Director of Services and Grants

There has never been a greater need for Independent Age’s work.  More than two million older people are in poverty, with millions more living with precarious finances. At Independent Age, we believe that no older person should face financial hardship. That’s why, by 2027, our goal is to have improved the lives of one million older people.  Our information and advice, grant-making, partnership activity, policy work, and campaigning increases the financial well-being of older people, enabling them to have greater choice and independence in wider areas of life. 

As Director of Services and Grants, you will be responsible for ensuring that our multi-channel services and grants programme serve and improve the lives of older people, reach those who are most likely to be in poverty, and have the maximum impact.  You will help us grow our capacity, build our network of charity and commercial partnerships, develop our external training offer, and reach more people including those groups most likely to experience financial hardship. 

Having operated at a senior level, ideally as part of a Senior Leadership Team, you will be an inspiring leader with a demonstrable passion for our cause.  Experienced in successfully managing service transformation and development, including in a contact centre environment, you will also have an understanding of grants programmes, and of building strategic partnerships and national networks.  With an understanding of demonstrating and reporting on impact, experience of supporting fundraising for services and bidding for contracts, you will ideally also have knowledge of developing an external training offer.

Please review our candidate pack, linked below, for further information.  If your experience doesn’t align perfectly with all of the criteria in the person specification but you do meet most of them and are excited about the role, we encourage you to apply anyway. 

This is a full-time role, 35 hours per week, which you can choose to work over five days a week or a 9-day fortnight. 

What it’s like to work at Independent Age:

We celebrate diversity at Independent Age and champion the differences that make each of us unique. We actively support and encourage people from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and skill sets to join us and help shape what we do. We aim to attract and retain a wide range of talent and create an environment where everyone can feel safe, protected, welcome and included.   

We offer great benefits including 28 days annual leave plus public holidays, a generous pension scheme with life assurance, and fantastic learning and development opportunities. We also offer a number of enhanced leave provisions and benefits. We know that a good work life balance helps us perform at our best and supports wellbeing. Flexible working hours and hybrid working is standard. But if you need a different form of flexibility, we are always happy to talk flexible working. 

You can find out more about what it’s like to work at Independent Age by visiting the careers page on our website. 

Application Process:

To apply, please visit our website to submit a curriculum vitae and a supporting statement, detailing how your skills and experience meet the criteria within the job description and person specification.  Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have specific requirements and need support to apply in an alternative format.

To support our commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion we use anonymous shortlisting. Therefore, please do not include your name, photo, or information to indicate your gender or age in your CV and supporting statement, and please ensure the title of any uploads does not contain your name.  Please do not omit dates of employment. 

Independent Age is committed to safeguarding and follows Safer Recruitment practices to ensure we are safeguarding those we work with. We therefore ask that you supply your full work history with explanations for any gaps in the application documents you submit and, if offered the post, we will require two employment references including your current or most recent employer. A Basic DBS Certificate will be required for this role.

Closing date for applications: Monday 7 October 2024 at 23:59pm

First interviews: to be held virtually week commencing 21 October 2024.

Final interviews: to be held in person on Wednesday 6 November 2024.