Programmes and Partnerships Director

SUMMARY
Position Title: Programmes and Partnerships Director
Salary: £50,000-57,000
Reports to: CEO Line managing: Associate Director of Spark Programmes (1 FTE), Head of Fellowship (1FTE), Head of Changemaker Development Support (1FTE) Location: Liberation centre Brixton, London (New office)/ Remote working within the UK with at least 2 days work from our office
Contract: Full time (40hrs/weekly), fixed-term contract for 1 year, with potential for extension and role expansion (part-time -4days weekly minimum, will be considered).
Hours: TAA has flexible working hours, with some expected evenings and weekends due to the nature of the role. All extra hours are reimbursed as Time off in Lieu (TOIL).
Start date: As soon as possible (specific date tbc)
Benefits: TAA laptop and phone, (with additional insurances, employee assistance and health cash package including staff supervision, counselling, dental, optical care and more.).

 The Advocacy Academy is an activist youth movement. We serve as the political home for grassroots youth organising and the catalyst for collective action. The lives of the young people we work alongside have been directly shaped by living in an unjust world, and we exist to turn their anger into action.

Young people are often the catalysts for major social change, from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, to the Soweto Uprising mobilising young people to resist the apartheid regime's education policies, to the Sunrise Movement redrawing the electoral map across America, and more recently encampments and protests across the world protesting the genocide in Palestine. How successfully they achieve real and lasting change depends on whether they are organised and whether they have the right strategy and tactics to be effective.

This is why we are looking for a Director capable of envisioning the full journey of a young person through their time with The Advocacy Academy from the first activation point to whenever they choose to end their journey with us. We want someone who is excited to ensure the educational and operational excellence required to deliver this life-changing experience - and who’s bursting with ideas to make it even better year-on-year.

We want our young leaders to win and to build real power across the UK that ensures that the generations that follow aren’t just inheriting our mess, but our equipped and ready to fix it. That’s why we are looking for someone to be the engine behind our Programmes and Partnerships department. You will be highly motivated, with a high standard for yourself and others. We’re seeking someone creative, ambitious and disciplined, with a track record of delivering outstanding training and curriculum, and a passion for managing a high-performing team. You will have a strong moral compass, experience working within political or anti-oppression spaces, a love of making good trouble, and a proven commitment to building people’s capacity to challenge the status quo.

Before you skim the job description, please remember you don’t have to tick all the boxes for each role to apply. Charity experience is not a requirement! We all experience a bit of imposter syndrome, including the staff here at The Advocacy Academy. Let’s name it for what it is - a manifestation of the oppression many of us face on a day to day. If this role pulls you and you believe you could make a difference, then apply anyway or reach out to us to discuss more!

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY
1. You will be accountable for the Programming and Partnerships strategy within TAA and growing our burgeoning partnerships programme
2.  You will be responsible for overseeing the architecture of our programmes:
3. You will be responsible for holding the culture of the movement
4. You will oversee the delivery of programme to ensure that our programmes run like well-oiled machines

5. Team and Line management:
6. Key member of the senior leadership team (SLT)
7. Governance and Compliance
Please refer to the recruitment pack for the full JD.

IDEAL EXPERIENCE

• Experienced Programmes Director, ideally with extensive experience working with young people
• Proven experience in creative facilitation and learning design, ideally curriculum planning as well Proven experience in managing a team and line managing staff members
• Experience working in a small team environment which is growing at pace
• Experience organising for social change and strategic campaigning
• Experience safeguarding marginalised young people
• Project management experience including project design, coordination of logistics, coordination of project staff, monitoring and evaluation and reporting to senior staff
• Experience working respectfully in marginalised communities. Our programmes prioritise those directly impacted by injustice and people from marginalised communities. You should be someone who understands how to work respectfully with and for people on the sharp end of systemic injustice in our society
• Proven experience in scaling programmes through strategic partnership building and collaborative growth initiatives

This is an outline of the responsibilities and duties of the Programmes and Partnerships Director, it is not intended as an exhaustive list and may change from time to time to meet the changing needs of the Liberation Centre and our young people. Any changes will be made in consultation with the post holder.

HOW TO APPLY
Candidates will be asked to provide a CV and a Cover Letter OR a supporting video application addressing the following questions(no more than 1000 words or 10 minutes for all questions).

1. Tell us about why you believe young people must be given the skills and confidence to take action
2. Please describe a transformational curriculum you have designed and delivered, and the journey it took participants on.
3. Include anything else you would like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Programmes and Partnerships Director role.

In addition, please also provide information on your notice period and your availability for interview. You may also attach any other content that would be relevant for us to have in order to showcase interest and experience. The content can come in any form of media, including but not limited to - a mind map of ideas, a timeline or portfolio of your work, life or experiences; a recording; a Powerpoint or other form of presentation; a song, article, poem or other writing samples.

A BIT ABOUT YOU

• You are passionate about, and committed to, creating a more fair, just and equal world.
• ​You believe in the potential of young people to challenge the status quo and are dedicated to helping them become more powerful citizens.
• You’re established in the world of youth work, anti-oppression facilitation, or political education.
• ​You have a strong network of people which you are excited to activate to further the work of The Advocacy Academy and the campaigns run by our Members – an address book of great contacts.
• You’ve got a deep understanding of, and a personal relationship with, issues of social justice. From racism to the housing crisis to climate justice, you’ll be aware of how systemic injustice operates in our society, clued-up and well-informed on the big issues of our time, and committed to changing them.
• You’ll be comfortable managing a “to-do” list of competing priorities and communicating with a diverse range of stakeholders. This role requires someone with initiative who can balance multiple priorities and sensitivities.
  You’re a sensitive and thoughtful relationship-builder. You’re a great listener, and remember people’s names, faces, and stories.
• You’re a confident communicator: persuasive, passionate, and inspiring. From coaching Members to conducting a briefing before a stunt, you’ll know intuitively how to communicate effectively and have the ability to build strong, deep relationships with a wide range of people and organisations.
• You’re enterprising and excited to be using your initiative to build exceptional things from scratch with limited resources. You’re comfortable with tension and have experience have experience managing difficult conversations to successful resolutions.
• You pursue growth, value feedback, and being outside your comfort zone and are always willing to reflect, learn, grow and stretch yourself. 

DATES
Closing Date: The deadline for applications 10th April 2025 by 1pm.
Task: If shortlisted you may be required to complete a short written assessment task.
First Round of Interviews: will be scheduled for 21st - 24th April 2025 (Dates are subject to change).
Second Round of Interviews: will be scheduled for 28th April - 01 May 2025 (Dates are subject to change). This interview will include presentation of a detailed session plan on a given topic.
Third Round of Interviews: TBC. This will include a presentation to the CEO and Senior Leadership Team on strategy development.

NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US
We aim to be representative of the community we are working with. We encourage applications from people of colour, those who identify as LGBTQIA, working class as well as disabled people, those living with mental health conditions, refugees and migrants. We welcome people from all identities who are made to feel marginalised.

We’re not just committed to being an equal opportunity employer, we actively celebrate diversity in all its forms. Let us know if we can do anything to make the application or interview process more accessible. If you are invited to interview, we will at that point ask you for any accessibility requirements or preferences.

As an employer we make all reasonable adjustments to support employees in their work if they are disabled or have a health condition. We support the Access to Work scheme which could provide you with financial support to get the help you need to do all tasks successfully. We are happy to facilitate Access to Work assessments and reclaims, and would actively welcome applicants who would need this in order to do the job. All staff who work on our programme must have, prior to starting work, a returned satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) dated no earlier than 1st January 2021. The Advocacy Academy will assist the application for, and pay for the processing of, a new DBS for staff members where required.

We welcome applications from people with convictions. Please disclose in your application if you have any convictions, cautions, reprimands or final warnings that are not “protected” (as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013)) . We consider each person on their own merits, taking into account all the circumstances.