Senior new business lead jobs in Bristol, city of bristol

The Katie Piper Foundation is seeking an experienced Finance and Business Manager to join our small, dedicated team in this newly created role, central to supporting our growth over the next three years.

You will lead all aspects of financial management, working closely with the CEO on budgeting, planning, and resource allocation. Responsibilities include overseeing day-to-day finances, producing management accounts, reporting to the Board, and ensuring strong financial controls and compliance.

In addition, you will help strengthen the charity’s wider operations, improving systems across IT, data, and reporting, as well as supporting risk management, policy development and measuring and communicating our impact.

This will be varied and evolvingrole suited to someone confident working across both strategic and operational areas, and comfortable driving organisational improvement.

We are a fully remote team. The role is home-based and part-time (28 hours a week, FTE 35 hours), and we are open to flexible working arrangements.

We are looking for a proactive professional with strong financial expertise and a broader business mindset. If you are ready to take on a pivotal role in a small team supporting a life-changing cause, we would love to hear from you.

To learn more about the role and how to apply, please view the full job pack here:
https://lnkd.in/dXjWSVwV

Are you someone who can build trusted relationships across sectors, develop sustainable income, and turn strategic opportunities into meaningful impact? 

Are you looking for a part-time, senior role where you can shape organisational direction, grow partnerships, and deliver programmes with national and international reach? 

The Design in Mental Health Network (DiMHN) is a UK-based charity dedicated to improving mental health outcomes through better design. We are seeking a strategic and entrepreneurial Head of Partnerships & Programmes to play a central role in our next phase of growth. 

In this role, success will mean building high-value partnerships, growing sustainable income, and delivering programmes that expand DiMHN’s impact and influence. 

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING 

Reporting to the Chief Executive, you will: 

• Drive sustainable income through a mix of commercial partnerships, membership growth, and charitable funding
• Develop and lead strategic and commercial partnerships, from opportunity through to delivery
• Lead the design, delivery, and evaluation of programmes across our core areas of work
• Grow and engage a diverse membership across commercial and health sector stakeholders
• Embed strong monitoring, evaluation, and reporting to demonstrate impact and inform decision-making

WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR

We are looking for a strategic, relationship-driven leader who can translate opportunity into impact, income, and influence. 

Knowledge and experience 

You will bring: 

• A strong track record of developing and securing income through partnerships, sponsorship, membership, and/or charitable funding
• Experience building and managing commercial or strategic partnerships, including identifying opportunities and maintaining long-term relationships
• Experience designing and delivering programmes involving multiple stakeholders, sectors, and/or geographies
• The ability to develop robust business cases, including assessing opportunities, risks, and resource requirements
• Experience growing and engaging professional networks, memberships, or cross-sector communities
• Confidence working in complex, multi-stakeholder environments

Knowledge of the mental health, healthcare, design, or built environment sectors is welcome, but not essential. 

Personal attributes 

You will be: 

• Strategic and entrepreneurial, able to spot and develop opportunities
• Collaborative and relationship-led, with the ability to build trust across diverse stakeholders
• Impact-focused, motivated by delivering measurable outcomes
• Adaptable and resilient, comfortable working in a growing and evolving organisation 
• Passionate about improving mental health outcomes and interested in how design can improve people’s lives 

WHAT YOU'LL GET IN RETURN

As part of the team, you will benefit from:

• Annual leave - 28 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays (pro rata) 
• Work from home – though in-person meetings with partners and members will be expected in order to build strong working relationships
• Flexible working - flexibility in how the 21 hours are worked across the week (to be agreed during offer discussions) 

NEXT STEPS 

Please see https://bit.ly/DIMHNPartnershipsProgrammes for our Candidate Pack, application instructions and details about the interview process.

Role Overview:
The Talent Set are delighted to partner with their client on a fantastic New Business Manager - Corporate Partnerships role. This senior position offers the opportunity to lead strategic corporate partnership development, driving income growth and impactful collaborations within a dynamic, mission-led organisation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute a high-level strategy to identify and secure significant new corporate partnerships that support organisational goals.
• Lead a team to deliver a strong pipeline of high-value partnerships, including proposals, negotiations, and closing deals.
• Build and maintain relationships with senior corporate stakeholders, representing the organisation professionally and effectively.
• Oversee the development of compelling partnership proposals, ensuring alignment with organisational values and objectives.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to maximise partnership value, including exploring opportunities for gift-in-kind, volunteering, and other added value.
• Manage and report on team targets, budgets, and risks, ensuring delivery within agreed parameters.
• Lead and support team development, promoting a culture of continuous improvement and inclusive working practices.
• Ensure compliance with relevant governance, legal, and ethical standards in all partnership activities.
• Act as a senior representative where necessary, advocating for the organisation’s mission and goals.

Person Specification:

• Proven experience securing six-figure corporate partnerships with a track record of negotiating and closing complex deals.
• Strong relationship management skills, capable of engaging senior corporate contacts and fostering long-term collaborations.
• Skilled in developing persuasive proposals, pitches, and partnership agreements.
• Experience managing a pipeline, setting targets, forecasting, and reporting on income delivery.
• Ability to lead, mentor, and support team members to achieve shared objectives.
• Knowledge of charity legislation, governance, and ethical fundraising standards.
• Market awareness, with the ability to identify emerging opportunities and sector trends.
• Excellent communication skills, with the confidence to influence and negotiate at senior levels.
• Collaborative and adaptable team player, committed to inclusive and equitable practices.

What’s on Offer:
Salary: £47,000 to £53,000
Location: Remote with occassional travek to London

Contract: 9-month FTC

How to Apply:
To apply, please submit your CV demonstrating your suitability for this role by clicking the 'apply now' button (please do not apply via email). We aim to get back to all successful candidates within 48 working hours.

Commitment to Diversity:
The Talent Set are committed to diverse and inclusive recruitment practices, ensuring equal opportunities for all applicants regardless of race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, disability, or age. We actively encourage applications from a wide range of backgrounds and are always happy to make reasonable adjustments to ensure a fair recruitment process.

Corporate Partnerships Lead - Focussing on New Business
St John Ambulance
1 day a month in the London office (minimum, but more up to you), plus meetings with partners
Salary: £51,000 to £55,000

St John Ambulance is entering an exciting new phase, with corporate partnerships at the heart of our growth strategy. This is a newly created leadership role with a clear focus on new business and the ambition to grow significant, long-term voluntary income.

We are looking for someone who genuinely enjoys winning new partnerships. This is a hands-on role where you will lead from the front, build a strong pipeline, develop compelling propositions and secure high-value, multi-year corporate partnerships that deliver real impact.

What you will do

• Drive new business activity and build a robust, proactive corporate pipeline
• Lead, support and develop a team of three partnership fundraisers
• Create and deliver strong, commercially focused partnership propositions
• Secure and grow six-figure and multi-year partnerships
• Work across the organisation to unlock opportunities and maximise value
• Balance excellent stewardship with a clear priority on growth

What we are looking for

• A strong record of winning new corporate partnerships
• Confidence operating at senior level internally and externally
• Commercial curiosity, resilience and the ability to spot opportunity
• Someone who can put process in place and adapt it as things change

Why join us
You will have the freedom to shape this role, influence strategy and help grow a corporate partnerships portfolio with significant headroom. You will be trusted, supported and encouraged to bring energy, ideas and ambition to the role, while contributing to our mission to put the power of first aid into everybody’s hands.

Hybrid working with regular external meetings and a minimum of one day a month in the London office, very open to more often if you would like.

We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability and potential; please contact us if you require any assistance or adjustment so that we can help with making the application process work for you.

Job Description

Key responsibilities:

1. Events Marketing

• To oversee the scheduling, production and distribution of promotional e-mails for our events. Liaise with comms team to promote events across AvMA media platform To work on the development of the events pages on the new AvMA web site. Ensuring event web pages are kept up-to-date. To carry out data analysis and web analytics to determine what people are responding to and to highlight the areas we may need to focus/re-focus.

Events Logistics & Management

• In conjunction with the Head of Events, to undertake the production and organisation of events, including inviting and liaising with speakers and arranging event logistics. Effective liaison with speakers, ensuring they have all the information required to participate in the event and providing deadlines for receiving their presentation and biography. To work on site at events as required and run smaller events on your own. Duties will involve setting-up and administering registration, liaising with the venue, greeting speakers and exhibitors, dealing with enquiries from delegates and making sure the event runs smoothly. Production of the online conference documentation, to include speaker presentations.

Research & Event Development

• Help identify and research potential subject areas on which we may want to run events. Keep a close eye on the medico-legal events sector market and other events taking place. Help identify potential new sponsors and exhibitors for our events.

Events CRM

• Develop a sound understanding of AvMA’s new CRM, ensuring we optimise it for the efficient and effective marketing of events.
• To assist if/as required with bookings and booking queries for AvMA’s events.

Other

• To support the Events Department’s quality initiatives and to suggest continuing improvements where needs arise.
• To undertake other duties commensurate with the post as may be required.
• Deputise for the Head of Events when necessary 

Person Specification

Essential:

1. An understanding of, and commitment to, the values and objectives of AvMA.
2. Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to develop effective and positive working  relationships with a wide range of individuals and organisations.
3. Highly motivated self-starter with the ability to manage and prioritise workload and meet targets.
4. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Confidence in liaising with speakers, sponsors and delegates.
5. Experience of organising events and on-site management of events, including in-person and online events/webinars.
6. Marketing copy writing ability, proof-reading skills, outstanding attention to detail.
7. Experience of using e-mail marketing platforms (e.g. Dot Digital) and social media to promote events and maintaining event web pages.
8. A high level of IT and digital literacy skills, including Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics and Adobe  In Design
9. Staying calm under pressure, a proactive and solutions focussed approach to problem-solving, ability to independently think on your feet.
10. Demonstrable commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Desirable:

• Experience of working within a charity.
• Experience of working in healthcare and legal sector events.
• Knowledge or experience of healthcare, the NHS or patient safety work.
• Understanding/experience of Search Engine Optimisation.

Together for Short Lives is looking for a driven and creative Business Development Manager to develop and secure high‑value corporate partnerships that will help transform the lives of children living with serious illness and their families. You’ll lead our business development strategy, build a strong pipeline of opportunities, and develop lasting relationships with prospective and existing supporters.

If you’re collaborative, tenacious and passionate about making a real impact in children’s palliative care, we’d love to hear from you.

Together for Short Lives is the leading UK-wide charity for children living with serious illness, their families and the services that provide them with palliative care.

Every child deserves many moments of happiness together with their loved ones. But it's hard for them to thrive when services don't fully meet their needs, leaving parents and siblings feeling isolated and alone.

That’s why we’re here. To make sure that every family can thrive as they navigate their child's life, death, bereavement and beyond.

Together we support families to live their lives, through the ups and downs, offering practical, emotional and financial help.

Together we unite our sector by prioritising and sharing crucial research, leading guidance and standards, connecting professionals and raising vital funds for children’s hospice and palliative care services.

Together we campaign to make sure that children with serious illness and their families get the care and support they need, when and where they need it.

Supporting, uniting, campaigning, together.
We are Together for Short Lives.

Purpose of role

The Business Development Manager will lead our efforts to secure high-profile, high-value partnerships with corporate organisations  that will generate vital income for children's palliative care. Securing new partnerships and growing our income requires exceptional collaboration skills; a driven, tenacious and resourceful nature; innovation and creativity; and a passionate determination to make a difference to the lives of children and families across the UK.

The main objectives are as follows:

1. Secure new corporate partnerships raising funds to support Together for Short Lives’ direct work, and our National Fundraising Scheme (raising funds on behalf of the UK’s children’s hospices).
2. Develop and deliver a business development strategy, including  prospect research, managing  a robust pipeline of opportunities, and developing a diverse range of business development products. 
3. Manage and develop relationships with a portfolio of individual contacts and organisations, including prospective and existing supporters.

Follow the link to our website to apply and find out more about the role. 

Head of Operations
Salary: Up to £61,600 (dependent on experience)
Location: Home-based or hybrid London-based co-working
Contract: Full-time (flexible working requests welcome)

Suicide is preventable. That’s why we are working to create a safer online world and to connect young people with the help and support they need to stay safe and well.

We’re Molly Rose Foundation, founded following the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell. At Molly’s inquest, a coroner ruled harmful online content contributed to her death. In her name, we’ve now got big plans to create change and save young lives.

We’re looking for a Head of Operations who can ensure we grow effectively and focus our energies on helping young people live long and stay strong. You’ll lead and develop our finance, governance, HR, and IT operations, ensuring we can deliver with impact and grow and scale smoothly.

You’ll play a leading role in shaping and delivering our organisational strategy, monitoring our progress and budgets, and leading the process to design and develop our next Strategy to 2030. You’ll be adept at designing effective and robust policies and committed to developing a high functioning, high-impact organisation.

As a member of our Leadership Team, you’ll have the vision, strategy, and entrepreneurial zeal to help us thrive.

But you’ll also relish the opportunity to build a small organisation from scratch with the drive and passion to really get stuck in and help us to fulfil our potential.

We offer a comprehensive package that includes:

- 27 days annual leave plus 1 volunteering day, rising to 30 days holiday after three years’ service;

- annual leave buyback scheme, with the option to purchase up to 5 additional days;

- employee pension scheme;

- £500 employee wellbeing budget;

- we welcome applications from diverse range of applicants in circumstances, and actively welcome flexible working requests.
 

Application Process
To apply, please send a CV (maximum 2 sides of A4) and cover letter (maximum 2 sides of A4) via the Charity Jobs website.

Application closing date: Friday 22 May 2026

There will be a 2-stage interview process with first interviews held online between 11 - 12 June 2026.
Second interviews will be held in-person in London.

Main Role & Responsibilities

The Director of Income Generation will lead the charity’s fundraising and income generation strategy with a particular focus on securing, managing, and growing funding linked to gambling, gaming and wider digital harm prevention, including funding overseen or commissioned via the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID).

This is a senior leadership role which sits on Ygam’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) with responsibility for developing a diversified, sustainable income portfolio that enables the charity to deliver high-quality, UK-wide evidence-informed prevention activity aligned with national public health priorities.

The successful candidate will lead and empower a high-performing fundraising team, foster innovation, and build strong relationships with donors, funders, partners, and stakeholders across the UK. You will provide strategic direction and inspirational leadership across all income-generating activities, ensuring long-term financial resilience while upholding the charity’s values, reputation, and commitment to excellent supporter experience.

Working closely with the Chief Executive, Trustee Board, and Senior Leadership Team, you will shape organisational strategy, influence decision-making, and act as an external ambassador for the charity.

 

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for a strategic, values-driven fundraising leader with a strong track record of delivering income growth across multiple fundraising and business development streams.

You will bring credibility in working with or alongside public bodies such as OHID, or similar national commissioners and/or major funders, and demonstrate a clear grasp of the accountability, evaluation, and assurance requirements associated with levy-funded or statutory funding.

You will be an inspiring people manager, a confident communicator, and a credible senior leader who enjoys building relationships and making things happen at pace

The successful candidate will possess both strategic insight and hands-on experience, be networked across the charitable funding sector, combining commercial thinking with a deep understanding of the UK charity and fundraising landscape.

You will be a confident senior leader who combines strategic vision with operational rigour, has excellent stakeholder management skills. A commitment to evidence, impact, evaluation and collaboration will be central to your approach.

Above all, you will be motivated by our cause and committed to ethical, inclusive, and supporter-centred fundraising and wider income generation.

Partnerships and Best Practice Lead

Salary: £42,000
Contract: 36 hours per week, fixed term (12 months initially, with potential to extend subject to funding)
Location: Home-based, with travel for meetings, collaboration, and partnership work. You’ll be expected to spend time in person with colleagues and partners across locations including London, Sutton Coldfield and Hull.
Reports to: Director of Strategy, Partnerships and Advocacy

About the Role

Too many young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) face a sharp drop in support as they transition into adulthood. This role sits within an ambitious new programme, Ending the Cliff Edge, designed to change that.

As Partnerships and Best Practice Lead, you will play a central role in building a national, cross-sector alliance of young people, families, practitioners, organisations and service providers. Together, this alliance will drive meaningful reform and create better pathways into adulthood for disabled young people.

This is an opportunity to help shape a new initiative from the ground up—spreading best practice, testing innovative approaches, and building strong evidence of what works.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain a broad collaborative partnership of cross‑sector organisations, providers, and experts to achieve collective ambition of driving improvement in transitions support.
• Refine, capture and share best‑practice models for supporting disabled young people into adulthood, ensuring they are evidence‑informed and accessible.
• Support partner organisations to design, adapt and deliver pilots that test innovative approaches and generate strong evidence of impact.
• Expand Kids’ national reach by growing the number of young people supported through improved transitions pathways, and increasing the number of businesses and providers engaged.
• Act as the central link between Kids’ direct delivery and wider national partners, ensuring learning is shared widely and consistently.
• Represent Kids externally as a champion for high‑quality transitions support, contributing to sector learning, collaboration and thought leadership.

About You

You are a confident relationship builder with experience of working across sectors and bringing people together around a shared goal. You’re comfortable working in a developing programme environment, able to take initiative, manage ambiguity, and turn ideas into action.

You are motivated by improving outcomes for disabled young people and have a strong understanding of the barriers they face.

Essential Criteria

• Proven experience of partnership development and cross-sector collaboration
• Experience identifying and sharing best practice, and translating learning into practical resources
• Ability to coordinate and support pilot projects, including stakeholder engagement and evaluation
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills across a wide range of stakeholders
• Strong understanding of challenges faced by disabled young people transitioning to adulthood
• Ability to communicate complex ideas clearly to diverse audiences
• Experience supporting funder relationships and understanding funding environments
• Strong organisational and project management skills
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and sustain partnerships
• Experience using data and insight to inform practice and demonstrate impact

Desirable

• Experience in disability, SEND, education, employment or youth sectors
• Knowledge of policy and practice related to transitions into adulthood
• Experience facilitating training, workshops or communities of practice
• Familiarity with co-production approaches
• Experience evaluating programmes and capturing outcomes

Why Apply?

This is a unique opportunity to help shape a national movement for change—working collaboratively to ensure disabled young people have the support, opportunities and outcomes they deserve as they move into adulthood.

Interviews will take place on 21st and 22nd May 2026

For further details, please see the full Job Description attached.

We are looking for a part time Fundraising & Development Lead to join a small innovative global charity and play a critical role in securing funding from Trusts and Foundations to support the charity with their community development initiatives.

The ideal candidate would bring senior-level fundraising experience from a similar role at an NGO, organisation, or charity with an established network of executive relationships in major global trusts and foundations.

This is a remote working role.

The charity
A small charity having a big impact. They offer home working with some of the team in London and others in Scotland and Europe.

The Role
This is a new business focussed role, where you will be required to build a high value pipeline of suitable donors and develop and deliver compelling high value bids for support.

Reporting into the Director and working alongside another Fundraising & Development Lead who recently joined the team.

Applications & Fundraising Development
Lead the development of high-quality grant proposals, ensuring proposals are compelling, well-written, and tailored to meet the requirements and priorities of each donor.

Relationship Management
Oversee the complete grant lifecycle, from initial lead to application to reporting and closeout.
Build and maintain relationships with current and prospective donors, program officers, and other key stakeholders.

Events and Networking and Representation
Effectively convey the charity mission, vision, and programs to potential donors, organising fundraising events while overseeing teams of volunteers and probono partners.

The Candidate
Senior-level fundraising experience from a similar role at an NGO, organisation, or charity.

Extensive existing network of senior executives with major global foundations and organisations.

Proven track record of identifying and closing deals for 6 - 7 figure gifts.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Our aim is to respond to all successful applications within 5 days. If you havent been contacted within 5 days your application has been unsuccessful, but we positively encourage you to apply for any other positions that you may see in the future.

We apologise that we cannot contact everybody in person but thank you in advance for your interest.

Third Solutions encourages applications from individuals of all ages & backgrounds. Appointment will be made on merit alone but candidates must be able to demonstrate their ability to work in the UK. Third Solutions acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment & an employment business for temporary recruitment as defined by the Conduct of Employment Agencies & Employment Business Regulations 2003.

Company Description

Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end-of-life charity. We are the largest non-NHS provider of end-of-life care in the UK, the only provider across all 4 nations, delivering community nursing and hospice care across the country, while providing information and support on all aspects of dying, death, and bereavement. Our leading research pushes the boundaries of what we know about good end-of-life, and our campaigns fight for a world where everyone gets to have the best possible quality of life while living with an illness, they’re likely to die from.

Job Description

Marie Curie is looking for a confident new business professional to help secure high-value corporate partnerships that transform end-of-life care across the UK.

You may come from a sales, commercial or business development background or already be working in corporate partnerships within the charity sector. What matters most is your ability to identify opportunities, build relationships and close complex, high-value deals.

This is a chance to use your commercial expertise for real purpose. Your work will directly fund care for people living with terminal illness and support those close to them, while giving you the scope to shape strategy, influence senior stakeholders and build partnerships that truly matter.

What you’ll be doing

• Proactively identifying, developing and securing high-value corporate partnership opportunities, building a strong and sustainable new business pipeline across priority sectors
• Leading on early conversations with prospective partners, shaping opportunities and moving them confidently through the pipeline to close
• Creating compelling, tailored proposals, pitches and partnership models that align commercial objectives with Marie Curie’s mission
• Working closely with internal teams across fundraising, communications and caring services to bring partnership ideas to life
• Leveraging trustee, senior volunteer and stakeholder networks to unlock new relationships and opportunities
• Managing multiple opportunities simultaneously, prioritising effectively to meet and exceed income targets
• Representing Marie Curie externally, building trusted relationships and raising awareness of our work and impact

What we’re looking for

• Proven success in new business, sales, commercial partnerships or corporate fundraising
• Confidence engaging and influencing senior decision-makers
• Strategic, commercially-minded thinking with strong negotiation skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including proposal and pitch delivery
• Resilience, drive and the ability to manage competing priorities

Please see full job description

Application & Interview Process

• As part of your online application, you will be asked for a CV. Please review both the advert and job description and outline your most relevant skills, experience and knowledge for the role.
• Close date for applications: Sunday 17th May 2026

Salary: £36,900 - £41,000 (plus LW £3,500 were applicable)

Contract: Full time, perm  

Based: Homebased (can be based in London office 2 days per week)

Benefits you’ll LOVE:

• Flexible working. We’re happy to discuss flexible working at the interview stage.
• 25 days annual leave (exclusive of Bank Holidays)
• Marie Curie Group Personal Pension Scheme (we will match your contribution up to 7.5%)
• Loan schemes for bikes; computers and season tickets
• Continuous professional development opportunities.
• Industry-leading training programmes
• Wellbeing and Employee Assistance Programmes
• Enhanced bereavement, family friendly and sickness benefits
• Access to Blue Light Card membership
• Subsidised Eye Care

Additional Information

At Marie Curie, our values are central to everything we do. They guide how we care for people, how we work together, and how we make decisions every day. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe for everyone — staff and volunteers alike — supportive, inclusive and rewarding.  We take stringent steps to ensure that anyone who joins our organisation are suitable for their roles and are committed to safeguarding all our people from harm. We actively consider our impact on the planet, embedding sustainability into everyday decisions to create a lasting, positive difference for the individuals we care for and the world we share.

We believe everyone should have the opportunity to thrive and fulfil their potential. Marie Curie is deeply committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, recognising both the social justice imperative and the strength a diverse workforce brings.  We actively encourage applications from people of all cultures, perspectives and lived experiences.

We are happy to make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process. If you require any support, please contact us at .

Every application we receive is personally reviewed by a member of our Talent Acquisition team, and in return, we ask that your application authentically reflects you — your experience, perspective and voice.

The People & Culture Director is responsible for leading the People Team, business partnering with the SLT to provide strategic, operational and change leadership across the charity.

This role will lead all people, culture, and organisational development activities across Ygam, ensuring they are aligned with Ygam’s values, strategy, and statutory responsibilities as a UK charity employer.

Success will be consolidating and building upon our existing structures to deliver a high‑performing, values‑driven, and inclusive culture which enables Ygam to achieve our objectives both now and in the longer-term

As a trusted member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), the postholder will act as a coach, adviser, and culture‑builder—championing equity, wellbeing, safeguarding, and effective leadership and line management across the charity, as well as playing a full role in cross-SLT pieces of work.

The role also plays a key part in bringing colleagues together by coordinating internal events, including the planning and delivery of all-staff Together Days.

Our commitment as a People Team is to help the wider staff group on their journey within Ygam. We aim to provide an environment which brings out the best in our team, so that they can provide the best possible service to the people we support.

Who are we looking for?

This post sits on the Senior Leadership Team (SLT).  We are looking for a senior.  experienced, credible, and values‑driven people director, who combines strategic insight with a deeply human approach.

You will be someone who believes that culture is created through everyday behaviours, relationships, and decisions, and who is comfortable working with complexity, ambiguity, and change.

You will bring significant leadership experience at this level across the full HR and People brief. as well as strong professional judgement alongside empathy, curiosity, and humility. You will be a confident self-starter able to challenge constructively while building trust at all levels of the organisation.

Above all, you will share our commitment to high-performing culture that is driven by our mission and values and be motivated by the opportunity to help create a workplace where people and volunteers feel safe, supported, included, and able to do their best work.

We are seeking an exceptional leader to be our next chief executive, leading a respected and influential membership organisation at the heart of a thriving grassroots movement.

You’ll be working to build on the success we’ve seen and strong position and voice we have established for ourselves and our members, as a leading force for inclusive and sustainable transport and communities.

You’ll bring an impressive track record in values-based leadership, a proven ability to engage and inspire grassroots change-makers, strategic partners and policy-makers, and a deep belief in the importance of community-led change towards a sustainable, equitable future.

About us

Community Rail Network is a national not-for-profit organisation, which is in the process of applying for charitable status, supporting a growing ‘community rail’ movement, which helps communities get the most from their railways, promotes sustainable and inclusive travel, coordinates volunteering and place-making, and brings people together.

Community rail is made up of 77 community-based organisations, and around 1,300 station volunteer groups and other community-led initiatives around Britain. Their activities range from creative projects for young people, to advising train operators on service improvements, to building travel confidence among marginalised groups, to biodiversity projects at stations, to promoting greener tourism by rail.

Our enthusiastic team of 24 works from home in dispersed locations, but we come together regularly in person and online. We work collaboratively to support members, provide training, events and resources, run campaigns, and champion community rail and its insights. We believe in helping everyone reach their potential while having a good work-life balance.

About this role, and your main responsibilities

Our current CEO is moving on after nine years in role, leaving the organisation, team and wider movement in a strong and empowered position to deliver on the next phase of our development.

Your opportunity is to lead the organisation, and to deliver on our new five-year strategy setting an ambitious course for the future during a period of major transformation for our railways and the wider transport system. You will ensure that we are:

• clear in our identity and our independence, and seen as thought leaders in our field;
• are supporting our members and stakeholders to meet their changing and diverse needs; and
• ensuring the financial and operational resilience of the organisation in an environment that is undergoing a period of rapid change.

As CEO, you will lead a passionate and experienced senior leadership team with three direct reports, while working closely with and reporting into our Board, key partners and funders, and ensuing an engaging, empowering, tenacious approach across all we do.

Advocacy of community rail and its benefits will be high on your agenda, and you will be working closely across multiple stakeholders including UK and devolved national governments, regional and local authorities as well as forging collaborative partnerships with like-minded organisations.

Maintaining our community-centric ethos, you will need to ensure we're effective in enabling members to unlock greater value from the railways at a grassroots level, while drawing on their insights to affect wider change. With hundreds of member groups and organisations across Britain delivering life-changing, place-enhancing work, you will have a solid foundation to build on, to take community rail forward and expand our impact in the years ahead.

Last, but not least, you will be responsible for ensuring the strong and effective governance of the organisation, modelling our governing principles, values and behaviours, and ensuring that we have robust financial and resource management in place.

Skills, competencies and qualities

1. Exceptional leadership skills, including a proven ability to lead, develop and grow third sector organisations or multi-faceted teams delivering complex activities, projects and campaigns;
2. Excellent communication and external leadership skills: articulate, assertive, with the ability to work diplomatically and persuasively with stakeholders at all levels;
3. Experienced in acting as the public face of an organisation, such as through the media, public speaking and high-level meetings, and using evidence and storytelling to articulate and champion a cause;
4. Politically astute, with knowledge of and commitment to social inclusion, social justice and sustainability, and a sound grasp of the importance of public transport, sustainable travel, and community-led action;
5. A proven ability to influence policy and decision-makers, and to identify influencing opportunities, ideally in relation to community development, sustainability and/or transport, including sharing community insights;
6. A strong track record in income generation and development, building strong funder relationships and delivery partnerships, managing programme or organisational budgets and controlling expenditure;
7. Experience of working with and/or reporting to a board, ideally in a not-for-profit and/or membership context;
8. An empowering, engaging approach to leadership, management and change-making;
9. Resilient, pragmatic and determined, with the ability to work under pressure, seize emergent opportunities, manage risk, and support others dealing with competing priorities.

Other information

The role will involve extensive travel within Britain as part of building your profile and that of the organisation with central and devolved government in Scotland and Wales, and increasingly with the devolved regions of England.

There is flexibility on location given the requirement to travel and that your office will be home-based. You will need to travel to in-person quarterly team meetings (usually in London or West Yorkshire) and to Board meetings which alternate between online and London. It is expected that travel will be by public transport and easy access to the rail network is therefore required to ensure journeys can be made sustainably. 

This is a full-time position, 37 hours per week. We use a flexi-time system with core hours 10am-3pm, and are committed to being a flexible, supportive and understanding employer. This is a permanent position with a probationary period of six months. 

Benefits: 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays (rising up to 30 days, plus Bank Holidays, in line with long service); pension with employer contribution of 7%; and access to Employee Assistance Programme.

Successful applicants will need to provide proof that they have the right to work in the UK and provide two references.

Community Rail Network is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from disabled people and Black, Asian and other minoritised groups, who meet with the skills and competencies for this role. We will provide reasonable adjustments for interviews as required.

Do you want to join an organisation committed to addressing low literacy and numeracy levels amongst people in the criminal justice system?

We’ve made substantial progress in recent years, with improvements and expansions to our delivery model and significant growth in our staff team. In Spring 2026, we will launch our refreshed organisational strategy, which will shape our work over the next three years and beyond. To support this growth, we are recruiting for a full time National Director of Operations to lead our delivery across England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and emerging community settings, with an ambition to reach Scotland. This is an exciting opportunity to play a central role in scaling our impact and strengthening our presence across the criminal justice system and beyond.

As National Director of Operations, you will provide strategic and operational leadership for our learning programmes in prisons and community settings. You will ensure high‑quality, consistent and accessible delivery, overseeing a team of six Regional Managers and a wider workforce of around 65 staff, volunteers and over 2,000 peer mentors trained each year.

Working closely with senior colleagues, partner organisations and national bodies such as HMPPS, you will drive programme excellence, innovation and partnership working. You will also play a key role in new business development, operational strategy, contractual delivery and ensuring we can reliably demonstrate the impact of our work.

The role requires an experienced operational leader with a deep commitment to improving outcomes for people facing disadvantage. You will bring:

• Senior leadership experience in a complex, multi‑site environment.
• A track record of delivering large-scale programmes and leading distributed teams.
• Strong strategic thinking, problem‑solving and relationship‑building skills.
• Experience working with statutory bodies or large public-sector partners (e.g. HMPPS).
• Excellent judgement, communication skills and the ability to influence at all levels.
• Understanding of the criminal justice system, safeguarding, or alternative education environments (desirable).
• A collaborative, inclusive leadership style aligned with Shannon Trust’s values.

We want to hear from applicants who are as committed to the cause as we are.

This is a home-based role but will require travel around the UK including overnight stays. This role is 5 days per week (35 hours) with working days/hours to be mutually agreed in line with business needs.

Employee benefits include a company contribution to pension scheme of up to 5%, 30 days holiday plus bank holidays, life insurance, paid volunteering days, discounts via Reward Gateway and an Employee Assistance Programme. The biggest benefit though is our culture – our people really want to work for the organisation.

We welcome job applications from people with lived experience of the criminal justice system and do not routinely ask for details of any criminal convictions. This role does require prison security clearance, so we will need to ask for details of any relevant criminal convictions before an offer of employment is finalised.

Interviews, which will be held online, are planned for the w/c 18th May.