Research and policy officer jobs in Woodberry down, greater london
Are you a skilled relationship-builder with corporate fundraising experience? Do you love spending time in the outdoors and want to help young people from Somerset? Join the Youth Adventure Trust's small but mighty team and use your skills to help transform the lives of vulnerable young people.
The Role
Having launched our Youth Adventure Programmes in Somerset in 2024, we are now looking for somebody who wants to take the next step in their fundraising career to build on the foundations of the last two years and significantly increase our presence in the county.
As our Regional Corporate Fundraiser, you'll be the driving force behind our local business partnerships, working with both large companies operating in the region and smaller local businesses looking to support their communities.
Your role will encompass:
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Relationship building: Identifying and securing new corporate partnerships while providing high-quality stewardship to our existing Somerset-based supporters.
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Community Engagement: Championing our work in Somerset by giving engaging talks to community groups and networking with local businesses.
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Event delivery: Playing a key role in delivering local fundraising challenge events, the bi-annual Somerset Adventure Dinner and developing new opportunities to unite the Somerset business community behind our mission.
You'll work closely with the Corporate Partnership Manager and the Director of Fundraising and Communications to ensure each proposal is bespoke and every corporate partner understands the impact of their support on local young people. You must live in Somerset, have a good local awareness and be willing to travel around the county and beyond to nurture long-lasting, strategic relationships.
About You
We are looking for a people-person, who is self-motivated and highly organised. You are as comfortable in the board room engaging business leaders as you are standing on a mountain side in your waterproofs! You will be:
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Experienced: A proven track record in building successful corporate partnerships and achieving income targets;
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A relationship fundraiser: building long-lasting meaningful relationships should be at the heart of every single corporate partnership;
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An inspiring communicator: You will be telling our story in a variety of different ways to inspire support and grow our networks;
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Self-motivated: You are comfortable working from home but eager to be ‘out and about’ in the business community;
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Pro-active and creative: No corporate partnership is the same, so you will be proactive in understanding a corporate partner’s motivation and coming up with creative ideas to build successful relationships;
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Local: You must live in or near Somerset to maximise local networking opportunities, attend regular in-person meetings and events and confidently talk about local issues facing both businesses and the young people we support through our programmes;
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Outdoorsy: A genuine love for the outdoors, comfortable in wellies and waterproofs with an understanding of 'the power of the outdoors'.
The Charity
At the Youth Adventure Trust, we use outdoor adventure to empower vulnerable young people from Swindon, Wiltshire and Somerset to fulfil their potential and lead positive lives in the future. We work with them to build resilience, develop confidence and learn skills that will last a lifetime, helping them to face the challenges in their lives. Dedicated support, guidance and mentoring from our staff and volunteers ensures young people receive the maximum benefit from our long-term intervention. Our aim is to make a lasting improvement to the lives of vulnerable young people. All our services are provided completely free of charge to the young people who are nominated by schools and other youth organisations to take part.
We’re proud to offer our programmes completely free of charge to participants which means the fundraising team is crucial. With ambitious plans to help more young people from Somerset over the coming years, our Regional Corporate Fundraiser role is an exciting opportunity to make a real difference for local young people. Whilst you will have the flexibility of a 21-hours-per-week role, this could increase as more corporate partnerships are secured. You’ll be part of a small fundraising team with a big heart, with plenty of opportunities to visit our programmes and see the tangible impact of your work.
Safer Recruitment
The Youth Adventure Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and requires all employees to share this commitment. The suitability of all prospective employees will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment and in compliance with current employment legislation, and relevant safeguarding legislation and statutory guidance.
We use outdoor adventure and one-to-one support to empower young people to fulfil their potential and lead positive lives in the future.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
About the opportunity
As Accounts Assistant focusing on Treasury and Accounts Receivables, you'll play an important role in delivering a high-performing, efficient financial transactions operation with partnership and improvement at its core. This is both an operational and developmental role, offered with the possibility of pursuing a formal qualification such as a financial accounting apprenticeship or another appropriate finance or administration-related qualification.
You'll be part of our Finance & Assurance directorate, reporting to the Financial Transaction Team Officers and working alongside other assistants and trainees. Focusing specifically on Treasury and AR activities, you'll gain broad experience across cash management, income processing, and receivables. From recording and processing financial transactions to supporting month-end and year-end processes, you'll monitor daily communications and role-model brilliant partnership and customer service, support reconciliations and audits, and work in an agile way across multiple projects and workstreams.
This is a role where your success is built on strong collaboration across multiple teams. You'll have opportunities to undertake specific improvement projects, identify ways to enhance processes, and support colleagues across the organisation to operate within best practice when it comes to financial transactions.
About you:
You're someone with a willingness to learn and develop on the job, sharing your learnings with colleagues to foster whole-team development. You have a working interest in quality improvement and an enthusiasm for a career in finance with ideas to help us constantly improve. You have experience with problem-solving, preferably in a financial environment, and you're willing to proactively reach across to colleagues in different teams.
You'll have:
- Willingness to learn and develop on the job (including undertaking specialist training), sharing those learnings with colleagues.
- Working interest in quality improvement in processes, analysis, communications, or customer service, and experience supporting it.
- Enthusiasm for a career in finance and ideas to help us constantly improve.
- Experience of problem-solving, preferably in a financial environment, and willingness to proactively reach across to colleagues in different teams.
- Good grasp of data and how it can be analysed and presented to improve understanding, engagement, and performance.
- Experience of developing basic financial reports and performing simple bank reconciliations.
What you’ll focus on:
- Supporting the effective running and performance of the Financial Transactions team, with a specific focus on Treasury and Accounts Receivables activities.
- Undertaking specific projects to demonstrate or drive improvements across Treasury and AR processes.
- Monitoring and responding to daily communications from colleagues and role-modelling brilliant partnership and customer service.
- Recording, processing, and filing financial transactions in line with internal procedures, including completing reconciliations.
- Assisting in month-end and year-end closing processes, including preparing for and supporting audits.
- Identifying ways to improve processes and making recommendations to senior colleagues.
- Supporting colleagues across the organisation to operate within best practice for financial transactions.
- Role-modelling working in ways that always adhere to internal policies, procedures, and compliance requirements.
- Liaising with suppliers and other third parties where appropriate.
- Supporting officers and managers with reconciliations, reports, and analysis related to cash management and receivables.
Could your enthusiasm for finance and quality improvement help strengthen our Treasury and Accounts Receivables operations? Are you ready to develop your skills while gaining qualifications in an environment where learning and collaboration are valued? If you're looking for a role where development meets meaningful purpose, we'd love to hear from you.
Important Dates
- The deadline for applications is Sunday 22nd March 2026
- Interviews will take place across 31st March, 1st and 2nd April.
About Alzheimer's Society
Dementia is the UK's biggest killer. One in three people born in the UK today will develop dementia in their lifetime.
At Alzheimer's Society, we're the UK's leading dementia charity and the only one to tackle all aspects of dementia by giving help and hope to people living with dementia today and in the future. We give vital support to people facing the most frightening times of their lives, while also funding groundbreaking research and campaigning to make dementia the priority it should be.
Together with our supporters, we're working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives.
Our values make sure that our focus is clear for the challenges and opportunities ahead and remind us of what we all stand for.
Our commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
We need to ensure the voices around our table better reflect and understand the communities we exist to serve. We strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Alzheimer's Society.
We want everyone we work with, as a colleague, volunteer, supporter, or someone we support, to feel included and that they belong at Alzheimer's Society.
Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy here along with our internal employee forum and Employee Lived Experience network groups help us promote inclusion and belonging, becoming an engaged and inclusive organisation for all our people.
Our hiring process
During your recruitment process we want to make sure that you bring your whole self and can be at your best. We are working hard to ensure our recruitment process is as inclusive as possible, so please do inform us of your experience and anything you think we could do better by completing our candidate survey when you apply. Please also contact Alzheimer's Society Talent Acquisition Team via [email protected] for application support or any adjustments you might need.
To ensure fairness and consistency to select the best candidate for this role, all our applications are anonymised up until an interview has been confirmed. We recognise the benefits of AI, but if you're considering using it to submit your application, we encourage you to reflect on the value it truly adds. AI tools often lack the personal touch and authenticity that set candidates apart. We want to hear your unique perspective, experiences, and skills, so we encourage you to showcase them in your own voice.
We try to avoid closing roles early where possible, however if we receive a high volume of applications, we may close earlier than the advertised closing date. Should this occur, we will aim to provide you with at least 48 hours' notice.
We are committed to safer recruitment and ensuring the welfare of those we work with, due to the nature of some of our roles, we might need to carry out a Criminal Record Check at the relevant level. You can read more information via our Website.
Giving back to you
Our employees work hard every day to make a true difference in people's lives. We are proud to support them with a range of benefits, recognition and many options for working agilely, all contributing to a strong work life balance. We also have various learning programmes to support you in your development and help you grow to realise your potential and shape a career with Alzheimer's Society.
You can also visit our Working for Us pages, which give you more information about what it's like to be an employee at the Society.
We are looking for an interim Head of Legacies, In Memory and Supporter Care to play a vital role in strengthening the supporter experiences and relationships that help power our lifesaving work.
This is a 12 month offering a rare opportunity to step into a leadership role where you’ll help shape and deliver our Legacy, In Memory and Supporter Care programmes. You’ll put insight, compassion and supporter needs at the heart of everything we do. You will lead a talented team to inspire people to give in meaningful ways, deepen their connection with our cause, and help us grow sustainable income that ensures we can be here for anyone who needs us.
We're looking for someone who can drive our ambitious plans to grow our legacy income. Working collaboratively across teams and directorates, particularly Data, Finance and External Engagement, making sure our strategies are based on insight and are effective in communicating the need.
With significant direct marketing experience, ideally across legacy and in memory fundraising, strong leadership capability and a passion for exceptional supporter care, you’ll bring the expertise and energy needed to help us reach new audiences and build long lasting supporter relationships.
If you’re driven by purpose, motivated by insight and inspired by the chance to make a real difference, we’d love you to join us.
Contract terms:
- £55,000 - £60,000 per annum, plus benefits
- 12 month fixed term contract (maternity cover)
- Full time hours are 35 hours per week, but we are passionate about flexible working, talk to us about your preferences.
- Linked to our Ewell (Surrey) office
- In-person working: Meeting in person and working collaboratively are things we value. We work in person around 2 days or more per month
What you'll do:
- Lead the delivery of Samaritans’ legacy and in-memory giving strategy
- Deliver excellent supporter experience, maximising the attraction and retention of our supporters
- Grow and sustain Samaritans’ legacy income in line with our fundraising strategy
- Encourage, explore and develop our supporter care approach to help improve our supporter experience and retention
- Build and manage strategic relationships with external agencies and suppliers
- Produce comprehensive campaign evaluations and make recommendations for continuous improvement
- Lead and develop a high-performing team through a culture of ambition and proactive performance management
What you’ll bring:
- A supporter led mindset and approach
- Demonstrable experience of delivering income growth from legacies and in-memory income streams
- Experience of understanding, using and reporting on data for marketing purposes
- Experience of using a range of marketing channels and approaches, including a strong understanding of different audience needs to maximise income generation
- Excellent people management skills with experience of leading a high performing team
- Strong understanding of budgeting, forecasting and financial reporting
- Skilled in strategic thinking and planning, with a creative approach to solving complex problems
- Confidence in negotiating and influencing at senior levels of the organisation
- Strong understanding of fundraising legislation
For full Job Description and Person Specification click here
Why Samaritans?
At Samaritans, you’ll be part of a people-first organisation deeply committed to inclusion, compassion and learning. You’ll contribute to a team where your voice matters, your expertise makes a difference, and your work helps save lives.
We welcome applications from individuals with lived experience and encourage those from underrepresented communities to apply. We are committed to creating an environment where all our people feel seen, heard and supported.
You’ll join a values-led organisation with a powerful mission and a collaborative culture. We offer flexible hybrid working, excellent benefits, and the chance to make a tangible difference in suicide prevention across the UK and Ireland.
For further information about Samaritans, including our charity structure, values, employee benefits, and application process, please read our recruitment brochure available here. You can also visit our careers website to access this.
We recognise the enormous benefits and the social justice imperatives of ensuring diversity at every level of our organisation. Samaritans is wholly committed to inclusion and diversity and to building a culture and environment where everyone is appreciated for the unique person they are. To ensure Samaritans is representative of those we support and who support us, we particularly welcome applications from disabled, racialised minority and LGBTQ+ candidates, as these people are under-represented at Samaritans.
Criminal record check (DBS):
We take safeguarding seriously at Samaritans and follow safe recruitment practices. As this role has direct contact with children and adults at risk, this role will require an Enhanced DBS check.
At offer stage, as part of the conditional job offer, we will require the candidate to disclose in full, spent and unspent convictions by completing a declaration form. The declaration form will only be seen by those who need to see it as part of the recruitment process.
Apply now
If this sounds like the opportunity for you, please apply. You will be asked to answer some short application questions and to upload your CV.
- Please tell us about your experience leading and growing a fundraising programme, ideally in legacy and/or in-memory income streams. We’re interested in examples of strategies you developed, how you applied insight to shape your approach and how you measured the outcomes you achieved.
- How do you ensure supporters receive a high quality, compassionate and consistent experience across their journey?
- Please describe a situation where you influenced senior stakeholders or collaborated across departments to deliver a fundraising or supporter engagement outcome.
- Please provide an example of how you have built, led and motivated a high performing team.
Applications close: 09:00am on Monday 30th March
1st stage Interviews: w/c 6th April 2026 (online)
Second stage interviews will be held in person, at our office in Ewell (Surrey) w/c 13th April
At Samaritans, human connection is at the heart of everything we do.
We do not use AI at any stage during the selection process. Your application will always be carefully reviewed by the recruiting manager or a member of the Talent Attraction Team.
We kindly ask that you avoid using AI tools to generate your application or interview answers. We want to hear your own ideas, insights, and writing style so your unique strengths can shine through.
We prevent suicide through the power of human connection. Connecting people in crisis with trained volunteers who will always listen.



The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
About the role
We are seeking an ambitious, strategic and relationship-driven Head of Corporate and Employer Partnerships to lead and deliver a national, high-impact partnerships strategy. This role is central to our growth plans and will generate sustainable income, deepen corporate and employer engagement and create tangible employment outcomes for young people. You will combine commercial instinct with social purpose - building partnerships that deliver measurable impact for young people and clear strategic value for corporate and employer partners.
Key information
- Salary: £50,000 - £60,000 dependant on experience
- Contract: Full time, Monday-Friday, 9.30 – 5.30mpm with some out of hours work needed for events such as Spear Celebration
- Annual leave: 28 days annual leave (including Christmas gift days) plus bank holidays
- Closing date: Friday 27th March, 09.30am (We are interviewing on a rolling basis and might close the application early if we find the right candidate)
- Interviews: First round - Wednesday 8th April (online), Final round - Monday 13th April (in-person)
For more information please read through our Job Specification and Work with Us Pack.
If you require any reasonable adjustments as part of the recruitment process, please let us know.
Person Specification
- A practising Christian, passionate about personally representing the values and beliefs of Spear, and our mission to equip and support young people facing barriers to employment
- Significant senior-level experience in corporate fundraising, corporate social responsibility, business development or strategic partnerships
- Significant experience within the corporate sector, with an established network of relationships across national businesses and employers
- Proven experience of delivering growth strategies and achieving income target, with a strong track record of securing and managing high-value (£100k+) partnerships
- Demonstrable experience of leading and developing high-performing teams
- Credible, confident and persuasive communicator with excellent relational skills and the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels, including C-suite
- Resourceful and proactive, ability to manage multiple priorities, drive projects forward to completion and establish effective processes and structures
We are an office-based organisation and value the collaboration and opportunities to work creatively and build community that this offers us, with staff spending time in the working week both at home and in the London office.
Spear is a dynamic, growing youth employment charity that coaches young people to overcome barriers and thrive in work and life.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.