Chief Executive Officer

Location:  Central London

Location type: Hybrid, minimum three days in the office

Reporting to: Chair of Trustees and Board

Annual salary:  £100k - £140k GBP, dependant on experience

Contract type: Permanent

Working hours: Full-time

Candidate level: CEO

Background

Lumos is an international children’s charity founded in 2005 by the author J.K. Rowling to end the harmful practice of institutionalisation of children. Lumos’s mission is to fight for every child’s right to a family by transforming care systems around the world. Our vision is for all children to grow up in safe and loving families. Our three-pronged approach is to prevent family separation, to protect children and to promote care reform.

Purpose of role

The incoming Chief Executive Officer will be coming into the organisation at a time of change and will lead on delivering the refreshed 2024 - 2026 Strategy and build on Lumos’ unique comparative advantage and successful work in eastern Europe. The Strategy explicitly emphasises the organisation’s Child Rights orientation and reframes priorities in line with the changing global context for children and the significantly reduced size and resources of the organisation.

The new strategy explicitly focuses on addressing the key drivers of the separation of children in context specific ways in Colombia, Kenya, Ukraine and Moldova, and seeks to leverage this work to influence regional care reform in Africa, Europe, Latin America and globally. Taken together, these efforts will contribute to the wider, joint efforts to accelerate Global Care Reform to end the institutionalisation of children and reintegrate children into family-based and alternative care.

The Chief Executive Officer will have the support of a passionate team of staff, an experienced Executive Leadership Team and fully supportive, engaged, and inspired Board of Trustees in the US and the UK.

Primary responsibilities

The new Chief Executive Officer will assume the following responsibilities:

Leadership

• Mobilise the organisation to achieve our mission with a focus on implementing the new 2024-2026 Strategy and embedding the strategic objectives.
• Nurture a thriving organisation and put in place the people, culture, management, and operational systems and appropriate governance to effectively deliver results for children.
• Build on the fundraising strategy and income generation, ensuring sustainable and diverse sources of income and resilience in the face of the effects of an ever-changing global context.
• Lead, empower and develop the Executive Leadership team to deliver our Strategy and model our values.
• Build Lumos’ profile and credibility as a thought leader with global technical expertise in the field of child rights and care reform.

Finance and fundraising

• Ensure the optimal level of resources, financial and human, are deployed to support the attainment of the organisation’s goals and strategic objectives.
• Give active and significant support to Lumos fundraisers and take a leading part in the cultivation of prospective and current donors. Support the Director to diversify the fundraising base and ensure financial sustainability.
• Engage with institutional funders, Trusts and Foundations, corporates and high-net-worth-individuals, attracting new donors and continuing to grow the Lumos’ partnership base and international networks.
• Be accountable to the Board for strategic finance and operational financial management, consolidating financial stability, efficiency, and impact.

Governance

• With the support of the Board of Trustees, work with the Director of Corporate Services to oversee the implementation of the governance function and recommendations as required.
• Ensure the Board is enabled fully to carry out their role, that governance meets the highest possible standards, and that Lumos is fully compliant in all areas.
• Ensure robust project planning and reporting are championed and embedded through the organisation in line with the organisation’s strategic objectives.
• Ensure the application of safeguarding best practice within Lumos and appropriately with the organisation’s partners.

Programmes

• Support Lumos Country Directors in the implementation of their national care reform strategies and collaborative partnerships with governments, and international and local civil society organisations.
• Support the Director of Programmes in sharing the organisation’s learning so that Governments and key stakeholders have the appropriate tools, resources and understanding to create meaningful change.
• Support the Director of Programmes to deliver a portfolio of excellent programmes for children, ensuring the safe and successful transition of current country programmes towards the new strategy and systematise the documentation and dissemination of transferable learning.
• Support the Director of Programmes to deliver safe and quality services in line with annual plans and donor requirements.

Programmes: evidence and advocacy

• Engage and influence multiple stakeholders nationally and internationally (within central, national, and local governments, with the commercial sector, the voluntary sector and in the media), enhancing the visibility of Lumos and its ability to inspire and drive social change for care reform.
• Guide the formulation of the organisation’s position with a view to influencing policy that achieves change in line with Lumos’ priorities.
• Represent the work of Lumos at the highest levels with partners, across the political spectrum and globally, and act as a champion and advocate for the organisation externally.
• Champion implementation research to deepen understanding of the drivers of institutionalisation and identify opportunities for prevention of separation of children from families and family strengthening.
• Oversee the measurement and evaluation of our work to achieve the appropriate reporting of demonstrable impact.

Programmes: child and young people

• Further develop and implement the meaningful participation of children, young people and other groups with lived experience.
• Develop at country and global level advisory mechanisms, in partnership with other organisations where appropriate, to provide platforms for self-advocates and persons and organisations with lived experience.

Profile

Experience, knowledge and skills

• Professional qualifications and experience in a relevant field coupled with sound senior leadership in an NGO or public body.
• Demonstrable knowledge and credibility as a leader in the field of children’s services, child rights or child protection.
• Experience in leading organisational change in line with overall strategy and in response to a dynamic external environment.
• A global mindset and experience of working in diverse systems and with diverse groups and cultures.
• An experienced people leader with a track record of successfully building high performing teams and a culture of equality, diversity, and inclusion.
• Financial acumen, with experience of income generation and appreciation of the complexities of cultivating a diverse portfolio of sources of funding.
• A proven record in the cultivation of donors and success in raising high value funds.
• Knowledge and experience of leading systems change programmes and achieving social impact.
• A demonstrable commitment to transparency, accountability and good governance with knowledge and experience which is relevant to the work of a not-for-profit organisation.
• A talented relationship manager experienced at working with governments.
• Demonstrable ambassadorial skills, including the ability to employ a wide range of advocacy skills to make the case to both internal and external audiences.
• A skilled influencer, comfortable engaging with and deploying research, data, and other evidence to inform debate and change social policy and practice.
• A talented, persuasive, and compelling public speaker; skilled with the media and with the appetite to use media and other public and digital platforms to convey messages and inspire evidence-based changes.

Personal attributes

• Passion for our mission and drive to deliver the 2024-2026 Strategy.
• An ambition to address the key drivers of the separation of children in context-specific ways across the world.
• A commitment to children’s rights and social justice.
• Places a high value on their ability to positively impact others.
• The personal authority and credibility to command wide respect and confidence, internally and externally.
• A collaborative, consensual, leadership style, with the ability to motivate and drive an organisation to deliver outcomes.
• Courage, imagination, and confidence to make bold decisions and embrace change and ambiguity.
• Committed to social change, the value of evidence and the impact of research and policy in practice.

A full applicants pack is available.

The deadline for application is Sunday 15th September 2024

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Daryl Upsall International actively promotes equality, diversity and inclusion. In recruiting candidates, we seek candidates with the proven skills required, irrespective of race, gender, religion or belief, age, disability or sexual orientation.