Job Title: Senior Project Manager – Global Living Wage 

Salary: £47,237 FTE per annum (London Weighting £3,276 where applicable) (£28,341.60-£37,788.80 pro rata per annum)

Hours: 3- 4 days a week, flexible (22.5-30 hours per week)

Contract: Permanent

Based: London office; hybrid and remote working available 

Citizens UK

Citizens UK is a people power alliance of diverse local communities working together for the common good. Our mission is to develop leaders, strengthen civic organisations and make change. Our 550 member communities are deeply rooted in their local areas and connect every day to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Through the method of community organising we enable people experiencing powerlessness to develop their leadership and come together with the power and strategy to make change. 

This leads to hundreds of neighbourhood improvements - from zebra crossings outside primary schools to renovated public toilets in cemeteries. And it leads to some of the biggest campaign impacts in the UK, such as winning over £1.5 billion of wages through the UK Living Wage campaign, securing a legal cap on the cost of credit to control exploitative lending, and ending the detention of children for immigration purposes. We enable local campaigns to grow into large-scale social change projects such as the Living Wage Foundation, Parent Action, Sponsor Refugees, and Refugees for Justice, that form an integral part of our theory of change. The most prominent of these is the rapidly growing Living Wage Foundation with a network of nearly 9,000 accredited Living Wage Employers across the UK. 

Living Wage Foundation 

The Living Wage is an independent movement of businesses, organisations and people who believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. The Living Wage campaign was launched by Citizens UK in 2001 and aims to ensure low paid workers have enough money to get by and enough time for community and family life.  

The Living Wage is an hourly rate calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK that employers choose to pay on a voluntary basis. The Living Wage Foundation recognises and celebrates employers that pay the real Living Wage through an accreditation programme which awards the Living Wage Employer Mark. The independently-calculated rates are announced during Living Wage Week each November when we celebrate our growing network of Living Wage employers. There are now over 15,000 accredited Living Wage employers across the UK which has secured pay rises for over 450,000 employees.   

The Living Wage Foundation (LWF) is part of Citizens UK, a people power alliance of 550 diverse institutions working together for the common good. Our mission is to develop leaders, strengthen civic organisations and make change. Our member institutions are deeply rooted in their local areas and connect every day to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.  Through the method of community organising we enable people experiencing powerlessness to develop their leadership and come together with the power and strategy to make change

Purpose

We are looking for a Senior Project Manager to lead the expansion of our global networks and deepen relationships with local stakeholders in a range of countries. Our aim is to help strengthen new and growing Living Wage alliances around the world that have potential to become affiliates of the Living Wage Foundation.  

The ideal candidate will be a proactive and experienced project manager with excellent communication skills and a track record of engaging diverse global stakeholders at all levels of seniority to build effective movements. We are looking for someone who will facilitate knowledge-sharing and provide strategic support to members of our Global Living Wage Network, (GLW) resulting in the establishment of new Living Wage accreditation schemes around the world. 

• Develop and deliver strategies to increase engagement across a range of stakeholder networks, internally and externally 

• Build and manage relationships with key stakeholders at all levels of seniority and employers to establish accreditation capacity in a range of countries 

• Create, develop and employ the tools and resources needed to inform and advise Living Wage Alliances on how to build accreditation capacity 

• Communicate evidence and case for change to influence key stakeholders  

• Monitor and evaluate the impact of our work to refine our strategy and deliver projects in an efficient way.  

In this role you will line manage one colleague: Project Manager – Global Living Wage 

Main Responsibilities

Contribute to the achievement of LWF and GLW Project strategic objectives:  

• Develop and implement strategies and ideas for action that are consistent with Global Living Wage (GLW) Project and LWF goals and core mission.  

• Develop and implement a network development strategy to strengthen our GLW Network and develop an Affiliate pipeline 

Build and manage projects and achieve work targets effectively:  

• Support expansion of our GLW Affiliate Network by developing a pipeline of new candidates  

• Work with Living Wage leaders in a range of countries to organise diverse alliances and drive action at regional and/or national level  

• Oversee the collation and dissemination of research and evidence to improve best practice on provision of Living Wage across global operations and supply chains 

• Oversee coordination of GLW Network activity  

• Evaluate the effectiveness of LWF’s role in local LW alliance activity, demonstrating ability to incorporate lessons learned in into future work and providing evidence that supports our theory of change.  

• Oversee improvement of project management systems, including integration of our CRM system 

Learning, expertise, wellbeing and inclusion:  

• Lead development of learning resources on a range of themes including best practice for employer-led Living Wage action, principles for Living Wage alliance building, corporate partnerships and Living Wage governance 

• Work with the GLW Project Manager to develop and deliver workshops to potential affiliate candidates, featuring key speakers from across the LWF team 

• Establish a member offer and partnership structure for focus country engagement 

• Develop and host a webinar series for members of our GLW Network based on a rich curriculum of themes relevant to their priorities, featuring expert speakers 

• Identify and coordinate peer learning opportunities for Living Wage alliances focused on establishing their own accreditation schemes 

• Embed an anti-racist approach into our global development work, following best practice on locally-led action 

Develop and manage external relationships - network development:  

• Facilitate development of a comprehensive power analysis for focus countries 

• Work alongside local Living Wage alliances to develop and grow strong working relationships with power players regional and national level in focus countries 

• Develop and facilitate online and in-person workshops that highlight expertise from LWF and the GLW Network 

• Work with the GLW Project Manager to make strategic decisions on where to focus our country engagement activity, and develop a workplan for each focus country identified 

• Identify opportunities for strategic action led by employers and coordinate steering group activity where relevant 

• Manage relationships with global stakeholders and project partners e.g. WageMap, UN Global Compact, IDH etc.  

Communications 

• Oversee the development and management of the GLW Network page of the LWF website, ensuring it is up to date and is effective in promoting member action and impact 

• Lead the production and design of research reports, toolkits, best practice guides and other resources 

• Oversee the development and launch a quarterly GLW Network newsletter sharing relevant LW news and promoting the work of members 

• Maintain an up-to-date overview of LWF’s country engagement work, to be shared on a quarterly basis with our GLW Steering Group 

• Represent the Living Wage Foundation at meetings, events and conferences to champion our approach to globally 

Develop and manage internal relationships:  

• Build and manage strong relationships across the LWF and wider Citizens UK teams for effective collaboration and to support development of resources showcasing organisational expertise on Living Wage  

• Contribute to the LWF and Citizens UK Senior Management meetings and cross organisational working groups  

Generate income and resources:  

• Oversee development and implementation of fee structures for network membership and  income generation activity 

• Contribute to a review of our GLW Project fundraising strategy, and collaborate on proposals to secure funds from corporate partners as well as trusts and foundations 

• Work with senior colleagues to secure corporate sponsorship and donations funding for the GLW Project 

Person Specification

(REQUIREMENTS ESSENTIAL = E, DESIRABLE = D)

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

Experience of building consensus between diverse stakeholders to drive progressive change, particularly through locally-led efforts (E)

A track record of developing mutually rewarding corporate and third sector partnerships to deliver project objectives (E)

Experience of building and servicing a global network (E)

Experience of community organising, or knowledge of organising methodologies (D)

Previous experience of attracting funds to scale a project (D)

KEY SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

Excellent project management skills with the ability to juggle a wide range of competing demands (E)

An ability to engage, influence and build relationships with a diverse range of high-level stakeholders, including senior business leaders (E)

Strong report writing skills and ability to share and disseminate knowledge with project partners (E)

An ability to take initiative and work independently across different teams (E)

Understanding of the anti-poverty policy and campaign landscape globally  (D)

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

A proactive approach to all areas of work with a ‘can do’ attitude and a flexible approach to work demands (E)

Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures (E)

A strong commitment to the Living Wage campaign and principles of Citizens UK (E)

Application Procedure 

 At Citizens UK, we use Applied, an applicant-tracking recruitment system. Applied aims to overcome unconscious bias in recruiting. Often the Hiring Team will not see your CV as part of the shortlisting process and instead ask questions to test skills needed for the role. The responses are anonymised and reviewed by the panel. The Applied platform also asks some demographic questions before you start your application. Citizens UK cannot see individual demographic responses, only summary statistics to monitor our candidate pool for balance. Applied aims to give an equal chance to be hired irrespective of background. Candidates can opt out of answering the demographic questions.   

We are committed to being an inclusive employer. In line with our inclusion value, we would love to see applications from LGBTQIA+ people, people from racialised communities, disabled people, and people of faith to better represent the communities we work in. For questions and reasonable adjustments regarding your application including information in a different format, or our recruitment process, please email recruitment@citizensuk.org.    

Many of our employees enjoy flexible and hybrid working, and we are open to adapting/flexing our roles to embrace a diverse workforce. If you are interested in a particular vacancy and wish to discuss flexible working, please contact recruitment@citizensuk.org. 

Even if you don’t quite meet all the required criteria still consider applying, as we invest in our employees and support them to develop the skills and knowledge required to deliver their role. 

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK as Citizens UK is unable to sponsor visa applications. Our community organisers work in the community and their employment is subject to satisfactory standard/enhanced DBS checks.   

The Living Wage Foundation is part of Citizens UK – a community organising charity which works with a broad base of institutions across the political spectrum. At the Living Wage Foundation, we take a deliberately broad-based approach and accredit all organisations who pay the real Living Wage to their directly and indirectly employed staff and are committed to tackling in work poverty. As a team we work across a range of industries and sectors to achieve this mission. We seek pragmatic coalitions in order to progress specific campaigns, and partnership around a particular issue such as Living Wage, does not imply an endorsement of broader purpose and policies. 

For more about the Living Wage Foundation and Citizens UK please visit www.livingwage.org.uk and www.citizensuk.org.  

Applications deadline: 25 August 2024, 23.59

Interview dates: 2 September 2024

We will be holding a recruitment webinar on Tuesday 20 August from 1-2pm to share more information about the role and about the Living Wage Foundation in general - register here.