Role Overview
What will be my main contribution?
This is a rare opportunity for an inspirational leader, adept at strategic thinking and with a passion for Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s vision and values to join us and to make a lasting difference to the lives of individuals and communities across the UK and in India.
Working closely with the Chair, trustees and staff of Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the Chief Executive is responsible for the overall leadership and direction of the Foundation and ensuring it delivers on its aspirations and strategies, as agreed by and with the Board of Trustees.
After a period of very significant growth, PHF is now one of the UK’s biggest charitable foundations. In 2023/24, we will make grants of about £41m generated from an endowment worth about £900m. Our trustees are considering a significant release of capital from 2024/2025 onwards and are currently scoping potential priorities for additional expenditure.
PHF’s committed team work hard to consider how and where we can deliver on our ambitions most effectively. Leading them will require a keen understanding of what a philanthropic funder in the 21st century can and should be. You will work with our Investment Director to consider how best to steward our investments, and with the Director of Grants and Senior Leadership Team on how best to deploy our resources to create opportunities and to shape programmes that contribute to positive societal change.
You will lead a strategic review of PHF’s activities in 2025/2026, supported by our Director of Strategic Learning, Insight and Influence. This review will help shape the development of a new five-year plan for PHF. You will have the experience and agility to adapt PHF’s offer in the light of what we have learned and the resources that are available. Experience of leading, or playing a significant role in, the management of organisational change would be beneficial.
You will have a nuanced commitment to our work on diversity, equity and inclusion and will ensure we live up to our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation. You will work alongside our Chief Operating Officer and Director of People and Culture to achieve the high standards we set ourselves. You will have the openness and aptitude to learn from best practice elsewhere in the field of contemporary philanthropy, nationally and internationally, and a strong interest in partnering with, and influencing others.
You will benefit from the high regard that our many partners and stakeholders have for the Foundation. PHF enjoys a reputation for its outstanding professionalism and integrity which enables it to support a wide range of philanthropic activities. You will have an important role as ambassador for the Foundation and advocator for the work we do, contributing to a range of public events, and on broadcast and other media.
As a line manager, you will support an ethos of distributed leadership and collaborative working through shared objectives and learning. You will play a key role in creating a culture in which the team feel supported and challenged in equal measure, and in which they thrive, to deliver their personal and team objectives, achieve personal satisfaction in their work and can see and value the impact that it is having.
Who will I report to?
You will report to the Chair of the Board of Trustees.
Who will I line manage?
You will line manage the Chief Operating Officer, the Investment Director, the Director of Grants, the Director of Strategic Learning, Insight and Influence, the Director of People and Culture, the Director of the India programme and an Executive Assistant. You will be expected to work in a fully interconnected structure that relies on collaboration, flexibility, and the ability to operate within both formal and informal reporting relationships.
What other key internal relationships will I have?
The Chief Executive works closely with the Foundation’s Chair and Trustees.
What level of budget responsibility will I have?
The endowment is currently worth c£900m. Total expenditure in 2023/2024 will be £71m (nb this figure includes several major one-off spending commitments).
Main Responsibilities
Strategy, planning and governance
- Ensure Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s vision and mission remains relevant, equitable, and responsive, working in partnership with the Board of Trustees, the Senior Leadership Team and the wider PHF team.
- Provide overall organisational leadership, working with the Senior Leadership Team to ensure the effective planning and management of the Foundation’s resources to deliver the agreed business plan.
- Work with the Chair to ensure the Board is fully engaged, develop strong relationships with the trustees and keep them fully informed of relevant regulatory, philanthropic and sector developments.
Leadership and management
- Provide inclusive overall leadership, inspiring confidence in and commitment to the future development of the organisation and, with the Director of People and Culture, creating a positive culture in which diversity, equity and inclusion is championed, and people are valued and supported.
- Support and develop the Senior Leadership Team to take collective ownership of strategy, policy, decision-making and communication, to embed a unified approach across organisational goals.
- Working with the Chief Operating Officer and the Investment Director, take responsibility for the financial management and probity of Paul Hamlyn Foundation and its invested funds and ensure appropriate systems and processes in place to monitor and deliver operational performance.
External profile and relationships
- Be a strong ambassador for Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the role it plays in philanthropy and in the sectors where it has expertise and relationships.
- Maintain our reputation as a thought leader within the ecosystems in which we are active grant makers and advocates.
- Develop positive strategic relationships with key influential stakeholders and organisations.
Grant-making, and programmes
- Overall accountability for ensuring appropriate grant-making policies and processes are in place, working with the Director of Grants to facilitate robust and effective modern grant-making that meet the short- and long-term ambitions of the Foundation.
- Support the Foundation’s reputation as innovators in grant making, building mutually respectful relationships with all the organisations we fund, partner with and commission.
- Overall accountability for ensuring the impact is measured and understood, working with the Director of Strategic Learning, Insight, and Influence to build and share our data, knowledge, and experience and to learn from it.
