Community Sponsorship Senior Project Manager in London

Citizens UK is the UK’s biggest, most diverse and most effective people-powered alliance. We bring communities and local organisations together to work on issues that matter; from campaigning for zebra crossings on dangerous roads, to reforming the immigration system, to the Living Wage campaign. We have a track record of winning change through hundreds of local and national campaigns. We know everyday people have the ability to shape the world around them. We believe that through developing local leaders, we can drive nationwide change and create community-led solutions to big and small problems.

At Citizens UK, our organisers and project staff work within communities to develop leaders, strengthen organisations, campaign for change and organise across difference. There are various project roles and operational, communication, finance and HR roles that support the organisation and project staff and organisers to deliver on this mission and work. This work is rewarding and can be challenging; it requires a personal commitment to inclusion, a willingness to listen and disagree respectfully, and an interest in working in an organisation where our staff, member institutions and leaders will come from a diversity of backgrounds and often hold views that may be very different from our own.

Citizens UK has played a pioneering role in introducing and developing community sponsorship of refugees in the UK. In response to the Syrian refugee crisis, it called for a Canadian-style scheme in 2015, which led to the UK government launching its own programme in 2016. Citizens UK was instrumental in shaping the policy and later established the Sponsor Refugees programme in 2017. Through training, advocacy, and coordination, it has helped hundreds of local groups welcome refugee families. In 2022, Citizens UK expanded its work by launching the Communities for Ukraine programme, matching Ukrainian refugees with UK hosts and most recently has run Communities for Afghans, resettling dozens of refugees. Throughout, it has combined grassroots mobilisation with national advocacy to build a sustainable, community-led model of refugee resettlement.

Main Responsibilities

• Turn the strategic direction for community sponsorship into clear plans, priorities and deliverables, and drive their implementation.
• Lead the day-to-day delivery and development of the LSO Capacity Building programme and Citizens UK’s operational role as a Lead Sponsor.
• Spot opportunities to improve or expand the programme, develop practical proposals and take agreed ideas through to delivery.
• Manage the LSO Capacity Building programme, Lead Sponsor activity, Catalyst Fund and the project systems and support that connect these areas of work.
• Develop and manage workplans, budgets, risks, milestones and KPIs, making sure agreed objectives are delivered on time and within budget.
• Establish and maintain the programme systems needed for delivery, including CRM, partner and sponsor-group tracking, monitoring and evaluation, management information, risk tracking and reporting.
• Lead the operational development and delivery of Citizens UK’s Lead Sponsor activity, putting effective processes in place, coordinating partners and sponsor groups, and identifying and managing delivery risks.
• Manage the delivery of the Catalyst Fund, including its processes, relationships with funded organisations, monitoring and reporting, working with relevant Citizens UK colleagues.
• Lead the delivery and development of the LSO Capacity Building programme, making sure participating organisations receive high-quality training, resources and support, and using learning from delivery to improve the programme.
• Build strong knowledge of community sponsorship and refugee resettlement, keep up with changes in the sector and use this knowledge to improve delivery.
• Train, coach and share practical learning with colleagues, partners and sponsor groups.
• Support an inclusive and healthy team culture, and make sure the experiences of refugees, diaspora communities and sponsor groups inform how the programme is delivered.
• Develop and manage strong relationships with external partners where these are needed for effective programme delivery, including Lead Sponsor Organisations, community organisations and other delivery partners.
• Produce accurate and timely communications content including web and social media content, newsletters, resources, case studies, data and programme information, working with the Communications Team on editorial approach, production and wider communications strategy.
• Coordinate colleagues contributing to community sponsorship across Citizens UK, making responsibilities clear and keeping delivery on track.
• Identify opportunities to bring in new income or other resources that can support and grow community sponsorship delivery.

Personal Specification

• Degree or equivalent experience in a relevant field such as migration, social policy, international development, or community organising (D)
• Proven experience of managing complex, multi-stakeholder programmes in refugee or migration work, community organising, social impact, grant-making, capacity building or a related field (E)
• Experience of taking substantial responsibility for delivering and improving a programme or project, including managing competing priorities and solving delivery problems (E)
• Experience of coordinating colleagues across teams and, where relevant, line managing staff to deliver shared goals (E)
• Experience of building and managing productive relationships with external partners and community organisations (E)
• Excellent project and performance management skills, including work planning, budget management, risk management, KPI tracking, evaluation and reporting (E)
• Strong organisational skills and a practical approach to bringing order and clarity to complex work involving different people and workstreams (E)
• Excellent written and verbal communication, able to produce clear guidance, reports, project materials and funding proposals for different audiences (E)
• Strong judgement and problem-solving skills, including knowing when to take ownership of an issue and when to escalate it (E)
• Strong commitment to refugee welcome, community empowerment and Citizens UK’s mission (E)
• Collaborative and people-centred, able to work constructively across teams and with community leaders, volunteers, refugees and partner organisations (E)