British Heart Foundation

Who we are

Help beat heartbreak for everyone

At the British Heart Foundation, there’s one thing that motivates all of us, and that’s funding research to beat the world’s biggest killers - heart and circulatory diseases.

From Internal Communications and IT to Retail and Digital Marketing, we attract experts. But experts who are driven by wanting to be part of something bigger. We’re all here to play our part in keeping families together. From our offices to our shops - we’re here to beat heartbreak forever.

Our diversity is our biggest strength, we have job opportunities available in our offices dotted across the UK, in over 700 stores, and we even offer home based roles. All we’re interested in is talented, hard working people who share our values.

As a world class organisation, we offer competitive salaries and an attractive package of benefits, designed to support the health and wellbeing of everyone who works here. We also provide a supportive and encouraging environment for your career and skills to flourish.

Everyone who works here lives our values every day: brave, informed, compassionate and driven. Because whatever role we are in, we share the same fearless commitment to sparing families the heartbreak of conditions like stroke, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and other heart diseases - conditions that currently kill 1 in 4 in the UK.

Working at the British Heart Foundation

We’ve come a long way since we were founded back in 1961. And our huge progress is thanks in no small part to staff both past and present who have propelled us here. We’ve been involved in major breakthroughs; from stents and transplants to defibrillators and clot busting drugs. We’ve seen survival rates transformed and treatments revolutionised.

We are now one of the UK’s largest and best known charities. Our workforce spans England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. We pride ourselves on giving our people a working environment that is rewarding and supportive, inspiring and challenging.

Heart and circulatory diseases do not discriminate and as much as we are committed to beat heartbreak for everyone, we are also committed to be an inclusive employer for everyone. We are proud that the diversity of our supporters is also reflected in the diversity of our workforce. Our equality and diversity agenda spans across our charity and we pride ourselves in being an inclusive employer who puts diversity at the heart of everything that we do.

The most important thing you need to know about working at the British Heart Foundation is that every single day is about protecting our mums and our dads, our brothers and sisters, our grandparents and our friends. Together, we can beat heartbreak forever.

Our culture and values

Working at the British Heart Foundation is more than a job. It’s being part of a bigger purpose. It’s meeting the challenge to reach your full potential, so we can work together on one united vision.

You’re helping us get closer to a world free from the fear of heart and circulatory diseases. We back the brightest minds and the biggest ambitions, and we want people who are passionate in their belief that together we can help shape a better future.

If you’re looking to join an organisation that values and invests in people, then join the British Heart Foundation.

Our values are the guiding principles at the heart of the BHF that define how we work effectively and collaboratively to put an end to heart and circulatory diseases. They inspire and guide our People Experience for all our employees and volunteers.

Brave

We speak out

• We share our perspectives clearly and confidently
• We are constructive in the way we challenge things and are open to all perspectives
• We are willing to talk about our failures and share our learnings

We are decisive

• We make insight-led decisions shaped by key stakeholders
• We make decisions that support the best interests of the BHF
• We commit to supporting and delivering on agreed decisions

We are innovative

• We tap into our strengths and set ambitious goals
• We make progress by trying, testing and learning
• We seek insight internally and externally to find solutions

Informed

We are clear

• We keep language simple and our communication jargon free
• We make sure colleagues and stakeholders are up-to-date and involve the right people at the right times
• We adapt our communication styles and methods to meet the needs of everyone

We are open-minded

• We ask questions that broaden our horizons
• We make the most of the diverse perspectives and expertise around us
• We embrace feedback as a gift that helps us improve

We work together

• We work collaboratively and really listen to what matters to our colleagues
• We share insight and information openly to help spot the connections in our work
• We take responsibility for finding out what’s happening across the BHF and how it relates to our work

Compassionate

We are open and honest

• We listen and value the ideas, suggestions and concerns of others
• We are honest about what we think and feel, and open to the views of others
• We help people understand our decisions and the reasons behind them

We respect each other

• We are friendly, kind and considerate in our relationships
• We make others feel valued, included and that they belong
• We find out how we can bring out the best in those around us including our differences

We care

• We care about the BHF and inspire others to connect with our cause
• We maintain good boundaries and behaviours that support wellbeing and productivity
• We ensure everyone who comes into contact with the BHF has a great experience

Driven

We are focused

• We make sure our goals and activities are aligned to the BHF strategy
• We are flexible in planning and managing our workload in response to changing priorities
• We make the most of every pound entrusted to us

We are determined

• We show pride in the BHF and commitment to our cause
• We are proactive and collaborative in the way we work together
• We are energised by our mission and motivated by our goals

We keep learning

• We take ownership over our development
• We look inside and outside the BHF for insight, knowledge and learning
• We reflect and learn from experience and feedback

Our People Experience

We’re a community of talented and ambitious people growing together to fund lifesaving science.

In our day-to-day lives, we all know how to innovate, collaborate, look out for one another, make ourselves heard and use insight to make decisions. These are skills we can all bring to work, and skills we want to empower in every one of us.

We need to be at our best because the vision that unites us all is a huge one – a world free from the fear of heart and circulatory diseases. The BHF has come a long way since being founded in 1961, and our story is impressive, however our ambition to achieve more calls on us to work together and engage with communities everywhere.

To do this, we have five People Experience priorities which are backed by various streams of activity. No matter what team we work in, from retail to finance, marketing to fundraising – we all have a part to play:

• Let’s unlock our full potential
• Let’s make a safe, healthy and inclusive workplace
• Let’s be free to innovate and collaborate
• Let’s take action led by insight
• Let’s maximise our impact

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

We value and respect every individual’s unique contribution, celebrate diversity, and make inclusion part of what we do every day.  
 

Heart and circulatory diseases are diseases of inequality. We are committed to funding life saving science for everyone, and we are committed to be an inclusive employer.

Find out more about what we are doing by reading our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy Igniting Change and our Recruitment commitment to diversity and inclusion.

At the BHF we want to ensure our workforce reflects the general population of the United Kingdom, so we can better represent the experiences and voices of the communities we support. A more diverse, inclusive, and fair BHF will not only improve the quality of what we do, but the impact we have.

Equality in the workplace is a part of normal life at the BHF. Whatever your age, gender, religion, disability status, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or family circumstances, you’ll be treated with fairness and respect. We want all our colleagues, volunteers, and supporters to feel comfortable and able to bring their true selves to work.

We’ve rolled out an enhanced maternity policy, have seen a decrease in our gender pay gap and have attended Pride events across the country. We’re a trans inclusive employer and have support programmes in place to support those transitioning. Our My BHF campaigns proudly showcase diversity across the BHF and are representative of the communities we support. We’re also dedicated to offering flexible working that supports all our colleagues.

When working at the BHF, we want you to bring your true self to work. You’ll find a culture where colleagues are keen to get involved in activities that make individuality part of what we do every single day.

Our internal EDI group, Kaleidoscope, has representatives from across the business and works closely with colleagues who are involved in our employee network groups (our affinity groups). Affinity groups are spaces for colleagues from underrepresented groups to feel connected, included and heard. We have groups set up for our black colleagues, different religions and faiths, people interested in anti-racism, working parents and guardians, the LGBTQ+ community, those with disabilities and those interested in gender equality. We look forward to developing more affinity groups as these become embedded within our organisation.

As a charity, we aim to fund lifesaving science for everyone. We will only achieve this by welcoming colleagues and having an inclusive environment so people from all backgrounds feel able to join our BHF family.