Strategic development officer jobs in Belfast
Assistant Director of Operations
Salary: £72,000 per annum
Work Pattern: This is a permanent contract, working full time, Monday to Friday, 37.5 hours a week.
Location: Based at any of our Wetland Discovery Sites – Castle Espie BT23, Washington NE38, Martin Mere L40, Slimbridge GL2, Llanelli SA14, London SW13 or Arundel BN18.
For this role we can offer the opportunity for hybrid working. It is expected the role will need you to be present at each of your sites on a regular basis, at least once per month.
About The Role
WWT is the charity for wetlands.
This is a critical role in the recently restructured Operations Directorate at WWT. As Assistant Director, you will be directly responsible for the performance of our 7 Wetland Discovery sites. You will provide inspiring and professional leadership to your teams, whilst proactively collaborating cross organisation and externally.
Your focus will be on driving meaningful improvements at sites across our three ambitions of Restore, Inspire and Thrive, with emphasis on financial performance driven by visitor experiences. Reporting to the Director of Operations, you will directly manage two Heads of Operations, a Head of Retail and Head of Catering. You will indirectly lead more than 400 staff and volunteers across Living Collections, Reserve Management, Visitor Experience, Trading, Marketing, Facilities and Grounds.
You will work closely with Health & Safety and Sustainability leads to ensure good governance and compliance at sites and across the Operations Directorate.
You will have a background working in visitor attractions or a very similar sector, coupled with a passion for purpose-led organisations and a keen interest in the environment. You will be an inspiring leader with high levels of emotional intelligence and values & behaviours that align with WWT.
About You
To join as our Assistant Director of Operations, you will need to evidence:
- Experience in a senior position(s) held in the visitor attraction/events management sectors, directly accountable for site operations and visitor experience throughout the visitor journey.
- Strong skills in leading business planning, financial analysis, budget development and management, and delivery of significant capital projects across £multi-million business unit(s).
- Demonstrable ability to recruit, performance manage and motivate large (>100) diverse multi-disciplinary teams.
- The ability to develop, communicate and implement strategic change, turning organisational vision into improvements at scale.
- An inspirational and empathetic leadership style, able to role model an organisation’s values and behaviours, and to evidence strong emotional intelligence. Able to prioritise effectively, to collaborate, network and influence internally and externally at a senior level.
- A highly creative and inquisitive mindset, able to spot and exploit potential opportunities, keen to explore, test and learn as a means of driving continual improvement and excellence in the visitor experience.
- Experience of working collaboratively with insight, marketing and communications teams to deliver strong brand and marketing campaigns which drive footfall.
About Us
We’re WWT, and we’re on a mission to restore the super-powered ecosystems we call wetlands. There’s never been a more important moment for our work, and we’ve got some phenomenal people on the case.
Whether they’re taking a new visitor under their wing, or conducting ground-breaking research further afield, our team are second to none. And there’s nothing we love more than watching them soar.
Whatever you do here, you’ll be helping to restore wetlands and unlock their power. So, the only question left is, what role will you play?
Why you’ll love working at WWT
- Wake up every day knowing your work is helping to restore wetlands, and our world
- Be surrounded and inspired by our team of passionate, dedicated people
- 33 days annual leave (which goes up to 38 days after 5 years of service) – this includes bank holidays and you have flexibility to take those days whenever you want
- Free entry to all our wetland centres, including your family
- Free car parking and secure bike storage areas
- Colleague discount on shopping and memberships
- Cycle to work scheme
- Contributory pension scheme
- Life Assurance of three times your salary, for peace of mind for your loved ones
- Independent personal, workplace and financial advice from our Employee Assistance Programme
Closing Date: 23rd February 2026
N.B. We reserve the right to close the advert early if we receive a sufficient number of applications from candidates who meet the required skills and experience. We therefore encourage early applications.
Interested?
If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.
WWT is an equal opportunities employer and all applications will be considered solely on merit.
No agencies please.
Restore Wetlands and Unlock their Power



Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Partnerships Coordinator
This role is available in partnership with The Rank Foundation’s Time to Shine Leaders Programme.
Please read the programme details before making your application.
Salary: £24,479 for 35 hours week plus £312 p.a working from home allowance.
£26,936 for 35 hours per week, plus £213 p.a working from home allowance (London weighting)
Your opportunity
Tackle a vital challenge, with great people. Voice 21 exists to transform children' s learning and life chances through talk and we are working with 1,200 schools across the country this year alone. To reach this goal we recruit great people and give them real responsibility, training and support.
Output focused culture, with flexible working opportunities. We have an agile and flexible approach – our team can work when and wherever works best to deliver the requirements of their role. For staff working at home, we support them to create a workspace and provide technology that enables them to work effectively.
Real development opportunities. We believe in supporting people to develop the skills they need to be excellent – whether this means funding external training, finding a mentor to support them or giving them the time to learn from others in the organisations through our regular CPD sessions. We also offer paid study leave for team members taking part in formal studies outside of work.
Great benefits. 33 days holiday (inclusive of bank holidays) and additional Christmas closure period. Holiday entitlement increases linked to length of service, 5% employer contribution to pension, interest-free season ticket, cycle and technology loans, employee assistance scheme.
About Voice 21
Voice 21 is the national oracy education charity. We exist to empower every child to use their voice for success in school and life. Our work transforms learning and life chances through talk by increasing access to a high-quality oracy education for those that need it most. Follow the links to find out more about why oracy is so vital and the impact Voice 21 has.
Your purpose
To support our CEO, Director of Strategic Development and other members of the Senior Leadership Team to engage partners in our strategic planning, including to influence the implementation of the new national curriculum and guidance on oracy and establish a new advisory board to inform our strategy. You will be responsible for supporting the delivery of our partnerships strategy using email communications, providing administration and leading on planning for a series of meetings, round table discussions and partnership events. This will include working closely with the events team organising the flagship Voice 21 events, the Speaking Summit in March 2026 and Great Oracy Exhibition in October 2026.
This is a newly created role in the team and the post holder will play a significant part in shaping it in order to deliver its core purpose. The role may evolve based on the needs of our growing organisation.
Your responsibilities
Partner relationships & communications
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Ensure that communications to partners are sent in a clear and timely manner, using either automation or other systems e.g. mail merge.
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Coordinate processes for partnership meetings and roundtables, e.g. the booking process for participants and arrangements relating to special adjustments etc.
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Use our Customer Relationship Management (CRM), SalesForce, to create records and collect and update partner data.
Meeting coordination & delivery
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Arrange all key activities for events you are responsible for. This could include Advisory Board meetings (online and in person), visits to schools or roundtable and briefing meetings. Manage invites and book venues, reminder/follow up communications, and ensure feedback is captured and collated.
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Find solutions to problems e.g. technical issues in an online course; booking an additional venue due to increased demand.
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Attend events, either in person or online, to provide support to members of the team leading them.
Partnership Strategy Planning
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Track key progress with our partnership strategy and analyse this to support decision-making.
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Take ownership of partnership engagement and experience, finding opportunities for improvement and implementing these.
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Work closely with the members of the Whole Leadership Team to establish a ‘Relationship Manager’ lead system to maximise the benefits of partnerships.
This job is for you if you are...
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Highly organised, you enjoy making a plan and seeing it through! You might have previous experience organising events or programmes.
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Quick at picking up new skills e.g. using a Customer Relationship Management system, and generous in sharing your skills with others.
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A collaborator with great communication skills (written and verbal).
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Proactive when faced with problems, which you view as an opportunity to learn
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Have strong IT skills and are competent using MS Office (essential)
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Have previously used a marketing automation platform (MAP) or worked with a contact database (desirable, not essential)
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Comfortable managing ambiguity - even when things are not certain or the way forward is not clear you make a start on figuring it out.
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You are passionate about Voice 21’s mission and helping us meet our ambitions.
Who you’ll work with:
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Our Senior Leadership team: made up of our CEO and 4 directors; your work will support objectives across the wider leadership team. You will work directly with the Director of Strategic Development.
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Our broader team across Voice 21: Collaboration and partnerships are a key part of Voice 21’s new five year strategy so your work will be across the Voice 21 team.
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Our partners, including Voice 21 Oracy Schools and Centres of Excellence we work with to support delivery of our 2030 Strategy.
Where you’ll work: Remote, with regular national travel to attend programmes and meetings, including regular overnight stays.
You will also be required to attend Time to Shine key events which are detailed in the Guide for Potential Programme Candidates
Contract: One year fixed term contract linked to specific grant funding and subject to successful probation review at 3 months.
Terms: We would welcome applications on a full-time basis. Candidates need to be available to start within 4 weeks of any offer.
Application details
The Rank Foundation is looking for Time to Shine (T2S) Leaders who can meet the aims of the T2S programme, please refer to the Time to Shine application pack as applicants who do not demonstrate this through their application will not be considered.
The 12-month programme is experiential and focuses on building leadership skills and encouraging personal and professional development. The T2S Leader is employed by the charity and spends the majority of their time gaining valuable work experience and developing professional competency within the workplace.
To apply:
Please follow the link to send your CV and a short cover letter with the subject line: "Partnerships Coordinator.” and answer the following questions:
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What do you know about the Rank Foundation?
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What excites you about taking part in the Rank Foundation’s Time to Shine programme?
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What made you want to apply for this role?
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What skills will you bring to the project?
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What will be your biggest challenge in this role?
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What do you hope to achieve during your T2S year?
Closing date: 1st February 2026
We reserve the right to close the advert early should we exceed the number of applicants we can review within our recruitment process deadlines prior to interview commencement dates.
Interviews date: First Interviews 5th and 6th February
Second interviews, 10th February 2026
Start date: Must be before 13th April 2026.
Questions: If you have any questions about the role, or would like to discuss it before submitting an application, please contact Amy Gaunt, Director of Strategic Development
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
5Rights is seeking to recruit an outstanding professional Senior Public Relations Adviser to support our world-leading NGO at a time of exceptional visibility and opportunity to scale our impact. This is a remote role and can be based either in the UK or Belgium.
About 5Rights
5Rights Foundation exists to ensure a digital world that will serve children and young people today and for future generations. We are a small team of senior professionals and experts delivering change in how the digital world works. We have shifted the narrative and the agenda through provocative comms campaigns (e.g. Twisted Toys), pioneering research (e.g. Pathways) and award-winning tools (e.g. Child Online Safety Toolkit). We continue to drive real-life change thanks to an outstanding track-record of delivering legislation (e.g. Californian Age Appropriate Design Code), policy and regulatory frameworks (e.g. UNCRC General comment No.25), and industry standards (e.g. IEEE 2089).
Role Purpose
The Senior Public Relations Advisor leads 5Rights' external public relations and media strategy, positioning 5Rights as a global authority on children’s rights in the digital environment. The role shapes the public narrative around our mission, ensuring 5Rights’ work achieves maximum visibility, credibility and impact with policymakers, the media, industry and the public.
This is a senior, strategic role requiring exceptional judgement, political awareness and strong relationships across media and stakeholder landscapes.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and deliver a comprehensive public relations strategy aligned with 5Rights’ mission and policy objectives.
- Position 5Rights as a leading voice on children’s rights in the digital environment in UK, EU and international media.
- Anticipate emerging issues and shape proactive public relations strategies around key policy moments, research releases and advocacy campaigns.
- Protect and enhance the organisation’s reputation, including crisis communications and risk management.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with senior journalists, editors and broadcasters across national and international media.
- Secure high-profile coverage in print, broadcast and digital media.
- Act as principal media advisor to the Executive Director and senior leadership team.
- Support and coach senior spokespeople and youth representatives for media engagements.
- Lead public relation planning for major campaigns, policy launches and advocacy initiatives.
- Advise on strategic partnerships and external engagement from a public relations perspective.
- Represent 5Rights at events, conferences and high-level meetings as required.
- Contribute to strengthening 5Rights’ overall public relations impact by bringing senior PR expertise, networks, and strategic media insight to the team.
Person specification
This is a highly challenging and rewarding position for a professional with the following attributes:
Essential skills and attributes:
- Extensive senior-level experience in public relations, communications, journalism or public affairs, ideally within policy, advocacy, human rights, technology, or social impact sectors.
- Proven track record of shaping national and international media coverage and securing high-profile placements across print, broadcast and digital platforms.
- Demonstrated experience leading public relations and media strategy, including reputation management, at organisational or campaign level.
- Experience advising senior leaders and acting as a trusted public relation expert in high-stakes and politically sensitive environments.
- Exceptional writing and editorial skills, with the ability to translate complex policy, technical and research content into compelling public narratives.
- Deep understanding of media landscapes, political processes and public policy dynamics, particularly in the UK, the EU and internationally.
- Experience of crisis communications and issue management.
- Outstanding judgement and political awareness.
- Strong strategic thinking combined with hands-on delivery.
- Highly developed interpersonal skills with the ability to influence and build relationships at senior level.
- Confident, authoritative and credible spokesperson when required.
- Excellent project management and organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple high-profile priorities simultaneously.
- Ability to work under pressure and respond rapidly to fast-moving external developments.
- Strong collaboration skills and ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary teams.
- High standards of professionalism, discretion and integrity.
- Deep commitment to the mission and values of 5Rights Foundation.
- Resilient, adaptable and solutions-focused.
- Proactive, self-motivated and comfortable working with a high degree of autonomy.
Desirable skills and attributes:
- Experience working on children’s rights, digital rights, technology policy or online safety.
- Experience of international advocacy and global communications.
Practical details
- Location: Remote position in either the UK or Brussels. Some international travel required.
- Salary: €80,000 / £70,000 per annum including all benefits.The final offer will depend on skills and experience.
- One-year contract, renewable dependent on impact.
- Working hours: Full time (38h week), with occasional accommodation necessary for work across time-zones.
- Statutory pension contribution.
- 25 days annual leave per annum.
- Work equipment including a laptop will be provided.
- Starting data: ASAP, depending on notice period.
- Reporting line: Leadership team
5Rights values diversity and we strongly encourage people from under-represented groups to apply for this role. We aim for our recruitment to be inclusive and equitable, and we strive to constantly learn and improve in this regard.
How to apply
Please send your CV and a brief cover letter by 31st January 2026 via our website.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Reporting to: Co-Executive Director
Benefits:
25 days annual leave per annum, plus UK public and bank holidays (pro rata)
Office closure for a week in December and August
Annual leave allocation increases annually by one day (up to a maximum of five days)
10% employer pension contribution
Other standard Foxglove benefits
About us
Foxglove is a non-profit that exists to make the use of technology fair for all. When Big Tech companies abuse their power, their workers or the planet – and when governments use technology to oppress, exclude or discriminate – we litigate and campaign to fix it.
Big Tech companies have become so large – gobbling up a huge slice of the global marketplace and an unprecedented treasure hoard of user data – that they’re now more powerful than many states. The harmful effects of this concentration of power are everywhere – threats to our democracy, to our privacy, decimated workers’ rights and platforms rife with disinformation and hate. Big Tech and AI data centres are rapidly expanding, resulting in huge strain on energy and water supplies. Worldwide governments are ploughing ahead with the use of algorithms and mass data systems to cut costs and increase efficiency often resulting in digital tools that entrench unfairness and leave the most vulnerable in society in crisis. All these problems are only getting worse with generative AI.
Foxglove works to bring the rule of law to the tech and AI giants who have upended our public square, workplaces, and social lives. We have a strong track record. We’ve launched landmark cases seeking structural changes to big tech’s harmful business models, supported 180+ Facebook content moderators fired for trying to form a union to sue Facebook and their outsourcing company, Sama – winning world-first judgements. We're urging competition regulators worldwide to stop Google’s theft of independent news. We’ve filed the UK’s first legal challenge to a data centre permission decision over the government’s failure to properly assess their environmental impact. We’ve forced disclosure of secret contracts between tech giants and the NHS, stopped a racist Home Office visa streaming algorithm, helped make grading fair for UK A level students, forced the government to pause the NHS Data Grab and challenged the Department of Work and Pension’s use of an algorithm unfairly flagging disabled people for benefit fraud investigations.
We are a small but growing team of lawyers, communications experts, and campaigners. Our work is global, and we work in partnership with lawyers, civil society, unions, and people impacted by Big Tech.
The role
As Head of Operations, you will lead all operational functions of Foxglove. You will ensure that our finance, HR, legal compliance, fundraising, systems and internal processes enable the organisation to carry out its mission effectively. You’ll work across Foxglove and closely with leadership, as well as with external partners to build a resilient and well-governed organisation, able to manage growth and complexity while staying mission driven. This role manages one member of staff and multiple consultants.
Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Financial Management & Accounting
1.Oversee financial operations: budgeting, forecasting, cash flow, expenditure controls, financial reporting, payroll.
2.Ensure compliance with accounting standards, audit requirements and donor / funder financial reporting obligations.
3.Manage relationships with external accountants, auditors, banks, and financial service providers.
4.Ensure appropriate and best practice financial policies and controls are in place.
5.Ensure financial risk is identified and managed appropriately.
Fundraising & Development
1.Contribute to the organisation’s fundraising strategy in collaboration with the Co-Executive Directors and Head of Strategy.
2.Ensure systems are in place to track and manage grants, philanthropic donations, and other income streams.
3.Support the preparation of funding proposals and reports and ensure accurate and timely reporting to funders.
4.Support relationship management with key donors, foundations and partners.
Operational Systems & Processes
1.Develop and maintain efficient operational processes and systems (e.g. finance, HR, IT, data protection, office management).
2.Ensure proper policies and procedures are in place for procurement, vendor management, travel & expenses, and record-keeping.
3.Oversee the infrastructure that supports remote / hybrid working, ensuring tools and systems support collaboration, security, and productivity.
Compliance, Risk & Governance
1.Lead on organisational compliance: legal, regulatory, health & safety, data protection / GDPR, employment law.
2.Ensure the organisation’s policies and procedures are best practice, legally compliant and up to date.
3.Establish and monitor risk management frameworks and our risk register.
4.Support governance structures (internal reporting, director meetings etc.), ensuring decisions are well informed and documented.
Human Resources & People Operations
1.Oversee recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and staff development.
2.Ensure policies on equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing are embedded in how we work.
3.Foster a positive culture in line with Foxglove’s values.
Team Leadership & Collaboration
1.Lead the operations team, ensuring clarity of roles, responsibilities, performance and support.
2.Work closely with the rest of organisation including the legal teams and advocacy to ensure operations enables, not hinders, impact.
3.Contribute to organisational strategy, helping translate strategic ambitions into operational plans.
Person specification
Below are the essential and desirable criteria for a successful candidate.
Essential
·Minimum of 5-7 years of senior operations / finance / business operations experience, including line management
·Strong experience of budgeting, forecasting, audit & financial compliance
·Excellent strategic thinking and planning skills, able to bridge between high-level strategy and operational detail
·Strong risk-management and governance experience; familiarity with compliance, data protection / GDPR, employment law etc.
·Highly organised and able to manage multiple priorities; excellent time-management skills
·Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to present complex operational, financial or legal information clearly
·Strong collaboration skills; ability to work across teams; good leadership and people management skills
Desirable
·Qualified accountant (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent), with proven experience in financial oversight and reporting
·Experience of operating in non-profit / mission-driven / legal organisations
·Legal or compliance experience
·Experience of international operations, dealing with cross-border legal / regulatory issues
·Experience of change management and scaling teams or systems
·Understanding of, or interest in, legal, tech justice issues
·Experience of hybrid / remote team leadership
·Experience with fundraising finances, grants management, donor reports
Length and salary
This is a permanent full-time role with six-month probation period.
How to apply
Please make your application via the link to Applied provided by 9am on Tuesday 10 February (please disregard Charity Jobs' deadline), answering the application questions and uploading your CV. We will not review applications sent via a job board or to our email. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis with first round interviews likely to take place in mid February for selected candidates.
Foxglove does not use AI in its recruitment processes, except to detect applications for AI use. As a tech-justice organisation, we ask the same of our candidates.
Foxglove is growing and we are striving to build a team that is inclusive. We will create a diverse and adaptable environment where we support people to do their best work. We believe an effective and creative team is made up of people from different walks of life. You can read more about how we work and what we offer our staff on our website.
If you require any reasonable adjustments to complete this process, or have any questions, please get in touch with us.
If you would like to know more about how we process your data as part of the recruitment process you can read our recruitment data use policy on our website.
Foxglove is an independent non-profit organisation that fights to make tech fair.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Evaluation and Evidence Specialist
We’re the UK’s leading bowel cancer charity. We’re determined to save lives and improve the quality of life of everyone affected by bowel cancer. We support and fund targeted research, provide expert information and support to patients and their families, educate the public and professionals about the disease and campaign for early diagnosis and access to best treatment and care.
We currently have around 95 staff based in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we’re in a privileged position to be able to grow our staff team to deliver our ambitious strategy, On a mission. There are huge challenges facing bowel cancer patients across the UK and our community needs us now more than ever. We’re building a strong and united team to bring us closer to a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer.
Job Summary for Evaluation and Evidence Specialist
This role forms a key part of a new Strategy & Insight Team at Bowel Cancer UK, which seeks to build core capabilities to enable us to be as effective as we can be for people affected by bowel cancer. The Evaluation and Evidence Specialist will be an internal leader driving a step-change in the way we understand and articulate our impact, as well as how we use evidence in our work. You will be responsible for delivering evaluations of high-priority activities, as well as supporting other teams to evaluate the impact of their area. You will drive a cultural shift in evidence-based decision making where the charity begins to move from reacting to evidence to proactively generating its own evidence. You will ensure that insight, evidence and impact are delivered in a useful way to colleagues to support planning, decisions, income generation and communications.
Main responsibilities
- Lead a step-change in the way Bowel Cancer UK approaches evaluation, impact, and evidence.
- Develop evaluation frameworks for Bowel Cancer UK’s high-priority programmes and projects, ensuring that they can demonstrate the impact of our work.
- Develop, maintain and renew a set of compelling impact statements that support Bowel Cancer UK’s brand and meets the needs of other teams in engaging their key audiences.
- Establish a programme of routine evaluation for key ongoing activities across the charity, which can demonstrate effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.
- Proactively provide analysis of internal and external evidence sources to deliver meaningful insight for the organisation.
- Support teams to identify the evidence they require, including checking to ensure evidence is used consistently and robustly.
- Develop our capability in how evidence is presented to different audiences, including through data visualisation.
- Develop and maintain a central repository for evaluation and key evidence for the organisation to use.
- Identify gaps in evaluation and evidence and develop plans for how these can be addressed.
- Provide training and development opportunities to colleagues to upskill on the best approaches to evaluation and evidence.
Safeguarding
Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and at Bowel Cancer UK we are committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults and we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Successful candidates may be subject to either a satisfactory basic, standard or enhanced DBS check from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) dependent upon the role.
#Evaluation #Strategy #Insight #Data #Evidence
We’re the UK’s leading bowel cancer charity. We’re determined to save lives and improve the quality of life of everyone affected by bowel cancer.