Job Description

About Blagrave

We are a social justice funder committed to shifting power, dismantling oppression, and supporting communities to thrive. We fund organisations and young people creating change, with a strong focus on lived experience, anti-oppression, and systems change.

We are committed to centering the voices of those we seek to serve. Our board and staff team have relevant lived and learnt experiences to help us fulfil our mission. We listen to the communities we seek to serve both directly and broadly to have as accurate of an understanding as possible about the issues that they are facing. 

As we come to the end of our current strategy cycle we are ambitious to explore how we can put our full asset base to work in support of mission and we have some exciting plans unfolding. This new role will be instrumental in ensuring collaboration is at the heart of our next strategy, with our funder peers, young people, the youth sector and local government.

We fund work in England, as well as having a specific focus on several counties in the South East of England. 
 

About you  

You believe in the power of young people to lead change and are passionate about social justice. You’re a natural relationship-builder with experience working across public, private and voluntary sectors, confident engaging at both national and local levels. You understand how to develop partnerships that are equitable, transformational, and that centre the voices and needs of young people. You have a track record in bringing in substantial partnerships in service to organisational goals.

You bring strong problem-solving skills and experience managing people. You’ve worked in, or alongside, organisations going through growth or transition and thrive in complexity. You care deeply about genuine partnerships and have a track record of working collaboratively to build collective power and challenge injustice.

We welcome candidates from all backgrounds and are especially keen to hear from people who can help diversify the voices shaping philanthropic work. We are committed to creating an equitable environment where everyone can thrive.

Purpose of the Role

This exciting new role is about creating connections, building ecosystems and developing and strengthening relationships that power social justice movements. As a member of the Senior Management Team, you will work closely with the CEO to lead our partnerships and community engagement work — creating the enabling conditions and networks that help youth-led movements grow, sustain, and make lasting change.

You will take lead on:

• Partnering with other funders to resource youth-led change, including co-designed and co-held programmes with other foundations.
• Developing community partnerships based on the needs and priorities of the young people we are here to serve - including charities, local businesses, and local authorities.
• Understanding the landscape of youth-led change and social justice work, identifying gaps in support and guiding our investment to help fill them, both at the national and local level.
• Monitoring and communicating the impact of our work with external audiences.
• Ensuring our work is grounded in safeguarding practices that minimise harm and uphold our commitment to care, equity and justice.

Success in this role looks like:

· A stronger Blagrave presence and impact at a local level.

· Growing networks of trust and solidarity across youth-led social justice movements, nationally and locally.

· Greater capacity, visibility, and long-term sustainability for youth-led organisations.

· Strengthened support for collective action and systems change.

· Young people and communities feeling ownership of, and connection to, the work.