Job Description

Summary of the Role

Just Like Us, the award-winning LGBT+ charity for young people, is recruiting a new Chief Executive to lead the charity through an exciting period of growth as we scale our operations to support every school in the UK. Over the last three years we’ve worked with tens of thousands of young people and supported hundreds of schools in championing LGBT+ equality, winning awards and recognition along the way. We’ve seen the transformative impact of our work to ensure that LGBT+ young people live awesome lives, but there’s so much more to do. We’re looking for someone who matches our ambition with the skills and experience to lead and grow our small team, working closely with our Board of Trustees, to scale our programmes so that we can reach every young person who needs our support.

About Just Like Us

Our work

Just Like Us (JLU) is the LGBT+ charity for young people working for a world where LGBT+ young people live awesome lives. 

Our mission is to empower all young people to be the champions of LGBT+ equality at school and work. To do that, we run three programmes:

• Ambassador Programme: we partner with employers to train LGBT+ young adults to give talks and workshops in schools that use their own stories to champion LGBT+ equality and challenge prejudice
• School Diversity Week: our annual initiative empowers teachers and pupils across the country to tackle homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic bullying by organising activities that celebrate LGBT+ equality in education
• Pride Groups: a new programme training teachers to support students in establishing and running Pride Groups - student-led, school-based clubs for LGBT+ students and allies

Our values

Like every startup, we’ve thought hard about our values. We believe that a charity must be dynamic, constantly adapting to focus on what works; that challenging prejudice takes courage; and that empowering young people is the surest way to change the world. 

Our achievements

• Trained 190 volunteer young LGBT+ Ambassadors who’ve delivered talks to more than 34,000 pupils in schools across the UK. After our workshops, almost 9 in 10 young people say they will do at least one new thing to support LGBT+ friends and classmates
• Involved more than 1,200,000 young people and teachers in celebrating LGBT+ equality through School Diversity Week
• Mentored 60 young people as part of our LGBT+ Senior Role Model programme
• Won Pink News Community Group of the Year, Business Charity Award, Guardian Change Hero and Prime Ministerial Point of Light. Featured in The Guardian, The Telegraph, BBC News, ITV News, PinkNews, Attitude, and Gay Times
• Partnered with leading companies including Facebook, JP Morgan and Travers Smith to provide training, mentoring and career opportunities to our young volunteers
• Built relationships with the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and successive Secretaries of State for Education

Job Description

As Chief Executive you'll be responsible for implementing JLU’s vision and strategy, shaped in partnership with the Board of Trustees, by leading and managing the charity’s operations. You’ll be a public face and spokesperson for the organisation, responsible for strengthening our profile as the leading voice on issues relating to LGBT+ young people. You’ll build on our solid financial foundation by developing new funding sources, both individuals and organisations, inspired by our mission. Day to day you’ll lead and grow our team of five staff.

Salary: c.£50,000  Pension: 6% matched

Holiday: 28 days (excluding statutory public holidays)

Reporting to: Board of Trustees 

Direct Reports:  Director of Volunteering, Schools and Colleges Manager, Head of Development

Key Responsibilities

• Work with the trustees to develop and execute Just Like Us’s five-year strategic plan 
• Increase Just Like Us’ annual turnover substantially with a diversified and sustainable fundraising strategy 
• Sustain and strengthen Just Like Us’s position as a leading actor in the LGBT+ education sector in the media and by representing Just Like Us at events
• Identify, build and maintain strategic partnerships in the public, private and third sector which will further our work to eliminate homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying
• Lead, coach and develop Just Like Us’s team so they are able to perform to the highest level
• Oversee all operational activities and report to the board against key performance indicators
• Attend, support and answer to the Board of Trustees at quarterly meetings
• Oversee all operational activities and monitoring and reporting to the Board on performance against objectives 

Experience, skills and attributes 

As Chief Executive of Just Like Us, you'll have:

• a clear commitment to Just Like Us’s vision and mission
• experience of developing and delivering strategic plans whilst overseeing their implementation
• proven track record of budget planning and financial management
• proven ability to identify and secure new income streams to enable strategic growth 
• emotional intelligence and empathy 
• a naturally collaborative approach to working
• have outstanding communication, presentation and interpersonal skills, able to engage with a range of stakeholders including corporates, donors, volunteers, foundations and young people
• knowledge of the third sector and charities’ legal and regulatory obligations
• experience of inspiring, developing and leading a team to deliver on ambitious strategic objectives
• the ability to build and grow partnerships with private, public and third sector stakeholders 
• entrepreneurial, adaptable, and innovative approach to business planning and delivery
• knowledge of the UK education system 

Application Process

Please submit your CV and a cover letter (maximum 2 pages of A4). Please also include the names and contact details of two referees who will only be contacted once your permission has been granted. 

Deadline for applications: 6 September

First Round Interviews: 23 September

Final Interviews: 3 October