Salary: £106.5k – £124k p.a.
As Chief Executive it will be your job to make sure we always know where we’re going and how to get there. Our theory of change is a powerful combination of:
- Developing and campaigning for radical policy solutions.
- Building power and organising.
- Enabling others to catalyse and embed new economics practice on the ground.
Our Chief Executive will be the steward of our culture and we’re looking for you to make sure we’re a warm and welcoming place to work, grounded in inclusivity and participation. This means inspiring, motivating, and coaching our senior leadership team and passionate unionised staff body. You will also ensure we are financially sustainable and delivering public benefit and tangible impact against our charitable objectives.
Crucially, both the charity and our causes have benefited from our regular presence in significant policy discussions, media debates, and grassroots activism. As both a research and campaigning organisation, we need to protect, retain, and leverage our reputation as a trusted source of thinking on the new economy and a catalyst in progressive social movements and policy change.
While we are a charity that works across a wide range of political views and parties, we are known for taking a public stance on issues relating to our progressive mission, and we need a Chief Executive who knows how to strike the tricky balance of achieving activist leadership that remains politically independent.
Unusually for a think tank, we put lived experience – of both protected and non-protected characteristics – at the heart of our policy development and advocacy. We’d value additional thought leadership here, though there is also a passionate and knowledgeable staff team to draw on.
What you’ll do as part of our team
External Responsibilities:
- Act as a key representative of NEF and the new economics movement in policy debates and public consciousness.
- Ensure that lived experience is at the heart of our policy development, campaigning, advocacy and organising.
- Provide strategic oversight of multiple income streams, developing new funding opportunities and our consultancy offering.
- Build and maintain positive, impactful relationships and partnerships with a wide variety of stakeholders, from community groups and activists to politicians and business leaders.
- Ensure that NEF effectively balances regional policy and campaigning with work and influence at a national level.
Internal Responsibilities:
- Lead a passionate, knowledgeable, mission-driven team, ensuring staff and the communities we work with are aligned with and enthusiastic about our vision, strategy, and impact.
- Play a key role in building a supportive, coaching culture of inclusion, integrity, and participation throughout NEF, ensuring that everyone’s contribution is valued and that we are representative of the communities we work with and on whose behalf we advocate.
- Line manage our senior leadership team and oversee recruitment of other leadership roles as appropriate.
- Work with the Board and senior leadership team to ensure NEF has a well-researched, evidence-based strategic plan that enables us to remain innovative, impactful, and fit for purpose.
- Together with the Board and senior leadership team, hold responsibility for NEF’s financial health and stability.
- Ensure that NEF is compliant with charity governance and legislation, most especially as we are a campaigning organisation.