Skills and employment manager jobs in stanley, county durham

The Governance and Risk Officer (GRO) will provide support to the Head of Governance & Risk by providing administrative and organisational support in all areas of governance and risk by implementing and maintaining risk assurance activities, including the corporate risk registers, policy management, contract review and internal audit delivery.

The GRO will aid in the creation of an assurance function to manage governance, risk and adherence to policies and procedures, and will also support with the administration of the charity’s committees, both at executive and trustee level.

• Involved in ensuring the charity is keeping to the highest standards of corporate governance, and identifying, implementing and tracking changes to procedures to help drive improvements.
• Working with colleagues across all levels and areas of the organisation to promote awareness of good governance and assurance practices.
• Providing administrative support to the Head of Governance & Risk and maintain effective working relationships with stakeholders both internal and external.
• Responsible for creating and maintaining various risk assurance logs and registers and engaging with key stakeholders to drive improvements against those logs.
• Undertaking various administrative tasks and assisting the Head of Governance & Risk to maintain a robust forward plan for the risk and assurance function and various trustee sub-committees.

We are looking for.

• You’ll demonstrate strong administration skills, self-motivated and exceptional attention to detail.

• You’ll have outstanding communication (clear and concise in both written and spoken communication) and interpersonal skills to engage with colleagues at all levels.
• You’re enthusiastic about personal learning and growth – willing to undertake training and an ability to learn quickly.
• You’ll demonstrate excellent administration, planning and organisational skills with the ability to prioritise workloads and meet deadlines.
• You’ll be computer literate and competent in MS Office applications, particularly Excel.
• You’ll have ability to review, analyse and interpret data and act upon the findings.

Why the DofE Award?

• The opportunity to work for a successful and dynamic charity that has the development of young people at its heart.
• Access to a generous benefit, including volunteering leave, generous pension scheme and a healthcare cash plan and employee assistance programme.
• The opportunity to collaborate and engage on national projects with colleagues across the whole charity.
• The ability to work flexibly to meet yours and our business needs.

How to apply

If you are excited about the prospect of working for the DofE and believe you have the desired skills and experience to make a real success of this role, then we are keen to hear from you.

 If you would like to access the application form in a different format or if would like any assistance that might help improve your experience while completing the application, please contact us.

Applications will close on Monday 5th May – Midnight

1st Interviews will take place: WC 12th May (to be held virtually via Teams)

2nd Interview will take place: WC 19th May (to be held virtually via Teams)

​The DofE are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people.   All successful applicants will be required to undergo a Basic Disclosure and Barring Service check. (e.g. DBS/PVG or similar), including references covering any gaps of employment/education, confirm eligibility to work in the UK and complete a health check.

**The geographical allowance is based on a member of staff having a home or office-based postcode within 30 miles (as the crow flies) from Charing Cross, WC2N 5HS. The allowance is 7% capped at £4,000 per annum.

About Open Cages

Open Cages is a UK-registered charity fighting animal suffering. We are part of an international organisation, Anima International. To achieve our goal we use scientific evidence, careful reasoning, and draw upon decades of collective experience. Just in the last few years, we have successfully helped improve the lives of hundreds of millions of farmed animals in the UK.

We are impact-oriented and use a wide array of tools to make the world a better place. Our current toolkit includes:

• Investigations which reveal the reality hidden behind the walls of factory farms
• Negotiations with companies to encourage them to eliminate cruel practices from their policies
• Advocacy to secure legal milestones for animals

At Open Cages we won’t stop until we end animal suffering. We would like to invite you to join us and help us achieve this goal.

What do you gain by working at Open Cages?

• Meaningful work – you will help build a world free from animal suffering
• Time – you will be able to focus full-time on helping animals
• High degree of flexibility – the work is almost totally remote and you will organise your working hours and workflow yourself
• Trust – we expect you to make mistakes as a given and learn from them
• Autonomy – you will experience freedom and independence in your decision-making
• Transparency – you will have access to the work and decisions of others
• Honest work culture – you will know what your colleagues are doing and what they really think
• Knowledge – you will learn and receive support from people who have been fighting for animals for many years
• Opportunity to grow – you will learn every day and be encouraged to experiment beyond your skill set
• Ability to influence the organisation – we encourage our people to openly speak their mind and thus you will be able to impact what kind of organisation we are
• A laugh – animal advocacy can be dark at times, we think that having a fun atmosphere is key to balance this
• Transparently set compensation – Our salaries are not negotiable and are based on a transparent algorithm that is the same for each role

Following a 3-month probation period, you will transition to a fixed-term contract. Upon successful completion of this term, you will be offered a permanent employment contract. A minimum salary of £39,695.24 gross (our salary base for people resident in the UK) will apply from the beginning of the probationary period. The salary base may change due to your previous experience related to the position, or your experience in animal advocacy (+3% for each year). In addition, the salary increases with your seniority in Open Cages according to the following model:

+ 7% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the first 5 years of work

+ 5% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next 5 years of work

+ 3% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next 5 years of work

+ 2% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next years of work

About your role

We are a small and ambitious early-stage organisation with two full-time team members. Our current objective: to help the 1 billion chickens raised annually in the UK. By joining us as our first employee focussed on operations, you will help lay the foundations of the organisation as it prepares for rapid scaling, not only increasing our impact for animals now but by also helping to shape the organisation we want to become. If you have an engineering mindset, like to organise things (ideally in spreadsheets), and navigate through novel problems, it’s time to use your strengths for animals. Whilst it may sound challenging, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of making a historic change for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Someone has to pick up that challenge, and we hope it will be You.

To help the billions of animals trapped on factory farms, we need an organisation that is expertly designed and not weighed down by inefficiencies. In this role your first task will be to help us manage, monitor and speed up our internal processes such as accounting, finances, payments, staff operations, donor management and event planning.

We can accommodate to you

Due to the broad scope of our work, there is no simple description of the perfect employee. There may also be certain areas where you are stronger than others, and we are open to fitting the role around you. We are looking for a generalist rather than a specialist. However, you do need to have some particular strengths such as conscientiousness and an analytical mind. Ideally, some day, you will be able to lead a team of your own and transfer your knowledge to them.

No previous experience is required for this role. While experience will be valued (and reflected in the salary), we welcome applications from both seasoned professionals and passionate newcomers who align with our organisational culture.

What do we require from you?

• Strong belief in the mission of our organisation. Working for us should not be thought of as a ‘career step’. We want people who are motivated by our mission above all.

• Flexible availability. We think of ourselves as a small startup. The fate of the organisation rests on a handful of highly motivated advocates who want to do something ambitious with their lives. We want to maintain the intensity of our current operating culture, so you should expect to work the occasional weekends and late evenings.

• Not being an asshole. We expect you to treat others with respect, decency and compassion – even the occasional adversaries.

• A preference for hard work. Activism is our passion and one of the main motivations in life. To fit our culture, you have to be a person that is proactive and enjoys work.

• Growth mindset. Nobody knows how to fix the world, so we need you to keep learning. We constantly strive to be better at our activism, but also as people.

• Strong interest in a high-feedback culture. We have a culture of honest and direct communication. We talk openly about our strengths and weaknesses on a daily basis because we want to be the best. You will know what your colleagues really think of you and be encouraged to speak your mind.

• Ability to reason and communicate your thinking, especially in written form. In order to thrive in our organisation you must be able to think carefully, try to back up your ideas with reasonable evidence, and above all be open to being proven wrong and changing your mind.

• Fluency in English. You will be working in a UK-based organisation which will require constant communication with English speakers.

• Ability to work in the UK. This offer is open to candidates who are either currently UK-based, or are willing to move to the UK for the job. We are happy to do whatever we can to help you in relocating, depending on your needs and our ability. If you have any questions about what we can help with, don’t hesitate to write to us!

You do not need to be vegan or vegetarian. While all of our events provide only plant-based meals, we are open to anyone who wants to fight for a world that is free from animal suffering. We won’t turn down any help.

What will you do?

• Build culture – you will help build and reinforce our culture, so we never lose what makes up the strength of Open Cages.

• Embrace reality – you will make it your mission to understand the world as it is rather than as you would like it to be.

• Manage activists – you will manage and work with teams of both employed and voluntary activists.

• Experience frustration – you will feel frustrated about things you could do better or things that are not working in the organisation or your team, and use this frustration as an opportunity to refine and elevate our organisation.

• Question ideas – you will question common knowledge, especially your own ideas, so that our results are always as good as they can be.

• Optimise your performance – you will continuously deepen your knowledge – both about particular areas of animal advocacy and about how the world works – and enjoy this process.

• Prioritise action – you will act even when there is not sufficient data.

• Abandon projects – you will change your objectives when it makes sense, no matter the time already invested.

• Respect and trust others – you will be there for others and trust their intentions. You will support them when they succeed and when they fail.

• Seek information independently – you will be responsible for acting very independently which will require you to obtain and verify data.

• Make mistakes – you will embrace your mistakes without being ashamed with the desire to learn from them.

• Oversee employment – you will oversee payroll, staff contracts, and employment matters and payments.

• Manage and optimise finances – you will be in charge of our income and expenses. This will include making sure that we have efficient and accurate accounting, and that we have enough income to achieve our goals.

• Help ensure legal governance – you will help submit our annual accounts to the charity commission and ensure compliance with all legal duties, such as making tax payments.

• Manage supporters – you will handle communication with our supporter base and manage donors, primarily through email.

• Improve team coordination – you will worry about how to make the team more effective and help us work better together by improving structure, tools, and internal processes.

• Build and improve tools – you will spot inefficiencies and opportunities in our processes – such as our newsletter and payments software – and improve them, for example by building automation tools.

• Plan events – you will handle logistics and planning for internal and external events such as recruitments, training, and team building activities.

• Obsess over speed – your job will not be to simply manage internal operations, but to reduce the organisation’s time spent on them so that it becomes faster and more efficient.

Do you think this role is too challenging and you're not fit for it?

You may be thinking that this role would be interesting for you, but you won’t make the cut. 

We encourage you not to worry and fill out the application nonetheless, especially if you meet our requirements (even on a basic level) and you think this position could bring you a lot of joy. Leave the judgment about your competence to us. You may even learn something useful along the way.

We prepared support materials to help you through the application process. We'll also be hosting informational webinars about this role and our recruitment process – click ‘Redirect to recruiter’ to see the website for more details.

About Free to Run

Free to Run’s mission is to advance gender equity globally through running. We are a registered nonprofit/nongovernmental organization that has been operating community-led programs for adolescent girls and young women since 2014. We are known for delivering long-term, youth-led, progressive running, leadership, rights, and health programs directly to girls and young women living in protracted conflict zones. However, the longer-term impact of our work is building enduring social change - decreasing barriers to public participation, increasing women in leadership, and making power structures more equitable and inclusive. Free to Run identifies as an organization working at the intersections of feminism, human rights, development, and humanitarian interventions.

The organization is in a position of significant growth, in terms of our strategy, reach, impact, and operating budget. In 2024, we embarked on a new three-year strategic plan that positions us to reach 50,000 people by 2026. We will meet this goal through our work across three strategic pillars: direct service (EMPOWER), capacity building for local, women-led NGOs (EQUIP), and building a global movement of activists who are passionate about gender equity and running (MOVE).

Position Overview

A new role within the organization, the Philanthropy Officer, Trusts and Foundations is responsible for identifying, building, and managing a (new) portfolio of trust, foundation, and grant funders from identification to stewardship, developing high-quality proposals, budgets, and reports. Alongside ownership of this portfolio, the Philanthropy Officer, Trusts and Foundations will support the broader Free to Run team with prospect research and assist with applications and reports for institutional/transformational funders.

This position offers a high degree of flexibility and would suit a proactive self-starter with a strong ability to self-manage to achieve goals and a demonstrated passion for the work of Free to Run.  This is a unique opportunity for an experienced trusts and foundations fundraiser to build and grow a new, high-potential portfolio from the ground up, with strong support from program and leadership teams.

While some support for larger institutional grants is part of the role, we are particularly seeking applicants with experience managing and growing portfolios of charitable trusts, private foundations, or family foundations, rather than institutional grant management alone.

This role reports to the Director of Development and Communications and is a part-time (20 hours per week), fully remote position. While Free to Run is registered in the U.S., our team is based around the world.

 

Core Accountabilities
 

1. Create and manage a portfolio of trust and foundation donors at the four- to five-figure level (60%)

• Take primary responsibility for developing, growing, and building strong relationships with a portfolio of trust/foundation/grant funders through the full donor cycle.

• Take an active role in meeting and exceeding annual income targets by developing strategies to maximize foundation and grant funding, regularly assessing progress, and reporting to senior management.

• Develop a formal pipeline of foundation funding opportunities for Free to Run

• Develop compelling, high-quality funding applications tailored to donor requirements, leveraging program data and impact narratives.

• Work with the Programs team to oversee budget tracking and reporting requirements for grants, ensuring accurate fund allocation, compliance with donor requirements, and timely submission of financial and impact reports.

• Collaborate with the global Free to Run team to identify and develop new funding opportunities and projects

2.  Support the process of donor qualification and prospect research (15%)

• Use research tools to support the ED and Development Team with in-depth prospect research profiles for individual major donor prospects, family foundations, and other prospective funders

3. Provide support to the Free to Run team with institutional grant applications (20%)

• Monitor grant tracking tools to identify and qualify new opportunities for institutional or transformational grants

• Keep up to date with the funder landscape and giving trends across multiple geographies 

• Support the ED and Programs with the development of grant applications, project budgets, or other related materials where needed

• Work with internal stakeholders to lead organizational grant tracking within the donor database (EveryAction), ensuring accurate documentation of all interactions, proposals, and gifts.

4.  Engage with the Free to Run Team (5%)

• Participate in weekly 1 on 1 meetings with manager

• Participate in performance planning, goal setting, and evaluation activities

• Liaise with key staff across functions of this position

• Attend team meetings and participate in strategic planning and evaluation meetings

Location

• This is a fully remote position that can be carried out from anywhere in the world. Travel may be required occasionally to attend fundraising events or organizational/donor meetings.
• For candidates outside the U.S., this role will be offered as an independent contractor position, allowing for flexible working hours and location.

Working Hours

• This position is a part-time role at 20 hours/week. The role offers a high degree of flexibility, although working hours may occasionally fluctuate outside regular core hours to attend meetings across time zones. 

Compensation

• The full-time equivalent (FTE) salary for this role is $45,000–$50,000 USD per year (approximately £35,500–£39,500 GBP based on current exchange rates). The actual salary will be pro rata based on 50% FTE, i.e., $22,500–$25,000 per year, and will be paid in USD.

Experience and Competencies

Below is what we are looking for as we evaluate applications.  Candidates don’t need to have all these experiences and competencies but should be able to display strengths across multiple areas. 

Language: 

• English (full fluency required, written and spoken)

Experience

• 3+ years of experience successfully managing a portfolio of charitable trusts, private or family foundations, or similar funders, with a proven track record of securing and stewarding gifts in the $5,000–$100,000 range

• Direct experience crafting tailored funding applications, budgets, and impact reports for US, UK, or international philanthropic funders, in collaboration with Programs teams

• Confidence in independently managing the full donor lifecycle — from prospecting and cultivation to application, reporting, and stewardship

• A demonstrable track record of developing long-term relationships with grantmakers or major donors

• Experience in prospect identification and research using relevant tools and databases

• Familiarity with the funding and donor landscape in the UK, EU, North America, and/or MENA region

• Experience using a CRM system for fundraising (EveryAction or similar) to manage donor records, track proposals, and support donor stewardship

Skills and Competencies

• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to write compelling and persuasive cases for support

• Ability to effectively convey the impact of social justice, gender equity, and the power of running, hiking, and outdoor sport in driving positive change

• Ability to think creatively and spot opportunities for new or increased funding

• A results-oriented mindset with the ability to self-organize, meet deadlines, and deliver on goals

• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with people from diverse racial, ethnic, geographic, religious, sexual orientation, gender, and generational backgrounds

• Interest in international girls’, women’s, and human rights or running/outdoor sports 

Free to Run is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We don’t just accept differences — we celebrate, support and thrive on them for the benefit of our team, our programs, and our organizational strength. We are proud to be an affirmative action employer, committed to diversity, equity and inclusion of ALL people in our hiring and employment practices. We encourage applications from people who have non-dominant identities based on race, ethnicity, migration status, ability, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, etc.

Permanent position with a provisional funding end date of March 2026

Salary: £35,100 per annum

Hours: 35 hours per week

The Children's Society has a vacancy for a Senior Wellbeing Practitioner within our Rise Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) in Newcastle & Gateshead. The Rise service, offers evidence-based individual and group interventions in educational settings for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties, as well as supporting settings to develop their whole school/college approach to mental health.

Senior Wellbeing Practitioners (SWP) are a new role developed by NHSE as part of CYP-IAPT workforce development, and a new addition to our Rise service.

We are seeking an EMHP-trained Senior Wellbeing Practitioner with:

-3+ years post-qualification experience as an Education Mental Health Practitioner.

-BABCP/BPS recognised supervision qualification relevant to the low-intensity workforce.

-Experience in delivering clinical caseload and clinical skills supervision to low-intensity practitioners (trainee and qualified EMHP & CWP).

-Skills in managing various duties associated with the role, including line management responsibilities, delivering supervision, and holding a small caseload.

-Ability to support the management team and clinical lead with strategic service development.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S SOCIETY 

The Children's Society runs over 100 local services that help thousands of young people who desperately need our support, and we campaign to get laws and policies changed to make children's lives happier and safer.  

Every day we're changing the lives of children in this country for the better - and with your help, tomorrow we can be there for even more.  

Benefits

Enhanced Annual leave 28 days length of service extra 2 after 2 5 and 7 goes up to 36 days plus bank holidays.

Free eye test claim back

Pension match contribution up to 8% can op out

Life Assurance death in service 4 x salary gets paid to nominated person.

Cycle to work 39% of bike costs can be spread across the year

770 retailers discounts offered with You Star App.

All people within diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply, and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities   

The Children's Society is committed to safeguarding and protecting the children and young people that we work with.  As such, all posts are subject to a safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks.  We ensure that we have a range of policies and procedures in place which promote safeguarding and safer working practices across our services.   

Therefore, candidates applying for work in our Youth Impact Domain will be required to complete an “Employment history_template” document prior to interview. 

The closing date for applications is  Midnight on 22nd May 2025. If after 14 days we have received enough applications we can close this vacancy from the 8th May onwards.

Interviews will be held on the following weeks.

For an application pack please visit the web site http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/about-us/work-us

IN1

Permanent

35 hours per week

£35,100 per annum

Home based with occasional office days when required

The Children's Society has been helping children and young people in this country for over 140 years. We run local services that support children when they are at their most vulnerable and in desperate need of help. We're there for children, every step of the way.

This role sits within Social Impact. Social Impact's primary focus is on 'Building a Movement,' which drives two key objectives:

-Changing society's attitudes and actions towards young people

-Growing support, raising income for The Children's Society

We are currently looking for Senior Copywriter with 5+ years of experience and a proven track record of crafting bold and standout brand voice, impactful campaign messaging in both long and short form, and is capable of creating engaging and insightful yearly reports.

Key parts of this role include an ability to manage your own time efficiently, hold strong collaboration skills to work with designers, social, digital and strategy roles, and an eagerness to bring colleagues from outside of creative & copy backgrounds (often youth service practitioners) along with you through the creative process.

KEY SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

In order to be successful in this role, you must have:

-Experience of hands-on editorial content creation and copywriting for a wide range of comms inc. advertising, marketing, brand, fundraising, plus messaging development

-Using audience insight

-Using creative ways to communicate messages

-Broad digital knowledge and interest inc. content design and management, UX, accessibility, analytics

-Working in cross-functional groups with a shared goal

-Contributing to successful integrated campaigns

-Ensuring strong written identity

-Writing, editing and proofing copy for internal clients

-Working with design, video production, digital producers, story and voice colleagues

-Develop, champion, protect brand voice and tone

-Champion co-creation with children and young people

-Building strong collaborative relationships across knowledge groups

-Creative and critical thinking

-Understanding of and interest in accessible content design

-Proposition and creative concept development

-Stakeholder management

-Prioritisation and project management

-Knowledge of diversity and inclusion

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

-Act as enabler of our brand messaging and voice by coaching and upskilling colleagues and freelancers to develop messaging that is consistent with brand narrative and engages audiences, driving behaviour that creates action and impact

-Working closely with the Chief Creative to craft inspiring organisational messaging that builds on audience insight, tells a powerful story, elevates youth voice, amplifies message and grows support for the charity

-Support development and evolution of brand voice and editorial style guidelines that elevate youth voice, give young people agency and inclusive representation, help to ensure these are embedded across all messaging

-Applying audience insights, work with colleagues to develop brave, innovative and powerful creative propositions and concepts that deliver impact, achieve cut-through and meet campaign objectives

-Write and edit copy for a variety of audiences, purposes and channel executions, ensuring it delivers against the objectives as set out in the brief, building audience understanding and driving action and support

-Outputs: house style guide, brand narrative/voice and tone guidelines

-Organisational brand messaging

-Consistent cross-platform/channel/format brand expression

-Contribution to growth in attraction, support, income

-Contribution to audience understanding and attitude shift towards young people

INFO ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S SOCIETY

The Children's Society runs over 100 local services that help thousands of young people who desperately need our support, and we campaign to get laws and policies changed to make children's lives happier and safer.

Every day we're changing the lives of children in this country for the better - and with your help, tomorrow we can be there for even more.

The Children's Society is committed to safeguarding and protecting the children and young people that we work with. As such, all posts are subject to a safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks. We ensure that we have a range of policies and procedures in place which promote safeguarding and safer working practices across our services.

Therefore, candidates applying for work in our CYP Directorate will be required to complete an “Employment history_template” document prior to interview. The fully completed document should be loaded by the candidate at the point of uploading your CV.

The closing date for applications is at midnight on Tuesday 6th May 2025.

Interviews will be held on a date to be confirmed.

IN3

About Open Cages

Open Cages is a UK-registered charity fighting animal suffering. We are part of an international organisation, Anima International. To achieve our goal we use scientific evidence, careful reasoning, and draw upon decades of collective experience. Just in the last few years, we have successfully helped improve the lives of hundreds of millions of farmed animals in the UK.

We are impact-oriented and use a wide array of tools to make the world a better place. Our current toolkit includes:

• Investigations which reveal the reality hidden behind the walls of factory farms
• Negotiations with companies to encourage them to eliminate cruel practices from their policies
• Advocacy to secure legal milestones for animals

At Open Cages we won’t stop until we end animal suffering. We would like to invite you to join us and help us achieve this goal.

What do you gain by working at Open Cages?

• Meaningful work – you will help build a world free from animal suffering
• Time – you will be able to focus full-time on helping animals
• High degree of flexibility – the work is almost totally remote and you will organise your working hours and workflow yourself
• Trust – we expect you to make mistakes as a given and learn from them
• Autonomy – you will experience freedom and independence in your decision-making
• Transparency – you will have access to the work and decisions of others
• Honest work culture – you will know what your colleagues are doing and what they really think
• Knowledge – you will learn and receive support from people who have been fighting for animals for many years
• Opportunity to grow – you will learn every day and be encouraged to experiment beyond your skill set
• Ability to influence the organisation – we encourage our people to openly speak their mind and thus you will be able to impact what kind of organisation we are
• A laugh – animal advocacy can be dark at times, we think that having a fun atmosphere is key to balance this
• Transparently set compensation – Our salaries are not negotiable and are based on a transparent algorithm that is the same for each role

Following a 3-month probation period, you will transition to a fixed-term contract. Upon successful completion of this term, you will be offered a permanent employment contract. A minimum salary of £39,695.24 gross (our salary base for people resident in the UK) will apply from the beginning of the probationary period. The salary base may change due to your previous experience related to the position, or your experience in animal advocacy (+3% for each year). In addition, the salary increases with your seniority in Open Cages according to the following model:

+ 7% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the first 5 years of work

+ 5% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next 5 years of work

+ 3% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next 5 years of work

+ 2% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next years of work

About your role

We are a small and ambitious early-stage organisation with two full-time team members. Our current objective: to help the 1 billion chickens raised annually in the UK. By joining us as a campaigner who focuses on communications, you will work on the frontlines by shining a light on the hidden suffering of animals trapped on factory farms, and mobilising the public to take action. Your first task will be to help us convince the UK’s largest food businesses to improve their chicken welfare policies, primarily through crafting media stories and marketing campaigns that capture the hearts and minds of the public.

While this may sound challenging, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a historic change for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Someone has to pick up the fight, and we hope it will be You.

We can accommodate to you

Due to the broad scope of our work, there is no simple description of the perfect campaigner. There may also be certain areas where you are stronger than others, and we are open to fitting the role around you. We are looking for a generalist rather than a specialist. However, you do need to have some particular strengths such as resilience, persistence, creativity, and critical thinking. Ideally, some day, you will be able to lead a big team and transfer your knowledge to them.

No previous experience is required for this role. While experience will be valued (and reflected in the salary), we welcome applications from both seasoned professionals and passionate newcomers who align with our organisational culture.

What do we require from you?

• Strong belief in the mission of our organisation. Working for us should not be thought of as a ‘career step’. We want people who are motivated by our mission above all.
• Flexible availability. We think of ourselves as a small startup. The fate of the organisation rests on a handful of highly motivated advocates who want to do something ambitious with their lives. We want to maintain the intensity of our current operating culture, so you should expect to work the occasional weekends and late evenings.
• Not being an asshole. We expect you to treat others with respect, decency and compassion – even the occasional adversaries.
• A preference for hard work. Activism is our passion and one of the main motivations in life. To fit our culture, you have to be a person that is proactive and enjoys work.
• Growth mindset. Nobody knows how to fix the world, so we need you to keep learning. We constantly strive to be better at our activism, but also as people.
• Strong interest in a high-feedback culture. We have a culture of honest and direct communication. We talk openly about our strengths and weaknesses on a daily basis because we want to be the best. You will know what your colleagues really think of you and be encouraged to speak your mind.
• Ability to reason and communicate your thinking, especially in written form. In order to thrive in our organisation you must be able to think carefully, try to back up your ideas with reasonable evidence, and above all be open to being proven wrong and changing your mind.
• Fluency in English. You will be working in a UK-based organisation which will require constant communication with English speakers.
• Ability to work in the UK. This offer is open to candidates who are either currently UK-based, or are willing to move to the UK for the job. We are happy to do whatever we can to help you in relocating, depending on your needs and our ability. If you have any questions about what we can help with, don’t hesitate to write to us!

You do not need to be vegan or vegetarian. While all of our events provide only plant-based meals, we are open to anyone who wants to fight for a world that is free from animal suffering. We won’t turn down any help.

What will you do?

• Build culture – you will help build and reinforce our culture, so we never lose what makes up the strength of Open Cages.
• Embrace reality – you will make it your mission to understand the world as it is rather than as you would like it to be.
• Manage activists – you will manage and work with teams of both employed and voluntary activists.
• Experience frustration – you will feel frustrated about things you could do better or things that are not working in the organisation or your team, and use this frustration as an opportunity to refine and elevate our organisation.
• Question ideas – you will question common knowledge, especially your own ideas, so that our results are always as good as they can be.
• Optimise your performance – you will continuously deepen your knowledge – both about particular areas of animal advocacy and about how the world works – and enjoy this process.
• Prioritise action – you will act even when there is not sufficient data.
• Abandon projects – you will change your objectives when it makes sense, no matter the time already invested.
• Respect and trust others – you will be there for others and trust their intentions. You will support them when they succeed and when they fail.
• Seek information independently – you will be responsible for acting very independently which will require you to obtain and verify data.
• Make mistakes – you will embrace your mistakes without being ashamed with the desire to learn from them.
• Strategise – it is not easy to change the world. As a campaigner you will ask yourself endless questions. You will be responsible for campaign strategy which requires careful planning and the ability to think ahead.
• Try again and again and again – the decision makers we want to convince often don’t want to improve animal welfare, others may simply not have time for you. You will need extreme persistence in order to gain traction with companies.
• Take risks – negotiating in a high stakes meeting, attending a farming conference, organising a protest, taking hundreds of videos of a retailer’s chicken products for a BBC story (yes, we did this!) – in this role you will need to be comfortable with stepping out of your comfort zone.
• Conduct research – you will spend many hours online gathering information, working with investigators and lawyers, or delivering chicken products to a lab in Germany (we did this too).
• Create marketing content – you will produce graphics and videos for social media, and utilise marketing tools to reach millions of people.
• Work with the media – you will engage with journalists, write press releases, pitch stories and be animals’ voice on the radio and TV.
• Mobilise advocates – you will write emails to our supporters and motivate them to take action with us. You will also organise and run street actions like protests and stunts.
• Connect with diverse audiences – you will need to talk about the suffering of animals to very different groups of people that compose our society. To do that effectively, you will need to understand their perspective and be a good, empathetic communicator.
• Ask for support – you will help us fundraise to increase our impact.

Do you think this role is too challenging and you're not fit for it?

You may be thinking that this role would be interesting for you, but you won’t make the cut. 

We encourage you not to worry and fill out the application nonetheless, especially if you meet our requirements (even on a basic level) and you think this position could bring you a lot of joy. Leave the judgment about your competence to us. You may even learn something useful along the way.

We prepared support materials to help you through the application process. We'll also be hosting informational webinars about this role and our recruitment process – click ‘Redirect to recruiter’ to see the website for more details.

About Open Cages

Open Cages is a UK-registered charity fighting animal suffering. We are part of an international organisation, Anima International. To achieve our goal we use scientific evidence, careful reasoning, and draw upon decades of collective experience. Just in the last few years, we have successfully helped improve the lives of hundreds of millions of farmed animals in the UK.

We are impact-oriented and use a wide array of tools to make the world a better place. Our current toolkit includes:

• Investigations which reveal the reality hidden behind the walls of factory farms
• Negotiations with companies to encourage them to eliminate cruel practices from their policies
• Advocacy to secure legal milestones for animals

At Open Cages we won’t stop until we end animal suffering. We would like to invite you to join us and help us achieve this goal.

What do you gain by working at Open Cages?

• Meaningful work – you will help build a world free from animal suffering.
• Time – you will be able to focus full-time on helping animals.
• High degree of flexibility – the work is almost totally remote and you will organise your working hours and workflow yourself.
• Trust – we expect you to make mistakes as a given and learn from them.
• Autonomy – you will experience freedom and independence in your decision-making.
• Transparency – you will have access to the work and decisions of others.
• Honest work culture – you will know what your colleagues are doing and what they really think.
• Knowledge – you will learn and receive support from people who have been fighting for animals for many years.
• Opportunity to grow – you will learn every day and be encouraged to experiment beyond your skill set.
• Ability to influence the organisation – we encourage our people to openly speak their mind and thus you will be able to impact what kind of organisation we are.
• A laugh – animal advocacy can be dark at times, we think that having a fun atmosphere is key to balance this.
• Transparently set compensation – Our salaries are not negotiable and are based on a transparent algorithm that is the same for each role.

Following a 3-month probation period, you will transition to a fixed-term contract. Upon successful completion of this term, you will be offered a permanent employment contract. A minimum salary of £39,695.24 gross (our salary base for people resident in the UK) will apply from the beginning of the probationary period. The salary base may change due to your previous experience related to the position, or your experience in animal advocacy (+3% for each year). In addition, the salary increases with your seniority in Open Cages according to the following model:

+ 7% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the first 5 years of work

+ 5% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next 5 years of work

+ 3% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next 5 years of work

+ 2% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next years of work

About your role

We are a small and ambitious early-stage organisation with two full-time team members. Our current objective: to help the 1 billion chickens raised annually in the UK. By joining us as a campaigner you will be both strategising and spending time on the frontlines, by talking to the biggest companies, producing investigative reports and giving media interviews. Your first task will be to help us convince the UK’s largest food businesses to improve their chicken welfare policies through public and behind-the-scenes advocacy. While this may sound challenging, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a historic change for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Someone has to pick up the fight, and we hope it will be You.

We can accommodate to you

Due to the broad scope of our work, there is no simple description of the perfect campaigner. There may also be certain areas where you are stronger than others, and we are open to fitting the role around you. We are looking for a generalist rather than a specialist. However, you do need to have some particular strengths such as resilience, persistence, creativity, and critical thinking. Ideally, some day, you will be able to lead a big team and transfer your knowledge to them.

No previous experience is required for this role. While experience will be valued (and reflected in the salary), we welcome applications from both seasoned professionals and passionate newcomers who align with our organisational culture.

What do we require from you?

• Strong belief in the mission of our organisation. Working for us should not be thought of as a ‘career step’. We want people who are motivated by our mission above all.
• Flexible availability. We think of ourselves as a small startup. The fate of the organisation rests on a handful of highly motivated advocates who want to do something ambitious with their lives. We want to maintain the intensity of our current operating culture, so you should expect to work the occasional weekends and late evenings.
• Not being an asshole. We expect you to treat others with respect, decency and compassion – even the occasional adversaries.
• A preference for hard work. Activism is our passion and one of the main motivations in life. To fit our culture, you have to be a person that is proactive and enjoys work.
• Growth mindset. Nobody knows how to fix the world, so we need you to keep learning. We constantly strive to be better at our activism, but also as people.
• Strong interest in a high-feedback culture. We have a culture of honest and direct communication. We talk openly about our strengths and weaknesses on a daily basis because we want to be the best. You will know what your colleagues really think of you and be encouraged to speak your mind.
• Ability to reason and communicate your thinking, especially in written form. In order to thrive in our organisation you must be able to think carefully, try to back up your ideas with reasonable evidence, and above all be open to being proven wrong and changing your mind.
• Fluency in English. You will be working in a UK-based organisation which will require constant communication with English speakers.
• Ability to work in the UK. This offer is open to candidates who are either currently UK-based, or are willing to move to the UK for the job. We are happy to do whatever we can to help you in relocating, depending on your needs and our ability. If you have any questions about what we can help with, don’t hesitate to write to us!

You do not need to be vegan or vegetarian. While all of our events provide only plant-based meals, we are open to anyone who wants to fight for a world that is free from animal suffering. We won’t turn down any help.

What will you do?

• Build culture – you will help build and reinforce our culture, so we never lose what makes up the strength of Open Cages.
• Embrace reality – you will make it your mission to understand the world as it is rather than as you would like it to be.
• Manage activists – you will manage and work with teams of both employed and voluntary activists.
• Experience frustration – you will feel frustrated about things you could do better or things that are not working in the organisation or your team, and use this frustration as an opportunity to refine and elevate our organisation.
• Question ideas – you will question common knowledge, especially your own ideas, so that our results are always as good as they can be.
• Optimise your performance – you will continuously deepen your knowledge – both about particular areas of animal advocacy and about how the world works – and enjoy this process.
• Prioritise action – you will act even when there is not sufficient data.
• Abandon projects – you will change your objectives when it makes sense, no matter the time already invested.
• Respect and trust others – you will be there for others and trust their intentions. You will support them when they succeed and when they fail.
• Seek information independently – you will be responsible for acting very independently which will require you to obtain and verify data.
• Make mistakes – you will embrace your mistakes without being ashamed with the desire to learn from them.
• Try again and again and again – the decision makers we want to reach often don’t want to improve animal welfare, others may simply not have time for you. In this role you will need extreme persistence in order to gain traction with companies.
• Build relationships – you will need social competence as you try to build trust and work with company executives to make progress for animals.
• Strategise – it is not easy to change the world. As a campaigner you will ask yourself endless questions. You will be responsible for campaign strategy which requires careful planning and the ability to think ahead.
• Take risks – negotiating in a high stakes meeting, attending a farming conference, organising a protest, taking 500 videos of a retailer’s chicken products for a BBC story (yes, we did this!) – in this role you will need to be comfortable with stepping out of your comfort zone.
• Conduct research – you will spend many hours online gathering information, working with investigators and lawyers, or delivering 50 chicken products to a lab in Germany (we did this too).
• Create engaging content – you will produce emotive graphics and videos for social media, factual reports and data-driven briefings for journalists and politicians.
• Work with the media – you will engage with journalists, write press releases, and give the odd interview.
• Mobilise advocates – you will write emails to our supporters and motivate them to take action with us. You will also organise and run street actions like protests and stunts.

Do you think this role is too challenging and you're not fit for it?

You may be thinking that this role would be interesting for you, but you won’t make the cut. 

We encourage you not to worry and fill out the application nonetheless, especially if you meet our requirements (even on a basic level) and you think this position could bring you a lot of joy. Leave the judgment about your competence to us. You may even learn something useful along the way.

We prepared support materials to help you through the application process. We'll also be hosting informational webinars about this role and our recruitment process – click ‘Redirect to recruiter’ to see the website for more details.