Interim Membership and Education Director (6 months PAYE)

Our client, a well-established professional membership body, is seeking an experienced and dynamic Interim Membership and Education Director to lead their membership and education operations on an interim basis. This is a senior leadership role combining strategic oversight, operational delivery and stakeholder management, driving membership growth, professional development and engagement across all grades, both domestically and internationally.

You will lead a team spanning membership recruitment and engagement, professional assessment, regional group support and an overseas membership function, while building strong networks through regional groups, volunteers and special interest communities. The role also involves overseeing continuing professional development processes, ensuring members meet competency standards, and monitoring compliance with data governance and regulatory requirements.

Key facts:

• Contract: Full time, 6 months temporary contract, PAYE (potential to become permanent)
• Location: Hybrid - home-based blended, with 2 days per week working from offices in central London
• Hours: Monday to Friday, 35 hours per week

Key responsibilities of the role include:

• Acting as a senior ambassador for the organisation, reporting on membership and education activity to the Board, Council and Senior Leadership Team, and representing the organisation at internal and external conferences, events and forums.
• Overseeing daily operations of the Membership and Education teams, from careers activity and course accreditation to professional development, assessment and standards-setting.
• Ensuring membership strategy and objectives are clearly articulated and embedded across the membership teams, and evaluating departmental performance through data and metrics.
• Liaising with other professional and regulatory bodies, domestically and internationally, on matters of professional standards, and representing the organisation on outside bodies as required.
• Leading the support and development of regional groups and international membership engagement and growth, including oversight of an overseas membership team.
• Managing the directorate's budgets, forecasting and accounting requirements.
• Leading the implementation of new initiatives, from inception through to delivery and evaluation, to enhance membership progression, such as new examinations and mutual recognition routes.
• Improving support to members and prospective members to increase recruitment and retention, through closer engagement with employers and academia and development of materials to support candidates through the qualification process.
• Overseeing the implementation of data governance policies, ensuring appropriate processes and accountability are in place across the organisation.

The ideal candidate will meet the following requirements:

• In-depth knowledge and understanding of a professional institution membership or regulatory body environment (specifically routes to membership, and ways in which recruitment and retention may be increased).
• Knowledge of IPD (Initial Professional Development) and CPD (Continuous Professional Development).
• Knowledge and understanding of GDPR and data protection, and how to apply this to internal processes to ensure compliance.
• Excellent organisational and project management skills, with the ability to lead staff and suppliers in delivering against a range of targets.
• Experience leading a department delivering key performance indicators/outcomes, ideally gained from working in a professional institution /regulatory body and/or membership environment and where a panel/committee structure exists.
• A proven track record of meeting targets and delivering improvement through the management of staff, member and external stakeholder resource.
• A track record of managing and implementing new and complex initiatives, with multiple stakeholders (ideally who are technical subject-matter experts), from inception to delivery through to evaluation for continuous improvement.
• Ability to review policy documents, provide advisory support, and produce concise responses and proposals.
• Experience in budget preparation, management, and delivering presentations to diverse audiences.
• Experience in managing and leading diverse teams, including conducting appraisals and providing training and support.