Operational change manager jobs

We are looking for a Research Manager to join a small team responsible for commissioning, managing and conducting high quality, robust social research.

The Research Team works closely with colleagues across the Youth Futures Foundation to support our mission as a What Works Centre.

The Research Manager will manage the next phases of work on two of our key evidence resources, the Youth Employment Toolkit and the Youth Employment Evidence and Gap Map.

They will:

• Contribute to our wider research strategy, including conducting evidence synthesis,  and supporting Youth Futures’ mission to create, translate and embed evidence to improve youth employment outcomes.
• Design, manage and carry out research projects, including analysis and synthesis of evidence on youth employment and related themes.
• Lead research commissioning processes and manage commissioned research projects, including contracts and budgets, securing high quality research from providers.

This will be a Fixed term contract of 6 to 9 months maternity cover and can be based at our Birmingham, Leeds or London hub.

We currently operate a hybrid model of two-days per week in the office and three-days from home.

Please download our recruitment pack for more information on this opportunity.

Due to receiving high volumes of interest in our opportunities, this vacancy may close earlier than the advertised deadline. To ensure your application is considered, please submit it as soon as possible.

Are you an experienced operational leader who thrives on making organisations run brilliantly behind the scenes?

Southwark Charities is entering an exciting new chapter. With a £100m property portfolio, a growing grant programme and the development of 64 new almshouses, we're looking for an exceptional Head of Resources to lead the systems and processes that keep our charity strong.

Reporting to the CEO, you'll oversee finance, HR, IT, governance, property compliance, contracts and organisational systems, ensuring the charity operates efficiently, remains compliant and is well positioned for future growth. You'll work in a small, dedicated team while working closely with colleagues to deliver outstanding services for older people across Southwark.

This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys improving processes, managing change and finding practical solutions. You'll bring experience in operations, finance or corporate services, excellent organisational skills and the confidence to work across multiple disciplines.

If you're looking for a varied senior role where your expertise will have a direct impact on people's lives and the future of a respected historic charity, we'd love to hear from you.

NCT is the national charity for pregnancy, birth, infant feeding and early parenthood. 

Our vision is simple: a society where everyone who becomes a parent feels confident, connected and safe. 

Through our For Every Parent strategy, we're working to make that vision a reality. We support parents with trusted information, practical help, local communities and a stronger voice in the issues that matter to families. 

For 70 years, we've been by parents' sides through the excitement, uncertainty, wonder and challenges of becoming a parent. Today, our volunteers contribute more than 70,000 hours of community service each year, helping parents build friendships, find support and feel less alone. 

We educate and empower parents with evidence-based information and support. We advocate and act by listening to parents' experiences, raising their voices and campaigning for change. No judgement. No exceptions. 

About the role 

• We are seeking an experienced People and Inclusion (P&I) professional to join our passionate team and contribute to the meaningful work that transforms the lives of parents and families. Your role will work within a small P&I team, which is part of our overall Organisational Services Directorate.  Key duties include:
• Deep and proactive partnering with our charity’s managers as a trusted advisor on People and Inclusion matters across the employee lifecycle.  We rely on our talented staff team to deliver a range of important services for all parents so need our people to feel included, connected and supported to do their best work; 
• Efficient management of People administration and the operational People function to deliver an excellent employee experience.  This will include ensuring our HR System (IRIS Cascade) is optimised for our teams, delivering timely and accurate management data to inform decision-making and ensuring our People policies and practices operate at a minimum in line with employment legislation and aspire to be best practice throughout.  You will manage our People and Inclusion Coordinator and will partner with the Payroll team; 
• Leading the delivery and continuous development of employee equity, inclusion and wellbeing initiatives that support diversity and create belonging for all of our people.  Ensuring that equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) is embedded across all of our work is one of our Charity’s key strategic aims; 
• Taking a remote first approach as we have a home-based workforce and working in in partnership with the communications team to deliver motivational, supportive and informative updates alongside connection and engagement opportunities; 
• Build focussed management development, learning and community-building opportunities for our People managers. 

About you: 

• You will relish the opportunity to work in a values-driven, collaborative and parent focussed organisation where our commitment to ED&I is central to all of our work; 
• You thrive in a busy operational environment with multiple priorities, and you enjoy taking a pragmatic and strategically detailed approach to improving imperfect processes and systems.  You also prioritise building positive relationships and collaborating with colleagues. 
• You will have a CIPD Level 5 Qualification (or demonstrable equivalent) and will demonstrate an interest in continuing professional development, including ensuring you are up-to-date with the practical implementation of UK employment legislation and People best practice; 
• You will have significant previous experience operating as a People Business Partner, People and Inclusion Manager or senior HR/People Advisor or similar across the full employee lifecycle.  Your key experience will include: overseeing the efficient and effective deployment and development of an HR system; effective partnering with managers; analysing People data and trends; developing and embedding ED&I principles and practices; and supporting organisational change projects. 

FareShare Greater Manchester is a leading member of the UK's largest food redistribution charity.  Every year, millions of tonnes of perfectly good food go to waste while millions of people struggle to afford to eat.  We're changing that—redistributing surplus food to charities and community groups across Greater Manchester, helping to reduce food waste and tackle hunger. Join our team and be part of a movement that's making a real difference every day.

As a Warehouse Assistant, you'll be involved in the following activities: 

• Preparing customer orders by picking and packing them accurately and efficiently, ensuring excellent service for charities and community groups.
• Receiving, checking, organising and storing incoming food deliveries safely, maintaining an orderly warehouse and making the best use of available space.
• Monitoring stock levels and quality, reporting discrepancies, completing stock checks and helping to minimise food waste using the GLADYS stock management system.
• Supporting volunteers, employability programme participants and corporate volunteer groups by providing guidance, encouragement and practical training in warehouse tasks.
• Delivering a welcoming, helpful and professional experience for our customers, volunteers and visitors, responding to queries promptly and courteously.
• Working collaboratively with colleagues to maintain efficient warehouse operations, communicate handovers, identify improvements and report issues promptly.
• Maintaining high standards of food safety, health and safety, safeguarding, housekeeping and compliance, ensuring the warehouse is always safe, clean and audit-ready.
• Completing required operational records and monitoring activities accurately and comply with all organisational policies and procedures.

What We're Looking For

A proactive and reliable team player with excellent communication, customer service and organisational skills, experience working in a warehouse or similar operational environment, strong IT and numeracy skills, and the ability to prioritise workloads in a fast-paced setting.

You'll enjoy supporting volunteers and customers, be committed to maintaining high standards of safety and accuracy, and be physically able to lift loads of up to 25kg. Experience working with volunteers or people with additional needs, and relevant food hygiene or forklift qualifications are desirable, although comprehensive training will be provided.

We are seeking an experienced, highly organised and proactive Operations Manager to play a central role in keeping our London office running smoothly and supporting our wider team and organisation. The ideal candidate will have strong liberal instincts and support our mission to defend civil liberties in the UK.

This is a varied and hands-on role with responsibility across multiple operational areas, ensuring everything runs smoothly behind the scenes. It is a new role to the organisation, initially offered as a 12 month fixed term contract, with the possibility of extension.

Why join Big Brother Watch?

• A genuinely flexible, part-time role designed to support work-life balance

• A dynamic, successful and friendly team in a supportive working environment

• The opportunity to take ownership of an important and varied role

• The chance to contribute to an organisation at the forefront of defending freedom in the UK

Flexible working that works for you

• 16 hours per work, with flexibility as to how these are worked

• We’re open to a range of working patterns (e.g. school hours, shorter days across the week, or compressed hours, potentially variations across term times / school holidays)

• Hybrid working, in practice will likely require min. 50% office attendance

The rest of our team works full time in-office. However, for this particular part-time role we aim to agree on a working pattern that provides consistency and predictability while fitting around your other commitments. We particularly welcome applications from experienced candidates returning to work after a career break, including parents and carers.

About you

You’ll have strong experience managing or co-ordinating a busy office or operational environment. You’ll be confident in taking on tasks proactively, looking for ways to plan ahead to ensure smooth operational running and improved efficiency, and independently finding solutions. You’ll have excellent communication skills, liaising with all team members and providing the team with essential operational support as needed. You’ll have good IT office skills.

Operations Manager job description

• Take ownership of the day-to-day running of the London office, ensuring it is organised and efficient

• Help co-ordinate logistics for meetings and staff travel

• Co-ordinate IT support, equipment and asset management

• Lead IT migration projects (e.g. changing software/support suppliers, as directed)

• Ensure the office and kitchen are adequately supplied

• Support with HR admin including recruitment of staff, volunteers and contractors

• Organise staff socials

• Organise cycle to work scheme

• Liaise with accountants, support basic book-keeping (receipt filing)

• Support with internal file storage, physical and digital

• Support with maintenance of databases

• Assist with postage and physical mailouts to our supporters

• Commit to highest standards of data protection

• Periodically undertake required office risk assessments

Big Brother Watch

Big Brother Watch is a UK civil liberties campaign group fighting for a free future. We’re determined to reclaim our privacy and defend freedoms at this time of enormous technological change. And we fight to win.

We’re a fiercely independent, diverse, non-partisan and non-profit group of campaigners and researchers who work to roll back the surveillance state and protect rights in Parliament, the media or the courts if we have to. We publish unique investigations and pursue powerful public campaigns to pursue real change. We work relentlessly to inform and empower the public to collectively reclaim privacy, defend our civil liberties and protect freedoms for the future.

We’re a small, dedicated and highly effective team of 7 (growing to 8) staff members and 5 volunteers.

ChildAid to Eastern Europe is a long-established Christian charity working with local partners across Eastern Europe to improve the lives of vulnerable children, young people, and families.

We are seeking an exceptional Director to lead the organisation into its next phase of growth and impact. Reporting to the Board of Trustees, you will provide strategic leadership, operational oversight and income generation to ensure the charity’s long-term sustainability.

This is a hands-on role, combining high-level strategy with day-to-day delivery. You will act as the public face of the charity, strengthen partner and donor relationships, and lead across fundraising, communications, operations and team development.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of the charity’s strategic vision.
• Develop and grow sustainable income streams.
• Oversee financial management, governance and compliance.
• Strengthen marketing, communications and organisational profile.
• Support programme delivery and partner relationships in Eastern Europe.
• Lead and develop a small team of staff and volunteers.

About you

We are looking for someone with:

• Senior leadership experience, ideally in the charity sector.
• A strong track record in fundraising or income generation.
• Proven financial and operational management skills.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building ability.
• Strategic thinking, combined with a practical, hands-on approach.
• A genuine commitment to the charity’s mission and values.

Additional information

This role carries an occupational requirement for the postholder to be a practising Christian, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.

Why join us?
Lead a respected charity with over 50 years of impact, shape future strategy and help transform the lives of vulnerable children and families.

The Communications Manager provides operational leadership for CLAPA's communications delivery, ensuring communications and marketing activity is effectively planned, prioritised and delivered in support of the charity's strategic objectives. 

Reporting to the Head of Communications and Marketing, the postholder is responsible for translating the communications strategy into coordinated day-to-day delivery. They will oversee the planning, scheduling and operational management of communications activity across the organisation, ensuring work is appropriately prioritised, resources are allocated effectively and projects are delivered to a consistently high standard. 

The role directly manages CLAPA's Communications Officers, embedding effective planning, briefing and workflow processes that enable the team to deliver proactive, creative and high-quality communications.

Acting as the primary operational lead for communications delivery, the postholder will ensure colleagues across CLAPA receive responsive, well-planned communications support while maintaining clear priorities and protecting the team's capacity to deliver its best work. 

If you think you have the talent, passion and experience to help us ensure we can always meet the needs of the community we serve, we want to hear from you.

ID: 1826 Service Manager

Service: Wigan Crisis Space

Salary: Starting at £37,211 and rising to £41,518 FTE per annum

Location: Wigan Crisis Space

Hours: 37 hours per week (full-time) – flexible across the week, hours will include some weekend and evening work

We offer flexible working arrangements - please see below for more details.

Contract: Permanent

Family Action & the Role’s Impact:

At Family Action we support people through change, challenge or crisis. It’s what we’ve done for over 150 years. We protect children, support young people and adults and offer direct, practical help to families and communities.

We see first-hand the power of family to shape lives, for better or worse, so we speak up for the

importance of family in national and local policymaking, amplify family voices and represent the changing needs of families in the UK today.

This is an exciting opportunity to lead the service delivery our Wigan Crisis Space that operates in Wigan town centre. The service operates from 3pm – 10pm , 7 days per week. There is an expectation that the post holder will work flexibly to meet the needs of the service. Please see Job Description for additional information.

The Wigan Crisis Space forms part of the Greater Manchester VCSE crisis pathway, we are non- clinical alternative to A&E. The focus of our work is to offer timely support to adults who are experiencing mental and emotional distress and suicide ideation. The Crisis Space is an out of hours service that creates a safe space for adults to access timely compassionate support from trained recovery workers.

The Service Manager will have responsibility to line manage two Team Leaders, and overall leadership for the staff team working within the service. We are looking for a values driven leader who can work closely with the Operational Manager to support and develop the service to increase our reach to adults who are experiencing a MH crisis.

Main Responsibilities:

· working within the Wigan Crisis Space to provide leadership and management to the staff team to ensure the delivery of a safe, effective and appropriate service to adults living within the Borough of Wigan

· ensuring that the service is integrated, comprehensive and makes a difference to people using it, with clear focus on improving mental and emotional health and wellbeing and social outcomes meaning that people will be healthier, safer, happier, more resilient, more independent and better able to enjoy life opportunities.

· Facilitating opportunities for staff, volunteers and people who use the service to contribute to the ongoing development of the Crisis Space by sharing learning, listening and sharing and responding to feedback and by using the feedback from this to create and implement a continuous development plan

Main Requirements (for details check the job description and person specification):

· Experience of managing and leading teams within health, social care, voluntary sector or community-based services, including supervision, performance management and staff development.

· Experience of working with adults experiencing mental health challenges, including safeguarding, risk management, partnership working and achieving positive service outcomes

· Strong interpersonal skills, with the confidence and ability to present and communicate information effectively both in person and using a range of mediums to internal and external stakeholders, adults, children, young people and funders.

·Appointments are subject to Family Action receiving a satisfactory disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service – Enhanced

Benefits:

- an annual paid leave entitlement that commences at 25 working days, rising each April by one day, subject to a maximum of 30 working days plus bank holidays / of 30 working days plus bank holiday pro rata

- up to 6% matched-pension contributions

- flexible working arrangements and new starters have the right to make flexible working requests from day one of employment

- enhanced paid sick leave and paid family leave provisions

- eye care and winter flu jabs vouchers

- cycle to work scheme

- investing in your professional development with ongoing quality training and career development opportunities

We are forward looking, ambitious and committed to continuous improvement. We are a people focused, can-do organisation, which strives for excellence in all we do and operates with mutual respect.

To Apply:

· Click the “Redirect to Recruiter” link above and fill out our digital application form

· Closing Date: 7th August 2026 at 5pm

For direct queries or if you would like to discuss any aspect of the selection process or flexible working requests, please email Rita Croome.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion:

We are committed to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion in all that we do and welcome applications from all sections of the community / particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQ+ candidates and candidates with disabilities because we are committed to increasing the representation of these groups at Family Action. We know that greater diversity will lead to even greater results for families and children and strive for our workforce to be truly representative of the diverse communities we support.

All candidates with a disability are welcome to apply under the Disability Confident Scheme and request priority consideration for an interview, provided they meet the essential criteria for the role. 

To help remove financial barriers to working with us, we will reimburse travel costs if you are invited to attend an interview in person. 

*Ordinarily Family Action appoints new starters at the starting point of the salary scale (with subsequent annual pay progression), unless you have experience that would justify appointment further up the salary scale or there are any other exceptional reasons.

Senior Academic Representation Coordinator

Are you passionate about empowering others to be heard and drive meaningful change?

Do you want to help student leaders navigate the higher education landscape and shape their academic experiences?

Then we’d love you to join us as our Academic Representation Senior Coordinator! You’ll be responsible for leading operational delivery of academic representation systems across departments and faculties, creating an empowering and supportive environment to ensure students have an active voice in shaping their academic experiences. In this role you’ll coach senior student leaders, manage high impact volunteers, and build collaborative voice mechanisms in partnership with university stakeholders.

The Role

Role: Academic Representation Senior Coordinator
Hours: 35-hours per week (to be worked flexibly)
Salary: Grade C £31,357.00 to £35,550.18 per annum
Contract: Permanent
Location: Exeter/Hybrid

Who are we?

The Students’ Guild is the University of Exeter’s students’ union, led by students for students. We’re an independent charity, offering a wide range of opportunities, services and support to help students get the most out of their unique journeys at university. This includes everything from social activities to making sure things are going well on their academic course. We have nearly 300 student groups and all of our work is led by, and in the best interest of, our members.

The Guild is a truly rewarding place to work. Our talented and passionate staff make a real difference to the lives of students every single day, working together to achieve the Guild’s purpose: to shape an excellent student experience for all students at Exeter by empowering them to take their place in the world and make a positive difference. We are looking for people who recognise that the Guild is student-led and share a genuine passion for student engagement and empowerment. If you share a commitment to our values and want to be part of a radically inclusive organisation with a seriously exciting future ahead, we can’t wait to hear from you.

What will you bring?

• You’ll be able to create and embed inclusive volunteer practices and support systems that empower a diverse range of student leaders to be impactful.
• You’ll know how to navigate complex university policies or higher education topics, translating them into practical insights that empower student leaders to lobby for change.
• You’ll be skilled in managing operational processes, project timelines, and resources to ensure academic representation systems run effectively.

To view the role profile and to find out more about working with us and how we help our students LOVE Exeter, please visit our website.

We offer lots of great benefits including enhanced family pay, at least 6-weeks’ holiday, sustainable travel incentives, access to exclusive discounts and perks and a free confidential advice service. We’re committed to helping you achieve a healthy balance between your work and home life through a real commitment to flexible and hybrid working. We also provide access to great development opportunities, including a personal development budget for you to spend on sharpening your skills. We’ll also help you to gain valuable experience, ensuring that you have opportunities to grow your career both here at the Guild and beyond.

Inclusion is central to the Guild. We approach our work collaboratively, empower our people and celebrate our uniqueness. If you’re driven to empower others and achieve great things, you’ll fit right in. Our people are proud of who they are and value each other’s differences, and we are committed to creating a diverse community that is radically inclusive of race, gender, age, religion, identity and experience.

How to Apply

NOTE: To apply for this position, you will need to submit your application via our recruitment portal located on our website. 

Application Timeline:

• Closing Date: 10am on Wednesday 26 August, 2026
• Shortlisting: Thursday 27 August, 2026
• Interviews: Wednesday 2 September, 2026

You will need to provide an up-to-date copy of your CV, and answer the following questions related to the person specification for the role:

• Please outline your experience of supporting and managing diverse volunteers to deliver positive impact.
• Please tell us about your approach to empowering others to understand, navigate and challenge complex policies or decision-making.
• What is your understanding of our values, and how would you use them to support student representatives in the Guild?

Please note:

• We will contact you to let you know the outcome of your application. This can sometimes take a few days.
• You must be able to provide proof of your right to work in the UK before starting work with us. We are not currently able to sponsor employees requiring a visa.
• Unfortunately, if we receive your application after the closing date, we will not be able to consider it.

Meet your new Manager, Tom Clemo Academic Representation Manager

If you’d like an informal chat with me to find out more about the role, the team and what we’re looking for in the Academic Representation Senior Coordinator role, you can get in touch using the details located on our website.

Retail Manager – The Hangar

The Wisdom Hospice | Rochester, Kent £32,000 - £34,000 per annum (dependent on experience) 37.5 hours per week 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

This is no ordinary retail management role.

At The Wisdom Hospice, every sale helps fund exceptional hospice care for local people and their families. The Hangar is our flagship retail destination - a vibrant, large-format store that redefines what charity retail can be.

Forget traditional charity shops. The Hangar is a unique retail experience filled with high-quality donated stock, exciting discoveries, sustainable fashion, homeware treasures, and ever-changing displays. It is a destination for shoppers, bargain hunters, fashion lovers and supporters alike.

We're now looking for an exceptional Retail Manager to lead this thriving store and take it to the next level.

The Opportunity

This is a rare chance to put your own stamp on a high-profile retail operation while directly supporting a cause that changes lives.

We're looking for a creative, commercially-minded leader who can transform donated goods into compelling retail experiences, inspire customers to return time and again, and build a passionate team of staff and volunteers around a shared mission.

The successful candidate will have the vision to see opportunities where others see stock, the drive to exceed targets, and the people skills to create an outstanding customer experience every day.

What You'll Do

Drive Commercial Success

• Deliver and exceed sales and income targets
• Maximise the value of donated stock through effective pricing and presentation
• Create engaging promotions, events and seasonal campaigns
• Seek new opportunities to increase footfall and revenue

Bring Creativity to Life

• Develop eye-catching visual merchandising and store displays
• Create an exciting and inspiring shopping environment
• Use your flair for retail presentation to showcase stock at its full potential
• Support local marketing and social media activity

Lead and Inspire People

• Motivate, coach and develop a team of paid staff and volunteers
• Create a positive, energetic and inclusive culture
• Recruit and retain volunteers who share our passion
• Deliver outstanding customer service standards across the store

Ensure Operational Excellence

• Oversee day-to-day store operations
• Manage stock flow, rotation and gift aid processes
• Maintain excellent standards of health and safety, compliance and cash handling
• Keep the store looking professional, safe and welcoming at all times

About You

We're looking for someone who is as passionate about people as they are about retail.

You'll bring:

• Proven experience in retail management with responsibility for delivering sales targets
• Strong people leadership and team development skills
• A creative eye for visual merchandising and product presentation
• Excellent communication and relationship-building abilities
• Commercial awareness and sound business judgement
• Confidence using social media and digital tools
• A proactive, hands-on approach and a genuine passion for our cause

Experience in charity retail is highly desirable, but we would also welcome applications from talented commercial retail managers looking to move into the charity sector.

Additional requirements:

• Full UK driving licence
• Good standard of education (A-Level or equivalent)
• Enhanced DBS check required

Why Join The Wisdom Hospice?

This is more than a retail management position.

It's an opportunity to lead a store with real purpose, inspire a community of supporters, and generate vital income that helps deliver outstanding hospice care across Kent.

You'll be joining an organisation that is passionate about its mission, ambitious about its future, and committed to finding the right person to help make The Hangar the premier charity retail destination in the region. 

Apply Now

If you're a dynamic retail leader with commercial flair, creative vision and a passion for making a difference, we'd love to hear from you.

Suzy Lamplugh Trust

Hybrid (40% office-based)
Full-time (35 hours)

Permanent
£47,124
Start: ASAP

Lead and shape services supporting victims of stalking and abuse

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust is seeking a Head of Operations to provide strategic leadership across our services, ensuring they are safe, effective, compliant, and sustainable.

This is a senior leadership role, responsible for overseeing service performance, infrastructure, and delivery at an organisational level. You will play a key role in shaping strategy, driving continuous improvement, and ensuring our services meet the needs of victims and funders alike.

About the role

You will:

• Provide strategic and operational leadership across all services, ensuring high-quality and compliant delivery
• Lead on organisational performance, including KPIs, quality standards, and reporting frameworks
• Oversee contract and grant delivery, ensuring all obligations and compliance requirements are met
• Hold senior relationships with commissioners, funders, and external stakeholders
• Lead service development, mobilisation of new contracts, and organisational change
• Ensure effective systems, infrastructure, and processes are in place to support delivery
• Provide leadership across safeguarding, risk, and organisational compliance
• Work as part of the Senior Management Team to shape and deliver organisational strategy

This role focuses on service infrastructure, performance, and strategic oversight, rather than direct frontline management

About you

You will be an experienced senior leader with a strong track record in operational and strategic service delivery within a safeguarding or related environment.

You will have:

• Significant experience leading multiple frontline services within a safeguarding or VAWG-related sector
• Experience operating at senior leadership level, contributing to organisational strategy
• Strong experience of performance management, KPIs, and quality assurance frameworks
• Experience managing statutory contracts or grant-funded services
• Proven ability to lead organisational change, service mobilisation, or transformation
• Strong understanding of safeguarding, compliance, and information governance
• Experience working with commissioners and senior external stakeholders

Desirable:

• Experience within stalking, domestic abuse, or VAWG services
• Experience in a charity or commissioned service environment
• Experience in organisational restructuring, service redesign, or systems implementation

Why join us

• Lead and shape services that support victims of stalking and abuse
• Join a collaborative and mission-driven senior leadership team
• Play a critical role in organisational strategy, growth and impact

How to apply

Please submit your CV and a supporting statement demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria detailed within the person specification.

Applications will not be considered without a supporting statement

Additional information

• This is a senior leadership role reporting to the CEO
• Initially office-based (London) for 3 months to support a meaningful induction, moving to a blended working model (40% office / 60% home)

Charity and Staff Management

• Delegated responsibility for the day-to-day running of the charity, office administration, line management and supervision of the small staff team
• Liaison with HR support service, supported by the Chair and Treasurer
• Lead on digital development and liaison with external IT support service
• Lead on monitoring, evaluation and learning
• Lead on dealing with any concerns, complaints, or safeguarding issues, and act as the charity’s Designated Safeguarding Lead, supported by the Safeguarding Trustee and Chair
• Maintain the charity’s Risk Register

Strategic Development

• Operational implementation of the Board-led Strategic Plan including providing regular reports for trustees and members as required
• Develop and manage annual operational plans and reports, supported by the Trustees
• Working with the Client Representative Trustees, support clients (Disabled people with Assistance Dogs) to participate in the charity’s development
• Manage accreditation with Assistance Dogs International and standards

Promotion and Communications

• Promote the work of the charity positively and proactively, manage and ensure consistency of the charity brand across communications
• Liaison with Assistance Dogs International, Assistance Dogs UK (ADUK) and fellow member organisations, including attendance at ADUK meetings
• Maintain and develop key relationships, supported by relevant staff and trustees
• Manage communications with members (clients and trainers)

Finance and Fundraising

• Work with the Treasurer and relevant staff to support the management of annual budgets, financial reporting and monitoring
• Operational implementation of the Fundraising Strategy, working with relevant staff and trustees

Governance and Compliance

• Support the Board of Trustees to ensure high standards of governance and compliance with all legal requirements affecting the charity
• ·Support the development of new processes, procedures and policies, with regular monitoring and reviews
• Health and Safety lead, responsible for completing any RIDDOR paperwork as and when required

Who we are

Chefs in Schools is an ambitious charity that’s rapidly growing. Our mission is to improve kids' health, through improving school food & food education. We focus our efforts in areas of high socio-economic deprivation, where more than a third of children are entitled to free school meals, and diet-related disease is driving further inequality.

We support and train school kitchen teams to serve the best, freshest and tastiest food possible, alongside meaningful food education. We share learning and resources, aiming to inspire and enable others to follow our lead.

We’re backed by some of the biggest names in food and have ambitious targets to ensure every child has access to incredible school food and food education, setting them up for life with the skills and knowledge to feed themselves well.

About you and the role

This role comes at a pivotal time for Chefs in School and will be key to supporting our vision and ambitions for the next four year strategic period. 

You will have significant experience in monitoring and evaluating programmes in a charity, non-profit, or social enterprise setting. As this is a standalone role with no direct reports, we are looking for a unique professional who is highly strategic but equally happy to roll up their sleeves and be hands-on. You will lead on high-level impact strategy, and you will also be the person designing surveys, managing databases, and directly analyzing the data.

To thrive in this role, you should be:

• An Analytical Thinker & Practical Doer: You can confidently clean, manage, and analyze quantitative and qualitative data yourself, translating complex numbers into highly visual, easy-to-digest reports for our team and funders.

• An Empathetic & Pragmatic Collaborator: You understand that school kitchens and delivery teams are incredibly busy. You excel at designing evaluation tools that are low-burden for our partners but high-yield for our learning.

• Curious & Improvement-Driven: You don't just collect data to check a box for funders; you are passionate about building a "learning culture" where findings are actively used to iterate and improve our programmes.

As we work with children and young people, an offer of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and DBS clearance, in line with our safeguarding policy.

Key responsibilities:

• Leading on developing and implementing Chefs in Schools’ evaluation and learning strategy, in line with our Theory of Change.

• Owning and overseeing the impact dashboard

• Ownership for embedding a learning culture, ensuring that timely and actionable insights are generated and fed back into design and delivery to support continuous improvement.

• Using internal data and external research to identify what works, ensuring these insights are shared internally and across the sector in line with our strategic objectives.

• Support delivery teams to collect quantitative and qualitative data using the evaluation toolkit. Ensuring data collection is proportionate and meaningful with high completion rates.

• Support delivery teams to understand how impact data can help to improve and develop programme effectiveness, whilst maintaining quality.

• Lead on the dissemination of findings across the organisation, including presenting at internal meetings and events

• Translating data into clear, evidence-based recommendations to guide decision-making 

• Work across the organisation to ensure our impact is effectively communicated with external audiences.

• Identify future research, evaluation and learning priorities that could strengthen Chefs in Schools’ programmes and contribute to wider sector understanding of effective approaches to improving school food.

• Work with external academics and researchers to commission external evaluations to develop our evidence base and contribute to national and international studies .

Essential Skills and Experience

• MEL Experience: Proven experience in a monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) or impact measurement role within a charity, non-profit, or social enterprise setting.

• Evaluation Design: Confidence designing and implementing practical evaluation frameworks, data collection tools, logic models, or Theories of Change.

• Hands-on Data Skills: Strong analytical skills with the ability to independently collect, clean, and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data. You must be highly proficient in Excel/Google Sheets and comfortable managing data platforms.

• Translation of Evidence: A track record of critically appraising evidence and translating findings into actionable, practical recommendations for delivery teams.

• Communication & Reporting: Ability to produce high-quality, highly visual, and engaging reports and presentations tailored to different audiences (e.g., trustees, funders, operational staff).

• Relationship Building: Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence and support busy operational teams to value and embed data collection.

Desirable Skills and Experience

• Sector Knowledge: Knowledge of food systems, school environments, or children and young people’s health and wellbeing.

• External Evaluations: Experience commissioning, managing, or collaborating with external academics and research partners to evaluate programmes.

• Tech & Systems: Familiarity with specific data visualization tools (e.g., PowerBI, Tableau) or CRM databases (ours is Beacon) to streamline data capture and reporting.

Benefits

You would be joining a friendly, supportive team who work hard, but believe in a healthy work / life balance. We seek a diverse range of perspectives, skills, experience and knowledge. Joining a small, collaborative team means you’ll be able to contribute to, and draw on, a variety of projects and strategic insights.

We offer 33 days (pro-rata for part time positions) of holiday per year, including bank holidays, a Cycle to Work scheme, hybrid working, free access to the CODE app for discounted restaurants & hospitality venues, enhanced parental leave. We are committed to developing our team and will support you with relevant training opportunities including £250 towards elective training and development of your choice.

We also offer Bupa Dental Insurance, Income Protection Insurance, as well as access to the AIG Smart Health Platform which offers health benefits including free rapid access online GP appointments, free counselling and wellbeing support.

Application process

In line with our commitment to ensuring a fair and unbiased recruitment process, we invite candidates to answer a series of questions related to the role. Please follow this link to answer the questions and submit your application along with your CV.

We recommend that you develop your answers offline and copy them in when you’re ready to ensure you don’t lose your work if interrupted.

Your answers will go through our sifting process: all answers will be anonymised, randomised and then reviewed by a panel of reviewers. A long list of candidates will then additionally have their CVs reviewed. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a 30 mins online interview. Successful candidates will be invited to attend a second, in-person interview and complete a task at our office in Brixton, London.

Expected duration of this application process: 4 weeks

1st Round interview will take place the w/c 7th September

Drive quality, lead change and make a lasting difference! 

About Us

Carers Trust Heart of England exists to improve the lives of family carers and the people they care for. We provide information, advice, and a wide range of practical and emotional support to unpaid carers and people with care and support needs. Our work is rooted in compassion, partnership, and a commitment to high-quality, person-centred services.

Our Regulated Activities and Contract Scope

The Care Services Manager will have responsibility across our regulated and associated services, which currently include:

•  Domiciliary care (personal care in people's homes)

  •  Short Breaks and Emergency Respite (including sleep-in provision)

  •  Dementia Wraparound Support

  •  Day Break Day Services (currently unregulated)

We hold contracts and funding arrangements across several commissioners and funders. The postholder will be responsible for ensuring that care and support is delivered in accordance with all relevant contractual and funding requirements.

The Role

The Care Services Manager will hold personal CQC accountability for the quality, safety, and compliance of our regulated services. While this is fundamentally a strategic leadership and governance role, our regulated services are currently at an important stage of development. As such, we are looking for someone who is equally comfortable providing visible, hands-on operational delivery when needed.

Initially, the successful candidate will spend time working closely with the day-to-day operation of the service, building strong relationships with Care Support Workers and the people we support, strengthening systems and processes, and ensuring consistently high standards of care.

This is an opportunity to play a key role in embedding best practice and supporting the continued growth and improvement of the service. As the service develops, the emphasis of the role will increasingly shift towards strategic leadership, quality assurance, governance, service improvement and future development.

The successful candidate will be able to recognise what the service needs at any given time and adapt their approach accordingly, remaining visible and involved operationally where appropriate, while driving long-term quality, compliance and continuous improvement.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary

• Starting annual leave entitlement of 25 days, increasing with service to a maximum of 30 days (and Bank Holidays),             plus your 'birtholiday'

• Pension contribution scheme

• Benefits platform offering flexible high street savings and discounts on top brands

• Employee Assistance Programme and wellbeing platform

• Ongoing training and development opportunities

• A supportive, values-led organisation that makes a real difference to carers’ lives and the people they care for

Key Responsibilities

1. Leading and Managing the Service

• Hold CQC registration and personal accountability for the quality, safety and compliance of all regulated care activities delivered by the organisation.

• Provide day-to-day operational leadership of the care service(s), being genuinely present and accessible to care support workers, coordinators, and senior staff, particularly in the early period of the role.

• Line manages the coordination and care team, providing regular supervision, clear direction, and honest feedback.

• Be willing to get involved in operational problem-solving when needed, covering gaps in coordination, stepping in on complex cases, supporting the team through difficult periods, while also working to build the capacity that, over time, reduces the need for this.

• Build and sustain a team culture where staff feel supported, valued, and clear about what is expected of them.

• Manage performance and conduct fairly and consistently, with appropriate HR support.

2. Quality, Compliance and Safeguarding

• Ensure the service always operates in compliance with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and CQC Fundamental Standards.

• Maintain continuous inspection readiness under the CQC Single Assessment Framework, understanding that ratings can be updated at any point, not just following a scheduled visit.

• Act as a named safeguarding lead, recognising, reporting, managing, and recording safeguarding concerns across all regulated services.

• Lead a meaningful quality assurance programme, involving audits, spot checks, care plan reviews, complaint analysis, and use findings to drive improvements.

• Submit CQC notifications accurately and on time and ensure the Statement of Purpose and all governance documentation accurately reflects what the service does.

• Monitor care quality through ECM data, visit records, staff feedback and regular engagement with service users and their families, remaining closely connected to the day-to-day service delivery to identify and address emerging issues before they escalate.

• Ensure care and support delivery across all services remains within the scope of relevant contractual and funding arrangements, and that any changes to the service scope, volume or specification are identified and escalated appropriately.

3. Care Planning and Service User Relationships

• Ensure every service user has a current, person-centred care plan that reflects their needs, preferences and risks.

• Oversee and contribute to care assessments and reviews, including involvement in complex cases, multi-agency reviews and situations where a senior presence is needed.

• Build and maintain positive relationships with service users, their families, and carers, being accessible, responsive, and honest whether managing concerns or recognising success.

• Ensure that the service user experience and what it actually feels like to be supported by our service is at the centre of how quality is assessed, monitored and improved.

4. Safe Recruitment, Staffing and Workforce

• Ensure all staff are recruited safely and in line with statutory and regulatory requirements, with appropriate DBS checks, references, right-to-work verification, and safer recruitment processes completed before delivering regulated care.

• Manage all aspects of the Skilled Worker visa sponsorship process, including sponsorship applications, compliance monitoring, record keeping, and reporting requirements in line with Home Office regulations.

• Lead on workforce development, identifying training needs, commissioning training, maintaining records, and ensuring all staff are competent for the care they deliver.

• Ensure a regular and effective programme of one-to-one meetings, supervision, probation reviews and annual appraisals is maintained across the service, addressing performance, development, wellbeing, and any concerns in a timely manner.

• Support, and where appropriate, lead HR processes, including investigations, disciplinary, performance management, grievance, and absence management meetings, working closely with HR to ensure a fair, consistent and legally compliant approach.

• Ensure the on-call and lone working frameworks are in place, understood by all staff and working in practice.

• Participate in the senior management on-call rota, providing advice, support and decision making in response to serious incidents, safeguarding concerns, deaths, and any other urgent operational matters requiring immediate senior attention.

• Participation in a shared on-call rota, including evenings/over-night and weekends, and bank holidays where scheduled.

5. Working with Senior Leadership

• Work closely with the Head of Operations (Deputy CEO) reporting on service performance, escalating concerns, contributing to strategic decisions, and supporting the organisation's broader development.

• Contribute to commissioner relationships and contract management, including monitoring reporting, quality submissions and attendance at review meetings.

• Play an active part in shaping how the service develops, bringing operational knowledge and professional judgement to decisions about what the service does, how it is structured and where it grows.

• Demonstrate the confidence to communicate honestly, raise difficult issues and challenge constructively in the best interests of the service and the people we support.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Qualifications

· Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Adult Care or actively working toward it with a clear and realistic            completion plan.

· Enhanced DBS with adults' barred list or willingness to apply immediately.

· Full UK driving licence and access to own vehicle.

Knowledge

· Strong working knowledge of the CQC Single Assessment Framework how evidence is gathered, what quality                      statements are assessed against, and what continuous inspection readiness means in practice.

· Comprehensive knowledge of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and CQC Fundamental Standards.

· Knowledge of safeguarding adults' legislation and local procedures.

· Knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and how it applies in domiciliary and community care

· Working knowledge of Working Time Regulations and how this practically applies to care rotas and on-call                            arrangements.

· Understanding of contractual compliance in a multi-contract or multi-funder care environment, and the implications of            changes to service scope or volume.

Experience

· Proven experience as a Registered Manager (or equivalent senior care management role) in a CQC-regulated                      domiciliary or community care service.

· Experience of being hands-on in a care management role, understanding when direct operational involvement is                  needed.

· Experience of managing safeguarding, making referrals, managing investigations, recording outcomes, and learning            from them.

· Experience of directly supervising and developing a care team including coordinators, senior carers, and care                        support workers.

· Experience of managing quality across a regulated service, completing audits, spot checks, care plan reviews and                complaint handling.

· Experience of CQC compliance and notifications, including operating under the Single Assessment Framework.

· Experience of managing across multiple service lines or contracts simultaneously, ensuring compliance with each                  commissioner or funder’s specific requirements.

Skills & Abilities

· Able to assess service performance, recognise what is working well, identify challenges and confidently                                  communicate these in a clear and constructive way.

· Willingness and flexibility to be hands-on when required, and confident enough to step back appropriately as the                  service develops.

· Excellent written communication skills, being able to write clearly, accurately, and professionally for a variety of                      audiences (CQC, commissioners and families).

· Excellent verbal communication skills, being able to speak in a clear, honest, and approachable way with care                      workers, service users, families, CQC inspectors and senior colleagues.

· Strong decision-making skills when under pressure, including in safeguarding, serious incidents and out-of-hours                  situations.

· Competent in care management systems — including rostering, ECM, and digital care planning.

Personal Qualities

· Shows the self-awareness, honesty and professional courage to recognise what is working, what is not, and what                  needs to change.

· Demonstrates resilience and calm judgement, remaining focused and clear when faced with challenging or complex              situations or organisational difficulties.

· A caring and compassionate leader with a genuine commitment to making a positive difference to the people we                    support.

· Accountable and takes ownership of outcomes.

· Adaptable and confident working at different levels, recognising when to move between strategic thinking to                          operational problem-solving.

· Collaborative and approachable, with the ability to build positive working relationships and work effectively with                      people at all levels of the organisation.

· Curious and improvement-focused, with a willingness to ask questions, explore new approaches and learn from                    experience.