Introduction to TDS
TDS is a not-for-profit organisation with a clear social purpose: to raise standards in the private rented sector. Established to create a fairer and more professional rental market by protecting deposits and resolving deposit disputes, TDS has since expanded its mission. Today, we invest in a range of additional services and initiatives that further our commitment to improving the sector.
Key initiatives relevant to this role include:
- Developing an influential research programme to ensure that laws and regulations are informed by robust evidence.
- Funding a range of projects and organisations through our two independent charities.
- Leveraging our direct communication channels with millions of tenants, landlords, and letting agents to educate and inform all parties.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Key initiatives relevant to this role include:
- Developing an influential research programme to ensure that laws and regulations are informed by robust evidence.
- Funding a range of projects and organisations through our two independent charities.
- Leveraging our direct communication channels with millions of tenants, landlords, and letting agents to educate and inform all parties.
Introduction to the Role
We are looking for a Research and Policy Officer (Maternity Cover) to join our expanding Policy and Research department, which also oversees the TDS Charitable Foundation. This is a pivotal role supporting our mission to improve standards in the private rented sector through impactful research, thought leadership, and policy engagement.
The successful candidate will play a key part in delivering our research programme, including overseeing flagship projects like the Voice of the Tenant and Voice of the Landlord surveys, and producing high-quality qualitative and quantitative research.
You will also support the smooth running of the Charitable Foundation’s grant-making and governance activities and contribute to our work influencing policy and practice across the UK’s private rented sector.
This is a great opportunity for someone passionate about housing, with a solid grounding in research and an interest in policy, to join a values-driven organisation delivering real-world impact.
PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Research
1. Collaborate with external research contractors to deliver the regular ‘Voice of the Tenant’ and ‘Voice of the Landlord’ Survey.
2. Ensure the research findings are widely disseminated through different channels, including events, publications, briefings and digital content.
3. Help identify research gaps and contribute to the development execution of new research projects or commissioning of external research.
4. Conduct proactive desk-based research to identify emerging trends, new policy developments, and partnership opportunities relevant to the Foundation and the sector.
5. Undertake in-house research activities, such as literature reviews, focus groups, stakeholder interviews, where required.
6. Contribute to the drafting and production of high-quality research reports and briefings, ensuring clarity, accessibility, and relevance for policy and practice audiences.
Policy
7. Monitor and analyse relevant legislative and regulatory developments, consultations, and debates, identifying implications for the sector and TDS’s work.
8. Support the development of TDS’s policy positions by preparing briefings, drafting responses to consultations, and summarising evidence from research.
9. Help communicate TDS’s policy insights and positions clearly and effectively to internal stakeholders, partners, and decision-makers.
Charity co-ordination
10. Act as a key point of contact for grant-funded projects, supporting projects to share progress and impact, and identify any support needs.
11. Help to Coordinate the TDS Charitable Foundation’s quarterly Board of Trustee meetings, including preparing board papers, taking minutes, and following up on actions.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential characteristics
1. Qualifications and experience
Essential:
- Educated to degree level in a relevant subject.
- At least 3 years’ experience in research, social policy or similar role (or equivalent post-graduate study).
- Knowledge of research design
- Proven track record of producing content to communicate to different audiences.
- Experience of building relationships with external stakeholders.
Desirable:
- Knowledge of the housing sector or charitable work.
2. Job Knowledge
Must be able to:
- Demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Show an ability to build relationships with stakeholders.
- Demonstrate organisational skills to help coordinate multiple projects.
- Utilise strong IT skills including sound knowledge of MS Office.
- Prove ability to write content for different audiences.
3. Communication
Must be able to:
- Work as part of a team;
- Have good interpersonal skills, communicating effectively with colleagues, funded projects and other stakeholders.
4. Equal Opportunities
- Must be able to demonstrate a commitment to equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion.
5. Required behaviour and attitude
- Applicants must be able to:
- demonstrate an affinity for customer excellence
- recognise the importance of fairness in all of our work
- demonstrate how they are making a difference in the work that they do
- is able to articulate the importance of teamwork
- are committed to excellence in all that we do;
- help create a great place to work.
TDS offers a plethora of benefits inclusive of:
- 33 days holiday inc bank holidays
- BUPA Private healthcare
- BUPA Wellbeing cash plan
- Pension Scheme
- Additional day off for your birthday
- Plus many more!
Hours of the role
35 hours per week. Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
To apply, please submit your CV and a covering letting outlining how your skills and experience match the person specification.
TDS is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion in our workforce and to be truly representative of all sections of society and our customers.
Registered Charity
101 - 500
Help tenants, landlords, and agents deal with deposit protection and dispute resolution as quickly and easily as possible.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.
BACKGROUND
Over the past 90 years, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has developed unparalleled expertise in responding to emergencies and helping uprooted communities to rebuild. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. The IRC is on the ground in more than 40 countries, providing emergency relief, relocating refugees and rebuilding lives in the wake of disaster.
The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those we serve. The IRC is a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable.
IRC UK
IRC UK is part of the IRC global network, which has its global headquarters in New York. Our team in the UK works to raise profile, deliver policy and practice change, and increase funding to help restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Since 2021, IRC UK has also provided integration services directly to refugees in England, a programme that is rapidly growing.
In Europe, the IRC also has offices in Berlin, Bonn, Brussels, Geneva and Stockholm.
The Purpose of the Role
The External Relations (ER) department includes private fundraising, marketing & communications and advocacy. ER’s goal is to mobilize external audiences to raise funding to meet core organization needs deliver programs that support our clients to recover and gain control of their lives; influence policy changes to improve outcomes for our clients; and build and grow our global brand.
The Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) team plays a vital role in supporting ER to advance our ambitious global strategy. The FP&A team (1) is a strategic finance partner to leadership and ER teams (2) leads revenue modelling and budget development (3) provide insights and analysis to support decision making on funding decisions and critical initiatives. ER’s FP&A team sits within the Business Operations and Analytics unit, the backbone of the ER department which provides best-in-class strategy, financial planning, analytics, and operational support. The FP&A Senior Analyst will also be an integral part of IRC’s broader Finance organization. The Senior Analyst, FP&A, will be assigned a portfolio of ER teams. This role requires strong project management, the ability to drive projects from end to end, strong communication and interpersonal skills, and the commitment to deliver high quality results at a fast pace
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
- Lead financial planning, reporting and analysis projects, with minimal supervision
- Build and maintain robust revenue and expense models
- Generate insights on performance, track progress and identify risks and opportunities to meet target
- Provide strategic decision making support on critical initiatives, including the development of business cases
- Develop a strong command of data and systems that enable FP&A delivery (e.g. Power BI, Integra, Salesforce)
- Produce high-quality deliverables (often spreadsheets, decks, memos, and analysis) with little re-work required
- Confidently present analysis and recommendations to global leaders to facilitate decision-making and alignment
- Collaborate closely with global senior leaders, building trusted relationships, making recommendations that account for their needs, and influencing them to act
- Promote a positive, collaborative, and inclusive working environment
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential
Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications:
- **Bachelors Degree, preferably in Finance, Economics or Business
- Solutions-oriented and ability to drive tasks and projects independently
- Ability to explain complex financial concepts to non-finance stakeholders
- Strong organizational and time-management skills – proven ability to prioritize against simultaneous demands and deliver at a fast pace
- **Strong analytical skills – analyze, interpret, and translate quantitative data into actionable insights
- Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills – breakdown complex problems
- **Advance command of Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Powerpoint, PowerQuery
- Experience with cloud-based planning tools (Salesforce), PowerBI and ERP systems is desirable
Experience:
·**Considerable experience in budgeting/ financial analysis/ performance tracking
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Reports to: CEO
Role type: permanent
Hours: 28 per week
Salary: £21,945.95 per annum (pro rata, based on a FTE salary of £29,000)
Job Description: Training and Events Officer
The Training and Events Officer will play a key role developing and delivering high quality professional development, training, events, workshops to SLA members and wider audiences. The postholder will develop inspirational, insightful and innovative routes to supporting SLA members to deliver on their school library provision remit, enabling children and young people to reach their full potential. This is an exciting opportunity for someone passionate about school libraries, education and training.
You will work with the CEO, SLA colleagues and key stakeholders to develop and deliver a comprehensive training offer, including leading on logistics planning and delivery of our flagship annual conference. In addition, you will develop and maintain a calendar of exciting events and opportunities to share knowledge and insight, working with colleagues to ensure the offer is timely and informative. A confident facilitator and coordinator, you will be comfortable leading on training delivery, or recruiting and working with external facilitators in order to achieve specific outcomes. Creative, with a flair for spotting opportunities for professional development, you will have a keen eye for detail and an ability to manage multiple workstreams and deadlines. Resource creation will be second-nature to you and you’ll be comfortable writing for adults and children, and young people.
Duties include:
- Logistics planning and delivery of the flagship event, SLA Annual Conference (currently called the Weekend Course) providing high quality professional development and networking opportunities to members
- With CEO and key stakeholders, supporting the development of a comprehensive, engaging and exciting conference programme and recruit 40 exhibitors, plus event speakers as needed
- Supporting development of the training strategy working with the CEO to define aims and objectives
- Developing and maintaining a calendar of training, workshops and events aligned with the training strategy, working with the CEO and SLA colleagues, in particular the Outreach Support Officer
- Creation of supporting resources, toolkits and lesson plans to increase training engagement and impact
- Delivering and facilitating inspirational and engaging training and events as required (online and in person)
- Developing relationships with partners to produce high quality webinars, training and online events – including SLA members, funders, external stakeholders
- Exploring and evaluating business and funded models for training and events to ensure an income stream
- Working with external facilitators, recruiting them as needed, to deliver training and workshops, ensuring delivery is aligned with SLA requirements and outcomes
- Managing all training and events administration, planning and logistics
- Working with the Marketing and Communications Officer and Sales and Membership Officer, to ensure effective communication and promotion of training and events, providing timely information and updates as needed
- Monitoring and evaluation of all training and events to ensure a high-quality offer, reach and impact that delivers on the SLA’s mission, applying learnings as needed
- Generating all event reports and updates as needed for internal and external use
- Contribute to relevant SLA communications including TSL, newsletters and promotional materials
All team members contribute to office admin, maintaining member data and general office support.
To be successful in this role you should ideally demonstrate:
· experience of working in school libraries, the education sector and a strong understanding of the education landscape
· experience developing and delivering inspirational training, to small and large groups, both online and in person
· understanding of what works (and what doesn’t) for different formats and types of training and using evaluation to establish impact
· experience creating training resources, toolkits and teaching and learning resources
· a clear understanding of the curriculum and teaching and learning outcomes
· confidence in developing relationships with a variety of stakeholders
· an ability to manage own workload, prioritise and meet competing deadlines
· creativity and innovation, with a solution-focused approach
· an ability to work flexibly around training and event delivery and travel across the UK as needed
An understanding of business models in relation to training will be an advantage, as will experience planning events. Building relationships with all stakeholders will be an important part of this role.
The salary for this position is £21,945.95 (FTE £29,000) for 28 hours per week, and comes with a 6% employer pension contribution.
We are open to discussing flexible working patterns, condensed hours or other arrangements we may not yet have thought of. This is a remote working role, with monthly all team meetings which you will be required to attend, in addition to training and events across the UK. We strongly encourage candidates of all different backgrounds and identities to apply. Each new role provides us with an opportunity for us to bring in a different perspective and we are always eager to diversify our team. The SLA is committed to building an inclusive, supportive place, where you can do brilliant and rewarding work.
Why work for the School Library Association?
We are in an exciting period of growth in the history of the SLA, with a new CEO, coinciding with the opportunity to influence a new government. Plans to redevelop our offer are in progress and you will have the opportunity to influence new approaches and ways of working. We are a small, friendly team who support each other to deliver an excellent service to our members and passionately believe in the power of school libraries to transform children and young people’s personal, social and educational outcomes.
Annual Leave is 25 days plus bank holidays. We offer free mental health support and counselling sessions and brilliant discounts with a variety of retailers including up to 40% off Vue cinema tickets through our HR partner.
About the School Library Association
The School Library Association (SLA) is an independent charity and membership organisation that believes every pupil is entitled to effective school library provision. The SLA supports all those working in school libraries. We have been representing the school library sector for more than eighty-five years, with membership to the Association thought of as essential to all those who work in and around school libraries. Membership to the SLA provides training, support in advocating with senior leadership teams, incredible discounts and collegiate networking opportunities for everybody working in and with school libraries.
How to apply
To apply please send your CV and a covering letter (no more than one page) detailing the experience you have in relation to the job description, that you can bring to this role, and how your skills align with what we are looking for. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. We truly appreciate all applications, but due to the volume we receive, we will not be able to provide individual feedback. No agencies please.
Deadline: Monday 2nd June, 9am. Please note we will be actively interviewing for this role; if you are interested apply as soon as possible as we may close recruitment early if the right candidate is found.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.