Project Officer, Early Years

£27,000 per year
Full-time, 35 hours per week
Fixed-term contract for one year
Based in London SW8 / home and flexible working

We empower people with the literacy skills they need to succeed in life. Together, we're helping people change their stories. You could join us to support the delivery of our early years work across the country.

What you'll be doing

Our Early Words Matter campaign aims to support 250,000 pre-school children, with a focus on those growing up in areas where poverty and low literacy are most seriously impacting people's lives. The campaign supports early years educators and families with events, activities, programmes and resources designed to strengthen shared parent-child engagement at home and in the community. Together with partners, we equip and support parents and carers to build their children's early language, communication and literacy skills.

You will help deliver Early Words Matter through project administration, delivery and event support for our early years team of 15 project and programme managers who deliver our early years programmes across the country. You will be contracted to our office in London, but this role is suitable for home and flexible working, with the majority of your work carried out from home if you would prefer. However, you will need to be available to travel to London for staff and team days, as well as to support project delivery and partnerships. This could be around a day a month on average, although at times it will be a lot less, and unfortunately, we are unable to cover travel costs for this.

What we're looking for

You will need experience of administration and team support, as well as the use of contact databases and content management systems. You will also have experience supporting work with external stakeholders. Excellent written and spoken communication skills, organisational skills and attention to detail are essential. Experience working with early years settings or schools would be an advantage.

Why our work is so vital

Literacy changes everything. It gives you the tools to get the most out of life, and the power to shape your future. It's the key to knowledge, confidence and inspiration. It's better results at school, and better jobs. If children grow up without the tools to communicate, without books to read or opportunities to write, it's harder to get where they want to go.

The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity helping people overcome these challenges and change their life chances through the power of words - reading, writing, speaking and listening.

• We work collaboratively in local communities, focusing our work in 20 areas of the UK that are facing the biggest challenges.
• We support schools, developing the most effective tools and techniques and providing resources and programmes to engage and inspire children.
• We campaign to make literacy a priority for politicians and decision-makers.
• We support vulnerable adults, people in the criminal justice system and young offenders institutions to build their literacy skills.

What we offer you

Our team are passionate about our mission, and we have a strong and positive working culture, based on shared values and respect. We offer a range of flexible working options and promote a workplace where you can be yourself and contribute to our success, whoever you are. As well as a competitive salary, we offer benefits including a generous leave allowance totalling 39 days (including bank holidays and office closure between Christmas and New Year), pension contributions of 8% of annual salary, a cycle to work scheme, employee assistance programme and other health and wellbeing benefits.

Application details

Our people are our most important asset, and we value and respect diversity in all its forms (seen and unseen). We particularly welcome applications from those from Black and Asian backgrounds, as well as candidates with disabilities and from the communities in which we work. We would like to increase representation of these groups among our staff, as we know greater diversity will lead to an even greater impact for our work.

To apply, please select the apply button to be taken to our website. Closing date: 10am, Thursday 21 May 2026. Please note, we do not accept CVs. No agencies or recruitment sites. Registered charity no. 1116260 (England and Wales) and SC042944 (Scotland).