Senior recruitment advisor jobs in birmingham

Group Senior HR Advisor

Location: Trigate Business Centre, Oldbury B68

Hours: 28-hours per week (4 days) hybrid working

Salary £45,000 per annum (£36,000 per annum pro rata)

Are you interested in a Group Senior HR Advisor position where you have the chance to make your mark with an employer who isn’t afraid to let people try new things, and to innovate? This could be the ideal opportunity to move to a business specialising in housing, care and support for people with visual impairments, and other specialist needs.

As an inclusive, forward-thinking business, we take pride in our approach in investing in our people and are looking for a highly competent and motivated Senior HR Advisor to join us. From our recent staff survey, our staff have told us that they are really engaged and feel proud to work for us and the people we support.

This business is keen to recruit someone who wants to excel in their role and play a key part in our People Strategy. Now is a particularly exciting time to join us as we have an ambitious but realistic plan for further business development and growth.

As the Group Senior HR Advisor, you will:

• Be responsible for a case management of ER cases as well as provide day to day advice to managers.
• Develop excellent working relationships with managers and help empower them to become great people managers.
• Provide risk-based advice, guidance and coaching to managers on following best practice, policies and procedures.
• Play a lead role in managing key HR projects, business change projects such as restructures, through to supporting on the implementation of organisation wide people initiatives, such as wellbeing projects. This will include undertaking relevant research, and making proposals and recommendations that will enable effective and progressive change in our culture and ways of working.
• Need to have a full UK Driving Licence and use of a car for business purposes.
• Need to be able to apply for enhanced DBS clearance.
• Need to provide evidence of your Right to Work in the UK.

New Outlook Housing Association and Vision Homes Association are well-respected organisations and have joined forces in supporting and caring for people with visual impairment and complex needs.

We are proud of the work we do for the people we support, so if you can help us build on our successes, enjoy being part of a small team, and have a positive outlook, then we would like to hear from you.

The role is hybrid and based in Oldbury, with typically two days in the office and two at home. We operate from a modern well-furnished office, and apply a flexible approach to working patterns to ensure a better work-life balance for staff. 

Benefits:

23 days Annual Leave (After your second year of service one additional day, subject to a maximum of five additional days) + 8 Bank Holidays

Employer pension contribution

Staff discount scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Birthday leave

Long service awards

About Us:

Vision Homes has been providing support to vulnerable adults for over 30 years, specialising in providing support to people with complex needs. VHA is a charity, registered with the Charity Commission and its care provision is regulated by Care Quality Commission.

New Outlook has been providing services to visually impaired people for over 170 years. Starting out in 1846 as part of the Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind (BRIB), becoming a standalone housing association in 1997.  Since then, New Outlook Housing Association (NOHA) has gone through several changes to become the organisation it is today.

How to Apply:

For more information and Job Description please visit our website for contact details.

Please apply by sending your CV and a covering letter to us stating ‘what qualities and experience you can bring to the role’.

Closing Date: 11/07/25. Please note, we are actively reviewing applications and may close this advert early if a successful candidate is found.

Interviews:  Telephone interviews will take place on 17/07/25 & 18/07/25.

If successful, a follow-up in-person interview will be arranged on 23/07/25 or 28/07/25 at our Head Offices in Oldbury. 

Vision Homes Association and New Outlook Housing Association are Equal Opportunity Employers

No agencies.

About NZF

National Zakat Foundation (NZF) gives Muslims around the UK a way to bring their Zakat to life.

It is the only organisation with a nationwide reach that helps Muslims calculate and give Zakat or apply for Zakat.

This is an exciting time to join NZF. With over ten years’ experience in collecting and distributing Zakat in the UK, NZF seeks to help as many people in need as possible with an experience that makes them feel valued members of the Muslim community.

How this post supports NZF’s vision and mission

The post-holder will be responsible for offering support to the Director of Finance and Governance to ensure effective outputs within a high-performance environment, adhering to the highest standards of corporate governance.

The main responsibilities of this role include tracking, collating, and recording essential performance information; providing administrative support for the Board meetings, sub-committees, working groups, senior leadership meetings and team meetings; maintaining governance procedures and ensuring their adherence; and managing and maintaining risk registers.

To succeed in this role, you will have a passion for the non-profit sector. You will be highly organised and diligent, showing great attention to detail. You will be proactive and possess excellent oral and written communication skills. You will have excellent people management skills with the ability to build effective, professional relationships with internal and external stakeholders, ranging from senior managers, directors and external stakeholders. You will be highly motivated, versatile, empathetic, and have a good eye for detail. You will ensure that policies and processes are being implemented effectively across the organisation.

 

Typical Accountabilities of position:

Board and Senior Leadership meetings:

· Maintain a forward-looking calendar of Board, Board Committees and Senior Leadership Team meetings and agenda items and set up the meetings.

· Support line manager to prepare agendas, co-ordinate timely pre-read papers, write minutes, and track agreed actions.

· Maintain consistent Terms of Reference across all Board Committees.

· Provide administrative support to the line manager and Board with recruitment, induction, performance management and succession planning for the Board and Board committees.

· Manage and maintain Trustee documentation to ensure that information is transparent, up to date and readily accessible.

· Provide administrative support to the line manager and Board Chair with a periodic review of the Board, its value and behaviours, practice and operations.

Compliance:

· Ensure compliance with requirements and guidelines of Charity Commission, Companies House and other regulatory bodies.

· Coordinate the narrative, design and approval of the Annual Report and Accounts.

· Ensure appropriate governance information reflected in external communications.

· Ensure full and accurate reporting provided to grant funders.

Governance and risk management

· Support governance within the functions, and ensuring appropriate guidance and advice provided from those functions to the wider team.

· Manage and maintain risk registers across the departments.

Approach

· Comply with relevant legislation and regulation ensuring that good practice is observed.

· Understand and support the vision, mission and aims of NZF.

· Adhere to and champion NZF’s policy and practices on safeguarding.

· Ensure the approach is coordinated with key stakeholders across the organisation.

· Undertake any other duties requested by the line manager commensurate with the role.

Relationships and Stakeholders

· Executive Team, Trustees, Advisors and other staff across the organisation

· External consultants, freelancers, and partners

Why work with NZF?

• Flexible working 

• Enhanced Maternity / Paternity pay 

• Ethical pension 

• Health cash plan (Medicash) 

• Days off for religious holidays 

+ How to apply

Please send a cover letter with a CV. 

The cover letter must show why you are a suitable candidate, demonstrating any relevant knowledge and skils, experience and behaviours that match the requirements for the post. The cover letter should not exceed 2 sides of A4.

 Applications close – Friday 27 June 2025.

Interviews expected – Week Beginning 30 June 2025.

For more information about the role or how to apply, you can click on the job pack Governance Officer Job  on the website ( NZF) under vacancies. 

Note: an application for a DBS certificate wil be submitted in the event of the individual being offered the position. A copy of the Charity’s ‘Hiring policy -ex offenders’ is available on request. 

Location: Home-based with regular travel to the Guildford office
Job Type: Full time, 37.5 hours per week
Contract Type: Permanent
Salary: £33,256 - £36,952 per annum
Benefits: 27 days holiday bank holidays (pro rata for part time roles), healthcare cash plan, life assurance, paid compassionate leave, enhanced sick pay, membership plus many more staff benefits.
 
There’s never been a better time to join their team! They have launched an ambitious new strategy – and they want you to be part of it. There are loads of reasons to love cycling, even if you’re not someone who cycles. From cutting pollution, to making them healthier and happier, cycling can help them all thrive.
 
They're looking for a People Business Partner (HR), to work collaboratively throughout the organisation across the full spectrum of HR disciplines; employee relations, recruitment, retention, people development with a specific emphasis placed upon supporting the delivery of the people and engagement strategy. 
 
Explore the attached job description for full details on this exciting opportunity. Complete the application form expressing why you are the right candidate for this opening. Focus on gearing your supporting statement to exemplify how your skills and experience match the requirements of the role, directly referring to the person specification. This enables the selection panel to assess your relative strengths against the specified criteria.
 
They are an inclusive organisation and would particularly welcome applications from candidates from a broad range of backgrounds. They strongly believe that diversity strengthens their work. If you are already passionate about cycling, that’s great, many of them are too! But if you are simply really excellent at what you do, no matter what your background, that is what matters most to them.
 
The role is home based in the UK, with regular travel to the Guildford and London office. 
 
Applications close at 9:00am on the closing date shown.
 
You may also have experience in the following roles: HR Business Partner, People Partner, Human Resources Business Partner, Senior HR Advisor, HR Manager, People and Culture Business Partner, Employee Relations Specialist, HR Generalist, Talent and Development Partner, Organizational Development Specialist, etc.
 
REF-222 388

About Kinship

We are Kinship. The leading kinship care charity in England and Wales. We’re here for kinship carers – friends or family who step up to raise a child when their parents aren’t able to. 

Together, let’s commit to change for kinship families.

About the role

We are seeking a technically capable, qualified accountant with strong knowledge of the Charities SORP to provide effective stewardship and oversight of the Finance function at Kinship. You will be responsible for financial controls, management accounting and ensuring the effective delivery of ‘business as usual’ financial management.

As well as producing monthly management accounts, you will be responsible for running the annual budget and the year-end processes, preparing for the yearly external audit and ensuring that the organisation complies with statutory obligations.

You will prepare papers for and attend the quarterly Finance Committee meetings and will liaise with a range of stakeholders including auditors, the bank and investment managers.  You will be the ‘go to’ business partner at the charity, supported by the Chief Operating Officer and Fractional Chief Financial Officer.

You will manage a team of two colleagues – a Senior Finance Officer and a Payroll Manager – providing them with guidance, coaching and support to enable them to perform effectively. You will also collaborate and work with Directors and senior managers across the organisation to inform them on performance against budget and conditions of funding, as well as supporting fundraising and commissioning bids. 

You will have excellent communication skills and will be able to organise conflicting priorities around the monthly management accounts cycle, while supporting the achievement of our strategic objectives. You will be flexible and adaptable in your approach to supporting transformational change in our processes and systems, as well as dealing with, and leading on, the day-to-day financial management. 

This is a broad and challenging role for a dynamic and systems-driven individual who wants to grow within the organisation, proactively problem solve and help colleagues to deliver on our mission.

Essential requirements include:

• Fully qualified ICAEW, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent
• In-depth understanding of accounting principles, standards and the Charities SORP, and experience of applying these in a service delivery organisation
• Experience managing a Finance function in a charity with £1-10m annual turnover
• Experience of line management and developing a team using approaches that are empowering
• Experience of Business Central, or the ability to quickly learn a new accounting system
• Excellent Microsoft Excel skills with the ability to use Pivot Tables and other functions to analyse large data sets

What we’ll offer you 

Kinship offers 30 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rata for part-time) as well as a generous pension scheme. We have an excellent wellbeing offer including the Employee Assistance Programme and clinical supervision. We will invest in your professional development with training and career development opportunities.

Kinship is committed to championing equality, diversity and inclusion.  We believe our work is greatly enhanced by the varied backgrounds, experiences and views represented within our teams.  We aim to create inclusive teams, celebrate differences and encourage everyone to join us and be their true self at work. We therefore encourage applications from anyone who fits our values, whatever their religion or belief, sex, gender identity, race, age, sexuality or disability and are actively seeking candidates that can bring real innovation and commitment to us. 

This is a fantastic time to join a supportive and well-established team within an organisation with rapid growth ambitions. This role will be what you make it and we’re looking for someone to seize this opportunity!

How to apply

Please apply via Charity Job with your CV and a cover letter of no more than 2 pages for the attention of Joshua Marks. Please include your notice period and earliest availability to start in your cover letter.

• Application deadline:      8.00am on Monday 7 July 2025
• First interview:                 Online - Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 July
• Second interview:          In-person (Vauxhall, London) - Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 July [2 hours                                                     including Excel and presentation task]

Kinship reserves the right to close applications early on receipt of sufficient applications. Apply early!

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).

The Youth Endowment Fund  

Programme Manager

  

Reports to: Programme and Impact Lead 

Salary: £44,200 

Contract: 18-month fixed term (Full-Time)

Location: Central London, Hybrid*  

Closes: Monday 14th July 2025 at 12pm

 

About the Youth Endowment Fund

 

We’re here to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence. We do this by finding out what works and building a movement to put this knowledge into practice. 

Last year, 244 people in England and Wales tragically died after being assaulted with a knife. Of these, 32 were children. Every child captured in these numbers is an important member of our community and society has a duty to protect them. Even when violence doesn’t strike directly, we know that the fear of violence has a terrible effect on children’s lives.

The Youth Endowment Fund exists to try and permanently change things. To succeed, we must build an exceptional body of knowledge about violence affecting young people and how we reduce it. This knowledge has to be both rigorous and highly relevant to those making decisions about how to support vulnerable young people. We need to find out what works and what doesn’t through evidence synthesis, data analysis and qualitative research into children’s lives. We need to convert this into highly accessible content on what works, how delivery organisations need to change their practice and how the systems they operate in need to be reformed. We then need to work with the right people that can make change happen, across systems, policies and practice, to have a real impact on reducing violence affecting children’s lives.

Key Responsibilities

Deciding which projects, we should fund and evaluate is key, as is making sure we deliver our funding and evaluations to the highest standards. Our Programme Managers are responsible for identifying, assessing, funding and supporting programmes designed to prevent youth violence.

Programme Managers at YEF come from all walks of life. We look for individuals who may have experience in the youth sector, children’s social care, policing, criminal justice, education or how to involve local residents in making decisions about their own neighbourhoods.

As a Programme Manager at YEF, you will work very closely with our evaluation team to make sure we learn from what’s being implemented and that the organisations we fund are prepared and excited to work with us to find what works.

To achieve this, you will:

· Make sure we choose the best organisations to work with by assessing funding applications, critically appraising delivery plans and budgets, getting to know potential grantees and conducting site visits. These assessments will help you form recommendations to our senior leadership team about which opportunities to pursue.

· Work closely with grantees, external evaluators and our own evaluation team to ensure that the activity we are funding will be evaluable. This requires you to support and advise grantees on how to work in the context of an evaluation – usually, a randomised trial (you don’t have to have experience working on a randomised trial in the past, but it helps!).

· Build strong relationships with our grantees and provide them with ongoing management and support through the life of their funding. You will also be responsible for monitoring the performance of grantees and ensuring targets are met and any project risks are effectively mitigated.

· Think carefully about how we find the best projects to fund and evaluate, ensuring we can best find what works to keep children safe. To do this you might need to work with colleagues to spot where there has previously been a lack of evidence about what works (we will help you with this!). You would project manage these projects so they are excellently delivered – on time, within budget, and to a high standard. You will help to determine what our commissioning processes aim to achieve and design grant application processes to achieve it.

· You’ll manage our engagement with potential grantees to make sure we are attracting a diverse and promising portfolio of organisations to apply.

· Report to our team and external stakeholders regularly on how well the projects we are funding are going, spotting where grantees need support and coming up with how we can best provide that support.

· Represent the Youth Endowment Fund at external events, including reporting and presenting to our Grants and Evaluation Committee, who approve all our funding decisions.

About You

You are this sort of person:

• You don't want your days to pass without making a difference. You want to play a significant part in a charity that is making a difference.
• You want to work in a job that makes young people safer. This issue matters to you. You don’t need extensive experience in grant making, you just have to be committed to learning it. You should be keen to learn about the sectors we work with, the challenges facing young people and what organisations face when implementing programmes.
• You have experience in one or more of the following areas: policing, education, criminal justice, social care or the youth sector.
• You have a strong understanding of challenges that organisations face in delivering projects. You must also be a really good project manager, great at managing and developing people and external stakeholders, energised by tackling complex problems and really care about the YEF’s mission to build evidence of what works. 
• You have incredible judgement. You are able to reach sound and considered judgements about the viability and suitability of applicants based upon our given criteria, often using detailed written and financial information, and are able to deliver constructive feedback to organisations. You can also identify when things aren’t going to plan and be proactive with sharing observations and recommendations.
• You are an optimiser. You look for solutions and think creatively to overcome challenges. You are curious, hungry to learn and always looking for ways to improve processes and increase efficiency and impact.
• You love well-designed systems. You are committed to designing and maintaining the best systems to make sure we manage our commissioning processes well. You know this is critical to effectively managing multiple, large-scale funding programmes and competing priorities.
• You are an excellent communicator. You have the ability to convey information clearly and effectively—both in writing and verbally. You understand the importance of strong communication in fast-paced decision-making and thrive in a busy, collaborative team environment.
• You win people over. People tend to warm to you and respect you. You have built good relationships with people at every level inside and outside the organisation and have managed large networks of stakeholders with different interests and priorities. You are excellent at customer service and can professionally handle issues that come up within your grant portfolio.
• You work very well in a team. You are not motivated by being the individual winner. You want the team as a whole to succeed. You don’t care who gets the credit as long as things get done.
• You are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. You believe and act in a way that celebrates and encourages a range of experiences, backgrounds and values.
  
  

While it’s not a criteria, we are especially interested to hear from applicants who have lived experience of youth violence.

We’re also keen to hear from applicants with a strong understanding of evaluation methodologies—particularly Randomised Control Trials (RCTs)—and experience either directly supporting or overseeing programme delivery within an evaluation context.

It’s important to us that the people we hire do not discriminate. We believe in being inclusive and giving everyone an equal chance to succeed. Applications are welcome from all regardless of age, sex, gender identity, disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, race, sexual orientation, transgender status or social economic background.

All appointments will be made on merit, following a fair and transparent process. In line with the Equality Act 2010, however, the organisation may employ positive action where candidates from underrepresented groups can demonstrate their ability to perform the role equally well.

This position will require a DBS check to be performed, but a record is not a block to performing this role.

Hybrid Working Details 

The office is based in Central London, but you don’t have to be. Those living in and around London are expected to be in the office a minimum of 2 days per week. If you live outside of London and work remotely, you’ll be expected to work from the London office 2 days per month. As part of our commitment to flexible working we will consider a range of options for the successful applicant. All options can be discussed at the interview stage. 

To Apply 

To apply, please send a CV, and a cover letter answering the specific questions below, please also complete the monitoring form by clicking the "Apply for this" button by 12pm, Monday 14th July 2025.

 If you have specific expertise in any of our sectors, we want to hear about it in your cover letter.  Applicants must answer the following questions as part of their application to be considered.

Application Questions

1. The Programme Manager role involves overseeing several projects at once and juggling many different tasks simultaneously. Can you give us an example of where you’ve had several competing priorities, what project management techniques you used to stay on top of your tasks, and what the outcome was?

2. Can you give an example of when you have had to manage multiple partners in a project and resolve conflicting positions? Can you explain how you went about this and what the outcome was?

  Interview Process

This will be a one stage panel interview process. Interviews will take place in the week commencing 21st July 2025.

PLEASE NOTE: We do not sponsor work permits and you will be required to provide proof of your eligibility to work in the UK. 

 Benefits Include

· £1,000 professional development budget annually

· 28 days holiday plus Bank Holidays

· Employee Assistance Programme – 24hr phone line for free confidential support

· Volunteering days - 4 half days per year

· Death in service - 4 times annual salary

· Flexible hours. Core office hours 10am – 4pm

· Financial support including travel and hardship loans

· Employer contributed pension of 5%.

 

Personal Data

Your personal data will be shared for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes our HR team, interviewers (who may include other partners in the project and independent advisors), relevant team managers and our IT service provider if access to the data is necessary for performance of their roles. We do not share your data with other third parties, unless your application for employment is successful, and we make you an offer of employment. We will then share your data with former employers to obtain references for you. We do not transfer your data outside the European Economic Area.

 

The Youth Endowment Fund 

Research Lead –Local Violence Prevention

 

Reports to: Head of Guidance and Reporting

Salary: £55,000

Contract: 2 years fixed term 

Location: Central London, Hybrid* 

Closing date: Tuesday 15th July at 12pm

Interviews: Week commencing 28th July 2025

About the Youth Endowment Fund 

We exist to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence. We do this by finding out what works and building a movement to put this knowledge into practice.

Last year, 244 people in England and Wales tragically died after being assaulted with a knife. Of these, 32 were children. Every child captured in these numbers is an important member of our community and society has a duty to protect them. Even when violence doesn’t strike directly, we know that the fear of violence has a terrible effect on children’s lives.

At the Youth Endowment Fund, we are working to create lasting change. To succeed, we must build a world-leading body of knowledge on the violence that affects young people and how it can be stopped. This means producing rigorous, relevant evidence — through synthesis, data analysis and in-depth research into young people’s lives. But knowledge alone isn’t enough. We must make it accessible and actionable: showing what works, how services need to change, and how the systems around them must adapt. And we must partner with the people who can make change happen — across policy, practice and local systems — to turn evidence into impact.

About the role

The Research Lead will lead the development of YEF’s research, resources and recommendations in our neighbourhood focus sector.

We focus our efforts on seven essential sectors: education, policing, youth justice, youth sector, children’s services, health, and neighbourhood. “Neighbourhood” refers to our work supporting local partnerships – such as Violence Reduction Units (VRUs), community safety partnerships or the new Prevention Partnerships - and hyper-local approaches like our neighbourhood fund. 

Their primary responsibility will be to develop a series of actionable and evidence-informed guidance and resources for use by local violence prevention partnerships. This will include self-assessment tools for partnerships to assess their effectiveness, tools for understanding the nature of local violence problems and how they could be solved, and resources to support partnerships to identify and safeguard vulnerable children. Creating these resources will require the Research Lead to collect insights and evidence from across YEF’s work and develop YEF positions on fundamental questions about violence prevention. If successful, the Research Lead could have an outsized impact on YEF’s strategy and mission.  

These resources will support YEF colleagues to deliver our new ‘Area Leaders Programme’ (ALP). This is a new programme which you will help form. It helps local multi-agency partnerships to find and implement the best ways to prevent violence. YEF is working directly with partnerships, providing high-quality professional development, tailored advice and support, system mapping, and a national community of practice. The ALP focuses on strengthening five key elements of effective violence reduction:

1. Building strong and accountable partnerships
2. Understanding local patterns of violence
3. Identifying and supporting children most at risk
4. Improving safety in high-risk places
5. Sharing best practice across agencies

Following a pilot in four areas in 2024/25, the programme will expand to 20 more areas over the next two years. This will lay the groundwork for wider national initiatives, such as the Young Futures Prevention Partnerships, and support implementation of the Serious Violence Duty. The Research Lead will develop resources and guidance for the ALP. As the programme is delivered iteratively, they will work closely with YEF programme leads and local partnerships to test, refine, and improve materials before wider rollout.

The Research Lead will be part of YEF’s Research team. The Research team is at the heart of our efforts to learn what works and put it into practice. We do this by developing the YEF’s funding strategy and creating free, highly accessible research summaries and actionable recommendations for policy makers, commissioners and practitioners. We’re a high-performing team which values intellectual rigour and getting to the truth, compassion for children, ambition about what we can achieve and humility about what we know. We love to discuss the latest developments in research methods, but we’re not just interested in research for its own sake. We want research to lead to actual changes in outcomes for children.

Key responsibilities

 

The Research Lead will develop a portfolio of impactful projects.

· You’ll lead the research team’s work in our local neighbourhoods and partnerships priority sector. You’ll become the YEF’s expert in this area. You’ll make sure we understand the key issues, stay on top of the latest research and are connected to the right people.

· You’ll ensure we produce accessible, evidence-based resources and guidance that local partnerships can use to develop more effective strategies. You’ll work with YEF colleagues to test, refine, and improve materials before wider rollout

· You’ll set the YEF’s research agenda for your sector. You’ll make sure we invest in research that fills important gaps in knowledge and leads to important changes. You’ll ensure that our strategy and decision-making are informed by the best available research. This is a great opportunity to influence large amounts of funding and direct it towards the most impactful projects.

· You’ll develop great relationships with experts and represent YEF in external meetings and events. You’ll promote evidence-based policy and practice by speaking at conferences and events.

· You’ll lead the development of evidence-based recommendations in your focus area. You’ll draw on research and expert insight to identify potential changes to policy and practice. You’ll design and develop innovative and impactful resources which support the application of your recommendations.

· You’ll take on other responsibilities appropriate to your role. This could include leading the publication of YEF’s evaluation reports or writing ad hoc briefings and evidence summaries for the Government and other partners.

About You

You are this sort of person:

· You want to play a significant part in reducing the level of violence affecting young people. You care about having an impact. This might mean you’ve worked directly with young people at risk of becoming involved in crime, for organisations that fund or deliver relevant programmes, or have conducted research on this topic.

· You share our belief that an evidence-based approach is our best hope of preventing violence. You’re fascinated by research, but you’re not just interested in research for its own sake. You want to achieve actual changes in outcomes for children.

· You know a lot about violence prevention, especially local partnerships and structures like VRUs or Community Safety Partnerships. You know the key ideas and debates, recent policy developments and key people. You’re comfortable talking about this topic with experts.  There are many ways to acquire this knowledge. You might have worked in a local authority or local violence prevention organisation, conducted research on them or learnt about them during a degree.

· You’re a confident reader of research and have strong critical appraisal skills. You know when research can be trusted and when it can’t and can confidently articulate your views on the strength of research. You might have gained this expertise through your academic studies, research or professional experience.

· You have at least three years’ experience working in a role that required you to think about research. This could include a range of roles in policy, academia, funding or practice.

· You write in a way that people easily understand. You have that rare skill of writing in plain English. You have experience of translating complex research findings into plain writing that everyone can understand.

· You have excellent project and time management skills. You can work independently, quickly and to a high standard. You have experience of managing contractors or budgets.

· You are good with people. You’re comfortable working with a wide range of people, including senior academics and other research experts, children and their families, practitioners and policy makers. You’re able to provide constructive challenges when required.

· You learn fast but remain humble. You like learning. You’re very good at synthesising information. You know how much you don't know and that you can always learn more.

· You work well in a team. You care more that good things happen than who gets the credit. You support your colleagues to produce excellent work.

· You’re committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. You believe and act in a way that celebrates and encourages a range of experiences, views and values.

 

While it’s not a criterion, we’re especially interested to hear from applicants who have lived experience of youth violence. 

It’s also important to us that the people we hire do not discriminate. We believe in being inclusive and giving everyone an equal chance to succeed. Applications are welcome from all regardless of age, sex, gender identity, disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, race, sexual orientation, transgender status or social economic background. 

Hybrid Working Details  

The office is based in Central London. Those living in and around London are expected to be in the office a minimum of 2 days per week. If you live outside of London and work remotely, you’ll be expected to work from the London office 2 days per month.

As part of our commitment to flexible working, we will consider a range of options for the successful applicant. All options can be discussed at interview stage.

To Apply 

To apply, please send a CV and cover letter, and complete the monitoring form click on "Apply for this" button by 12:00pm Tuesday 15th July 2025. 

When applying for this role, please ensure that your cover letter, within a maximum of 1000 words, covers the following questions below:

1. A clear example of a situation where you have translated research into actionable resources or recommendations.

2. A clear example of a situation where you’ve supported an external partner or colleague to apply research evidence to an important decision.

Interview Process 

Interviews will take place in the week commencing the 28th July 2025. 

There will be a task to prepare for in advance. 

PLEASE NOTE: We do not sponsor work permits and you will be required to provide proof of your eligibility to work in the UK. 

Benefits Include 

• £1,000 professional development budget annually 

• 28 days holiday plus Bank Holidays

• Four half days for volunteering activities

• Employee Assistance Programme – 24hr phone line for free confidential support • Volunteering days - 4 half days per year

• Death in service - 4 times annual salary

• Flexible hours. Core office hours 10am – 4pm

• Financial support including travel and hardship loans

• Employer contributed pension of 5% 

Personal Data   

Your personal data will be shared for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes our HR team, interviewers (who may include other partners in the project and independent advisors), relevant team managers and our IT service provider if access to the data is necessary for performance of their roles. We do not share your data with other third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and we make you an offer of employment. We will then share your data with former employers to obtain references for you. We do not transfer your data outside the European Economic Area.