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Cerebra is the national charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with neurological conditions and their families. We provide vital research, support, and practical solutions that empower families facing complex challenges.
With an annual income of £3 million and a headcount of 68 employees, we have ambitious plans to double our income between 2025 and 2027, ensuring we can extend our impact, reach more families, and drive real change. To achieve this, we are investing in fundraising innovation, income generating ventures, and strategic partnerships, alongside enhancing our brand to increase our national recognition.
Our work is underpinned by our values ensuring that everything we do aligns with our mission to create a better world for children with neurological conditions.
This is an incredibly exciting time to join Cerebra, as we are preparing to launch our new strategy and brand. The COO is a vital leadership role that will support the drive towards even greater impact for children and families across the UK.
Our Services
Sleep Advice Service
Cerebra understands that if you have a child that doesn’t sleep, the whole family suffers. Many children with neurological conditions suffer from disrupted sleep. Our sleep advice service provides bespoke advice and support so that everyone can get a good night’s sleep.
Legal Rights Service
Our Legal Rights Service provides help and support to families of children with neurological conditions when they are faced with barriers and difficulties in accessing statutory support services they are entitled to. The service provides information on their legal entitlements.
Book and Toy Library Service
Our specialist postal lending library contains a wide range of books for both adults and children, plus a selection of sensory toys specifically chosen for children with a neurological condition.
Innovation and Product Design Service
Our Innovation Service designs and builds bespoke products that cater to the specific needs of children with neurological conditions. The aim of the service is to make products that are desirable and exciting, therefore promoting social inclusion, peer acceptance and enabling children to participate in everyday activities that are so often close to them.
Information Products
Cerebra publishes different information products to help families with a child with a neurological condition. Our information products offer comprehensive, up-to-date support and research-driven strategies to assist families with a wide range of issues.
Buzgi and Toy Adaptation Service
Cerebra designs and builds bespoke assistive equipment for disabled children, this includes creating custom mobility aids, switch‑adapted toys, and other innovative solutions to help children access play, learning, and independence.
The Bugzi - a mini powered wheelchair for children offers many children their first experience of independent mobility. It uses either a joystick or switches and adaptable seating for complex needs, and helps develop spatial awareness, confidence, and early mobility skills. The Bugzi is available through a national loan scheme.
Additionally, we operate commercial services (including a web shop) to supplement our income to support children and their families.
Our services are provided to families free of charge.
Job Title:
Chief Operating Officer
Reports To:
Chief Executive Officer
Direct reports:
3 senior managers (Finance (headcount of 3), HR (headcount of 1), IT (headcount of 5))
Purpose of the Role:
The Chief Operating Officer will play a vital role in supporting the Chief Executive Officer, Board and Leadership Team to deliver Cerebra’s vision and ambitious strategic aims. The Chief Operating Officer will provide strategic leadership and operational management across key areas within Cerebra including:
- Operational Systems
- Governance
- Compliance
- Finance and Growth
This is a pivotal executive leadership role, responsible for driving organisational performance, sustainability and growth. The COO will translate Cerebra’s strategic ambitions into effective operational delivery, ensuring robust governance, financial stewardship and a high-performing, values-led culture.
As a trusted advisor to the CEO and Board, the COO will lead core operational services and commercial activity, enabling the charity to maximise impact and generate sustainable income in support of its charitable objectives.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic & Executive Leadership
- Partner with the CEO and Board to deliver strategic priorities, growth and long-term sustainability
- Collaboration with the Director’s Group to ensure strategic alignment across the charity. The Director’s Group consists of:
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Operating Officer
Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications
Director of Research and Support Services
- Provide expert advice on finance, operations, commercial performance and organisational risk
- Lead organisational planning, business continuity, and operational resilience
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement, accountability and inclusion
Finance, Commercial & Sustainability
- Lead financial strategy, planning and performance, ensuring long-term sustainability
- Oversee budgeting, forecasting, cashflow and financial controls
- Lead and develop Cerebra’s strategy for commercial income , ensuring alignment with charitable objectives
- Support funding growth through strong financial insight and business case development
- Ensure robust financial governance, audit and compliance
Operations & Infrastructure
- Lead and strengthen operational functions including HR, IT, governance and administration
- Ensure effective systems, processes and infrastructure that enable growth, efficiency and impact
- Oversee procurement, contracts, facilities, and organisational compliance
- Drive innovation and value for money across operations
People & Culture
- Champion a positive, inclusive and high-performing organisational culture
- Oversee HR strategy, workforce planning and leadership development
- Ensure compliance with employment law and best practice
- Promote wellbeing, engagement and organisational effectiveness
Digital & Technology
- Provide strategic oversight of IT, data and digital development
- Ensure systems are secure, resilient and aligned to organisational needs
- Leverage data and technology to improve insight, decision-making and organisational impact
Governance, Risk & Compliance
- Ensure effective governance frameworks, risk management and regulatory compliance
- Support the CEO and Board with high-quality reporting and strategic insight
- Lead safeguarding, data protection and organisational risk strategy
- Drive a strong culture of accountability and ethical practice
Leadership & Management
- Lead and develop a small senior team across finance, HR and IT
- Build capability, strengthen performance, and embed a collaborative culture
- Model Cerebra’s values and leadership behaviours
Key Attributes
- Strategic and commercially minded leader with strong operational delivery experience
- Strong financial leadership and business acumen
- Proven track record of driving income growth, sustainability and organisational performance
- Skilled in governance, risk and stakeholder engagement
Please see attached job description for the Person Specification.
Registered Charity 
51 - 100
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Role Purpose
This role is at the heart of Child Bereavement UK’s identity, leading the strategy and delivery of our brand across the organisation to ensure we are recognised as the UK’s leading bereavement charity for children, young people and parents. You will champion our brand, supporting teams across all departments to apply it consistently, creatively and confidently, strengthening trust, recognition, and impact.
As the guardian of our brand, you will develop, protect, and embed our identity, ensuring all organisational output is clear, inclusive, and aligned with our values. You will also identify high-impact brand collaboration opportunities to enhance our reputation and drive recognition, building strong relationships both internally and externally to maximise our brand influence.
In this role, you will combine strategic vision with hands-on guidance, enabling teams to live our brand with confidence while positioning Child Bereavement UK as a bold, trusted, and inspiring voice in the sector.
Main Responsibilities
Brand strategy and positioning
· Lead the development and ongoing evolution of the Child Bereavement UK brand strategy, ensuring it is audience driven and reflects our purpose, values and strategic priorities.
· Collaborate with audiences to ensure brand components and their application are stakeholder evidenced and driven.
· Define and maintain clear brand positioning, messaging and tone of voice for key audiences.
· Conduct regular brand research and use insight and research to ensure the brand remains relevant, credible and distinctive.
Brand governance and quality
· Own, maintain and embed brand guidelines, ensuring consistent application across campaigns, communications, fundraising and digital activity.
· Organise, manage and proactively update the Child Bereavement UK brand asset and photo libraries by sourcing and organising new commissions.
· Provide advice, guidance and sign-off on high-profile or high-risk brand outputs.
· Support teams to use the brand well, balancing consistency with flexibility and creativity.
· Work closely with marketing, communications and fundraising colleagues to help shape campaign narratives, key messages and offer creative direction that align with brand principles.
· Ensure messaging and visual identity are aligned and coherent across channels.
· Contribute to creative briefs and support the development of compelling, audience-focused storytelling.
· Support the content and marketing teams with the development of branded content as required including but not limited to graphic design, filming, editing and copywriting.
Brand collaboration
· Identify, develop and nurture brand collaborations that strengthen awareness, credibility and reach, and align with the organisation’s purpose and values.
· Act as a brand advisor in discussions, ensuring opportunities are strategically aligned and reputationally sound.
· Work with colleagues to ensure brand collaborations are coherent, well-governed and mutually beneficial, with clear messaging and visual alignment.
· Support the development of collaboration narratives, co-branded materials and storytelling that reflect shared values and objectives.
Internal brand leadership
· Act as an internal champion for the brand, helping staff and volunteers understand and apply it in their day-to-day work.
· Deliver brand training, resources and guidance as needed.
· Create and deliver communications to ensure the brand is reflected consistently in how the organisation presents itself internally.
Design
· Own the creation and evolution of core evergreen brand assets, ensuring the Child Bereavement purpose, values, and visual identity are consistently and clearly expressed.
· Be the senior authority for design standards and frameworks.
· Support marketing colleagues to confidently create short-form, campaign, and project materials providing guidance, tools and access to approved freelance designers where needed.
· Focus brand design resource on high-value, long-term assets, avoiding unnecessary centralisation of short-term or one-off materials in order to reduce bottlenecks and keep work moving at pace.
· Manage and maintain relationships with approved design freelancers and agencies.
Insight, performance and reputation
· Monitor brand health, awareness and perception, using insight to inform decisions and improvements.
· Work closely with marketing and communications colleagues on reputation management and sensitive issues.
· Stay informed about sector trends, public expectations and best practice in brand management.
Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement
· Work closely with the Directors of Marketing & Communications, Services & Service Transformation, and Income Generation to deliver strategic brand strategies.
· Foster strong cross-charity relationships to ensure coherent and consistent branded output and shared learning.
Person Specification
Essential
Experience & Knowledge
· A proven track record of success in leading and/or managing an organisation’s brand activity and maintaining a high-quality brand portfolio.
· Experience of communicating and implementing a brand across an organisation.
· Proven experience and confidence of brand guardianship and developing and implementing brand guidelines.
· The ability to lead, enthuse and inspire colleagues at all levels to be brand guardians and support brand and marketing activities.
· Strong understanding of how brand shows up across the full customer journey.
· Strong understanding of audience insight, segmentation and customer needs.
· The ability to provide clear, professional and well-reasoned brand feedback on a wide range of creative and content.
· Experience of collaborating with audiences to develop brand plans and assets.
· Experience of using insight, analytics, testing and research to develop and inform decision-making.
Skills
· Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
· Strong graphic design and video editing skills (e.g. Canva, Adobe, CapCut).
· Meticulous attention to detail.
· Ability to translate business goals into clear brand positioning and direction.
· Strong analytical thinking, using insight and data to inform decisions.
· Excellent creative judgement across visual identity, tone of voice and storytelling.
· Ability to brief, evaluate and elevate creative work.
· Strong project management skills and the ability to prioritise workload.
· Ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.
· Ability to balance long-term brand building with short term performance needs.
· Ability to work collaboratively and bring colleagues on board a brand journey.
· Ability to demonstrate initiative and to work proactively and independently.
· Ability to work well under pressure.
Attributes & Values
· Compassion, emotional intelligence and ability to work respectfully with bereaved children, young people and families.
· Collaborative, approachable, and able to build trust across teams.
· Creative, innovative and proactive, with a solutions-focused, self-starter mindset.
· Customer-centric mindset, grounded in audience insight.
· Highly organised, resilient and able to work independently in a remote environment.
· Strong commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and ethical storytelling, including amplifying lived experience safely and respectfully.
· Willingness to undertake relevant training and development opportunities.
· Willingness to work flexibly to meet organisational need.
· Ability to undertake periodic UK travel and represent the charity at meetings and events.
Desirable
· Previous experience in a Brand Lead or similar role.
· Experience working within the charity/third sector, particularly in bereavement, mental health or social care.
· Understanding of bereavement and the needs of bereaved children, young people and parents.
· Experience contributing to or leading the development of brand strategy including positioning, purpose and key messaging frameworks
· Experience leading a rebrand or major brand evolution including repositioning, visual identity refreshes or large-scale brand rollouts.
· Exposing adapted brand strategy across multi audiences.
· Knowledge of brand tracking, perception research and audience insight tools.
· Strong understanding of digital-first branding including expressing brands across digital products, platforms and social channels.
· Familiarity with CRM systems such as Salesforce.
Benefits
· 28 days’ holiday plus bank holidays (pro rata if applicable) with increase for long service.
· TOIL for our hours work.
· Contributory pension scheme.
· Company sick pay.
· Employee Assistance Programme.
· Life assurance.
· Training loans.
· Enhanced family friendly policies.
Recruitment Timetable
Application deadline: 6th July 2026 at midnight
We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high number of applications for the role before the closing date.
Interviews
If you are progressed to an interview, you will be invited to attend a 1-hour competency-based interview on MS Teams with the Hiring Managers for the role. You may also be asked to complete an interview task, which will also be shared with you in advance.
Proposed interview dates: 20th and 21st July 2026.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.