Workforce Development Lead in Bradford

Salary scale: £30,067- £34,611 per annum

Contract: Permanent

Hours: 37 hours per week

Base: Kenburgh House, 28 Manor Row, Bradford, BD1 4QU

Probationary Period: Six months

Closing Date: 30 July 2026 – 10 AM

Interview Date: 7th August 2026

Bradford District and Craven Mind is a thriving, independent mental health charity with a clear purpose to promote positive mental wellbeing and empower and help people experiencing issues with their mental health to manage and work towards recovery and fulfilment. We do this through:

• Building community and individual resilience for better mental wellbeing
• Providing early intervention advice and support
• Supporting people in crisis
• Empowering and helping people to recover and sustain improved wellbeing

Join us and you’ll receive:

• 25 days annual leave per year, rising to 28 days with length of service plus bank holidays
• Up to two additional leave days to use each year to support your wellbeing.
• Simply Health Cash Plan to claim back on personal health costs including dental, optical, prescriptions, physiotherapy and more.
• Employee Assistance Service including 24/7 confidential mental health support and access to structured therapy sessions.
• Generous pension scheme and employer contribution to help you plan for a secure future.
• Discount schemes including Company Shop and Blue Light Card.
• Excellent personal development opportunities including access to Clinical Supervision.
• Enhanced sick pay after your six-month probation.
• Accredited employer with Mindful Employer, Disability Confident and Real Living Wage.
• Generous death in service/life assurance benefit.

Role Purpose: To make sure the people delivering our work—both staff and volunteers—have the skills, support, and opportunities they need to thrive and help the organisation achieve its mission.

Role Outcomes:

• Support the implementation of the organisation’s People Strategy that focuses on workforce’s development, retention, and creates a culture of continuous learning, reflection, and development.
• Lead the roll out and successful implementation of the organisation’s learner management system.
• Ensure compliance with mandatory training (e.g. safeguarding, health & safety, information governance).
• Develop structured learning pathways for different roles and levels.
• Evaluate the impact and effectiveness of learning interventions.
• Strengthen leadership capability across the organisation by delivering or coordinating leadership development programs.
• Develop and implement a volunteering framework aligned with the organisation’s People Strategy.
• Support growth and effective deployment of volunteers across services.
• Develop clear, meaningful volunteer roles and pathways.
• Support the volunteer coordinator with the volunteer life cycle of recruitment, onboarding, training, support, engagement and recognition.
• Build relationships with training providers, networks, and partners.
• Identify opportunities to enhance workforce and volunteering capacity.
• Represent the organisation in relevant sector forums.
• Fully participating in all relevant training to develop and maintain your performance in the role.
• Demonstrating an ongoing commitment to our values: Caring Always, Working Together, Supporting Everyone, Enabling All and Continually Improving.
• Performing other duties as reasonably required within the role.

Person specification: Bradford District and Craven Mind is committed to promoting mental health awareness, reducing stigma, and improving the quality of life for people with mental health challenges. We value diversity, inclusion and lived experiences when recruiting our staff and volunteers.

Qualifications:

• Desirable: Relevant qualification in HR, Learning & Development, Organisational Development, or a related discipline.

Experience:

• Essential: Experience in workforce development, organisational development, learning and development, or a related field.
• Proven experience designing or implementing training programmes, frameworks, or learning systems (e.g., LMS).
• Experience working with or supporting volunteers, including recruitment, engagement, or development.

Skills and Abilities:

• Essential: Ability to think strategically and translate vision into practical solutions.
• Strong project management and organisational skills.
• Ability to engage, influence, and build relationships across all levels of an organisation.
• Analytical skills, with the ability to use data and feedback to drive improvement.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Ability to work independently and exercise sound judgement.

Knowledge:

• Essential: Understanding of workforce development principles, including career progression and succession planning.
• Knowledge of learning design and adult learning approaches.
• Knowledge of best practices in volunteer management and engagement.
• Understanding of equality, diversity, and inclusion in workforce development.
• Aware of the challenges and context of mental health services.

Attitude and Personal Attributes:

• Essential: Passion for supporting people’s development.
• Values-driven, with a strong commitment to inclusion, equity, and empowerment.
• Proactive, innovative, and solutions focused.
• Empathetic and able to work sensitively within a mental health context.
• Resilient and adaptable in changing organisation.
• Commitment to the values and mission of the charity.
• Experience contributing to organisational change or strategy implementation.
• Experience in creating pathways into employment for underrepresented or vulnerable groups.
• Experience working in or alongside the charity, health, or social care sector (ideally mental health).

How to apply: Please click the 'Apply for this job' button and follow the steps to fill out the application form. Upload your CV and a cover letter showing how your experience and skills match the Job Description and Person Specification. We’re unable to provide feedback to applicants who are not shortlisted. We are committed to safeguarding vulnerable children and adults. All successful candidates will need to apply for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and a right to work in the UK check.