Do you want to help tackle the major health challenges facing London in the 21st Century?

At Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity we are building a new way of working. We think it is possible to reduce health inequalities in inner-city areas. Our investments empower people to lead healthy lives in Lambeth and Southwark and demonstrate the power of a long-term approach to complex health issues. We improve health working jointly with Lambeth and Southwark residents, local and national government, community and private sector partners. By doing this, we aim to inspire others in the UK and abroad to create better health.

During the next ten years we plan to invest over £100m into a small number of ground-breaking, long-term programmes focused on the major health issues facing urban environments. We currently focus on two health issues – childhood obesity and multiple long-term conditions. Later this year we will launch a third programme on the health effects of air pollution, followed by a fourth programme on adolescent mental health in 2020.

We aim to be at the cutting-edge of approaches to funding impact – drawing on insights from data and innovative practice to ensure that we have the greatest impact for and with our communities. We are recruiting enterprising team members to be at the heart of this change.

Job description

Are you an impact-focused, self-reliant manager who can juggle a portfolio of projects? Do you have a background in consulting, investment, venture philanthropy, public policy or social impact focused professions?

We are looking to add Portfolio Managers to our talented multi-disciplinary team. Portfolio Managers lead the design, development, execution and evaluation of the projects we fund. Your work will be varied, rewarding and will involve interacting with many different stakeholders. You will be encouraged to pitch and progress ideas through each stage of our investment process and make them a reality in line with our strategy.

We invest in solutions of all shapes and sizes to reduce health inequalities in Lambeth and Southwark using a blend of grants, debt, equity investment and non-financial support. This means Portfolio Managers have the freedom to work with everyone from grassroots community groups and social enterprises, through to digital health ventures, public sector leaders and the corporate sector. Your portfolio will stretch from work in local neighbourhoods and the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark, to pan-London, national and international initiatives.

For example, you may be scoping a venture fund backing new brands to improve healthy food environments in lowest-income neighbourhoods. Or, you might help a new community space to grow, bringing together assets and resources under one roof to help people living with long-term conditions connect with the support they need.

Our Portfolio Managers come from a diverse range of professional backgrounds and are assisted by Programme Directors to assemble and lead a portfolio of projects which speaks to their strengths. Because we are a small team, we do not work in silos. So, if you enjoy variety and pace, this job will offer you exposure to a breadth of health issues and to all parts of the organisation.

Responsibilities

• Build a pipeline of investment opportunities: ensure we are scanning the horizon and lining up future work for the coming 1 to 2 years by sourcing, originating and co-designing future projects with partners. Hone ideas by advising partners on a project’s strategy fit, risk, budget, complexity, impact potential and ability to be evaluated.

• Lead the internal investment process: enable us to make quality, high impact investment decisions by presenting investment cases (including aim and strategic fit, due diligence, project plan, evaluation and governance) to our internal Executive Investment Committee for funding.

• Guide existing investments: be the go-to person for partners who deliver live projects. Problem-solve, advise and manage a portfolio of active funding contracts, enabling the charity to deliver frontline impact on time and to budget.

• Co-own successful delivery of programmes: collaborate with colleagues who support programme success by delivering high quality research and evaluation, communication of insights, policy engagement, tailored investment mechanisms and grant management.

• Be our ambassador: represent the Charity with partners, manage and nurture external relationships, contribute to refining and evolving the strategy of our programmes, and deliver thought leadership and influencing work aligned to our goals.

Person Specification

Experience (essential)

• A track record of independently managing a portfolio of inter-related projects

• Experience taking projects from design to delivery to completion on time and on budget

• Experience working across sectors, building partnerships that involve a variety of people and organisations

Experience (desirable)

• Experience in consulting, investment, venture philanthropy or social impact focused endeavours (community work, social or health services, public policy work)

• Experience using different approaches to social change – such as technology for good, social movements, user-led design, social marketing, community development, advocacy/campaigning and commercial partnerships

• Experience in programme/strategy development – particularly around solving complex social problems

• Experience of supporting products or services to go to market

• Experience of developing project budget forecasts, cash flow projections and interrogating management accounts for different types of organisations

Skills, abilities and attributes

• Self-reliant and resilient – enjoys freedom to create, manages uncertainty and navigates changing environments

• Clear strategic thinker – can critically appraise projects’ merit and link into wider programme and organisational strategy with ease

• People person and relationship manager – who enjoys building and nurturing networks and uses strong interpersonal skills to motivate others

• Excellent communicator – ability to cut through complexity and communicate concisely and in plain English to a broad range of audiences in written and verbal form

• Ambitious and determined individual – setting high standards and working hard to achieve them

• Efficient multi-tasker – able to manage a complex range of projects and competing priorities

• Influencer – persuasive in situations without direct levers to pull

Values

Enterprising - looks at things from different angles, with willingness to experiment and test

Collaborative - gives time and attention to people and ideas, and motivates others

Delivery minded - is willing to get stuck in and takes ownership for results