backgrounds and are always happy to make reasonable adjustments to ensure a fair recruitment process.

Sands exists to save babies’ lives and ensure that anyone affected by pregnancy loss or baby death receives the support and care they need.

Bereaved parents and families are at the heart of why Sands exists. Sharing their experiences of pregnancy and baby loss, and what connects and involves them with our work, is both an important part of their bereavement journey and a way to demonstrate the need for our vision and mission to succeed. This role will help us to show in a real and human, authentic way, what Sands is doing to save babies’ lives and support bereaved families.

Sharing these personal stories in external communications will help us reach more people, bringing to life the work we do in a way that engages diverse audiences, and increasing the likelihood of their taking actions in support of Sands.  

This new role has been developed to support the Communications & Engagement team to develop our story-telling function, build our real stories library and ensure the associated consent and stewardship processes are compassionate, efficient and effective. The Stories Officer will ensure wherever possible, that external communications assets and content created by teams across Sands includes the voices of people touched by pregnancy and baby loss – including those who have been personally affected, and those who are allies of Sands, such as healthcare professionals, corporate partners, research partners, fundraisers and more.

You will have experience of working in a charity stories or communications team, or in a stories-led environment such as journalism.

A good knowledge of compliance and safeguarding issues, including experience of working with vulnerable people in a communications context is required.

With excellent written communication and creative skills, you will be able to produce work that captures and conveys real life experiences in a sensitive and compassionate tone.

You will be highly organised with the ability to multi-task and work across more than one project simultaneously.

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced strategic lead to drive the next phase of our Right to Health campaign. This new role will work with our experienced and well respected team and our extensive network, to make the political case for the better legal recognition and real-world protection for the right to health. 

An ideal candidate

You will be a passionate and experienced advocate for health, human, social or environmental rights, committed to driving meaningful change in the UK. You will bring proven expertise in leading policy, advocacy, or parliamentary engagement work - ideally within health, human rights, social or environmental justice sectors - and thrive in building strong, strategic relationships with government, civil society, and community stakeholders.

You have a good understanding of the structural causes of health inequality and the power of human rights frameworks to address them. You will know how the UK political and parliamentary systems work, and you are skilled at influencing these processes through clear, compelling narratives backed by evidence.

You are able to communicate with clarity and impact, tailoring your message to diverse audiences - from policymakers to grassroots activists. You are confident working independently and collaboratively within a small, flexible team, balancing strategic vision with practical delivery. Your approach is solutions-focused, inclusive, and grounded in the lived realities of people affected by health inequalities.

Most importantly, you are motivated by the opportunity to join a dynamic and well respected organisation and lead a strategic campaign that challenges the status quo and contributes to a fairer, more just UK.

You have the right to work in the UK and be able to work from home in London or within easy reach of London.  A minimum of weekly attendance in London will be required.

This opportunity is open to applicants wishing to deliver the work on a self-employed freelance or employed basis.