Head of Venture Development

Job brief

For over 60 years The Young Foundation has been a leading center for social innovations that support a more just society. Today we harness the power of social innovation to tackle the root causes of inequality. We believe that inequality is not inevitable and can and should be challenged through exposing its roots and innovating alternatives. We work with the public, private and voluntary sectors and in communities to strengthen their ability to effect change.Bringing together a broad range of approaches and expertise, The Young Foundation is a rich, creative and varied place to work.

We are seeking an expert lead on venture development among early stage, mission driven ventures. The Head of Venture Development will lead the programme management and delivery of our structured programmes, including the Young Foundation Accelerator and incubation programme for our flagship Young Academy, which incubates and invests in start-up social enterprises tackling educational inequality.

Background

This is an important role working on key Young Foundation programmes including The Young Academy and Accelerator.

What we have to offer

This is a permanent full time post.

The role offers:

  • the opportunity to work for and help shape a dynamic, values-driven organisation working to achieve lasting social change
  • £47,500 - £53,425depending on skills, knowledge and relevant experience
  • access to a pensionscheme with an employer’s contribution of 5%
  • offices 15 minutes from the centre of London.

What the job involves

  • Plan structured programmes designed to improve the impact model, operations and governance of a wide range of young social ventures – our Academy and Accelerator programmes.
  • Enable ventures to develop appropriate and sustainable resource models and become investment ready.
  • Drawing on our frameworks, learning resources and network of speakers, flex programmes to meet changing programmatic needs.
  • Support the recruitment of local teams. Train trainers to deliver our programmes.
  • Lead the delivery of programmes, taking responsibility for the relevance and quality of learning for each cohort and individual venture.
  • Undertake a mixture of delivering focused input, facilitating learning and working with ventures 121 to challenge and encourage them to apply the insights they have gained and take their venture forward.
  • Conduct needs assessment and reviews with individual ventures.
  • Keep abreast of policy and practice debates in social venturing and investment, and maintain Young Foundation participation in social venture networks.
  • Promote the YF role in early stage venture support.
  • Proactively manage donor relations. Ensure plans are agreed with each, and incorporated into the Venture Development Operational Plan.
  • Prepare reports for funders in good time, participate in lesson learning workshops.

Person specification - knowledge, skills and attributes

  • You must have a passion for tackling inequality, an inquisitive mind, detail oriented and strong interpersonal skills.
  • You should have a firm grasp of the needs of young and rapidly changing social ventures, the entrepreneurs who drive them, and an authoritative and confident approach to deploying a range of methods to help them take and make positive social change.
  • You will also have a deep enthusiasm for and commitment to social venturing, the development of good practice in ways that meet the needs of social enterprises.
  • You will be financially literate with the ability to build financial models that are both complex in their ability to reflect multiple income streams, beneficiaries and scenarios yet straightforward in their accessibility to be used by social entrepreneurs in their everyday financial planning.
  • You are likely to have upwards of five years’ direct experience of teaching and advising ventures to have the breadth and depth of expertise for this role. You will have experience of leading the delivery of business development programmes, and will have a qualification in adult education and understand good practice in the design and delivery of teaching and learning. You will be considered very strong in these aspects of the role.
  • You will have advised ventures in a wide range of sectors/issues and with a wide range of business models, including public service delivery.
  • Social venturing is a people focused sector and you should be equally comfortable working with people as with financial models.
  • You will have excellent and proven project and stakeholder management skills and be able to write and speak credibly and persuasively for the diverse range of audiences we work with.
  • A track record of raising funds from trusts and foundations, governments and other sources, bidding successfully for tenders.

How to apply

Please send a CV and a covering letter setting out how your skills and relevant experience relate to the person specification to .

The covering letter should givedetails of your current role, salary and notice period, and confirmation that you are a British or EU Citizen or otherwise have the right to work in the UK.

The closing date for applications is 9am on Friday 5 February 2016. Interviews will take place on Tuesday 16 February 2016.

We regret that we will only be able to reply, and give feedback, to short-listed applicants.

The Young Foundation

For more information about The Young Foundation and its work, go toyoungfoundation.org.

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