The National Youth Agency is looking for a new Chief Operating Officer to join our Executive Leadership Team.
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full-time - 37 hours per week
Salary: £85,000 per annum
Remote: This role is homebased (within the UK) with occasional to meetings, events and conferences.
What we do
As the national body for youth work, the NYA has a dual function. We are the professional statutory and regulatory body (PSRB) responsible for qualifications, quality standards, and safeguarding for youth work and services in England. In line with our charity mission and aims, we also champion youth work through research, advocacy, campaigns, and programmes.
We work in partnership and believe in collaborative leadership, listening to youth workers and the youth work sector so that we can understand their needs and respond to the challenges they face. We are ambitious for youth work and for young people and integrate youth voice and influence across our work
About the Role
Responsibilities will include:
- The COO leads the day-to-day functioning of the organisation to ensure smooth, efficient, and effective delivery of services. This is vital for maintaining operational stability and achieving strategic outcomes.
- They design and execute strategies that align with the organisation’s mission and long-term goals ensuring resources are used effectively and priorities are clear.
- They promote a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement through supporting employee engagement, productivity, and organisational success.
- The COO collaborates closely with the CEO/CFO and other senior leaders to drive strategic initiatives and business growth, ensuring unified leadership and coherent decision-making.
- They partner with the CFO to manage budgets, forecasts, and resource allocation. Financial oversight ensures sustainability and supports informed investment in strategic priorities.
- Strengthen governance and risk management frameworks, aligned to regulatory expectations and best practice while proactively managing reputational and operational risks.
- The COO cultivates strong relationships with partners, clients, and stakeholders to enhance service delivery and reputation. These relationships are key to influence, collaboration, and impact.
- They lead efforts to improve processes and adopt best practices across the charity to enhance efficiency and keeps the organisation competitive and responsive.
- They ensure that daily activities support the charities long-term objectives.
- The COO mentors other directors and departmental heads and fosters leadership capabilities across teams.
- They establish and track KPIs to identify inefficiencies and guide improvements through data-driven decision-making to enhance accountability and results.
- They evaluate and refine workflows to boost productivity developing efficient processes to reduce waste and improve service quality.
- They act as a bridge between departments and the CEO to ensure cohesive execution of strategic plans preventing silos and promoting organisational synergy.
- The COO serves as a senior figure in national and cross-sector forums, conferences, and strategic partnerships to strengthens the organisation’s voice and influence.
- They demonstrate commitment to Equality, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in both internal culture and external programmes to foster a fair and inclusive organisation.
- They work with the CEO, CFO and Director of Growth to identify and pursue new revenue streams and strategic partnerships. This expands the organisation’s reach and sustainability.
- They engage in public speaking, media interactions, and external representation demonstrating clear communication, credibility, and stakeholder engagement.
- They develop and embed evaluation frameworks to assess progress against strategic goals. The measuring of our impact ensures accountability and informs future planning.
- They promote the organisation’s brand at events and through networking.
The COO takes on other responsibilities as needed to support the organisation’s mission.
About You
Essential competencies of the Chief Operating Officer:
- Extensive experience in senior leadership with a proven track record in operations, financial and risk management, and delivering high-performing teams, ideally in the charity sector.
- Strong understanding of business functions such as HR, Finance, Marketing, etc.
- Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to think strategically and execute effectively.
- Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities. Commercially astute, process-driven, and highly pragmatic in approach.
- Experience in driving performance and fostering a collaborative culture.
- Bachelor’s degree in business administration or related field; MBA preferred
Why Work for NYA?
- NYA operates as a people-first organisation, prioritising the well-being and needs of its employees.
- NYA offers an exceptional flexible working approach which encourages our team to balance professional responsibilities with their personal life.
- A remote based team, spread across England, fostering inclusivity and diverse talent. Despite geographical distances between team members, NYA maintains a highly motivated and connected team through the optimisation of digital tools.
- NYA is committed to supporting the continual personal and professional development of our team and helping them achieve their ambitions.
- We provide 25 days leave plus 8 days, life assurance scheme, 5% employer pension contribution and a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme via Spectrum.life with unlimited specialist support available to all NYA employees.
How to Apply:
To apply, please submit the following via our online application platform by 11:59pm on Monday 29th September 2025:
A detailed CV setting out your career history, with responsibilities and achievements in line with the person specification in the About You section.
A covering letter highlighting your suitability for the role and how you meet the requirements in the About You section.
We will request data for our EEDI monitoring purposes, providing this is optional.
Please note: The covering letter is an essential part of the application process and will be assessed as part of your full application. We use AI detector software, so cover letters or CV’s with over 80% AI generated content will be disregarded. We understand that AI tools can offer support to candidates who have learning differences, which is why we will accept applications with some AI assistance. CV’s will not be accepted without a cover letter.
The National Youth Agency is an equal opportunities employer.
At NYA our inclusive culture means that we embrace individual differences and understand that we need a diverse team to achieve our organisations mission.
We wish to recruit candidates from all backgrounds to ensure our team reflects the rich diversity of the communities we serve. We encourage applications from anyone regardless of disability, ethnicity, heritage, gender, sexuality, religion, socio-economic background and political beliefs but we particularly welcome applications from global majority candidates and those from other minoritised ethnic groups in the UK as they are currently underrepresented in our team.
Youth Work changes lives
Which is why we’re committed to ensuring that as many young people as possible get to benefit from it.As the national body for youth work in England, the National Youth Agency (NYA) exists to champion its transformative power. We believe all young people should have the opportunity to benefit from the life-changing impact of extraordinary youth workers and trained volunteers.
We help to grow youth work provision in ways that keep it effective, relevant, safe and engaging, to help millions of young people reach their potential and thrive. We do this by providing guidance, support, advice, training and staff development opportunities for youth workers and youth work organisations. At the heart of everything we do are young people themselves. We work hard to ensure their voices are integrated into all our work, to develop provision that truly meets their needs.
REF-223747
Thank you!
Together for Short Lives is a charity that makes sure seriously ill children and their families get the care they need, especially at the end of life. We work closely with families, care professionals, and services to improve children’s palliative care. We also speak up to government leaders and decision-makers to help make sure families have access to the best support when they need it.
About the Role
As a Kentown Family Service Coordinator, you will be the first point of contact for families referred into the Kentown programme, helping them navigate health, social care, and voluntary sector services. You will:
- Carry out family needs assessments and co-develop personalised support plans with families.
- Build strong local relationships with health, education, and community services to ensure families can access the help they need.
- Promote the work of the Kentown Programme and Together for Short Lives and raise awareness of children’s palliative care in the region.
- Support family engagement events, training opportunities, and ongoing evaluation of the programme’s impact.
- Work collaboratively with the Kentown team, sharing learning and best practice across regions.
- This is a home-based role with travel across Lancashire, Cumbria, and Manchester.
About You
We’re looking for someone with experience in health, social care, or education who is passionate about supporting families. You will bring:
- Experience working directly with children, young people, or families with complex needs.
- Strong communication and relationship-building skills with families and professionals.
- The ability to assess needs, coordinate support, and signpost families to the right services.
- Confidence in collecting feedback and supporting events or activities for families.
- A proactive, compassionate, and organised approach, with good IT and record-keeping skills.
- A full driving licence and willingness to travel are essential.
Registered Charity
21 - 50
We exist to ensure every seriously ill child and their family gets the high-quality children’s palliative and end of life care
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
WHO WE ARE
Animal Equality is an international animal protection organisation working with society, governments and companies to end cruelty to farmed animals. Animal Equality has offices in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Brazil and India.
Animal Equality releases investigative materials captured from inside factory farms and slaughterhouses, exposing the conditions that farmed animals face around the world. We publish our findings on television, in newspapers and online. We routinely secure mainstream media coverage, including on the BBC, ITV, Sky News, The Times, The Guardian, The New York Times and many more.
Animal Equality also advocates for political change. Our current campaigns include a UK ban on foie gras imports, increased enforcement of existing animal protection laws, legal protections for farmed fish, and Government subsidies for transitioning towards a plant-based food system.
We focus on farmed animals because of the scale and severity of the issue. More than a billion animals are confined and killed for human consumption every year in the UK. Farmed animals also often suffer in some of the worst ways: pigs typically endure painful mutilations, many chickens die of heart attacks, fish are confined in underwater cages, and some farmed animals are victims of deliberate abuse and neglect. But the problem is solvable! By utilising effective campaigning strategies, Animal Equality is having an impact for animals around the world and building a future where all animals are respected and protected and are no longer exploited for human consumption.
Animal Equality UK’s current key campaigns include:
- Strengthening enforcement of animal protection laws.
- Halting the expansion of Scotland’s salmon farming industry.
- Achieving a ban on foie gras imports.
- Securing species-specific slaughter legislation for fish.
- Inspiring the public to eat plants, not animals.
ABOUT THE ROLE
Animal Equality’s campaigns have driven Parliamentary debates, legal victories, policy shifts, corporate commitments, mainstream media coverage, and inspired thousands of individuals to change their diets.
We are seeking a creative, driven, and strategic Campaigns Coordinator to deliver our current high-impact campaigns with a view to exposing the cruel animal agriculture industries, influencing decision-makers, and mobilising the public to create lasting change for farmed animals.
Working closely with team members, the Campaigns Coordinator will design and deliver imaginative campaigns while working in alignment with the organisation’s wider mission: to end factory farming. The role requires initiative, creativity, tenacity, and a solutions-focused mindset, as well as the discipline to execute projects effectively and professionally.
The Campaigns Coordinator will report to the Campaigns and Public Affairs Manager and work closely with others across our UK and international teams. You will play a key role in coordinating and inspiring volunteers and external stakeholders.
JOB DESCRIPTION
- Campaign delivery: Drive Animal Equality’s high-impact campaigns, bringing the plight of farmed animals into the public consciousness. Plan, coordinate, and implement imaginative and effective campaign actions that influence policy-makers, businesses, philanthropists, and the public. Produce clear, compelling, and engaging campaign resources.
- Stakeholder management: Build and maintain strong relationships with decision-makers, experts, regulators, allied organisations, and members of the public to strengthen campaign outcomes.
- Volunteer mobilisation: Grow and energise our Animal Protectors network through training, regular newsletter communication, and opportunities for online and in-person action.
- Peaceful protest coordination: Organise creative, non-violent demonstrations and direct actions that advance campaign objectives and attract media coverage.
- Research and uncovering malpractice: Conduct desk-based research, including FOI requests and collaboration with academics, to uncover questionable industry and regulatory practices, and inform evidence-based campaigns.
- Uncover scandals through desk-based research: Using Freedom of Information requests, conducting research, working with academics, and liaising with concerned members of the public, support the release of exposés that demonstrate the reality of animal agriculture.
- Media generation: Work with Animal Equality’s Marketing and Communications teams to design noteworthy content, ensure strong campaign narratives, and maximise media exposure.
- Support our digital campaigning work: Work alongside colleagues in our international Marketing and Communication Departments to engage the public through our multi-channel communication strategy. Assist with the development of content for our website, social media, YouTube and other platforms to successfully share plans and updates in relation to Animal Equality’s campaign priorities.
- Project management: Manage multiple projects simultaneously, ensuring deadlines, budgets, and objectives are met.
- Campaign evaluation: Monitor, measure, and report on campaign impact, adapting tactics as needed to ensure effectiveness.
- Policy oversight: Stay informed about relevant political and legislative developments to identify opportunities and risks for our campaigns.
- Represent Animal Equality’s culture: Support Animal Equality’s life-saving work by producing high-quality output, embracing and representing the organisation’s culture principles proudly at all times, and supporting our philanthropic efforts.
- Support with other ad hoc duties, as requested by your line manager.
ABOUT YOU
You are a professional, confident, and resilient campaigner who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is committed to Animal Equality’s objectives. You are adaptable, with excellent interpersonal skills, and a positive outlook. You are curious, creative, and agile, able to think outside the box and solve problems. You can move seamlessly between big-picture strategy and on-the-ground delivery, bringing fresh ideas and relentless energy to every project.
You actively seek constructive feedback and use it to continuously improve your work. You show ownership and a growth mindset that is focused on improving the world for farmed animals. Knowledge of farmed animal issues and alignment with Animal Equality’s mission is a must, as is professionalism, adaptability, and discretion.
You must have a minimum of three years’ experience in campaigning, advocacy, or directly related fields, with a proven ability to design and deliver successful campaigns.
You will be based remotely in the UK. In addition to monthly meet-ups, some travel within the UK may be required for demonstrations, meetings, and events. While not common, occasional evening or weekend work may be necessary to support campaigning activities. Any additional hours worked and agreed with your Manager can be reclaimed as TOIL.
BENEFITS
- Holiday entitlement equal to 33 days per year (including standard public holidays).
- Personalised employee assistance programme (EAP): An Animal Equality-funded benefit that offers employees confidential counselling and advice on a wide range of work and personal issues. The programme offers several services, such as a 24/7 confidential helpline and expert cognitive behavioural therapy.
- Flexible hours, with the option to start between 8am and 10am and finish between 4pm and 6pm.
- Able Futures Support: The service is a nine-month, practical and confidential support service for employees whose circumstances or mental health may impact their wellbeing or work. Employees can work with a mental health professional to deepen their understanding of how their mental health may impact them and build coping skills and resilience to thrive at work.
- Yearly stipend to access learning and development resources to help employees further grow their personal and professional skills.
- A free vegan lunch every month at the Animal Equality monthly meetups.
APPLY NOW
For more information and to apply, please visit our vacancies page.
Closing date: 5.00pm on Friday 19th September 2025.
Registered Charity
6 - 10
Animal Equality’s vision is a world in which all animals are respected and protected.
