Programme manager jobs

This is an exciting opportunity to bring our ambitious plans into life-changing support programmes for those experiencing financial distress. 

The Somerset Crisis and Resilience Alliance is a voluntary and statutory sector partnership hosted by Citizens Advice Somerset as the Lead Accountable Body (LAB). The Alliance has come together to build financial resilience (for individuals and for communities) through provision of support for those experiencing financial distress and prevention programmes for those most at risk of financial vulnerability.

The role of the Programme Development Manager is focused on building the Alliance as a high-value partnership. The postholder will be instrumental in enabling collaboration, capacity building and service development across the partnership. Reporting to the CEO at Citizens Advice Somerset and accountable to the Alliance Steering Group the successful candidate will play a key role in bringing different partner goals together and ensuring our collaboration delivers a highly effective programme of activities.

The successful candidate will be someone that can build trusted relationships across sectors with experience of managing partnerships and voluntary sector service delivery. Ideally the Programme Development Manager will bring an understanding of best practice in building individual financial resilience including the Financial Conduct Authority standards for money and debt advice.   

Barnardo's is seeking a skilled and ambitious Children's Services Manager to lead a diverse and high-impact portfolio of services across the Midlands.

This is a unique opportunity to oversee a broad range of provision supporting children, young people and families with varying and often complex needs. The postholder will lead services including Warwickshire BASE, which provides targeted support to improve emotional wellbeing, resilience and engagement with education; the Household Support Fund, delivering practical support to families experiencing financial hardship; Pathway to Potential, offering early help and targeted interventions to strengthen family resilience and relationships; and Wolverhampton Power 2, supporting children and young people to develop confidence, emotional wellbeing and life skills.

In addition, the role includes oversight of Dudley Advocacy, which ensures children and young people's voices are heard through independent advocacy, as well as Sandwell SENDIASS and Warwickshire SENDIASS, both of which provide impartial information, advice and support to children, young people and families navigating special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) systems.

This varied portfolio spans early help, targeted support, SEND services, advocacy and community-based provision. It requires a confident and adaptive leader able to operate across different service models, funding streams and local authority areas.

Key responsibilities include:

• Providing strategic and operational leadership across a multi-service, multi-area portfolio
• Ensuring high standards of safeguarding, quality, and performance across all services
• Leading and developing multidisciplinary teams delivering a range of interventions and support
• Overseeing service contracts, budgets and compliance within differing commissioning frameworks
• Building strong partnerships with local authorities and key stakeholders across Warwickshire, Wolverhampton, Dudley and Sandwell
• Driving service development, innovation and continuous improvement
• Ensuring the voices of children, young people and families shape delivery and design

About you:

• Significant experience managing diverse children's services, ideally across multiple local authority areas
• Strong leadership capability with experience of leading managers and dispersed teams
• Knowledge of SEND, advocacy, early help and family support services
• Experience of working in complex, multi-agency environments and managing external partnerships
• A track record of delivering against performance, quality and contractual requirements
• A passion for improving outcomes for children and tackling inequality

This is an exciting opportunity to lead a complex and rewarding portfolio, making a meaningful difference to children and families across multiple communities.

The role requires a flexible and responsive approach to working across a wide geographical area, with regular travel to services and partner locations to maintain visibility, build relationships and support teams. At the same time, the postholder will be expected to work in an agile way, using virtual platforms effectively to lead, manage and collaborate across dispersed services. This balance of physical presence and remote working is key to ensuring strong leadership, consistent oversight and accessible support for staff, while maintaining efficiency and responsiveness across the portfolio.

For more information about the service porfolio, please refer to the additional information sheet. 

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date.  We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible

Service Manager 

Living Wage Places

The Living Wage Places scheme is pioneering a collaborative, place-based approach to tackling in-work poverty. Local action groups made up of public and private sector Living Wage Employers, work together with charities, unions and civil society on a three-year action plan to tackle local in-work poverty and grow the number of employers committed to the Living Wage, Living Hours and Living Pensions.

Since the scheme launched in 2019, we have recognised 20 cities, boroughs and city-regions for Making Living Wage Places.

Living Wage Places taps into the power of place, recognising and developing local champions within our network and supporting them to engage and influence their community’s employers. It feeds into broader local economic plans such as community wealth building and local anchor institution work.

Living Wage Foundation

The Living Wage movement began in 2001, after Citizens UK brought together communities in East London to discuss poverty and low pay. The campaign grew in momentum and soon required a mechanism to recognise employers who wanted to join the movement, which saw the establishment of the Living Wage Foundation in 2011.

Still part of Citizens UK today, the Living Wage Foundation continues to work with community organisations to make sure the voices of both workers and businesses are part of the Living Wage movement. We now work with over 16,000 employers, benefitting over 475,000 people and winning over £3bn of better wages for people who need it most.

Citizens UK works with a broad base of institutions across the political spectrum. At the Living Wage Foundation, we take the same deliberately broad-based approach and accredit all organisations who pay the real Living Wage to their directly and indirectly employed staff and are committed to tackling in work poverty. As a team we work across a range of industries and sectors to achieve this mission. We seek pragmatic coalitions in order to progress specific campaigns, and partnership around a particular issue such as Living Wage, does not imply an endorsement of broader purpose and policies.

Main Responsibilities

The Programme Manager for Living Wage Places plays a central role in delivering and growing a pioneering, place-based approach to tackling in-work poverty. The role is responsible for managing and developing the Living Wage Places programme, supporting local action groups to deliver ambitious action plans, and embedding wider standards including Living Hours and Living Pensions. They will be the first point of contact for regional leads seeking guidance in their work/regions. Working across a broad range of internal teams and external stakeholders, the Programme Manager will build strategic partnerships, strengthen regional networks, and ensure effective monitoring, evaluation and learning across the programme. The role combines strong

project management with relationship building, strategic thinking and a commitment to increasing the scale and impact of the Living Wage movement.

Working as the Programme Manager, reporting to the Senior Programme Manager for Living Wage Places, ,

your main responsibilities will include:

Contribute to CUK and Project strategic objectives

· Support and grow the Living Wage Places project and ensure it is embedded in CUK’s overall strategy

· Collate and share good practice across teams to ensure strong collaboration and that civil society remains at the heart of Living Wage Places

· Support strategy development around local and general elections, identifying opportunities to grow the scheme and influence stakeholders

Build and manage projects and achieve work targets effectively

· Monitor, evaluate and draw out learning from across the Living Wage Places project

· Lead the development of systems for monitoring and evaluating impact and progress

· Support action groups to design and deliver Action Plans including Living Hours and Living Pensions

· Facilitate roundtables, meetings, and milestone activities

· Identify opportunities to expand Living Wage Buildings and Zones

· Deliver project milestones and reporting

· Deliver additional projects aligned to team business plan

Learning & Expertise

· Develop expertise in local economic policy including community wealth building and devolution

· Support internal teams to understand Living Wage Places principles · Build knowledge of priority sectors and apply to strategy

· Lead internal learning sessions

· Provide guidance on Living Hours and Living Pensions

· Continue personal professional development

Develop and manage external relationships

· Build and manage relationships with regional stakeholders

· Support development of new partnerships

· Represent the organisation at meetings and events

· Co-deliver the Living Wage Places network

· Develop relationships that support long-term impact

Communications

· Support development and delivery of communications strategy

· Gather and share case studies

· Maintain communications channels

· Support local action groups with communications

Develop and manage internal relationships

· Build capacity of organisers and programme staff

· Lead delivery of learning strategy

· Support collaboration across teams

Generate income and manage resources

· Support development of funding proposals

· Collate evidence for funder reporting

· Contribute to budget development

· Support sustainable growth of programme

Personal Specification

(D) Desirable, (E) Essential

Key skills and knowledge

· Excellent project management skills with the ability to manage a wide range of competing demands (E)

· Outstanding communication skills, both verbally and written, combined with the ability to liaise with senior stakeholders (E)

· Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build relationships, lead, influence and motivate others (E)

· Ability to take in and interpret information and present in a succinct manner (E)

· Understanding of the policy and campaign landscape around inclusive local economic strategies and devolution deals (E)

· Ability to support monitoring and evaluation reports for external funders and internal impact monitoring (E)

· Strong IT skills to include MS Office and CRM software (E)

· Understanding of database and systems management (D)

Personal qualities & values

· A proactive approach to all areas of work with a ‘can do’ attitude and a flexible approach to work demands (E)

· Able to work within a team, responding to needs and achieving results collaboratively (E)

· Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and the mission of the Living Wage Foundation. (E)

About the application process

We work within diverse communities bringing people together. In line with our Inclusion value, we would love to see applications from LGBTQIA+ people, people from racialised communities, people living with disabilities and people of faith, all to better represent the communities we work in. We want our employees to have the working conditions that allows them to fully participate, be able to be their best authentic selves and thrive doing so, and we have employee networks to support staff. Even if you don’t quite meet all the required criteria still consider

applying, as we invest in our employees and support them to develop the skills and knowledge required to deliver their role.

For questions and reasonable adjustments regarding your application including information in a different format, or our recruitment process, please email us.

The Regional Programme & Partnerships Manager plays a central role in leading and growing LTSB’s work across Birmingham. The role combines programme delivery, schools engagement, employer partnerships and youth employment support to create meaningful pathways into careers for young people from underrepresented backgrounds.

The postholder will be responsible for delivering LTSB’s Birmingham programme activity, including employment programmes, schools programme delivery and employer-led experiences, while also developing relationships with employers, schools, referral partners and community organisations that strengthen local impact. Working closely with colleagues across Programmes, Employment, Corporate Partnerships and Fundraising, the role will ensure a joined-up and high-quality experience for young people, employers and partners.

The role is suited to someone who is passionate about social mobility, confident delivering engaging programmes, skilled at building relationships and comfortable managing a varied workload across delivery, partnerships and regional development activity.

Prospectus is delighted to be supporting our client with the recruitment of a Grant Programmes Manager.

The organisation is a charitable foundation that brings together local donors with voluntary and community organisations to enable positive, sustainable change across Surrey. Through strategic grant-making, research, and long-term partnerships, the organisation supports initiatives that address local needs and help communities to thrive.

This role is available on a permanent basis and can be either full-time or part-time. The salary range is £29,000–£40,000 FTE, depending on experience. This is a role with flexible working arrangements, all staff attend the Woking office on Mondays and with the option to work remotely on other days.

As the Grant Programmes Manager, you will report to the Deputy Director of Grants & Programmes and play a key role in designing, delivering, and evaluating targeted funding programmes such as our Heritage for All, Clearer Care and Mental Health scale Up Fund Programmes. You will work closely with colleagues across Grants, Programmes, Development, and Communications teams to steward donor relationships and ensure that their funding reaches the communities where it will have the greatest impact.

You will manage the end‑to‑end delivery of funding programmes. You will engage with voluntary and community organisations, public sector partners, and donors to shape programme design and share learning. You may also be required to line manage a Grants Officer or Administrator providing support on programme delivery.

To be successful in this role, you will be a proactive and highly organised individual with experience managing the full lifecycle of grant or funding programmes. You will have strong project management skills, excellent attention to detail, confidence interpreting complex information and communicating this to a range of audiences.

You will bring a friendly, professional approach and the ability to build rapport with a wide range of stakeholders, from grassroots community groups to donors and trustees. You will be comfortable managing competing priorities and working both independently and as part of a small, collaborative team. You will have strong digital skills and experience using Microsoft Office.

Experience working in the charity or voluntary sector is desirable. Additional desirable experience includes, familiarity with CRM systems, experience working with communities within Surrey, and an interest in supportive grant‑making practices such as IVAR principles of open and transparent grant-making.

How To Apply
To apply, please submit your CV in Word format in the first instance. Should your experience be suitable, we will arrange for a meeting to brief you on the role. You'll then have all the information you need to formally apply. We are looking forward to connecting with you soon.

At Prospectus we invest in your journey as a candidate and are committed to supporting you with your application. We welcome all candidates to apply, regardless of age, sex/gender, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, marital status or pregnancy/maternity. If you have any disability and require reasonable adjustment/s to any part of the process then please contact George Cook at Prospectus.
 

The National Youth Orchestra is the UK’s leading organisation championing orchestral music as a powerful agent for teenage development. We activate teenagers’ confidence, optimism and skills to play their part in the world today, through performing and sharing extraordinary music.

We are looking for a Youth Support Manager to deliver outstanding pastoral care and safeguarding across NYO’s national programme. This role is central to ensuring that young people feel happy, listened to and secure while participating in NYO activities. 

This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in supporting young people’s wellbeing and development through music. You will manage the year-round processes, people and routines that enable consistent safeguarding and welfare practice, champion NYO’s ethos and help young people thrive on every project. You will also be a visible and responsive point of contact for young people and staff during NYO activity, during residential courses and non-residential and online delivery.

You will line manage the Youth Support Co-ordinator and manage the freelance Support Team workforce. Working closely with colleagues across the Programmes team, you will ensure that pastoral needs are embedded into project planning, risk assessment, delivery and debrief processes.

The ideal candidate will combine strong team management skills with a rigorous approach to administration. You will be confident handling conversations with teenagers and their parents/carers, managing sensitive information, and co-ordinating practical logistics in a busy residential environment. You will also be a visible and responsive point of contact for young people and staff during NYO residentials and other activity.

At NYO, you’ll join a values-led, mission-driven organisation where people care deeply about the impact of their work. Our staff team is supportive, friendly and ambitious, united by a shared belief in the potential of young people and the power of orchestral music.

Our offices near Holborn in central London are a lively base for collaboration and creativity. NYO offers hybrid working, health cash plan, a cycle-to-work scheme, retail and entertainment discounts, and a 24/7 counselling and support helpline. Most NYO projects take place during school holidays or at weekends, and the postholder will be expected to attend the majority of residential activities. The role will include some weekend and statutory holiday working, for which a TOIL policy is in place. Outside project periods, the core office days are Tuesday and Wednesday.

Visit our website to find out more and apply.

Deadline for applications: 10am, Monday 29 June 2026
First round interviews: Monday 6 July 2026

Ascension Community Trust (ACT) is a much-loved community-based charity in Custom House, Newham.  We deliver a range of projects including Newham District Foodbank (a Trussell Trust foodbank), welfare benefits advice, ESOL classes, work with adults with learning difficulties, as well as work with children, young people and their families.

This an exciting time for the programme with a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) school being build next door to our centre, and with established relationships with several care homes – we expect that this programme will go from strength to strength.

The programme currently consists of:

· Inclusive Art Group

· Supported Volunteering

· Weekly Community Meal

We are seeking a competent manager for a one year fixed contract to cover maternity leave.

You will have the leadership skills to support a small team of sessional staff. You will be at ease in relating to adults as well as their parents and carers. You will be passionate about the well being and integration of people with learning difficulties with an understanding of their needs.

Christian belief is not a requirement of the role; however, it is essential that the successful candidate will be comfortable working in sympathy with our values.

If you share our values and want to make an impact within Newham, then we look forward to hearing from you!

Warwickshire & Solihull Community and Voluntary Action

is recruiting

Area Programme and Development Manager (Solihull)

£44,088 per annum pro rata

30 hours per week

Permanent subject to funding

Hybrid/Office (The Core, Solihull) with regular travel

across Solihull and occasionally Warwickshire and Birmingham

About CAVA

CAVA provides infrastructure support to the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise sector across Warwickshire and Solihull. CAVA also works heavily in partnership with its respective organisations in both Birmingham and Coventry, collaborating across the landscape to reduce inequality. CAVA operates as a Volunteer Centre and delivers projects that support social and community action through the voices and engagement of local people.

CAVA has offices based in Leamington Spa, Nuneaton, Rugby, Stratford-Upon-Avon and a dedicated office space within a shared Community Hub in Solihull.

Area Programme and Development Manager

Area Programme and Development Manager will work as part of the Management Team and are key ambassadors for the organisation and the wider VCFSE. They provide leadership and accountability for the work of CAVA, overseeing and growing our position and portfolio of work as the VCFSE Infrastructure organisation for both Solihull and Warwickshire. The manager also occasionally works in partnership with the Board of Trustees on matters related to strategy and governance.

The Opportunity

The Area Programme and Development Manager will provide management and leadership of CAVA’s Solihull portfolio, which is at an evolving and exciting phase of integration across the Borough.

The Area Programme and Development Manager has a key role in leading and shaping CAVA’s presence in Solihull, working strategically alongside the Board and Management Team, to lead the organisation into its next era of growth and delivery.

The Area Programme and Development Manager has a key role and responsibility representing voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise groups and organisations, providing a strong and confident voice on behalf of the sector as we work alongside partners from the Public, NHS and the wider Integrated Care System (ICS).

The remit provides the successful candidate the opportunity to make a significant impact to reduce inequality within communities by supporting the VCFSE sector and working in a dynamic and collaborative environment, especially through prevention, early intervention and community engagement.

Summary of Key Responsibilities (please see Job Description for full details)

- Leadership and Management of the Solihull programme portfolio (including public sector contract) and CAVA Strategy

- Line Management of a small, focussed team

- Strategy, Planning and Control in line with need, compliance, business planning, lead areas

- Financial Management including setting and managing budgets and risk in line with sustainability and financial controls/compliance

- External Representation and Partnership Working across the landscape, provide the voice of the sector and working in collaboration, alongside public VCFSE, private, public and statutory sector partners

- Income Generation and Growth through the writing of tender and funding applications, evaluation and funding returns/reports and including other fundraising strategies

- Office Management environment within your area in line with regulatory policies, procedures and delivery need

- Corporate Support and Team Participation in wider, CAVA activity and events

What We're Looking For:

We are seeking a dynamic and self-motivated individual with evidence of:

- strong programme leadership and management experience and skills

- a strong and analytical eye for detail supporting contract management in line with KPI’s and budgets

- ideally, a background of working in the VCFSE sector

- confident, objective and effective voice and communication skills at all levels

- collaborative skills working as part of a supportive Senior Management Team

- a commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion and reducing inequality

- a ‘can do’ approach to work and objective thinker and problem solver

- skills and experience of writing tenders and funding applications

 Values

All employees are expected to demonstrate CAVA’s values by working positively as part of a team, delivering high quality services where all are supported and encouraged and to promote an ethos which values and encourages equality and diversity within the organisation and is respected through the VCFSE.

To apply for this role, you are required to hold a driving licence and have use of a car for work purposes. Flexibility to undertake occasional work out of contracted hours is essential for this role.

Competitive salary and benefits package including enrolment with an employee assistance programme of support.

If you think you fit the brief for this exciting role, please view the job opportunity on our website and submit your CV, accompanied by a covering letter which outlines why you would like this job and what you could contribute, focusing on the criteria detailed in the job description and person specification Letters should be no more than 3 sides and if typed, no smaller than size 11 font.

Closing Date: Monday 29th June 2026 at 10am

Interviews: Monday 13th July 2026

No agencies please

WCAVA is an equal opportunities employer

‘Putting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion into Practice’

The Damilola Taylor Trust (DTT) is a charitable company limited by guarantee incorporated in May 2001 in memory of Damilola Taylor and registered as a charity in July 2001. Our founding mission is to provide inner-city youths with opportunities to play, learn and live their lives free of fear and violence, and with optimism for a future where opportunities abound.We develop the hope, optimism and self-esteem of young people so that they can: 

 Lead healthy lives;

Stay in School;

Grow up to become independent productive adults;

 Have lofty aspirations and work to attain their innate potential.

For over two decades, we have supported young people through mentoring, education, employability, personal development, life skills, and community engagement programmes that inspire hope, aspiration, confidence, and resilience. As we mark our 25th anniversary this year, we intend to strengthen organisational capacity, expand partnerships, and scale programmes that positively impact young people and communities across London. .

We are looking for an experienced, dynamic and motivated Programme Manager to lead the Damilola Taylor Trust’s Executive Team, sustain and scale our core youth-focused programmes in South London, providing consistent leadership and operational stability. 

As Programme Manager, you will 

• Manage delivery of the Career pathway programme for schools (CPPFS) courses, which help YP at risk of involvement in criminal activity to engage fully in education by addressing barriers to positive engagement through workshops and career- mentor support at Harris Academies in South London, with a view to reaching 150 students a year.
• Support and supervise the Project Coordinator to implement the project “From Tragedy to Legacy” to celebrate the legacy of Damilola Taylor while highlighting the impact the Trust has made in 25 years supporting young people in inner-city areas of London.
• Lead the Trust’s collaboration initiative with YouthBuild UK, a South London based charity that trains YP to be work ready in a variety of industries including construction, hospitality, customer care and IT to enhance impact of our Career Search and Skills Development (CSSD) programme.
• Design, develop and implement new programmes for delivery in-house or via third party delivery partners
• Agree the Executive Team’s work plan, lead, and motivate staff to create a high-performing team that sustains and scales the impact of our core youth-focused programmes.
• Taking the lead with day-to-day administration and management of the Trust’s programmes, you will maintain a database, produce written communications and reports, information leaflets, website updates, budget monitoring, and negotiate with delivery partners, and manage an array of detailed record keeping
• Contribute to organisational planning and development, including supporting our plan of building capacity to create the organisation required to achieve results that we are committed to
• Support our fundraising team through providing feedback, reports and information to support bid writing activities.
• Key working relationships
  • ​As leader of the Trust’s executive team, you will work closely with our finance service provider, line manage the Administration Officer and Project Coordinator, and be responsible for delivery of our programmes
  • You will develop good working relationships with our project delivery partners, while building in-house capacity for delivery of our main programmes as well as those developed in collaboration with other Social Providers such as YouthBuild UK 
  • Be involved in sector networking and awareness raising on behalf of the Trust.
  • Act as an ambassador for the Trust at all times

• Person specification -Specific experience or skillKey: (E) Essential; (D) Desirable. 

  • Experience of designing, developing and implementing charitable programmes especially to support development of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds (E)

  • Significant experience managing delivery of youth-focused programmes in a small but growing charity (E) 

  • Strong leadership and team skills to motivate, support and work with a team of youth workers (E) 

  • An excellent understanding and a proven track record of relevant experience working with young people (YP) from inner-city areas of high deprivation (E)

  • A positive attitude, high energy and enthusiasm for the work of the Damilola Taylor Trust (E)

  • Excellent communicator, planner and problem solver, a strong team player and an exemplary role model (E) 

  • Self-directed, self-motivated with the ability to work on own initiative to plan and manage own and a team’s workload (E)

• Knowledge, qualifications

  • ·Knowledge of situational leadership and general management practices (E)

  •      Knowledge of General Data Protection Regulations (E) 

  •      An understanding of safeguarding of children, young people and vulnerable adults (E) 

  •      Current DBS certificate (E) but, for a suitable candidate, the post might be offered subject to DBS being obtained)

  • Degree or relevant experience of working in the Social Sector, and or as a Youth work (D)

  • Experience of programme development processes and tools (frameworks, theories of change) (E)

• Personal qualities

  • Commitment to own continuing personal and professional development

  • Commitment to the mission, vision and values of DTT

  • Flexibility to work in a hybrid job, place based; school locations and virtual

  • Commitment to effective relationship building and collaboration

• The Trust is a Safer Recruitment organisation.

Registered Manager – Jarvis House a home which is rated good aspiring to be outstanding

Salary: £51,275 - £58,927 per annum (Pay Grade B) at time of writing

Additional allowances are paid for on-call duties.

Please contact Karen Ciantar for an informal chat - karen.ciantar @ barnardos. org. uk 

Create Safety. Build Belonging. Help Children Grow.

Barnardo's is looking for a compassionate, values‑driven Registered Manager to lead Jarvis House, a small, nurturing residential home supporting children at a time when safety, stability, and kindness matter most.

Jarvis House supports up to three children through short‑ to medium‑term placements, including emergency admissions when no suitable alternative is immediately available. It offers a therapeutic, trauma‑informed environment where children can begin to feel safer, happier, healthier, and more hopeful, and where they are supported to heal, grow, and thrive.

This is not just about running a home. It's about creating a calm, structured space where relationships come first, experiences are understood with compassion, and children are supported to prepare for what comes next.

What Jarvis House Offers Children

Each child's time at Jarvis House is shaped by a sensitive, holistic assessment that helps us understand their experiences, strengths, and needs. Our team works closely with children to help them recover from trauma, build emotional resilience, and develop vital life skills. When children move on, whether to a foster family, a longer‑term placement, or back home, they do so with stronger foundations and greater confidence in themselves.

As one colleague put it:

“Jarvis House gives children breathing space. We slow things down, really listen, and help them believe in themselves again.”

Your Role

As Registered Manager, you will:

• Lead a small, committed team with warmth, clarity, and consistency
• Create a therapeutic, trauma‑informed environment where children feel safe and supported to thrive
• Hold the balance between structure and nurture, especially during emergency and transition placements
• Ensure high‑quality care, safeguarding, and regulatory compliance
• Embed relational, child‑centred practice in everyday decision‑making
• Support staff through reflective supervision and development
• Work collaboratively with families, social workers, and partner agencies

One of our managers describes the leadership culture at Barnardo's like this:

“You're trusted to lead in a way that feels human. You're supported, challenged, and never expected to do it alone.”

What Children Tell Us Matters

“I need people who don't leave when things get hard.”
 “Feeling safe helps me think about what comes next.”

As Registered Manager, you will keep these voices at the centre of your leadership.

What We're Looking For

You'll be someone who:

• Has experience leading or managing within residential children's services
• Understands trauma, attachment, and emotionally informed care
• Holds (or is working towards) a Level 5 Leadership and Management qualification
• Leads with curiosity, compassion, and emotional resilience
• Believes that strong relationships are the foundation of great care
• Wants to make a genuine difference in children's lives

Why Join Barnardo's?

At Barnardo's, values are more than words on a page. They shape how we lead, how we support staff, and how we care for children.

“I stay because the care is real, for the children and for us as staff.”
 “We're encouraged to reflect, to learn, and to keep getting better.”

You'll be part of an organisation that invests in its people and believes that when staff feel supported, children thrive too.

WHO WE ARE

We're FIRST UK, an EdTech charity making STEM more diverse – using robots, industry mentors, and epic competitions to drive a skills-equipped, workforce-ready talent pipeline.

It’s an exciting time to join the charity as we move from start-up to scaling mode with a brand new strategy backed by government investment alongside some of the world’s leading tech-enabled businesses, including Arm, Bloomberg, Qualcomm, and many more.

As BBC Broadcaster Spencer Kelly summarised.

“It’s easy to see why competitions like this really do help students develop the skills they’re going to need for the rest of their lives. Honestly, I wish I had something like this when I was at school.”

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

A programme manager with a flair for engaging people. Someone who can help grow the UK’s most ambitious student robotics movement through:

• Outreach - increasing uptake amongst schools and youth groups
• Support - ensuring a high-quality experience for partcipants and teachers
• Events – supporting delivery of epic robotics tournaments
• Volunteering - recruiting, upskilling and stewarding event staff and mentors
• Partnerships – fostering a local community of STEM champions and partners

You’re an all-rounder, motivated by working with young people, educators, and industry to engineer better futures. Reporting to our Head of Delivery (that’s Vicky on our website), you’ll be instrumental in scaling our impact regionally. 

WHAT YOU'LL GET

Responsibility. Ownership. Sense of purpose. You’ll be working in a small (9 merry folk), dynamic organisation which is agile and collaborative. We have a strong value proposition and refreshing brand. Our case for support is built on three decades of evidence. Well before pandemics, we were working flexibly and remotely – it’s embedded in our culture.

• £32,000 - £39,000 per annum dependent upon experience
• 25 days holiday, plus 8 bank holidays, and a Christmas gift
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave
• Super-flexible, hybrid role with lots of responsibility

I like the sound of this. Is there more I need to know?

Yep - check out the full role profile on our website.

What's the process?

• Submit CV and optional cover letter
• Answer three simple screening questions
• Role closes 23:59 on Sun 28 Jun

Looking for a charity role where children and families are treated with warmth, curiosity, and compassion?

Ready for a role where operational leadership means noticing the details, solving problems early, building strong systems, and helping a busy service run smoothly and thoughtfully?

Looking for a thoughtful values-led organisation where kindness and accountability go hand in hand?

This is what our children and parents could soon be saying about the service you help lead …

‘I feel like some of the darkness has turned to light’.
‘It’s like an egg has been opened up and all the good is coming out…. Life feels like it is on the right track’.

We need you and more importantly, our children and young people need you!

Join our lovely children’s mental health charity team as Service Lead for our specialist part-time alternative provision, supporting children and young people with EHCPs whose needs sit in the intersection of SEND and mental health.

We are looking for someone who can quickly understand and work within the Love Squared ethos and approach, while bringing strong organisational leadership, warmth, and consistency to the service.

This role would suit someone who is perceptive, highly organised, and proactive, with the ability to quickly understand complex situations and keep a busy service running and developing smoothly and thoughtfully.

You will need strong organisational skills, fantastic attention to detail, and love problem solving, and proactively manage multiple moving parts with love and imagination. 

It will suit someone who wants to take real ownership of making things work well! 

A little bit about Love Squared …

Our vision is a society where imagination, love, and kindness are the everyday words that people associate with child and family services. It is a vision where young people can walk into their futures with joy. We want to bring love to children and families’ services. We don’t think it’s enough to care a bit, you have to care a lot if you want to transform outcomes.

We want to change the national landscape of how children experience the mental health system, putting kindness at the forefront of every interaction. Building awareness, starting a movement, hearing the children’s voices and those of their loved ones: we want to transform the experience of those impacted by mental health.

We are on a mission to ensure that no child has to lose out on a world of potential because of mental health. We don’t have magic wands, but we do believe that every child and family has the right to get services designed and delivered for their individual needs, and with love and imagination. Everyone has a right to have their story remembered and treated with curiosity and sensitivity.

We directly deliver imaginative, and carefully case managed services for children and young people with social, emotional, and mental health needs (working in the intersectional needs of mental health and SEND). We do this through our work as a specialist non-school part-time alternative provision for children with education, health and care plans (where this particular advertised role sits!) and through our Glow services where we provide a number of therapeutic projects such as our children’s listening helpline, Drop the Pressure, online mentoring projects such as Transitions, Game On and Remix, 1:1 counselling and mentoring in schools, and therapeutic mentoring workshops in schools as well as holiday groups in nature, and with cooking and a range of other activities. We believe that you can’t change outcomes without looking at issues holistically and thoughtfully. For us it’s about long-term change.

As our new services lead for (outreach ALP), you will help us continue seeking to make three key differences for our children and young people: Improved mental health, Reduced social isolation,  Increased ability to thrive in education

The Role

Our Outreach (part time ALP) service will deliver services to around 45 children and young people at any one time over the next academic year. Our young people are often neurodivergent, have SEND and/ or mental needs such as anxiety, OCD and other diagnosed or undiagnosed needs. Many have very supportive and involved families and parents/ carers who also deserve our empathy and support, and many have had difficult childhood experiences and might be really struggling with loneliness and social isolation. The funding for outreach comes primarily from individual children’s EHCP’s and we design careful and thoughtful packages of education and wellbeing provision with an emphasis on therapeutic and trauma informed work. This is usually commissioned through local authorities (we work with a number across the South West and in London) and can also be commissioned by social care and NHS. The work with the children is delivered by a team of around 25 education and wellbeing practitioners. We usually deliver services in the home and the community and for many of our young people, who are usually not in school - we are key professionals, mentors and cheerleaders in their lives, delivering usually around 12 hours a week of services for each child as a part time ALP. Partnership work and safeguarding are day to day features of the services as is building supportive mentoring relationships with practitioners ensuring they have the right support, training and supervision to fulfil their roles and feel happy and supported, and building warm, nurturing relationships with families and wider stakeholders. 

We have a clear idea of our objectives for this service for next academic year (we want to make it even more amazing for the children and young people) and we need someone who will be truly excited about running day to day and the year to year. This is a key operational leadership role within a busy and fast-paced service requiring someone who is highly organised, proactive and fast on their feet - its that ‘head, heart and hand’ approach driving positive action and strategically aligned change across the service whilst holding their own case load, and able to maintain oversight of multiple complex moving parts, while ensuring children, families, and practitioners feel nurtured, inspired, and well-held.

In this role, you will:

• Oversee the day-to-day running of the Outreach (ALP) service reporting and ensuring on monthly and year to year deliverables. 

• Manage relationships with children, professionals, families and practitioners dealing with cases from referral onwards, by phone, face to face and by email, and to be in proactive and sensitive communication including with professionals and vulnerable children and families. This will  often require imagination, quick wit, empathy, and diplomacy to resolve. 

• Take an active role in strategic problem solving; being able to think about what issues might come up, what lies behind the words or the data, and what needs to be done to reassure, and move things forward successfully. 

• Collate and analyse a range of systems and data (quantitative and qualitative) with a view to improvement in communications, systems and processes and will make these improvements happen in the service and ensure they are embedded and become consistent.

• Deliver services which have meaningful long term impact for the children, but always be proactively seeking to do more and to make them better.

• Have confidence in dealing with conflict and disagreements, ensuring that the children and families voices are heard and working positively with our partners.

• Lead on personalised and holistic case management including initiation, planning, execution, monitoring/control and closure across children’s cases. 

• Proactive commitment to safeguarding best practise and information sharing including commitment to Love Squared safeguarding procedure including acting as Deputy Safeguarding Lead and attending relevant multi-agency meetings. 

• Effective risk-management for service and individual children/ young people in liaison with other stakeholders.

• Manage practitioner and other relevant recruitment so that capacity is carefully managed across the service.

• Support and improve service design, delivery and best practise for the children including running regular team meetings for each placement, individual and group supervision, and providing wellbeing support for practitioners. 

• Ensure that additional and joined up support is sought and achieved as needed to meet the children’s needs and that this is proactive as much as possible rather than reactive. 

• Ensure that reporting, planning, and other documentation both for individual children and at service level is compliant, to a high standard and well organised and managed. 

• Support the ongoing development and sustainable growth of the service in alignment with the Love Squared ethos and approach

• Line manage and supervise Case Manager(s) and supervise and mentor the practice of the practitioners. 

• Help ensure children and families experience services that feel thoughtful, imaginative, loving and genuinely supportive.

• Undertake other duties in the charity as required, being a willing and nurturing colleague and team member, supportive of senior leadership as well as practitioners and other team members. 

This role needs someone who:

• Enjoys managing/ leading services proactively, creatively improving service design - joining up the dots and seeing how things could run smoother and better for our beneficiaries and for the charity while understanding why strategic alignment and keeping ethos already in place and special. 

• Love to solve problems - the little ones, the bigger ones and enjoys a thoughtful challenge, often at pace! 

• Notices when things are starting to drift and acts early to solve,  - using learning from individual scenarios to create solutions at service level. 

• Can manage multiple moving parts calmly and thoughtfully. 

• Combines strong systems thinking with warmth and empathy, and loves working with people including team and parents/ carers - supporting and nurturing with love and kindness. 

We are looking for a wonderful person who has experience in:

• Significant experience working with children and young people with SEND and/or social, emotional and mental health needs

• Strong safeguarding knowledge and confidence managing complex safeguarding situations with best practice reflective practice

• Experience overseeing or coordinating front line educational/ health or other relevant case-managed services or provision

• Experience supervising, supporting, or line managing staff and frontline practitioners/ education or mental health teams

• Strong project management, operational, and administrative skills

• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple moving parts within a busy service

• Ability to organise, coordinate, and maintain oversight across multiple workstreams, timelines, and priorities

• Confidence developing and improving operational systems and processes

• Ability to quickly process information, prioritise effectively, and proactively problem solve

• Experience building strong, warm and compassionate relationships with parents and carers

• Strong written and verbal communication skills

• Confidence using systems, tracking information, and maintaining clear oversight of delivery, actions, and timelines

• Ability to identify opportunities for improvement and contribute to the ongoing development of services and systems

• Comfortable taking ownership of operational improvement and helping services grow sustainably over time

• Ability to work within an established relational and values-led approach while helping strengthen and refine service delivery

• A proactive, thoughtful, and emotionally intelligent approach to leadership and service management

• A belief in trauma informed,child-centred, and holistic approaches using a variety of tool kits to supporting children and families

Qualifications (Desirable, not Essential)

• Relevant qualification in education, SEND, mental health, youth work, social care, counselling, psychology, or a related field, or in project management/ operations or organisational development

Most importantly … 

You will align with our key values of:

• Love, imagination, Nurture, and Brave. 

Our team commits to these in all their interactions and through our code of conduct and behavioural framework as part of our wider safeguarding culture and best practice.

So why work for us?

Our work is sometimes challenging and tender, but it is also enriching, rewarding and we are always looking for your vision and input as we grow as a charity. 

Benefits

• 29 days annual leave plus public holidays

• Pension: 3% employer contribution, 5% employee contribution

• Flexible working as much as possible around service needs and opportunities for home working for at least some of the week (specifics to be agreed). 

• Free access to on-demand and structured counselling plus mental health resources via Spill.chat employee assistance scheme

• Collaborative working with a supportive, warm team and colleagues. 

We want everyone at Love Squared to love working for us and feel like they are an ambassador for the charity, spreading the word about what we do and the impact we have, for the sake of the children and families we serve, and we will celebrate each and every achievement with you from the tiny (they said ‘hello!’) to the big ones, as well as the tougher moments - we work as a team, supporting and nurturing each other. 

Most importantly, it’s this: 

‘Your work has been life changing, and in each conversation we feel so listened to’

Some important things! 

An application form is required as part of the recruitment process (we can’t accept just a CV!) and any appointment to joining our team will involve appropriate safeguarding checks for regulated activity with children and adults in line with our safer recruitment process such as appropriate DBS and other relevant safer recruitment checks, as well as being able to demonstrate right to work in the UK and you would be required to sign up to the DBS update service and have or obtain an appropriate DBS check for working with children and vulnerable adults. 

We may also carry out proportional online searches on candidates who are shortlisted for interviews. 

Please be aware that this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.  It is an offence to apply for the role if the applicant is barred from engaging in regulated activity relating to children. 

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to complete a confidential self-declaration form of their criminal record and other relevant checks as part of our safer recruitment process.  Please note that we operate a positive disclosure policy for cautions and convictions and historic convictions that are not related to offences against children or vulnerable adults, Love Squared would normally be willing to undertake a careful risk assessment with the applicant’s permission before coming to a decision about whether the application can be taken further.  

The interview process will include more than one stage, and please be aware that there might be two stages to the interview process and a short written/ relevant task. 

Due to capacity (we are a busy charity with a small team!) we are so sorry (and we really mean this) but we unfortunately cannot offer feedback to candidates who have not been shortlisted (eg. where we don’t progress an application form to the next stage). 

We're committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applicants from under-represented groups, diverse backgrounds, and those who don't always get their voices heard. If you have any access requirements or need reasonable adjustments in the recruitment process, then please let us know, and we'll make every effort to ensure these are supported. 

Young Creatives Programme Manager
Salary: £33,000, per annum, pro rata (£26,400 per annum actual for 4 days per week)
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Part-time, 4 days per week (0.8 FTE) with regular Wednesdays, Thursdays, and one Saturday per month.
Location: Pembroke Street, Oxford OX1 1BP

About Us

Modern Art Oxford is one of the UK’s leading contemporary art spaces with an international reputation for innovation and ambition. The gallery presents a programme of changing exhibitions of modern and contemporary art each year, coupled with an extensive programme of education, events and performance projects involving several thousand people of all ages and backgrounds.

About You and The Role

The Young Creatives Programme Manager is responsible for the research and project management of Modern Art Oxford’s Young Creatives projects which includes the delivery of the Young Creatives Collective, Socials, and school visits. Modern Art Oxford’s Young Creatives programme includes a diverse offer of studio sessions and professional development opportunities throughout the year for young people aged 16-21, including support and mentoring for sixth form students and undergraduates which form part of our university partnerships.

The Young Creatives Programme Manager takes a lead role in collaboratively developing programme ideas with young people to ensure that all Young Creatives projects are inclusive and reflect the ideas and interests of the group. This includes the development of public events with young people each year.

The role combines research, delivery, and project management with a core focus on co-curating with young people to develop Modern Art Oxford’s new three-year strategy, Changing Geographies (2027-2030) which aims to develop new regional partnerships and commission opportunities with 45 young people each year. Working as part of the Communities, Practice & Participation team, the Young Creatives Programme Manager is responsible for the day-to-day administration and co-ordination of visiting schools and colleges while working alongside the Curator of Communities, Practice & Participation to build and sustain new relationships with young people, charities, and grassroots organisations, across Oxfordshire.

The Young Creatives programme regularly engages more than 800 young people each year through our regular sessions for visiting schools, colleges, and socials, with a focussed collective of 15 young people who meet monthly.

Key Responsibilities

• Programme and Workshop Delivery
• Project Management and Co-ordination

The successful candidate will have a strong interest in contemporary art and visual culture, a minimum of three years’ experience working with young people (16-21) in a contemporary arts organisation, and a strong understanding of pedagogy and inclusive practices with young people

They will have experience of delivering projects and workshops in art galleries and museums, working with artists, facilitators, or creative practitioners, managing multiple projects, partnerships, and delivery as well as experience of working with diverse materials and media.

They will have excellent communication and relationship building skills, experience of working collaboratively with teachers and schools, the ability to prioritise workloads effectively and good IT, administrative and organisational skills.

Benefits

An auto-enrolment pension scheme is in place with Legal & General. Under pension auto enrolment legislation, the employee will pay 5% (before tax relief) and the employer will pay 3% of qualifying earnings to the Legal and General plan. A salary sacrifice scheme is available after 3 months employment.

Employees are entitled to a staff discount in the Modern Art Oxford Shop and Café.
There is an Employee Assistance Programme through Gemelli, and a series of discounts and salary sacrifice schemes through BHN Extras.

Applications must be received by 9.00am Monday 29 June 2026
Initial interviews planned for 14, 15, and 16 July 2026
Ideal start date in the w/c 24 August 2026

Interested?

If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.

Modern Art Oxford is committed to creating equality of opportunity for all and we value diversity in our team. As part of our Anti-racism Action Plan, we welcome applications from people from the Global Majority who are under-represented in the workforce in our sector.

No agencies please.