The Opportunity  

We are seeking up to two Managers to work flexibly across the organisation, in particular to support two of our key business areas: Health and Employment Partnerships (HEP) and the Impact Incubator (II).   

The key responsibilities of the role will be:   

• To refine and execute our strategy by generating new ideas for impact, converting these into tangible opportunities, and making them happen in practice. You will expand our thinking by making creative links and staying close to the innovations being tested in the UK and elsewhere. You will also take a disciplined approach to filtering for the opportunities that we can mostly effectively pursue;  

• To forge deep and constructive partnerships with experts, delivery providers, national and local policymakers, voluntary sector organisations, people with lived experience, and other key stakeholders. These partnerships could involve providing advice, managing programmes, or supporting innovative financing models;  

• To play a leading role in building the business by helping identify and secure exciting and ambitious opportunities where we can make a transformative impact while sustaining ourselves financially. You will support us to explore a range of funding models to underline our business model. These could range from ad hoc advisory and operational improvement work to long-term strategic partnerships to grant or other philanthropic funding.   

• To play an active role in supporting the management of the team, working with Directors to conduct financial and operational planning activities, refine the strategic plan, manage team resourcing and recruitment, and lead or support other management activities.    

• To deliver on projects. Alongside your development activities, you will need to take charge of live projects. This will involve managing teams of Social Finance analysts and associates to ensure project deliverables are completed on time and within budget. Projects may include developing place-based work in partnership with local communities, strategic analysis for government commissioners, designing new approaches, operationalizing new models or working to help existing providers and partners improve, programme management, performance and contract management, or other work undertaken to achieve our objectives.  

• To support wider business-building activities within Social Finance. These could include planning and running events; writing or managing the creation of reports or other publications or marketing materials; supporting recruitment and training activity; and leading or supporting other business-building activities.    

While most of your work will be focused within either the Health and Employment Partnerships team or the Impact Incubator team, you may from time to time be required to undertake projects or other activities for Social Finance more broadly.  

About You 

Given ambitious plans to grow our impact, we are looking for someone who can enhance our team, bringing a combination of passion for social change and the ability to take ideas and relationships and develop these into practical projects.   

You might come from a private, public, or social sector background - ideally, you have spent time in more than one sector. No specific sector experience is necessary, though knowledge of the health system, employment interventions or the voluntary sector is a plus. We will look to see:  

• A commitment to social change through your core work history or experience of volunteering or engaging with charities or other social organisations;  

• Ability to think creatively and strategically. You will be entrepreneurially minded, and will able to generate new ideas, and help convert them into tangible opportunities, and then make them happen in practice. You will take a structured approach to solving problems and will have a high tolerance for ambiguity;  

• Ability to build relationships. We are a partnership business that succeeds through the strength of our relationships with a wide range of public, philanthropic, private, and social sector bodies. You will need to show that you have built outstanding relationships with a range of different individuals and organisations, including at the most senior levels, and that these have led to social impact and/or commercial success. Ideally, you will bring with you valuable existing relationships and networks that you can immediately put to work to advance our goals;   

• Ability to develop new business opportunities. You will have a track record of leading or supporting business development activity that has opened up new opportunities and generated income for your organisation;  

• Managerial and leadership experience. We are a small team that needs to both build a pipeline of new projects and deliver on existing ones. You will have experience managing projects to successful delivery. You will have managed mixed-tenure and mixed-skill teams. You will also be able to show impressive leadership in your work or outside interests, whether by driving new initiatives or delivering positive change in a difficult environment;    

• Technical competence. This role is not primarily analytical or technical. However, Social Finance is a data-driven organisation that prides itself in its ability to work with large or otherwise challenging data-sets, complex procurement regulations and legal structures, and innovative financial models and payment structures. We expect you to be competent in standard Microsoft software (Word, Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint), analytically-minded, and either experienced in or willing to learn about procurement, contracting, and finance;  

• Shared values: Though sector-specific experience is not required, we have a passionate belief that helping people to achieve appropriate employment can transform their lives. We hope you will share this, as well as our other core values;  

• Around 5-10 years of work experience, the typical range for our Manager level, but we won’t rule out applicants based on years of work alone. 

To view the full job advert please go to https://www.socialfinance.org.uk/careers/vacancies