Senior programme officer jobs

The Association for Cultural Enterprises (AfCE) supports over 500 member organisations across the UK and internationally, helping the cultural sector generate earned income through commercial activity. As an Arts Council England-funded organisation, AfCE delivers sector-leading training, benchmarking, data-led insights, events, and advocacy to drive financial resilience in arts, heritage, and culture.

AfCE runs a year-round programme of live training events around the UK and Europe, as well as its signature annual Cultural Enterprises Conference and Trade Show. We have ambitions to grow attendance at these events, as well as growing our membership.

The Association is a charitable organisation, which also has a trading company, Cultural Enterprises (Trading) Limited (CET).

We are looking for a new Finance Manager to join a small, friendly, and ambitious team, to review the day-to-day processes and policies and identify opportunities to improve reporting  and make operational efficiencies. The Association is growing, so now is an exciting time to join our team and work with our members across the cultural sector.

Job Summary

The purpose of this role is to provide sound financial management for the Association and CET through:

• Statutory financial reporting in line with Charity SORP/UK GAAP, including annual returns to Companies House and the Charity Commission

• Management accounting, reporting and analysis to funders, management, staff, and Trustees/Directors

• Preparation and maintenance of budgets, forecasts and plans, including cashflows and project budgets

• Supervision and control of day-to-day accounting transactions, including oversight of the finance aspects of the Apprentice role

• Oversight and implementation of robust financial systems, policies, and procedures

• Responsible for financial queries, working with the Apprentice as first point of contact for external contacts
   

Main Duties

• Supervise day-to-day accounting operations and ensure accurate financial record keeping, including coding, allocations, reconciliations, and tax accounting

• Oversee invoice generation and debt recovery processes

• Process payments and staff expenses for authorisation

• Produce regular management accounts on an accruals basis, providing interpretation and advice to the Executive Team, Finance & Risk Committee, Trustees/Directors, and funders

• Lead on budget preparation and forecasting, including project-specific budgets; monitor and reforecast as needed

• Prepare statutory accounts in compliance with charity SORP and liaise with external auditors and the Treasurer

• Manage contracts with financial services providers, including bookkeepers, auditors, banks, and investment managers

• Attend AfCE and CET Board meetings

• Fulfil company secretarial duties, including:

  • Filing confirmation statements and annual accounts for ACE and CET with Companies House and Charity Commission

  • Filing changes in Trustees/Directors

• Complete Arts Council England (ACE) returns, including provision of financial information for quarterly payment processes when required

• Negotiate and implement insurance policies including:

  • General insurance

  • Cyber security

  • Life assurance

  • Staff sickness policy

  • Trustees’ liability

  • Conference insurance

• Oversee monthly payroll, including statutory payments to HMRC and pension providers, and liaise with bookkeepers for payroll updates or changes

• Review VAT returns for accuracy before submission to HMRC
   

Note on External Bookkeepers
External bookkeepers currently provide support limited to payroll and VAT processing.

Person Specification

Personal Qualities

• Self-disciplined, organised, proactive and self-motivating

• Logical and methodical approach to finance and administration

• Trustworthy, honest, reliable and conscientious

• Confident, professional, and personable, able to communicate easily within a small team and with external stakeholders
   

Professional Competencies

Essential

• Professional accounting qualification such as ACA, ACCA, or CIMA

• Strong knowledge of charity SORP and charity finance regulations, including VAT and Gift Aid

• Experience with Xero or equivalent cloud-based accounting systems

• Strong reporting skills

• Team player with excellent interpersonal skills

• High level of accuracy and attention to detail

• Experience producing management accounts and supporting senior leadership and boards

• Ability to interpret financial data for non-financial colleagues
   

Desirable

• Experience working in a small charity or business

• Understanding of the cultural or charitable sector

• Experience of remote working
   

Benefits

• Unlimited holiday policy

• 5% employer pension contribution

• Life insurance

• Flexible working arrangements by agreement with the CEO

We are an inclusive, equal opportunity employer and value diversity. All employment is decided on the basis of experience, merit and organisational need.

Job description – Cara Funding and Communications Manager

This is a critical time to join our dedicated team as we expand our work in response to the growing risk to academics and universities worldwide. Building on our 93 years of experience and partnerships with 135 UK university, this role provides an excellent opportunity for a dynamic fundraiser to grow our support from individual and organisations.

Line Manager: Chief Executive

Objective: The Funding and Communications Manger leads on the delivery of our fundraising strategy to diversify and grow Cara’s income streams.

Hours: Full-time. Eight hours each day Monday – Friday, with flexible working by arrangement around core hours of 10am – 4pm.

Location: Hybrid working - in London office in Elephant and Castle SE1 (2-3 set days per week) and working from home on the remaining days.

Role purpose - responsible for executing fundraising strategy to generate increased income for Cara’s work - identify and cultivate potential donors, manage fundraising events and campaigns, and ensure compliance with fundraising regulations. 

Detailed responsibilities:

· Fundraising Strategy and business plan:

Work closely with the Chief Executive to review and adapt our fundraising strategy and business plan and produce analytics to review performance by income type and to help set stretching and achievable targets and improvement plans for each income stream. Implement and develop fundraising plans, including initiation and management of campaigns. Take responsibility for developing new income streams and products including alumni and legacy giving.

· Relationship Building:

Cultivate and maintain relationships with existing and prospective donors, including individuals, major donors, and foundations. Work with the Cara team to ensure effective relationship management across all donors and lead on donor identification for all income streams. Identify opportunities for pro bono support in support of the Cara strategy.

· Event Management:

Organize and manage fundraising events, ensuring successful execution and high engagement with our target audiences. This includes a schedule of location-based university engagement events (up to twelve per year) to engage existing individual donors, build awareness of Cara’s work, and cultivate new individual donors. Collaborate with contacts at each university to plan, deliver and follow up on each event. Lead on other key Cara events including the annual science and civilisation lecture to ensure that these build the Cara brand.

· Data Management for donor stewardship:

Maintain accurate donor records (on salesforce) and build and maintain fundraising databases for individuals and organisational donors to manage engagement throughout the donor journey. Maintain a view of Cara’s pipeline income to support the work of the Cara management team and reports to support accountability and trustee engagement including return on investment for each income stream.

· Communication:

Prepare and distribute fundraising materials, including appeals, newsletters, social media content, and articles for the website. Develop a range of case-studies profiling the work of Cara (including programmes, university partners, and individual academics). Collaborate closely with the Chief Executive to build the Cara brand through co-ordination of Cara’s presence at events and through priority digital channels.

· Proposal writing

Lead on proposal writing for major donors and philanthropic funding. Collaborate with colleagues on larger grants taking responsibility to overall proposal quality and timely submission. Ensure that the team work to agreed standards on all written reports and proposals to donors.

· Compliance:

Adhering to fundraising regulations, such as those outlined by the Fundraising Regulator, and ensuring that all fundraising activities are ethical and legal. Develop policies and practices to manage risk including appropriate due diligence and gift acceptance policies.

· Trends

Stay up to date on signals and trends in fundraising relevant to Cara’s work and use these to inform our business planning and risk/opportunity management.

Essential Skills and Qualifications:

· Proven success implementing effective strategies to raise income from a range of donors with a focus on major donors.

· Excellent communication and interpersonal skills: The ability to effectively communicate with donors including senior staff at universities.

· Strong writing and presentation skills: Developing winning proposals and presentations. Experience ranging from individual regular donors to six figure grants.

· Project management and organizational skills: Managing fundraising projects and campaigns effectively.

· Research and analytical skills: Identifying funding opportunities, analysing fundraising performance, and making data-driven decisions.

· Team working skills: ability to collaborate effectively with team without firm levers of management control. Ability to motivate and support non-fundraisers to work to best practice.

· Knowledge of fundraising regulations and best practices: Understanding the ethical and legal aspects of fundraising.

· Experience with fundraising software and databases: to manage donor information and track fundraising activities. Experience and/or willingness to learn to use salesforce.

· Demonstrated interest in and commitment to Cara’s mission and objectives.

Benefits of Role

· Challenging and rewarding work, always life-changing, sometimes lifesaving

· Competitive salary

· Team and individual training opportunities

· Commitment to performance and personal development

· Hybrid working, home and office (minimum 2 days each week in the office)

· Eight hours each day Monday – Friday, with flexible working by arrangement around core hours of 10am – 4pm

· 25 days plus Bank Holidays annual leave entitlement

· 8% employer pension contribution

· Convenient office location at Elephant and Castle, close to Tube (Bakerloo and Northern lines) and bus routes 

To apply

Please send a CV and cover note in response to the following four questions (max 1-page A4 – 11 size font) by 9am (UK time) on 30 June.  Applications that do not follow this guidance will not be considered. 

1. Summarise your experience and skills most relevant to this role

2. Tell us about a fundraising campaign that you have worked on – explain its success, what you did, and what you learnt from it?

3. Having looked at our website (www.cara.ngo) what steps would you take in this role to make Cara’s brand more attractive to potential donors?

4. Which target audience would you prioritise for fundraising in this role and explain why you have selected them and how you might reach them? 

Job Title: HR Manager

Line Reports:  Interns and secondments to People Team

Location: Flexible, hybrid, with some travel required to our offices (London, Manchester or Birmingham)

Salary:  £32,500-38,500 (£35,000-41,000 in London)

Hours: Full-time 37.5 hours per week, open to flexible working

Contract: Permanent

Overall purpose

Reporting to the Director of People, the HR Manager will take responsibility for the operational delivery of Breaking Barriers’ key People and HR activities and initiatives. You will have a strong knowledge of all aspects HR and provide proactive, practical support on day-to-day operations as well as leading strategic HR projects. A keen understanding of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) in the workplace and employee wellbeing is an advantage.

This role is essential to ensure we continue to be an effective, inclusive and people-led organisation. Your role will be vital in making sure Breaking Barriers is and continues to be a great place to work for its staff.

You will deliver day to day HR support to team members and managers, work across the organisation to advise on HR policies and good practice, deliver recruitment processes, and deliver and track Learning & Development. You will support on wider strategic initiatives, working with the Director of People to embed new strategies and projects informed by employee feedback.

To view the full job description and person specification, as well as details on our accessible recruitment process, please view the attached recruitment pack.

Other considerations

• As part of our safeguarding commitment to our clients, we carry out preemployment checks to ensure that successful applicants are suitable to work with adults at risk. These include basic DBS checks, obtaining references and verifying a candidate’s identity and right to work in the UK.
• Some travel between our different areas of operation (including London, Birmingham and Manchester) will be required. Occasional evening or weekend work may be required. Time off in lieu would be provided in this case.
• We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity status, race, religion or belief.

How to apply

If you are looking for a role where you can make a real difference, we want to hear from you. To apply, please submit a CV and statement (up to approximately 500 words/1 A4 page) outlining:

• Why you are interested in the role
• What skills you would bring to be successful in this role
• Any experience you would like to highlight
• Any reasonable adjustments you require for the interview process
• Disclosure of disabilities if you wish to do so (as a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, we guarantee an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role)

Please note that applications without a covering letter will not be considered.

Closing date for applications is 11:30pm on Saturday 5th July. Interviews will be held on a rolling basis so please apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

We belong to the Experts by Experience Employment Initiative, which advocates and supports organisations to employ more people from a refugee background. With this in mind, we particularly welcome applicants with experience of seeking asylum and/or a refugee background. 

If you are an expert by experience (a refugee or a migrant with direct, first-hand experience of issues and challenges of the UK asylum or immigration system), you can ask for an independent and confidential support for your job application from the Experts by Experience Employment Network. Please reach out to HR Manager Dani Meier for further details (we are unable to include email addresses in this advert, but you can find contact details on the final page of the attached recruitment pack).

Are you passionate about creating real, lasting change in mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services? Open Up, the official charity of Devon Partnership NHS Trust, is looking for a skilled and driven Grants Manager to play a vital role in expanding our fundraising success and securing transformative funding.

You'll be at the heart of developing powerful grant applications and building lasting relationships with trusts and foundations to bring life-changing projects to communities across Devon and beyond.

We offer flexible working, a collaborative team and a values-led culture rooted in inclusion, empowerment and innovation. You'll have the freedom to shape strategy, the support to grow professionally and the opportunity to deliver tangible, visible impact.

If you have a talent for storytelling, a head for strategy and a heart for social change, we would love to hear from you. This is your opportunity to deliver visible impact, build brighter futures and be part of something special.

About Women in Prison

Women in Prison is a national, women-led, feminist organisation. We deliver front line support to women harmed by the criminal justice system, through our work in prisons, in the community and ‘through the prison gate’ as they resettle back into their communities. We also campaign for systems change that addresses the root causes of offending, reduces the harmful impact of prison, and creates workable, community-based alternatives to imprisonment.

Job Description:

Job Purpose:

The Family Advocate will provide trauma-informed specialist support to women in the community and in prison who are at risk of losing custody of their children/have already experienced child removal. This role will also upskill colleagues, and work with Children’s Social Care teams to improve the response to women impacted by the criminal justice system.

Key Responsibility Areas 

1.      Provide high-quality, trauma-responsive support to women in contact with the criminal justice system, who are at risk of experiencing/have experienced child removal. 

2.      Provide expert advice and support to colleagues, including upskilling through information and training sessions on Children’s Social Care and family court processes, and increase Children's Social Care teams' knowledge and understanding on women in the criminal justice system.   

3.      Develop effective relationships with key stakeholders, such as Children’s Social Care, probation, prison, to ensure a collaborative approach to women’s needs. 

4.      Monitor case management systems to ensure accurate and timely data recording, aligning with contract KPIs and WIP policies.

As we embark on an exciting 5-year strategy we are looking to recruit an experienced Individual Giving Manager to focus on the delivery of repeat giving. Developing our weekly lottery, raffles and regular giving products and the sustainable income they provide.

This will be a crucial role within the team and playing the lead role in promoting these forms of giving to a wide external audience. Ensuring that we increase our reach across all areas of our communities through all forms of communications and engagement. You will also be able to work collaboratively across internal teams to promote regular giving and lottery products, ensuring that we maximise the potential of this important form of giving.

You’ll be an experienced direct marketer who is comfortable with product development and using data to drive a great experience for our supporters.

Please note that a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) basic criminal record check will be undertaken as part of our -employment screening for the successful candidate.

The Diocese of Coventry represents the Church of England in Coventry and Warwickshire.  With a network of 200 parishes, there is a Christian presence in every local community.  There is a rich variety of people and traditions, which are united in our shared mission of "worshipping God, making new disciples, transforming communities".

The Coventry Diocesan Board of Finance Ltd (DBF) manages the financial affairs and hold the assets of the Diocese and its associated entities as well as managing activities to serve and equip these parishes through various activities and projects. 

The Finance & Governance team handle all matters concerning Diocesan and Cathedral finance including the administration and collection of parish share, paying invoices and expenses, budgeting, annual statutory, management accounts, clergy stipends, staff salaries, advice to parishes on parochial finance matters. 

This role covers the full range of work in an accounting system dealing with input to and output from all ledgers with specific responsibility for the administration of parish shares and fees including the issuing of regular statements to parishes. The purpose is to ensure that the accounting system has accurate and timely financial data which is available to those who require it either for decision-making or for external reports and accounts.

Community Project Lead 

• Two-year fixed term, full-time (35 hours per week) or part-time (minimum 21 hours per week considered), £28,000 – £32,000 per annum depending on experience (pro rata if part-time)  
• Remote or office-based. Occasional visits to IPSEA’s office in Takeley or a London venue required. This role will also include frequent travel to meet with community partners. 

Do you have experience working with under-served communities and leading impactful outreach projects? Are you passionate about improving access to support for families of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)?

IPSEA is the leading charity in the field of SEND law in England, and we provide free and independent legal advice and support to families of children and young people with SEND. We also provide training on the SEND legal framework, and we influence policy at both a local and national level.

We are looking for an experienced and motivated Community Project Lead to join our team and lead the development of our advice services for under-served communities. This two-year, fixed-term role is a key part of our strategy to reach groups who may not traditionally engage with IPSEA’s support - including children and families with English as an additional language, cared-for children (children in care), migrant children, detained children, and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.

The project builds on a detailed scoping exercise we’ve recently completed, which involved working closely with a wide range of charities and organisations that support these communities. The resulting report outlines the barriers they face, and will form the foundation for this project and directly inform the work you will lead.

What you’ll do 

• Design and develop pilot advice services that are tailored to the needs of under-served communities, using findings from IPSEA’s research 

• Build and maintain strong relationships with community groups, charities and service providers to co-produce accessible services 

• Collaborate with IPSEA’s advice, legal and policy teams to address the barriers these communities face in accessing SEND legal advice 

• Contribute to and share outreach materials, training resources and toolkits to support families of under-served communities and empower local advocates 

• Plan and lead workshops, focus groups and community events to raise awareness, gather feedback and enhance service delivery 

• Monitor and report on project outcomes and impact, providing regular updates to IPSEA staff and stakeholders 

You can work remotely or from IPSEA’s office in Takeley, with frequent travel required for essential meetings and community engagement.

If you share our commitment to protecting, promoting, and upholding the rights of children and young people with SEND, and would like to use your skills to improve access to vital advice and support, we would love to hear from you.

Visit our website to download a recruitment pack and application form.

Closing date for applications: 9am on Monday 16 June 2025 
First-round interviews: Wednesday 25 June 2025 (London) 

About Women in Prison

Women in Prison is a national, women-led, feminist organisation. We deliver front line support to women harmed by the criminal justice system, through our work in prisons, in the community and ‘through the prison gate’ as they resettle back into their communities. We also campaign for systems change that addresses the root causes of offending, reduces the harmful impact of prison, and creates workable, community-based alternatives to imprisonment.

Job Description:

Job Purpose:
Women in Prison’s Advocates deliver high-quality, trauma-informed, independent advocacy for women in communities and in prisons, which focuses on early intervention, and holistic provision as part of a ‘whole system’ multi-agency response that looks to address the root causes of women’s offending. 

The primary purpose of this role is to provide in-depth, ongoing support to a caseload of women who have been referred for support by prison staff, predominately the Mental Health In-Reach Teams and Primary Care Teams.

Key Responsibility Areas:
1. Provide high-quality, trauma-responsive advocacy and support to women in contact with the criminal justice system.
2. Maintain case management systems to ensure accurate and timely data recording.
3. Develop effective relationships with key stakeholders such as statutory and voluntary sector agencies.