Year Here is a platform for young professionals who want to build smart responses to social problems.
Over one year our Fellows learn from, and design with, people at the frontline of inequality – in care homes, homeless hostels and youth services across London – and go on to found some of the most promising social impact startups in the country.
Since launching at 10 Downing Street in 2013, we've worked with 128 aspiring social entrepreneurs and launched award-winning social ventures like Cracked It, Birdsong and Chatterbox.
We're a deeply committed team of 8 surrounded by a faculty of 75 social innovation experts – the great and the good of Britain's social impact world. We care about being first-rate professionals, learning with restless vigour and having fun along the way.
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As Programme Director, you will be ultimately responsible for the impact of our 1-year Fellowship, our flagship programme. We've achieved great things since we got started in 2013 but our ambitions are even bigger. We want Year Here to be the most effective and well-regarded social impact learning experience in the world. You'll be the driving force in making that happen.
You'll craft the curriculum, design the programme, build out the faculty and partnerships and ensure the operational excellence that's required to make the programme truly transformative for our Fellows.
You will be very hands on, working with Fellows every week of the year – whether that's coaching them through the frontline phase, working with them on a consulting project, or advising them on a venture idea.
Supporting you in delivering the programme is a Programme Manager and two Programme Producers – plus you'll draw heavily from the expertise of the CEO and Head of Design. This is a full time role.
Direct the most transformative social innovation course in the world and guide our Fellows journey towards national impact. It's a bold aim but this is what we want Year Here to be. As Programme Director, you'll draw from a 75-strong faculty of social entrepreneurs, consultants, policymakers and activists, as well as the team's own expertise, to steer our Fellows through the most important learning experience of their lives. You'll be very hands on: every week you'll be leading training sessions, facilitating workshops, coaching Fellows 1:1 or advising venture teams.
Craft and deliver social innovation projects and ventures with serious impact. You'll work alongside the Fellows to deliver great work for our partners and clients – from community engagement to public service redesign. Crafting great innovation briefs, you'll strike the balance between giving Fellows an amazing learning experience and achieving impact for our partners. You will also work closely with our ventures at every stage of their journey – from prototyping ideas during the venture lab to building them through our incubator and scaling them with our venture network.
Select the very best talent to ensure maximum impact – now and in the long term. You'll interview and select applicants with the highest potential to build entrepreneurial responses to social problems – joining us from industries as diverse as data science, law and computer engineering.
It will be your job to ensure we assemble cohorts with a brilliant culture of learning and mutual support.
Nurture a diverse faculty and set of partnerships to support, challenge and inspire our Fellows. As the conductor of the orchestra, you'll pull in the right people at the right time to optimise the programme. You'll be the primary point of contact for our faculty of mentors, speakers and trainers, and you'll manage our strategic partnerships with NatWest, Bain, Forward3D and The Funding Network, among others. And you won't stop there. You'll always be on the hunt for new people and partners to join the family, be it for new teaching expertise or startup funding for our ventures.
Ensure that the Fellowship runs like a well-oiled machine, bringing the very best out of your four-person team. You will coach the programme team to maintain a suite of behind-the-scenes systems, databases and resources to keep things running like clockwork – from attendance monitoring to financial controls. And you'll support them to produce the programme – from sourcing imaginative venues across London to getting learning materials to the right place at the right time.
Use your strategic acumen to drive the business forward. The curriculum and the programme design are yours to own and we'll expect you to be ambitious in your goals for both. You'll work on strategic projects like designing an alumni offering, building our strategy to widen access to the programme, and scoping new learning offers for different markets. You'll also represent Year Here's strategic interests through consultancy work, in the press and speaking at industry events.
You're established in the world of social innovation. You've delivered many social impact projects before. You'll be au fait with social innovation methods and models from design thinking to theory of change.
Whether or not you've worked in formal education, you've got lots of experience of facilitating learning and development. You will have significant facilitation experience, whether that's in adult education or organisational development. You'll bring a wealth of pedagogical tools and tricks. You'll be obsessed with designing learning experiences – you love to read around the topic, listen to podcasts and watch talks.
You're a seasoned manager. You'll be confident and competent in managing multiple workstreams. You are comfortable with budgeting, reporting, negotiating contracts and managing people.
You're a sensitive and thoughtful relationship-builder. You're a master communicator: charming, persuasive, a great listener. From pitching for investment to coaching Fellows, you'll know intuitively how to communicate.
You've got a solid understanding of social issues – and a bulging address book of social sector professionals to draw from. From the housing crisis to elderly isolation, you'll be well read and clued up on the big issues of our time. You're also well-connected in the social impact world and beyond.
You're entrepreneurial. You'll be used to achieving a lot with a little. You might have set something up in the past or you're planning to in the future.
You're not afraid of working hard in pursuit of a big vision.
5+ years' experience in the social sector.
3+ years' management experience – with budget and HR responsibility.
Experience of facilitating, teaching or leading teams of people (in any context).
A thorough understanding of social issues and a strong professional network.
Experience of supporting and/or incubating startup businesses.
Experience of social impact consultancy.
Expertise in the use of design methods for social innovation.
The closing date for the role is midnight on Sunday 22nd July although we will be conducting interviews on a rolling basis.
Gorgeous, open plan studio in Hackney, a stone's throw from London Fields (and its newly-reopened Lido), Regent's Canal and Broadway Market.
Access to tonnes of events and training sessions delivered by some of the leading lights of the social innovation world.
A strong commitment to personal and professional development – with a £500 annual training budget.
Tell us about yourself and why you want this role.
Tell us about the most powerful learning experience you've ever had.
Attach your CV and/or link us to a LinkedIn profile or online portfolio.