Careers
Thank you for your interest in working for the Youth Endowment Fund. Any vacancies will be listed below. To hear about new vacancies, please follow us on Twitter @YouthEndowFund
Senior Evaluation Manager
Reports to: Head of Evaluation
Salary: £50,600
Contract: 1-year fixed term – potential to extend
Location: Central London, Hybrid*
Application closing: 5pm, Friday 3 January 2025
We’re here to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence. We do this by finding out what works and building a movement to put this knowledge into practice.
The Senior Evaluation Manager will play a key role in supporting the Head of Evaluation to lead elements of evaluation work. The post holder will also lead a team of Evaluation Managers, ensuring they have the support to deliver a portfolio of evaluation projects.
The Senior Evaluation Manager will play a key role in supporting the Head of Evaluation and Assistant Director of Evaluation to lead elements of evaluation work. The postholder’s responsibilities will include:
- Develop and implement processes to assess the quality of evidence in funding applications and provide recommendations to the Grants and Evaluation Committee.
- Lead the delivery of YEF’s evaluation work, designing, commissioning and managing complex and large-scale evaluations.
- Be responsible for the ongoing development of YEF’s commissioning guidance.
- Supervise and project manage the team’s evaluation work, providing quality assurance and monitoring of progress against project plans and project budgets.
About you:
- You’re an excellent communicator. You can produce technical documents that accurately report methodological and statistical information.
- You have strong knowledge, experience and technical expertise in evaluation methodologies.
- You have strong relationship management skills. You’re comfortable working with a wide range of people, including senior academics and other research experts, children and their families, practitioners, and policy makers.
Change Lead for Children’s Services
Reports to: Head of Change for Children’s Services and Neighbourhoods
Salary: £53,000 – £65,000 per annum, depending on experience
Location: Central London or Hybrid*(see below)
Contract: (2-year fixed term – potential to extend)
Closing date for applications: 9:00am Monday 20th January 2025
Interview dates: week commencing 27th January and 3rd February
The wide salary range reflects our flexibility to tailor the role to the right candidate’s experience, with the exact responsibilities and leadership level decided during the interview process.
We’re here to prevent children from becoming involved in violence. We do this by finding out what works and building a movement to change things. We need to inspire and connect with social workers across England and Wales to spread what works and make our country safer for some of our most vulnerable children. We are looking for someone to lead on making this happen.
Key responsibilities include:
Maximising the potential impact of new Guidance. Using your deep understanding of the sector to ensure the Practice Guidance is credible, useful and actionable to support senior leaders to better keep children safe from violence.
Leading the effort to build demand and interest in evidence across the Children’s Services sector, including running events, speaking at conferences and curating webinars to bring evidence to life for practitioners.
You will work out the best way to get system leaders and delivery organisations to adopt the recommendations and support us in making the changes happen following the publication of the Practice and Systems Guidance.
About you:
You understand the Children Services sector. You really understand how children’s services work, from Directors of Social care to frontline social workers. You have experience working in/with children’s services, ideally in a role that worked with young people who are vulnerable to or involved in violence. You might have previous experience of supporting a local authority to reflect on and adopt evidence-based practice.
You are fascinated about change and are experienced in making it happen. You have outstanding analytical judgment alongside the emotional intelligence and experience needed to identify the right opportunities for change, then make them happen. You understand why people find change difficult. You come alive talking about how people make decisions and why they do the things they do.
Change Lead for Youth Justice
Reports to: Head of Change for Policing and Youth Justice
Salary: £53,000 – £65,000 per annum, depending on experience
Location: Central London or Hybrid*(see below)
Contract: (2-year fixed term – potential to extend)
Closing date for applications: 9:00am Monday 27th January 2025
Interview dates: week commencing 3rd and 10th February
The wide salary range reflects our flexibility to tailor the role to the right candidate’s experience, with the exact responsibilities and leadership level decided during the interview process.
We’re here to prevent children from becoming involved in violence. We do this by finding out what works and building a movement to change things. We need to inspire and connect with youth justice services across England and Wales to spread what works and make our country safer for some of our most vulnerable children. We are looking for someone to lead on making this happen.
We are making good progress building the evidence of what works within and around youth justice to reduce violence, with new Practice Guidance and implementation resources due next year on diversion, mentoring and sports programmes. But the big risk is that we publish these resources and nothing changes. That’s where you come in!
Key responsibilities include:
Working out the best way to make this change happen by getting more senior leaders within youth justice to use our Guidance, toolkit, research and implementation tools to inform day to day operations and strategic decision making.
Creating practical tools and resources that help leaders put evidence into action.
Supporting the scoping and commissioning of behavioural insights research to support effective evidence mobilisation plans and strategies.
About you:
You understand the youth justice sector. You really understand how youth justice services work, from Heads of Services to frontline officers. You have experience working in/with youth justice, ideally in a role that worked with young people who are vulnerable to or involved in violence. You might have previous experience of supporting a youth justice to reflect on and adopt evidence-based practice.
You are fascinated about change and are experienced in making it happen. You have outstanding analytical judgment alongside the emotional intelligence and experience needed to identify the right opportunities for change, then make them happen. You understand why people find change difficult. You come alive talking about how people make decisions and why they do the things they do.
Area Leaders Programmes Change Lead
Reports to: Head of Change for Children’s Services and Neighbourhoods
Salary: £53,000 – £65,000 per annum, depending on experience
Location: Central London or Hybrid*(see below)
Contract: (2-year fixed term – potential to extend)
Closing date for applications: 9:00am Monday 20th January 2025
Interview dates: week commencing 27th January and 3rd February
The wide salary range reflects our flexibility to tailor the role to the right candidate’s experience, with the exact responsibilities and leadership level decided during the interview process.
We exist to prevent children becoming involved in violence. Our mission is to find what works and build a movement to put it into practice. The Area Leaders Programme (ALP) is central to this mission. The ALP will transform how areas identify and support young people and places most vulnerable to violence, collaborate effectively, and deliver impactful interventions to better protect children from being drawn into violence.
We are seeking an exceptional leader to drive the next phase of the ALP, scaling from a successful pilot in four Local Authorities to broader implementation across England and Wales.
Key responsibilities include:
Programme Leadership and Delivery. Lead the expansion of ALP from four pilot areas to 10 new local authorities from spring 2025.
Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration. Build and maintain strong relationships with local authorities, safeguarding partnerships, community safety partnerships, and other stakeholders.
Capacity Building and Support. Provide strategic and operational support to senior multi-agency teams, empowering them to embed effective violence prevention practices.
Strategic Vision and Development. Work with the Head of Change for Children’s Services and Neighbourhoods to shape the strategic direction of the ALP, ensuring alignment with YEF’s broader mission.
About you:
You are an excellent strategic thinker. People say that you are good at seeing the big picture. You have experience of wrestling into place a strategy for a project or organisation. You are good at thinking logically but you are also creative.
You are comfortable with complexity and ambiguity, whilst being excellent at bringing clarity and structure. This may have been in the context of developing/growing a new programme.
Senior Change Manager, Education
Reports to: Head of Change for Education
Salary: £51,300 per annum, depending on experience
Location: Central London or Hybrid*(see below)
Contract: (2-year fixed term – potential to extend)
Closing date for applications: 9:00am Monday 20th January 2025
Interview dates: week commencing 27th January and 3rd February
We’re here to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence. We do this by finding out what works and building a movement to put this knowledge into practice.
A big part of the movement that we need to build is in the world of education. We need to inspire and connect with education leaders across England and Wales to spread what works and make our country safer for some of our most vulnerable children. We are looking for someone to lead on making this happen.
Your role is to help us ensure more senior education leaders within schools, colleges and alternative provision settings use our Guidance, toolkit, research and implementation tools to inform day to day operations and strategic decision making.
Key responsibilities include:
Developing great relationships with senior leaders and other teaching staff, generating a strong understanding of key education issues, needs and behaviours, and building credibility and trust with the sector.
Creating practical tools and resources that help leaders put evidence into action.
Supporting the scoping and commissioning of behavioural insights research to support effective evidence mobilisation plans and strategies.
Managing new Catalyst Pilot programme grantees. The pilot will explore the impact of varying approaches to implementing practice change in secondary schools, colleges and Alternative Provision.
About you:
You understand the education sector. You really understand how schools, colleges and/or Alternative Provision settings tick. You have experience working in/with an education setting, ideally in a role that worked with young people who are vulnerable to or involved in violence. You might have previous experience of supporting a school to reflect on and adopt evidence-based practice.
You are fascinated about change and are experienced in making it happen. You have outstanding analytical judgment alongside the emotional intelligence and experience needed to identify the right opportunities for change, then make them happen. You understand why people find change difficult. You come alive talking about how people make decisions and why they do the things they do.
Change Lead for Policing
Reports to: Head of Change for Policing and Youth Justice
Salary: £53,000 – £65,000 per annum, depending on experience
Location: Central London or Hybrid*(see below)
Contract: (2-year fixed term – potential to extend)
Closing date for applications: 9:00am Monday 27th January 2025
Interview dates: week commencing 3rd and 10th February
The wide salary range reflects our flexibility to tailor the role to the right candidate’s experience, with the exact responsibilities and leadership level decided during the interview process.
We’re here to prevent children from becoming involved in violence. We do this by finding out what works and building a movement to change things. We need to inspire and connect with youth justice services across England and Wales to spread what works and make our country safer for some of our most vulnerable children. We are looking for someone to lead on making this happen.
We are making good progress building the evidence of what works within and around youth justice to reduce violence, with new Practice Guidance and implementation resources due next year on diversion and focused deterrence. But the big risk is that we publish these resources and nothing changes. That’s where you come in!
Key responsibilities include:
Working out the best way to make this change happen by getting more senior leaders within policing to use our Guidance, toolkit, research and implementation tools to inform day to day operations and strategic decision making.
Developing great relationships with senior leaders and frontline police officers, generating a strong understanding of key policing issues, needs and behaviours, and building credibility and trust with the sector.
Supporting the scoping and commissioning of behavioural insights research to support effective evidence mobilisation plans and strategies.
About you:
You understand the policing sector. You really understand how police forces’ work, from Chief Constables to frontline officers. You have experience working in/with police, ideally in a role that worked with young people who are vulnerable to or involved in violence. You might have previous experience of supporting a police force to reflect on and adopt evidence-based practice.
You are fascinated about change and are experienced in making it happen. You have outstanding analytical judgment alongside the emotional intelligence and experience needed to identify the right opportunities for change, then make them happen. You understand why people find change difficult. You come alive talking about how people make decisions and why they do the things they do.