The Middlesbrough Programme on Gendered Poverty is an exciting collaborative programme bringing together Buttle UK, the Smallwood Trust and Turn2us to test whether a co-produced & collaborative approach to grant-making can transform the lives of women and their children.

The programme aims to:

• Shift power to people worst impacted by gendered poverty and work to end gendered poverty. 

• Develop the programme using co-production techniques so that the voices and experiences of the women and their children, who face issues created by gendered poverty, inform and shape the programme. 

• Deliver the programme with and to communities of the most marginalised women and their children. 

• Apply an evidence-based approach to our work and programme design. 

• Use grants as a primary response and tool, effectively and efficiently. 

• Learn as we go and work to understand how intersections of inequality impact on our grant making. 

• Identify opportunities to influence other grant makers and policies to support wider system change.

We are seeking an energetic, organised and passionate Programme Manager who will work with us to take this programme to the next level. We want this project to be led and informed by the women affected by gendered poverty because we know it will help us have a greater impact and shift power.

The Programme Manager sits with Turn2us’ Local Programmes Team alongside two other programmes working with communities to achieve financial security for all.

We offer flexible working patterns, both in terms of hours and remote working, however regular in person work in Middlesbrough and London will be required.

Please note that all job offers are subject to 2 – 3 satisfactory references and an advanced disclosure satisfactory to Turn2us from the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS).

Job Description

Job Title: Programme Manager - Middlesbrough

Department: Local Programmes 

Reports to: Head of Local Programmes 

Direct Reports: Middlesbrough Community Coordinator                                   

Location: Hybrid: Turn2us London hub, Middlesbrough, or homeworking. If based in London or Middlesbrough expenses will be paid to travel to the other city. 

Type of role: Full Time, fixed term until August 2026

Context: Buttle UK, the Smallwood Trust and Turn2us are three funders who provide grants to individuals experiencing financial hardship. We have come together to create a collaborative programme united in giving grants to women who are financially excluded and want to explore how collaboration can improve approaches to: providing immediate relief of, and long term systems change to, gendered poverty.

Purpose of the Role:

Continue to steward this complex programme of work, recruiting and working with multiple stakeholders, including community organisations, grant givers and local decision-makers to end gendered poverty in Middlesbrough. This work will build on the past years of success to support to women and their families and shift power to local communities to contribute towards ending the systems that cause poverty. Regular travel to London and Middlesbrough will be required. If based in London or Middlesbrough expenses will be paid to travel to the other city. 

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

•  Programme Development and Delivery 

• Managing Collaboration

Duties:

1) Programme Development and Delivery: 

• To manage a programme of activities with women and their children where grant makers shift power to and create learning relationships with women and their children closest to the problem of financial insecurity.

• Develop and maintain core programme documents including a clear plan and budget.

• Develop and maintain relationships with co-production partners, local organisations, decision-makers and grant giving organisations in the region to ensure the success of the programme.

• Develop a model of grant making in co-production with local partners, the Steering Group and women in financial hardship that will provide immediate financial support to women and their families.

• To evidence the learning and impact of this programme and use this to support the strategic aims of each partner organisation.

• Work with the wider sector of grant makers to increase knowledge and support of power shifting methods.

• Commission research as required on gendered poverty, economic inequality and grant making.

• Develop partnerships that will add value to the programme and build processes to formalise partnerships as they are agreed. Supporting partners to engage in the co production of the programme activities.

• Working with Turn2us and other Steering Group members’ Impact team to develop monitoring, evaluation and learning activities for the programme as needed to assess the impact of the programme.

• Working with the Turn2us and other Steering Group members’ Communications and External Affairs Team to develop communications activities for the programmes as needed.

• Working with the Turn2us and other Steering Group members’ Fundraising Team and the fundraising teams of the steering group to bring in funding to the programme.

• Working with Turn2us and other Steering Group members Policy and Influencing Team to develop and deliver influencing strategy to support the end of gendered poverty in the region.

• To implement safeguarding approaches in the programme and ensure we are working collaboratively on safeguarding with partners.

• To support the work of the Programme Assistant to develop a deep understanding of the nature of gendered and child poverty in Middlesbrough and add value to the efforts to end it.

2) Managing Collaboration: 

• Develop & deliver a process in which impact and learnings from the programme influence the culture of the Steering Group members and the wider grant-making sector.

• Provide updates (written and verbal) for Steering Group members, wider staff and Boards of Trustees.

• Manage, design and facilitate quarterly Steering Group meetings (in person).

• Ensure that key programme processes, decisions and outcomes are documented and accessed by collaborating partners.

• Manage the finances of the programme including working with the steering group members to secure their funding contributions and coordinate the different budget and finance processes across the three organisations.

These are the normal duties, which the charity requires from the position. However, it is necessary for all staff to be flexible and all employees will be required from time to time to perform other duties as may be required for the efficient running of the charity.  This Job Description is non-contractual. It will be reviewed from time to time and may be subject to change.

At Turn2us, we are committed to protecting personnel, children, adults, and service users from any harm arising from each other, themselves, our activities, or organisational failings whilst in contact with us. The post holder will be required to follow the safeguarding policy and will be responsible for integrating safeguarding into all aspects of their work.

The post holder will be expected to ensure that their work complies with contractual terms and conditions, the charity’s policies and procedures and key legislation, such as data protection and charity law.

Person Specification:

Skills:  

Necessary

●      IT literate, including spreadsheets, email and word documents.

●      Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English

Desirable

●     Understanding of co-production including the role of safeguarding and data protection/GDPR

Knowledge:  

Necessary

●      Knowledge of economic inequality and how gender, race, disability, age and other factors intersect to exacerbate it 

Desirable

●      Knowledge of the grant giving sector

Experience:

Necessary

●      Experience of developing programmes through co-production

●      Experience of working on programmes with multiple stakeholders and across teams

●      Experience of managing budgets 

Desirable

●      Experience of working in partnership with community groups

●      Experience of commissioning and analysing research

Personal Attributes:            

●        Be a champion for co-production and user-led design to deliver positive change.

●        An understanding of taking a learning approach and how to embed learning in organisations.

●        Ability to travel across the UK.

Turn2us is fully committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion in our sector. We want this to be reflected in the diversity of the people who work for us and we are interested in applications from people from all backgrounds.

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