Programme director jobs in Charing cross, greater london
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At Ambitious about Autism, we are looking for a Programme Director – Service Development to join our team. You'll develop Ambitious about Autism's and the Trust's education and care services for autistic children and young people.
You'll lead on key strategic projects to extend existing or develop new education and care services for autistic children and young people, providing strong project leadership, strategic integration and managing project-related governance. You'll identify and pursue new business opportunities to drive growth and expansion of our educational settings, including school bids.
You'll be involved in new service development, conducting thorough assessment to identify gaps and opportunities for new provisions or products, whilst developing innovative concepts for new services and seeking approval through business cases. You'll also provide leadership to the Service Development team, with line management of 3 direct reports, whilst upholding Ambitious about Autism's core values.
We are looking for someone who has:
- Extensive business development and project planning knowledge
- Working knowledge of the education, health or social care of children/young people with SEND
- Working knowledge of: The social, policy, regulatory issues affecting children and young people with special educational needs or Commissioning and service delivery for children, young people and their families
- Proven experience of leading the development and delivery of new services for children, young people and/or adults with special educational needs or disabilities either from a third sector, educational, health or local authority background
- Experience of developing strategic and business plans
In return, we offer great benefits including a generous holiday allowance and commitment to continued professional development (CPD), flexible, hybrid working and more!
This is a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious individual who would like to work for a forward-thinking, open and honest organisation and make a real impact to the young people we work with. Please find our full recruitment pack on the link below.
If you have any questions about the role or would like to have a confidential chat, please contact James Axford, Recruitment Officer.
Ambitious about Autism is committed to fostering equity, diversity, and inclusion at every level of our organisation. We warmly welcome applications from all qualified candidates, valuing the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives they bring. We encourage applications from individuals regardless of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or parental status, disability, or age.
Our recruitment process promotes equal opportunities, and we are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for candidates with disabilities or additional needs throughout the recruitment process. Please contact our Recruitment Team for accommodations. We recognise disability as a physical or mental impairment that significantly and long-term affects a person's ability to perform day-to-day activities, as defined by the UK Equality Act 2010. All applications will be considered solely on merit, aligned with our mission to support autistic children and young people.
Ambitious about Autism is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and successful candidates will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check. As part of our Safer Recruitment checks, an online search maybe carried out in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education.
The Safeguarding responsibilities of the post as per the job description and personal specification.
Whether the post is exempt from the rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendment to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2021. This means that when applying for certain jobs and activities certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected', so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS Filter Guidance.
Registered Charity
101 - 500
We stand with autistic children and young people, champion their rights and create opportunities.
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.
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.
The External Relations (ER) Department mobilizes external audiences to raise the requisite funds, influence policies and achieve practice changes to improve outcomes for our clients, while growing and protecting our global brand. The Global Policy & Advocacy team is a dynamic part of the ER Department that leverages the power of IRC’s ideas to solve the biggest challenges facing IRC’s clients across the “arc of crisis” and influence external stakeholders, in particular governments and multi-lateral institutions, to enact these solutions to ultimately make meaningful change for our clients. From addressing the drivers of conflict to meeting the needs of displaced people, the team partners with innovative thinkers, experts and those with lived experience to identify solutions and bring them to life. We take pride in being solutions-oriented and creative. We are precise in our goals, tactics, and messages. We drive change year over year, knowing that system change takes dedicated focus while maintaining the flexibility to respond to emerging needs across the globe. Finally, we are collaborative, constantly seeking new ideas and perspectives from others in our sector and beyond as we work side by side with programs, strategy, communications and research and innovation teams across the IRC.
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.
In Europe, the IRC also has offices in Berlin, Bonn, Brussels, Geneva and Stockholm.
The Purpose of the Role
Scope and Authority
Authority:
As the Program Advocacy and Engagement Director, you serve as a strategic leader shaping IRC’s global influence across crisis response contexts, guiding advocacy efforts that are integral to advancing IRC’s mission. You are responsible for strengthening our advocacy strategies and practice, providing strategic oversight, coordination and strategy building across national, regional and multilateral advocacy efforts. You will work with regionally based teams and collaborate with senior regional and country leaders, technical experts, and global counterparts to optimize IRC’s advocacy reach, advocate for systems change policies and impacts and ensure coherence. This role will be critical to ensure focus, alignment and strategic oversight to maximize IRC’s advocacy impact at a time of stretched resources and expanding humanitarian need.
This individual will play a critical role in coordinating and identifying the strategic opportunities to cultivate relationships and influence policies at the highest levels across IRC’s advocacy priorities, implementing creative influence strategies, including targeting non-traditional stakeholders on key crisis work. This individual will ensure the global advocacy team is informed by and responsive to trends at national/regional levels, connecting our Advocacy & Influence work to the experiences and needs of our clients and programs, and providing advocacy guidance, skills development and best practice sharing.
Key Working Relationships
Internal contacts: Regional CRRD Policy, Advocacy and Communication; Global Advocacy & Influence colleagues; Best Use of Resources Advocacy Specialist; Policy & Solutions team; Technical Excellence leads; Crisis, Response, Recovery and Development teams; Country Programs; Communications; Awards Management; President’s Office, External Relations Department
External contacts: Legislators; government officials; critical decision makers in multilateral institutions; peer NGOs; local/regional advocacy and/or operational organizations
Key Accountabilities
Advocacy Strategy (45%)
• Advance IRC influence by leading or supporting the design and execution of integrated advocacy strategies, including power maps, for crisis response issues in line with organizational priorities and in partnership with regional, national and technical leaders and global policy, advocacy and communications teams.
• Lead efforts to advocate for system change at the country level, engaging with IRC regional advocates, and Spot and capitalize on external opportunities to advance IRC’s influence objectives including with non-traditional partners.
• Work with regional advocates to provide expert strategic guidance and support to country programs and emergency response teams in the development of advocacy strategies.
Policy and Advocacy Prioritization and Contextualization (25%)
• Contribute to policy generation and prioritization by providing advocacy insights from program regions and country contexts as well as multilateral institutions, collaborating with policy colleagues to increase the credibility and efficacy of our solutions.
• Support the identification of policy and advocacy priorities that meet the three criteria of impact, feasibility and added IRC value.
• Work closely with regional and national advocates to understand critical legislation and policy impacting clients and IRC’s programmatic teams in countries where we operate.
Multilateral Strategy (15%)
• Build strategic relationships and maintain diplomatic engagement with multilateral institutions such as the UN, leveraging IRC’s presence to influence multilateral policy and funding decisions.
Senior Leadership Engagement (15%)
• Identify and shape high-impact external engagements for IRC’s senior leaders, including message development, briefings, and event positioning to elevate IRC’s global thought leadership.
Steward Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• Steward gender equality, diversity and inclusion both in the culture of IRC, as well as in the policy solutions we develop and the ways we wield influence.
Teamwork (% N/A)
• Support a positive team culture by acting openly and collaboratively, supporting colleagues in their work and sharing credit with others where appropriate.
Person Specification
Essential
Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications:
• Graduate degree or equivalent experience in relevant field such as Public Policy, International Development, Politics, Economics, Law or International Relations **
• Demonstrable track record of leading advocacy strategies that generated tangible policy change, ideally in more than one context. **
• Ability to think strategically and creatively, being oriented towards solution development when traditional advocacy means do not suffice and especially in fluid and politically sensitive environments, exercising sound judgment under pressure.**
• Extensive knowledge of humanitarian aid and refugee issues, particularly around long-term displacement. **
• Exceptional verbal communication and interpersonal skills: strong presenter, facilitator, public speaker and trainer. Demonstrated ability to communicate and collaborate successfully with experts, high level decision-makers, and colleagues in the humanitarian and development fields. **
• Excellent writing skills and the ability to translate complex material and data into compelling narratives that resonate with decision-makers and mainstream audiences.
• Ability to work within short timelines to a high degree of accuracy.
• Initiative and ability to work independently on fast-moving issues, and juggle competing demands.
• Experience working in a development or humanitarian context is preferred.
• Fluency with IRC’s strategy and advocacy agendas is preferred.
Experience:
• Demonstrated experience in leading advocacy strategy development and execution with a focus on creativity and strategic thinking.
• Extensive experience working on complex humanitarian and/or development issues particularly at the multilateral or systems-change level, in more than one geographic or political context. International NGO or multilateral/intergovernmental body experience preferred. National legislative or executive branch experience is an asset.
Registered Charity
101 - 500
The mission of the IRC is to help people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Are you passionate about helping young people grow in character, confidence and values? Do you want to lead a programme rooted in Catholic ethos that shapes whole school communities?
A long-established Catholic education charity is seeking a Director of Virtue Programme to lead and strengthen their values-based formation programme across six partner schools.
This meaningful role ensures the charity’s mission, identity and Catholic ethos remain vibrant and influential in each school, supporting both students and staff in understanding and living human virtues in an inclusive and accessible way.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the strategic development of the virtues programme across six schools
- Ensure the programme reflects Catholic ethos while remaining accessible to students and staff of all faith backgrounds
- Review and enhance current virtues initiatives
- Build strong relationships with school leaders, staff and students
- Align the virtues programme with wider youth and formation initiatives
- Ensure consistent, high-quality delivery across all schools
About You
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills
- Excellent organisational and project-delivery abilities
- Confident decision-maker able to influence stakeholders
- Budget-management experience
- Good IT skills
- Empathy with Catholic values and ethos
- Collaborative, adaptable and confident working across multiple sites
- Willingness to undertake safeguarding training and a full DBS check
Why Apply?
- A meaningful leadership role within Catholic education
- Opportunity to shape character formation across six inspiring schools
- Hybrid working with flexibility
How to Apply
Closing date: 2 April 2026
Interviews: 29 & 30 April 2026
To apply or find out more, please contact Gemma at TPP Recruitment.
We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability and potential; please contact us if you require any assistance or adjustment so that we can help with making the application process work for you.
Thank you!
Program Director (Youth Employment)
Prospectus is supporting an independent foundation seeking a Program Director (Youth Employment) who can complement the existing team by virtue of their experience in labor market economics, workforce development, value chain transformation, and/or the prioritization of public-sector investment in critical economic sectors.
Program Directors work with their government counterparts to design and support implementation of transformative programs, and many government counterparts are prioritizing youth employment. Program Directors are accountable to the CEO and are responsible for ensuring quality execution of programs; strengthening routine monitoring systems; leading evidence-based decision-making; and driving highly leveraged outcomes.
Program Directors each work on a variety of matters related to human capital development and contribute to programs in different African geographies. You can expect a dynamic environment and a culture of collaboration, innovation, and drive for highly leveraged outcomes.
Candidate Profile
- Extensive experience with complex and large-scale program ideation and implementation, ideally related to youth employment, labor market interventions, value chain transformation, and public-sector investment.
- Good understanding of how governmental departments work, ideally with direct experience working within government.
- Significant interactions at high policy levels within governments, with proven experience in managing complex and politically sensitive relationships with different stakeholders.
- Demonstration of methodical program oversight and management.
- Experienced in the use of programmatic tools such as dashboard creation, program monitoring and strategic planning.
- Demonstrated familiarity with and/or experience working in sub-Saharan Africa.
Terms
- £100,000 – £140,000 + benefits.
- The position is full-time. Staff members working in the London office attend the office five days a week. However, if you have a disability and need a different arrangement as a reasonable adjustment, please let us know. We are committed to supporting an inclusive and accessible workplace and will consider any requests in line with the organisation’s obligations.
- The position will require travel to sub-Saharan Africa
- Equal opportunities employer
How to Apply
To apply for the role, please upload your CV together with a supporting statement (no more than 500 words) onto the Prospectus website.
At Prospectus we believe passionately that a truly inclusive workplace leads to increased social impact. We are committed to supporting our clients build more inclusive teams. To understand how we are performing, we ask that you kindly complete the brief equal opportunities questionnaire when you submit your application via our website.
Recruitment Timetable (Subject to Change)
- Deadline for applications: 5th April
- Interviews with Prospectus: 13th – 14th April
- First stage panel interviews: w/c 4th May
