Senior Consultant (Outcomes-based funding)

We are seeking an experienced Senior Consultant with deep expertise in outcomes-based funding (ideally the Better Futures Fund or similar early years mechanisms) for up to a 2- month assignment to assess whether this funding route is viable as we scale. You’ll interrogate the risks, opportunities and readiness required, then deliver a clear, evidence-based board paper and recommendation to our Trustees.

Location: Hybrid/home based (UK)

Salary: Dependent on experience

Contract: Fixed Term – 3 days a week for 2 months

About Us

Thrive at Five is focused on giving every child the best possible start in life. We know the foundations for life and learning are built in the earliest years, from pregnancy to five. By working alongside families, communities and local partners. We are committed to helping build stronger, more connected support so more children get what they need to thrive. Our values of listening, collaboration, kindness and endurance underpin everything we do.

We pride ourselves on creating a supportive and inclusive working environment where everyone can develop, contribute and succeed.

Purpose of the Role

Thrive at Five is exploring whether outcomes-based funding — including the Better Futures Fund — is a viable and strategically sound funding route for the organisation as we look to scale in the future. Before committing resource to pursuing it, we want an independent, expert assessment of the opportunity: the risks, the opportunities and challenges, the operational complexity, and what readiness would actually require.

This is a hands‑on, two-month assignment for an experienced leader who can access the opportunities and challenges quickly, is comfortable working independently, confident relationship builder both internally to assess and support organisational readiness and externally, and enjoys turning complex outcomes data into clear, credible reporting that funders trust.

We’re looking for a senior, highly credible practitioner who has real depth in outcomes-based/payment-by-results funding — ideally with direct experience of the Better Futures Fund or comparable early years mechanisms — to interrogate this opportunity on our behalf and present clear, evidence-based advice to our Board and Senior Leadership Team and deliver a finished board paper and recommendation to Thrive at Five’s Board of Trustees.

Key Responsibilities

• Assess the Better Futures Fund (and comparable outcomes-based funding opportunities) against Thrive at Five’s strategy, capacity and risk appetite.
• Independently evaluate the benefits and risks, and true complexity of entering into outcomes-based/payment-by-results funding — including financial, operational, data and reputational.
• Assess organisational readiness: what capability, systems and evidence infrastructure would need to be in place, and the gap between where we are and where we’d need to be; educating internal stakeholders on the essential components and requirements to create a successful funding environment.
• Educate and support senior stakeholders including Trustees, Advisory Board members and Senior Executive leaders on their learning journey as together we explore what outcomes based funding means for Thrive at Five.
• Produce a clear, well-evidenced board paper setting out the opportunity, the risks, the readiness gap, resourcing implications, and a recommendation.
• Advise on the trackers and reporting systems that would be needed to monitor progress against outcomes and metrics, should Thrive at Five proceed with outcomes-based funding — informed by consultation with our pathfinder and impact teams on current data capability.
• Advise on what a realistic delivery model would look like if the organisation chose to proceed.

About You

We are looking for someone who has:

• A good understanding of and commitment to addressing social challenges and supporting the early years in the UK.
• Significant work experience in investment, finance, accountancy, business consultancy or another analytical field.
• Significant, credible experience in outcomes-based/payment-by-results funding, ideally including direct exposure to the Better Futures Fund or similar impact/social investment mechanisms
• Strong financial analysis skills, including the ability to evaluate financial statements and business plans and develop and assess financial models using Excel.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills including experience advising boards or executive teams, not just executing programmes
• Proven interpersonal skills including the ability to build good working relationships
• Experience managing contracts, grants or funding agreements with outcomes-based or payment-by-results element
• Comfortable delivering candid conclusions to senior stakeholders.
• Experience in charity impact management or monitoring, evaluation and learning
• Experience working in, or deep understanding of, UK early years sector
• Experience facilitating workshops or presenting to larger groups
• An understanding of fundraising and the leadership challenges it presents — including how to identify the right, sustainable payer at scale for a programme of this kind.
• Financial acumen – including experience supporting financial analysis and modelling, fundraising pipeline development and review of financial information e.g, annual accounts, to assess and identify financial risk
• Strong track record in building organisational readiness to engage in outcomes-based funding
• Strong analytical skills and confidence interpreting data against agreed targets.
• A track record of preparing clear, accurate reports for funders or commissioners.
• Excellent relationship-management skills, ideally including experience working with local authorities.
• A structured, organised self-starter who can manage a varied workload independently.
• A genuine commitment to improving outcomes for children and families in their early years. We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected and empowered to succeed. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives and are dedicated to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process free from discrimination. We believe that a diverse workforce strengthens our organisation and helps us better serve our customers, colleagues and communities.

AI Statement

We acknowledge the value of AI in the workplace; however, we ask candidates not to use AI to write or generate application responses. Our recruitment process is designed to assess your individual skills, experience and potential, and we encourage authentic applications that reflect your own work.
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