Regional Programme Lead - North East England

Location: Hybrid role working in North East England (primarily home-based with significant regional travel).

Base region: Tees Valley and Tyne & Wear.

Coverage: This is a home-based role that requires regular weekly travel to schools and colleges across the North East. You will be expected to work extensively throughout Tees Valley and Tyne & Wear, with specific current activity hubs in Cramlington, Walkergate, Hartlepool, Stanley and Redcar. Regional location throughout the North East will change according to programme demand. Applicants must hold a full, clean driving licence and have the ability and willingness to travel regularly across the region.

Reporting to: National Programmes Manager.

Salary: £28,050 per annum.

Application Deadline: Wednesday 8th July at 9AM. We encourage early applications as we may close the vacancy sooner if we receive a high volume of applications.

1st Stage Interviews: Week commencing 13th July (online).

2nd Stage Interviews: Wednesday 22nd July (in-person).

About The Girls’ Network: The Girls' Network is a national charity with a mission to inspire and empower girls from the least advantaged communities by connecting them with a network of professional women role models and volunteer mentors. We believe no girl should have her future limited by her gender, ethnicity, background, or parental income. Our vision is a future where all girls are supported to realise their ambitions, discover their self-worth, and shape their own futures. We partner with secondary schools and colleges across multiple regions in England, including London, Merseyside, Portsmouth, Southampton, Sussex, Tees Valley, Tyne & Wear and the West Midlands. We match girls aged 14–19 with trained volunteer mentors for one-to-one support. In addition to this core mentoring, workshops, and access to an Ambassador Community that provides continued opportunities for development, career support, and connection.

Role Summary: The Regional Programme Lead is responsible for delivering The Girls’ Network’s suite of programmes in schools and colleges, including facilitating engaging and impactful workshops for girls aged 14–19 from disadvantaged backgrounds. The post-holder also leads on the recruitment, induction, training, matching, supervision and support of volunteers and will appropriately match mentors with young people. You will steer local partnerships and oversee programme administration to ensure the smooth and effective delivery of our mission. This role combines hands‑on programme delivery with operational coordination, ensuring that The Girls’ Network’s regional programmes achieve their intended outcomes and contribute to national KPI achievement.

Key Duties/Responsibilities:

• Strategic Purpose: Facilitate the regional delivery of The Girls’ Network programmes, ensuring alignment with organisational goals and outcomes. Proactively contribute to the continuous development of programmatic resources to improve quality and impact. Collect and maintain accurate records of data to track programme participation and outcomes in line with national monitoring and evaluation frameworks. Develop and identify opportunities to enhance regional partnerships and contribute to the organisation’s growth and reputation. Support the ongoing development of The Girls Network programmes by providing feedback on local trends, challenges, and opportunities to the National Programme Manager.
• Engagement: Build and maintain strong working relationships with all TGN volunteers, including volunteer mentors. Provide guidance and support to volunteers, facilitating regular check‑ins, communications, and problem‑solving, and support them with acting on safeguarding concerns in line with TGN’s safeguarding and GDPR policy and procedures. Develop and maintain positive working relationships with schools and colleges, including onboarding and retaining key partnerships with stakeholders. Support to organise and attend The Girls’ Network at local events, networks, and community initiatives to promote and support our mission. Advocate for The Girls’ Network, promoting its mission and programmes to local stakeholders in coordination with the Communications Manager and Head of Fundraising, through media, PR, and social media channels as appropriate. Contribute to gathering qualitative feedback from young people to support TGN external communication and reporting. Support to use this insight to contribute to youth voice initiatives and inform programme improvements.
• Delivery: Facilitate the overall success of workshop delivery in school/college term times, volunteering and mentoring cohorts in your region, coordinating and delivering events, workshops and communications to relevant stakeholders to meet regional and national KPIs. Deliver engaging workshops and onboarding sessions for young people using our programmes to support their personal development. Conduct volunteer mentor onboarding and matching with young people, both in-person and virtually, supporting end-to-end positive mentoring relationships. Deliver high quality programme activities for regional cohorts of young people, supporting smooth operations. Uphold safeguarding and GDPR policies and procedures, escalating concerns appropriately to the National Programmes Manager and/or Designated Safeguarding Officer(s). Develop and use resources to deliver effective, high-quality workshop and training materials. Participate in organisational team meetings, training, team away days and initiatives to support effective programme delivery and collaboration. Proactively identify and support local volunteering recruitment opportunities to ensure a sufficient and sustainable pipeline of volunteers.

Note: this job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of the role. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of responsibilities and duties required.

Person Specification:

• Essential: Applicants must hold a full, clean driving licence and have the ability and willingness to travel regularly across the region. Understanding of equal opportunities and inclusion in youth work. A commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, with an understanding of its application in youth work in the charity and/or education sector. We welcome applications from outreach youth workers and/or teachers/teaching assistants or equivalent roles. A genuine understanding and passion for addressing the challenges faced by girls and young women from disadvantaged backgrounds. Experience and/or willingness to learn delivering high quality workshops or training sessions to groups of young people, aged 14-19. Proven ability to build and independently manage multiple relationships with key stakeholders, including young people, volunteers, education providers and local partner organisations. Excellent organisational, prioritisation and time-management skills, with a proven ability to meet deadlines in a target-driven environment. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage diverse audiences. Experience of developing resources for programmatic delivery, including volunteer training and workshops for young people. Project or programme coordination experience, with the ability to manage conflicting priorities effectively. Target-oriented, with experience of achieving KPIs and contributing to performance monitoring. Practical knowledge and experience of safeguarding and child protection working practices. Competence in using digital tools, including Salesforce or other CRM platforms, with attention to accuracy and the ability to maintain high-quality records for monitoring and evaluation purposes. Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage deadlines, adapt to change, and work effectively both independently and as part of a geographically dispersed team. Commitment to The Girls’ Network mission and keeping young people at the centre of all work. Ability to travel and work flexibly, including occasional evenings and weekends.
• Desirable: Experience working in a charity, youth, or education setting. Experience of working with young people from diverse backgrounds. Experience of safer recruitment in volunteering. A mentoring or coaching qualification, or equivalent experience. Experience working remotely, demonstrating initiative and the ability to work proactively with minimal supervision. Flexible and adaptable approach, with an understanding of the time and resource limitations typical in small organisations. Specific knowledge of mentoring programmes and/or youth/education services.

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. If you believe you have relevant experience and the potential to thrive in this role, we encourage you to apply, even if you do not meet every single criterion listed.

How to apply: Please apply as soon as possible. You will be asked to complete your application by submitting your CV and answering a few application questions. Appointees are subject to a DBS check. You must have the right to work in the UK to apply. The deadline to submit your application is Wednesday 8th July at 9AM. Please note that we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. We therefore encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.

Diversity at our core: The Girls' Network is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating discrimination. In line with the Equality Act 2010, if you require any reasonable adjustments to support you with any stage of this recruitment process, please contact the Recruitment Team.

Our Benefits: 27 holiday days per year, plus public holidays (pro-rata for part-time staff). Option to purchase up to 5 additional days of annual leave every year. Gifted birthday leave. 3 days volunteering leave per year. Extended and comprehensive sick pay policy. Enhanced Family Leave pay policy. Pension scheme. Annual professional development fund to help you grow. 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme for wellbeing support. Benefit from flexible, remote working options with home office equipment. A dedicated Girls’ Network buddy, available beyond the induction period for ongoing support.