Senior Partnerships Manager - Central England

BookTrust is the UK’s largest children’s reading charity. We know that children who read are happier, healthier, more empathetic, and more creative. They also do better at school.

Working with every local authority and across every region in the country, and supported by Arts Council funding, we reach over 3 million families a year via partners in schools, children’s centres, health visitors and libraries. This incredible network helps us to get children reading across the country.

To apply, you must submit your CV and attach a covering letter of no more than one page outlining your suitability in relation to the person specification.

Want to join us? Find out more about who we are at: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/about-us/work-at-booktrust/

Job purpose

Leading the delivery of our core programmes and our relationships with key stakeholders in particular local government relationships through local authorities, the role will ensure we deliver on BookTrust’s strategic objectives. Our strategy sets out the focus for BookTrust – prioritising work that supports families in greatest need. Working across systems primarily in early years via health, education, libraries and communities to support programme delivery for BookTrust, supporting opportunities for income generation in line with our key priorities, the role includes acting as the senior representative of BookTrust across the central of England, and the core purpose is summarised as follows:

• Delivery oversight: To oversee effective delivery of BookTrust’s programmes including activities and interventions that deliver BookTrust strategic objectives. This includes ensuring planning and preparatory work to ensure targets for delivery can be met and accurate reporting for both internal and external purposes. To embed cross-organisational working practices across wider BookTrust and take a collaborative approach to delivering the BookTrust strategy with internal and external partners.
• Collaboration: To work across BookTrust internal teams ensuring both delivery and our external profile building are well managed. Representing the partner voice internally and supporting development of our work by ensuring effective interaction with teams from research and impact to design and innovation, communications and our operational logistics teams.
• Strategic partnerships: To build on existing and to develop new partnerships and opportunities for BookTrust in line with organisational strategic priorities including seeking and securing new and diverse funding. building strategic relationships with key stakeholders across sectors, supporting stewardship of funders and engaging with and influencing policy developments related to our early years work.
• Leadership and management: To lead the BookTrust Central of England team to work in a collaborative and cross cutting way to maximise on our work and across the organisation.

Person Specification

• A confident, experienced leader with excellent communication skills and experience in holding and managing multiple relationships. A supportive team member, you will be a persuasive, determined, and exceedingly well organised individual, with first class attention to detail and the ability to lead multiple and competing priorities at any given time. Confident in leading projects and motivating team members to deliver results, you will be able to write clearly and accurately as well as work with, analyse and communicate through data. An inspiring manager who can lead and manage a small team to produce excellent results.
• A supportive colleague and team player who expects to work closely with peers and line manager (Director of Partnerships) to contribute to wider outcomes for the organisation.
• Comfortable working in a matrixed way, sharing responsibilities across portfolios.
• Positive and enthusiastic, a credible ambassador with demonstrable ability to develop relationships across a wide range of people and groups, including government, key funders, media, local authority officers, community groups and charities, politicians, civil servants, partners and the public.
• Excellent communications skills with the ability to communicate effectively with a diverse range of audiences, in writing, in person and through presentations.
• Highly motivated individual able to achieve set targets, balance workloads and meet tight deadlines.
• Experienced in leading through change.

This post holder will report to: The Head of Partnerships - Delivery

This post holder will manage: Central of England staff with matrix responsibility for other staff for given projects or pieces of work.

This role is a part-time job share, expected between 21 - 25 hours per week.

We aim to provide an inclusive recruitment process and actively welcome applications from diverse talent pools: minority ethnic candidates, candidates with disabilities and long-term conditions and candidates from underrepresented communities.

We are committed to equality of opportunity and want to ensure we have an accessible application process for all candidates. If you need any reasonable adjustments or would like us to do anything differently during the application process, please contact our HR team on HR@booktrust.org.uk to discuss your requirements further.

BookTrust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The recruitment and selection process reflect our commitment to safeguarding therefore, the suitability of all prospective employees will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment, and pre-employment checks.