Senior Programme Manager (Maternity cover)

Action for Conservation is a grassroots charity using pioneering approaches to inspire and empower young people from diverse backgrounds, between the ages of 12 and 24, to become the next generation of environmental leaders. We're looking to appoint a Senior Programmes Manager - North West (Maternity cover) to help us shape and manage our programmes for young people nationally and lead our work in the North West.
 

Key terms

Start date: as soon as possible
Starting salary: £36,749.45 - £40,773.98 depending on location and experience
Contract: Fixed-term for 12 months, with possibility to extend this if needed
Hours: Full-time, 35 hours per week
Evening and weekend work: Regular evening and weekend work, including residential work, will be required. Time off in lieu (TOIL) can be taken for overtime worked.     
Location: Remote or Manchester/London/Bristol (hybrid) - to be agreed with the successful candidate 
Travel: Regular travel to Manchester and the North West of England will be required where this is not the jobholder’s usual place of work, as well as occasional national travel for meetings

About the role

This opportunity comes at a unique and exciting time in the evolution of our charity, as we look at how we continue to grow our work sustainably and deepen the connections between our youth and land-based work streams.

As Senior Programme Manager, you will have the opportunity to shape our work nationally as well as lead our programmes in the North West of England, enabling us to grow our reach, deepen our impact and ultimately deliver our mission. Your work will ensure that across our programmes we offer young people meaningful and impactful opportunities to take action for people and the planet and have a voice in shaping the future of our landscapes. 

You will work closely with and report to the Head of Impact and Programme Operations. You will also line manage the other regional Programme Managers and a team of two Programme Coordinators in the North West, and will collaborate with the Land-Based Projects and Policy Lead and the Land-based Project Coordinator at the intersection of our youth programmes and land-based work.

With support from your manager and in consultation with the other regional Programme Managers, you will translate our annual programme strategy into a robust cross-regional implementation plan covering both programme design and operations and make tangible improvements to enhance efficiency and impact across our regions. You will also be responsible for ensuring that our programmes are delivered as planned, to a high standard in line with best practice and cohesively across regions, and that regional objectives and targets in the North West are achieved.

The ideal candidate will be a highly capable and experienced project/programmes manager and team leader with a proven track record of motivating and supporting others to achieve the best possible outcomes for your team and your programmes. 

Key responsibilities

• Lead Action for Conservation’s work in the North West, ensuring that regional targets and objectives are achieved and supporting the expansion of our programmes and projects in line with our organisational strategy.

• Support the cross-regional planning and management of our programmes to ensure that programmes are delivered on time and to budget, to a high standard and cohesively across regions. 

• Line manage the other regional Programme Manager and the North West Programme Coordinators, providing leadership, guidance and support as needed.

For a full job description and person specification please see the Recruitment Pack.

Why work with us?

You’ll be joining a young, mission-driven team who truly love what they do. Working with young people is always rewarding, sometimes challenging and never boring, and you’ll get to experience first-hand the positive impact that your work has. We work hard whilst maintaining a positive work-life balance and spend lots of time outdoors. In 2023, we were recognised by Escape the City as one of the top progressive places to work from over 13,000 nominations, after a rigorous assessment across six criteria, including Mission, Impact, People, Planet and Innovation.

Some of the benefits of working at Action for Conservation include:

• 25 days of annual leave plus public holidays, plus one additional day for each year served up to a maximum of 30 days
• Up to 5 days of professional development leave and up to 4 paid volunteer days each year
• A workplace pension with 3% employer contributions
• Access to flexible working to help you maintain a healthy work-life balance
• Regular team and organisational away days in the great outdoors
• Joining a growing organisation with the possibility to progress within the team as opportunities arise
• A robust training package and a bespoke development plan to support your progression and career aims  
• Opportunities to share your voice and shape the direction of our work, ensuring that our content is relevant and reflective of your interests and the issues facing your community
• Seeing the impact of what you do, as you transform young people's lives

Our commitment to diversity

Diversity is one of our core values as an organisation and we are committed to creating an inclusive working environment where diversity is valued and there is equality of opportunity. We also recognise that the climate and ecological crisis disproportionately impacts minority and/or marginalised communities – yet these voices are largely underrepresented in the sector. Currently, the environmental sector is the second least diverse in the UK, with just 4.8% of employees from ethnic minority backgrounds. If the environmental movement is to succeed in creating a greener future that supports society as a whole, we need diverse voices at the heart of our programmes. We therefore encourage people from demographics that are currently underrepresented in the environmental movement to apply. 

Guaranteed interview scheme

We particularly encourage applications from people from ethnic minority backgrounds or living with a disability or long-term health conditions. We will offer an interview to any candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds or living with a disability who opt into our Guaranteed Interview Scheme when applying and who meet the essential criteria for this role.

How to apply

The deadline for applications is Sunday 27 October 2024 at midnight. Please click on 'Apply' to complete the online application form.

First interviews will be held remotely in the week commencing 04 November. Second interviews will be held in the week commencing 11 November.

If you would like further information, support with access requirements, such as an adjustment to the application or interview process, or an informal chat, please contact us by email.