Job title: Professional Communities Manager
Reporting to: Director of Membership
Line Manager Responsibility for: Professional Communities Co-ordinator
Location: This is a remote UK-based role with regular travel to CST’s national and regional events, mainly in Birmingham and London. Candidates within reasonable travel distance to these locations are preferred.
Salary: £41,603 - £45,470 a year.
Pension: We offer a workplace pension and life assurance scheme. CST makes contributions equivalent to 10% of your gross salary.
Annual leave: Initially 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, with an additional two days leave after three years’ service.
Working hours: Full-time 37.5 hours.
Application Closing Date: Wednesday 27th August 2025, 12 noon.
Interview Date: First stage interviews will be conducted on Tuesday 9th September 2025, second stage interviews will be conducted on Thursday 11th September 2025.
Job overview
The Professional Communities Manager leads the development, content curation, and operational delivery of CST’s 11 Professional Communities. These networks, events, and forums are a core benefit of CST membership and are provided free of charge to members.
This is a proactive, member-focused role that blends operational excellence with strategic content oversight. The postholder will work directly with community chairs, subject experts, community supporters, CST platinum partners and members to ensure that all communities are vibrant, professionally hosted, and deliver high-quality, relevant content.
The role also plays a key part in ensuring a joined-up approach to content across CST’s full range of activities, working closely with the professional learning and conference teams and partnerships to ensure alignment and maximise value for members.
Key responsibilities
Strategic Development and Continuous Improvement
- Develop and implement strategic plans to strengthen the value, engagement, and content of CST Professional Communities.
- Set clear objectives and KPIs to monitor success and drive continuous improvement of community services.
- Regularly evaluate community activity, identifying ways to increase engagement, relevance, and impact for members.
Community Content Curation and Management
- Oversee the quality, consistency, and relevance of content across all 11 Professional Communities, ensuring alignment with member priorities and organisational objectives.
- Work in partnership with community chairs, subject experts, community supporters and CST’s platinum partnerships to proactively commission, curate, and quality-assure community content (e.g., webinars, blogs, resources, discussions).
- Work closely with the professional learning and conference teams to ensure a joined-up, coherent approach to content across CST activity, avoiding duplication and enhancing overall member value.
- Identify content gaps and work creatively, including drawing upon resources and contacts within the policy and partnership team to address them, ensuring a balanced and evolving programme across the communities.
Community Engagement and Facilitation
- Lead and facilitate virtual and in-person community events, ensuring professional delivery and high-quality member interaction.
- Support and brief speakers, chairs, and contributors to ensure a consistently excellent experience for members.
- Actively promote member engagement through community platforms and other channels, driving participation and interaction.
Stakeholder Relationships
- Build and maintain strong relationships with CST members, community chairs, speakers, and supporters.
- Collaborate with internal colleagues across membership, communications, professional learning, policy, and conference teams to maximise the impact of community activities.
- Manage relationships with sponsors where appropriate, ensuring alignment with CST values.
Digital Platform and Event Management
- Oversee the effective use of digital and platforms (including CiviCRM and Hivebrite,) to host communities, deliver events, and share content.
- Manage operational aspects of events and online communities, ensuring smooth logistics and excellent user experience.
Data, Insight, and Reporting
- Monitor and report on community engagement, content performance, and member feedback, using data to guide improvements.
- Lead the ongoing development of data processes for the communities, ensuring accurate insights are captured and shared.
Team Leadership and Development
- Manage, develop, and support the Professional Communities Coordinator, fostering a collaborative, high-performing culture.
- Encourage learning and development across the team to ensure consistently excellent member service.
Adaptability and Wider Contribution
- Contribute to broader membership engagement strategies and initiatives.
- Undertake any other duties as required by the Director of Membership to support CST’s mission
At Cruse, we have recently launched our new strategy, setting out our charity’s plans to grow our income and build on our expertise and unique position in the sector. We provide expert bereavement and grief information and support, and our charity has been supporting people for over 65 years. We support adults, children and young people across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, through our national services, 84 local branches and online information about grief and bereavement.
You will lead the Community Fundraising and Individual Giving team to inspire support and donations from groups, organisations and individuals in local communities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. You will oversee a range of activity across the Community fundraising team and manage a portfolio of relationships including Fundraising Champions (volunteers in branches) and key donors and supporters. You will review, inform and deliver activity to secure individual giving income and promote gifts in Wills, building our income from individuals including those who have received support from Cruse.
As part of the Income and Marketing/Communications Management Team, you will help shape plans to grow our income, raise awareness and increase engagement from volunteers and donors. Working with key colleagues in Services, Volunteering and Finance, and key volunteers, you will build our approach to Community and Individual Giving.
Timeline:
Closing date: 6th August 2025
Interviews: w/c 18th August 2025
NB We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a high volume of applications is received.
The selection process will involve two stages. First interview will be by video call. Second interview is planned to be via video call, but we reserve the right for an in-person meeting.
If you require any reasonable adjustments to support you during the interview, please don’t hesitate to let us know—we’ll be happy to accommodate.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.