Director

  • Job Title: Director
  • Location: Remote working with access to meeting space in London
  • Reporting To: Founder
  • Salary: £80,000 - £90,000 per annum
  • Contract: Permanent
  • Date Closes: Mon 3 Apr 2023
Firebird Foundation-logo

Role Purpose

Lead Firebird Foundation’s mission to address social adversity, particularly helping children and women to live in a safer, fairer world.

Through grant-making and impact investment, Firebird supports projects that improve health, safety, justice, education and employment through a gender and racial equity lens. We are passionate about breaking the cycle of disadvantage, changing lives not just once but for generations to come.

The role of the Director is to work with the founder, trustees and associates to grow Firebird into a leading catalyst and enabler of change. They will be responsible for providing leadership and strategic direction, overseeing the foundation’s assets and deploying them over a range of grant and investment initiatives. Areas of focus include VAWG, the Justice System, Education, Employment and the Arts, primarily in the UK but with some initiatives overseas.

This is a varied and ambitious role, bringing an opportunity to make a big difference in traditional and innovative ways, collaborating with a diverse group of partners from grassroots activists to global funders.

Key Responsibilities

  • Actively contribute to the strategic and organisational development of the Foundation as a pioneering and respected organisation in the charitable and impact investing sector.
  • Support the founder and Board to develop a multi-year strategy, budget and deployment plan to maximise positive outcomes across the Foundation’s areas of focus.
  • Recruit the right resources to deploy the plan and develop a happy, effective team to take Firebird forward in an equitable, diverse and inclusive culture.
  • Identify opportunities for the growth of the Foundation across a range of philanthropic and investment capital means, in the UK and developing markets overseas.
  • Enhance and manage the grants programme, running the application and monitoring processes, developing relationships with our grantees, carrying out due diligence on applications received and making recommendations to the Board.
  • Contribute to building a pipeline of investment opportunities, reaching out to fellow investors, building relationships, conducting due diligence and making recommendations to the Board.
  • Maintain financial integrity and accountability including in relation to income generation and expenditure, providing the necessary management information and insights to back-up decisions.
  • Manage relationships across a diverse group of projects and identify ways the Foundation can ‘cross fertilise’ work across Firebird’s partners, including networking and best-practice sharing.
  • Increase the profile of Firebird through an effective communications strategy, including managing the development of the brand, website and social media marketing.
  • Lead networking with potential partners and thought-leaders, virtually and in-person, including industry bodies, government, researchers, foundations, social enterprises and charities.
  • Liaise confidently with advisors such as bankers, co-funders, accountants and lawyers.
  • Ensure sound governance of the Foundation, including management of risk, and ensuring policies, procedures and systems are compliant with relevant good practice and legislation.

Skills and Experience

Experience

  • Competent at senior management / board level.
  • Leadership of projects and people from start-up to steady-state.
  • Understanding of grants management, monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
  • Understanding of impact investing models and financial instruments.
  • Proven success in strategic development and operational deployment.
  • Building partnerships with diverse stakeholders to achieve shared goals.
  • External communications and profile-building of an organisation.
  • Financial management and control, including budgeting.
  • VAWG sector experience preferable.
  • Experience of charity and company governance.
  • High degree of competence in Microsoft Office or equivalent.
  • Demonstrable teamwork, interdependence, and collaboration.
  • Excellent communication and listening skills.
  • Commitment to equal opportunities and inclusivity.

Personal Attributes

  • Passionate about social change.
  • Empathetic, collaborative and discrete.
  • Professional and credible with a range of audiences.
  • Analytical and results-focused.
  • Well-organised and a self-starter, happy working in a team or alone.
  • Fast-learner, open-minded and ambitious.

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