Do you feel passionately about improving the life chances of children, young people and families? Are you excited to develop, lead and cultivate strategic partnerships alongside a sector leading business strategy, securing income to further enhance our charitable impact? Do you have the communication skills to grow our impact through effective marketing and communications?

Dartington Service Design Lab is an internationally respected social research and design charity focussed on using evidence to help those working with children and young people have a greater impact. We have nearly 60 years of experience working across the public and voluntary sectors to improve the lives of children and young people. 

We are seeking an experienced leader within the non-profit or social impact sector. The role is an integral member of the Senior Leadership Team. Key responsibilities include: developing and nurturing partnerships to further our impact for children and young people; designing and implementing business strategies and driving income generation; underpinned by the development of robust marketing and communications strategies (supported by a small marketing and comms team).

The work is rarely routine. We are often experimenting and trying to innovate with those who we work with. We value empathy and collaboration and a focus on using evidence for social good. The successful candidate will have at least ten years’ experience driving social change, with five years in a senior leadership role. Key responsibilities are outlined in the accompanying job description.

If we’re going to design impactful supports for children and families, we need to ensure our team is inclusive. Dartington encourages applications from all backgrounds and strives to have a team with diverse skills, experiences and abilities. We are committed to progressing an anti-racist and equitable approach in all areas of our work. Join us if you are passionate about social justice.

As a team, we operate remotely across the UK with regular project-related travel. Our staff tend to work from home or when appropriate, together in local co-working spaces, and normally, three times a year we meet as a whole team in our beautiful Devon office.

To support the removal of barriers to colleagues contributing fully as employees and to address equity considerations, we have a flexible working policy that trusts individuals to manage their time, working flexibly to deliver against our commitments. Individuals are asked to work a minimum of four hours between 8am and 6pm but the remainder is up to them (balanced against business needs).

Candidates should be aware that, in line with our commitment to equity across the Lab, we have made the decision not to negotiate regarding salary on appointment or progression. The evidence shows that negotiation of salary is an inherently inequitable process that marginalises women and those from racially minoritised communities. We do, however, have a transparent grade and scale structure for all those in the Lab which, based on organisational affordability and satisfactory performance in role, will result in an increase to salaries every two years up until the ceiling of that particular role’s banding.

The post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service certificate and pre-employment checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed.