Head of Programme (Mat-Cover) in Brixton

SUMMARY

Position Title: Head of Programmes (CMDP) Mat-Cover

Level: Level 6

Salary: £40,000 - 46,000 (FTE yearly)

Reports to: Director of Programmes and Partnerships

Location: The Liberation Centre Brixton, London (New office in Brixton)/ Remote working within the UK with at least 2 days’ work from our office (Pro rata for part time)

Contract: Fulltime (40hrs/weekly), fixed-term maternity cover contract for 1 year with potential for Part time (e.g., 32hrs/weekly) extension subject to funding.

Hours: TAA has flexible working hours, with some expected evenings (e.g. one 9pm finish once every two weeks) and weekends due to the nature of the role. All extra hours are reimbursed as Time off in Lieu (TOIL).

Start date: As soon as possible (potentially June with consideration for notice period)

Benefits: TAA laptop (employee assistance and health cash package including staff supervision, counselling, dental, optical care and more).

The Advocacy Academy is an activist youth movement. We serve as the political home for grassroots youth organising and the catalyst for collective action. The lives of the young people we work alongside have been directly shaped by living in an unjust world, and we exist to turn their anger into action.

Young people are often the catalysts for major social change, from the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, to the Soweto Uprising mobilising young people to resist the apartheid regime's education policies, to the Sunrise Movement redrawing the electoral map across America, and more recently encampments and protests across the world protesting the genocide in Palestine. How successfully they achieve real and lasting change depends on whether they are organised and whether they have the right strategy and tactics to be effective.

We want youth organising to be enshrined in the UK for generations to come, and for young people to have tangible political power to influence national policy. That’s why we have launched two national coalitions, one around climate, and the other around gender. Each will train organisations across the country to become youth organisers and work together to bring 100 young people together to identify the strategy and tactics needed to achieve change. These young leaders will organise others and work collectively to build a campaign which shakes the status quo.

We are looking for a Head of Programmes who believes in this vision and is capable of building the leadership of young people that enables them to turn the resources they have into the power they need to make the change they want. It will be your job to help grow the Changemaker Development programme, train and organise Changemakers, create magic and spark the hope for something more! If this excites you, then please apply.

Before you skim the job description, please remember you don’t have to tick all the boxes for each role to apply. Charity experience is not a requirement! We all experience a bit of imposter syndrome, including the staff here at The Advocacy Academy. Let’s name it for what it is - a manifestation of the oppression many of us face on a day to day.

If this role pulls you and you believe you could make a difference, then apply anyway or reach out to us to discuss more!

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

• You will be responsible for the Changemaker Development Programme (CMDP) including but limited to:

• Working with the Associate Director of Programmes and Associate Director of Partnerships to coordinate programmes planning and delivery timelines for CMDP.
• Managing cross programmatic projects to standardise processes and practices in the Programmes Department.
• Designing and developing the recruitment process for Alumni to join the CMDP and create a targeted recruitment strategy to grow the Alumni Changemaker pool.
• Managing the monitoring and evaluation of the programme including quantitative and qualitative data, and facilitate the process of ongoing learning being integrated into the programme.
• Working with Programmes Leadership Team to coordinate and deliver a holistic safeguarding, wellbeing and pastoral care strategy across TAA’s work with young people.
• Responsible for holding the CMDP budget and ensuring that it is managed and spent in accordance with TAA expenses procedure e.g. signing off expenses up to £1,000 expenditure and escalating to Director of Programmes and Partnerships for amounts exceeding this.

• You will be accountable for the learning design and delivery to include but not limited:

• Leading the design of the CMDP curriculum to agreed TAA standards engaging key stakeholders, e.g. alumni, programmes team, external partners.
• Supporting Alumni Changemakers to design, deliver and facilitate social justice workshops in line with established pedagogical approaches at TAA.
• Leading the development of learning journeys for Alumni Changemakers.
• Working during school holidays for camps, and in the evenings to accommodate school hours, which may include regular evening work and unsocial hours during programme delivery.

• You will be the port of call for the Changemakers and Community Organisers who will help run the programme, and a regular and trusted individual whom the young people know and can connect with. To include but not limited to:

• You will support the Changemakers in co-creating this space with young people in the community and helping them identify ways to bring participants along into the membership.
• You will be managing the Changemakers who are delivering the programme - and updating both the Community Director and Director of Programmes and Partnerships on their progress and development.
• You will hold the budget for the programme - keeping track of expenses and thinking through ways to keep costs down.
• You will ensure that you provide accurate and timely financial information to the budget lead for your work and to the Finance, HR & Operations team.
• You will be responsible for holding relationships with Alumni Changemakers and holding the relational culture of the CMDP to ensure we have a brilliant atmosphere for learning, nurturing and growth for Alumni Changemakers, including but not limited to:

• Taking responsibility for the pastoral care of Alumni Changemakers on placement including building the pastoral care approach with the Programmes Leadership Team.
• Taking responsibility for building and nurturing key relationships with fellow social justice activists, organisers and educators in the sector who can support, challenge and inspire our Alumni Changemakers.
• Representing TAA at any applicable events, in the press and in activist circles.
• Building and nurturing relationships with alumni/members.

• You will be accountable for the learning design and development of the Leadership Development Framework. To include but not limited to:

• Designing and developing a cohesive, high-quality curriculum aligned to TAA’s strategic goals and organisational values.
• Establishing and embedding a clear pedagogical approach that underpins all delivery and supports effective facilitation.
• Creating structured learning journeys that support the progression and development of young people as leaders.
• Developing and maintaining facilitator guides, resources and tools to ensure consistency and quality across delivery.
• Working with staff and members to ensure curriculum and pedagogy are effectively understood and implemented.
• Reviewing delivery, gathering feedback and insights from members, and iterating on the curriculum and approach to continuously improve quality and impact.

• You will ensure that your programmatic activities are managed as well-oiled machines through pulling in the right people at the right time and ensuring that key milestones are met:

• Responsible for ensuring effective departmental administration including delegating key administrative tasks to relevant staff.
• You will be working with the Director of Programme and Partnerships, Director of Community, the Safeguarding and Wellbeing Team and others to think about the safety, safeguarding, and wellbeing needs of the young people participating in the programme and beyond.
• You will ensure safeguarding and Health and Safety standards are met across the programmes team and other critical policies and practices within the organisation, working proactively with relevant leads to understand requirements and operationalise effectively.
• You will contribute towards risk management standards and ensure Health and Safety standards are met across programmatic and community team.
• You will be responsible for managing and overseeing a suite of behind-the-scenes systems, databases and resources which comply with UKGDPR, safeguarding and other legal requirements.
• You will be responsible for overseeing the logistics of the CMDP including the organisation and coordination of venues, food, travel, staff and risk assessments, individual care plans etc.
• Work closely with the development team to align work with fundraising targets and support them in identifying and securing appropriate fundraising opportunities.
• You will be committed to learning, monitoring outcomes, and holding us accountable to ourselves, our communities, funders, allies and donors. This includes shaping thoughtful MEAL practices and developing systems that go beyond compliance, enabling genuine learning and innovation while respecting the integrity and privacy of the young people in the programme.

• Culture, values and wider strategy and mission. Provide senior accountability within your remit for ensuring the delivery of our strategic objectives by embedding our vision, mission, strategy, ideology and cultural values across your area and the wider organisation. Play a central role in shaping organisational direction and leading cross-departmental priorities and initiatives. To include but not limited to:

• Embodying and championing our commitment to social and economic justice, ensuring this is consistently reflected in organisational strategy, decision-making, delivery and partnerships.
• Acting as a champion of organisational culture and values, setting the standard across teams and holding others to account in upholding these in practice.
• Leading on identifying and driving opportunities that strengthen organisational impact, working closely with your senior leadership, including the Director of Finance, HR and Ops, and contributing to high-level strategic direction.
• Holding ultimate responsibility for identifying, assessing and addressing risks to our integrity, authenticity and alignment with our ideology and culture, taking decisive and timely action within your area of responsibility.
• Enabling and leading effective cross-departmental collaboration within your remit, ensuring teams are aligned, appropriately resourced and working cohesively towards shared goals.
• Shaping and modelling a culture of openness, care and accountability, contributing to organisational wellbeing approaches and supporting leaders across the organisation to do the same.
• Taking ownership of your continued leadership development, while also actively supporting the development of others and building leadership capacity within your area.
• Taking responsibility for communicating your own wellbeing and needs and providing feedback on TAA wellbeing initiatives to your line manager, and contribute to living the TAA transformative culture.

• Governance and Compliance. Provide strategic leadership on governance and risk management within your portfolio, working in close partnership with the Finance, HR and Operations team.

• Lead and hold accountability for risk identification, analysis and mitigation, ensuring risks to strategic objectives are anticipated, escalated and managed effectively.
• Maintain oversight of risk across your area, ensuring robust systems, controls and practices are in place and consistently applied.
• Ensure strong organisational compliance with TAA policies and practices, taking responsibility for their effective implementation, continuous improvement and alignment with wider organisational standards.
• You will support Campaigns and Community Departments by ensuring that the operations, structures, processes, and practices within CMDP and Open Access align with and support TAA's campaigning and organising goals, activating new allies' goals, and community goals.

A BIT ABOUT YOU

You are passionate about, and committed to, creating a more fair, just and equal world. You believe in the potential of young people to challenge the status quo and are dedicated to helping them become more powerful citizens. You’ve got a deep understanding of, and a personal relationship with, issues of social justice. From racism to the housing crisis to climate justice.