Programme and Partnership Lead

18 Month Fixed Term Contract (Full Time - 35 hours per week)

About the role

The Joseph Rowntree Trust are seeking to create an environment that enables diverse and multidisciplinary programme teams to succeed in JRF’s mission to speed up and support the transition to a future free from poverty, in which people and planet can flourish.

The Programme and Partnership Lead will apply the most relevant delivery and project management tools and techniques to the work of programme teams to deliver strategic projects that are a high priority to the organisation’s mission.

You will provide critical administrative and logistical support to the Emerging Futures programmes in the portfolio, such as the organisation and delivery of roundtables and internal workshops, scheduling and capturing insights at project meetings, management of external relationships, particularly around contracting, co-ordination of open tender processes, and ensuring our online filing and knowledge capture is kept up-to-date.

About you

As our Programme and Partnership Lead, we would like you to have proven working knowledge of various delivery and project management tools and techniques. You will have good understanding of JRF’s strategy, and willingness to learn more about the Emerging Futures programme, with knowledge and understanding of the key elements of a diverse and inclusive organisational culture.

You will have a proven track record of delivering complex projects simultaneously and experience of managing relationships and negotiations about resource allocation, including excellent influencing and persuasive and diplomacy skills. With experience of spotting emerging issues and working autonomously to manage them effectively with the ability to problem-solve, you will have a track record of being an excellent team player and actively contributing to team objectives. You will have experience of building and managing ad hoc teams to work effectively and with oversight of multiple workstreams for teams across the organisation, you will be experienced in managing multiple stakeholders ensuring appropriate communication and engagement.

You will be a strong communicator and collaborator, able to tailor material for different audiences with a proven warm and professional approach to building and sustaining collaborative relationships with a wide range of people, including partners, contractors, and colleagues at all levels of the organisation. With the ability to remain highly organised in a fast-paced environment with excellent attention to detail, you will be able to identify and prioritise tasks on behalf of multiple cross-organisational teams, work at speed and with accuracy and have excellent IT skills, including MS Office, Google Drive, online meeting software, and collaboration tools such as Trello, Miro and Notion.

How to apply

If you share our passion and this role sounds like you, then we’re looking forward to hearing from you.

Please submit your CV and supporting information via our online application platform.

The closing date for applications is Friday 2nd May 2025.

We reserve the right to bring the closing date forward should enough quality applications be received prior to the current closing date.

Additional Information

Applications are welcome from all, regardless of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief, race, sex, sexual orientation, trans status or socioeconomic background.

We positively encourage applications from people from marginalised backgrounds, including but not limited to those with experience of living in poverty.

We are committed to being an anti-racist organisation and operate an anonymised recruitment process so that bias is eliminated from the shortlisting process.

In support of our approach to flexible working, we are happy to receive applications from those seeking full-time employment, as well as those who may want to share the role on a part-time basis. When making your application, please state whether you want to be considered for either full or part-time work and, if part-time, the number of hours per week you would be looking for.

At JRF we’re at our best when we’re continually building on trust, showing we care and making a difference – and hope others will do the same. So, for those roles which allow it, we’re developing a more blended approach to how and where you work. This means you can expect to work flexibly between the office and home (with an expectation of two days a week in your home office).

We are a Disability Confident Employer. This means that we are committed to the recruitment, progression and retention of disabled individuals. We shall also offer interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for the job. If you have a disability, please tell us if you would like to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme.

If you have any additional needs and need reasonable adjustments to be made to the interview process, please let us know