Careers at the Youth Endowment Fund
Thank you for your interest in working for the Youth Endowment Fund. Any vacancies will be listed below. For any queries on roles at YEF, please email recruitment@youthendowmentfund.org.uk
Welcome to the Youth Endowment Fund’s Career’s Page
We are united by a clear and powerful mission: creating a safer future for children and young people. Our work is driven by curiosity and open-mindedness, we question our assumptions, seek out evidence, and listen deeply to the experiences of young people, practitioners and communities.
Our vision
Our vision is simple and ambitious: a world where no child or young person becomes involved in violence.
Our mission
We research youth violence to understand how and why it affects children and young people; we find, fund and test what works to prevent it; and we are building a movement across England and Wales to end it.
Join us
We are looking for people who share our values and want to use their skills and experience to create meaningful change. If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you. We’re looking for people who are passionate about improving young people’s lives, open to learning, and committed to working together to deliver lasting impact.
To explore our job opportunities and consider becoming part of our team that is driven by evidence please visit our vacancy page where you will find more information about our live vacancies.
Values
At YEF we have a set of values which are core to how we operate as team, we don’t only live by these values, but we ensure that they are at the heart of all the work we do. These values are:
Questioning
Being openminded and willing to test your own assumptions. It involves confidently championing what you know while being honest about what you don’t and acknowledging when you’ve changed your mind.
Collaborative
Prioritising what best serves YEF’s mission rather than personal or team interests. It includes building relationships that inspire others, listening deeply and being able to reflect back someone else’s perspective, and actively helping colleagues achieve their goals.
Transparent
Reflecting on your own actions as much as others’, openly acknowledging mistakes, and seeking and applying feedback.
Responsible
Treating time and money as valuable resources and using them efficiently. It requires clear prioritisation, distinguishing between what is important and what is urgent, holding yourself to high standards, and consistently following through on commitments.
Brave
Taking calculated risks and being willing to try new approaches. Adapting when circumstances change, questioning the status quo, speaking up when you see opportunities to improve thinking or practice.
Empathetic
Supporting colleagues and partners even when you disagree, making genuine efforts to understand others’ perspectives and experiences, and working to recognise and overcome biases.
Benefits and perks
At YEF, we want our people to feel supported, valued and able to thrive both in and out of work. Our benefits package reflects our commitment to wellbeing, flexibility and professional growth.
We invest in your growth from day one with:
- £1,000 annual professional development budget to support courses, training, and learning opportunities
- Organisation‑wide and team‑specific training, including technical skills development
- Virtual Learning Cafés with leading experts
- Race Equity training for all staff, plus best‑practice sessions led by internal team
We know rest matters and want to ensure that you are able to balance work with important time off away from work.
- 25 days annual leave, 3 days end of year shut down, plus Bank Holidays
- Enhanced occupational sick pay
- 4 half‑days per year for volunteering or charitable work
- A full range of statutory leave, including:
- Maternity, Paternity, Adoption
- Shared Parental Leave
- Parental leave
- Compassionate leave
- Dependency leave
We trust you to work in the way that works best for you.
- Flexible working hours, with core working hours from 10am–4pm
- Flexible working requests supported to help you balance work and life
- Hybrid working:
- Office‑based staff: 2 days per week in the London office
- Home‑based staff: 2 days per month in the office
- Ability to work between 8am–6pm, agreed with your line manager
- Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) — 24/7 confidential support
- Flu vaccine reimbursement (one per year)
- Eye test voucher, including up to £65 towards glasses
- Competitive pay, benchmarked within ±5% of the upper quartile in the charity sector
- 5% employer pension contribution, with the option to contribute 3–15%
- Interest-free welfare loan (up to one month’s take-home pay) for short-term financial diffiulties
- Interest-free travel-to-work loan (up to £2,500) for season tickets or cycling equipment
- Death in service benefit – 4x annual salary, tax-free
Life at YEF
There are many opportunities to get to know your colleagues, or learn what’s happening across teams:
Once a month, we have a dedicated in‑office day where more of the team comes together to work side by side. These days naturally create more opportunities for connection, and we often build in social activities that help strengthen relationships across teams.
On our Team Away Day’s hosted in London once a quarter, brings everyone together to collaborate, contribute to organisational strategy, and hear updates on the work happening across YEF. It’s a full, energising day with lunch provided and it always ends with time to socialise and unwind with colleagues. It’s a great example of how we balance meaningful work with genuine connection.
- Coffee Catch Ups: Monthly you’re paired up with a colleague at random for an informal chat over a cup of coffee (or any beverage of choice!).
- Lunch club: Once a month we get together for an extended lunch break and a chat.
- Book Club: Every couple of months we meet to discuss our particular thoughts and feelings on a selected book.
- Board game Club: Meeting once a quarter we will book an hour after work to unwind and play board games.
- REDI: Race Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Group of YEF colleagues who meet month to look after each other’s wellbeing and discuss race equity in our fund’s work.
- YEF Connection Group: Internal working group of team members who volunteer to make the culture at YEF the best it can be, by hosting events and opportunities to connect. you need help planning a social event for the team.
“YEF is a fantastic place to work. It is challenging in all the right ways and no two days feel the same. We’re working towards an important mission that I’m hugely passionate about and I’m grateful to be part of the organisations journey to finding out what works to prevent serious youth violence.”
Programme and Impact Lead
“One of the best elements of life at YEF is the opportunity to learn from experienced practitioners across a wide range of sectors supporting young people. Our team includes former police officers, youth justice leaders, school leaders and more—each bringing unique skills and perspectives that create rich, ongoing learning opportunities.“
Senior Change Manager
“I enjoy working for YEF primarily because of how energising it is to work alongside colleagues who throw themselves so enthusiastically into achieving our mission – it’s so infectious. Each team brings a tailored set of skills and perspectives around how to reduce youth violence, and this means there are a plethora of opportunities to grow and develop – around research methods, changing policy, understanding young people and practitioners – to name but a few. And the culture is excellent! Everyone is so willing to help and support one-another in their goals. I’d highly recommend working at YEF to anyone.”
Programme and Impact Lead