Chief Executive Officer Full Time

Parents 1st, a national charity dedicated to enabling quality peer support during pregnancy, birth and beyond. The evidence is clear – effective and sustainable peer support nurtures the emotional wellbeing of mothers, fathers, partners, and babies, and builds strengths in communities. We have extensive experience of delivering quality perinatal peer support. We also support commissioning organisations (public and voluntary sector) with the practicalities and planning of perinatal peer support, including design, implementation, and evaluation.

We are seeking a new Chief Executive to build on our history and unique strengths by developing our future strategy to grow our services and partnerships to meet the ever-increasing demand for the services and programs that we deliver so effectively.

As the CEO of Parents 1st, you will play a pivotal role in restructuring the organisation following the change in our constitution from CIC to a registered charity in 2023. Your leadership will be instrumental in fostering unity and cohesion, creating operational resilience and guiding the organisation towards sustained success in delivering vital services to parents, families and our partners.

The role

You are responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership across the organisation. Working closely with the Board of Trustees, you will support the mission of the organisation through development of strategic plans and strategies.

You will play a crucial role in creating a positive organisational culture that values diversity and inclusion and demonstrates a commitment to making a difference to our clients as well as working with our partners to realise both our and their potential.

You will ensure the organisation is managed effectively with good governance and financial processes in place, which are compliant with relevant legislation. As CEO you will report to the board of trustees, provide regular updates on the organisation’s performance, challenges and progress towards strategic goals.

The following is not an exhaustive list but identifies the most significant duties which link to the responsibilities described above.

• Working with the Chair and Board of trustees
• Strategic leadership and management
• Stakeholder engagement
• Operational excellence, planning and delivery
• Financial stewardship

Person Specification

Essential experience, qualifications and attributes for the post are demonstrable.

Ability to:

• Significant leadership and management experience, ideally within the non-profit, social services or healthcare sectors
• Ability and solid experience of motivating, supporting and developing people to achieve success as well as personal and organisational goals
• Exceptional interpersonal, influencing and communication skills, with the ability to engage effectively with a diverse range of stakeholders internally and externally
• Experience of developing and implementing strategies and operating plans
• Experience of managing external relationships at a senior level on behalf of an organisation
• Experience of bid writing, securing funds and working with funding partners and grant making organisations
• Experience of growing new projects, services and income
• Evidence of being a strategic thinker with the proven ability to drive service innovation through resourcefulness and creativity
• Evidence of having strong financial acumen, with a track record of managing budgets and navigating financial challenges
• Experience and confidence in public speaking and dealing with press and media
• Evidence of continual professional and personal development
• Resilient, calm and rational in decision making including when under pressure
• Demonstrate a good level of knowledge of charity regulations and of the role of the Charity Commission
• Passionate commitment to the vision and mission of Parents 1st

Eastside People is supporting Parents 1st UK in the recruitment for this role. Please apply by submitting your CV and a cover letter, which should address the points in the Person Specification.

Please note that we will focus on your demonstrable experience and potential in the above areas and do not expect candidates to have experience in all responsibilities outlined in the Job Description.

We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability, and potential. Please contact us if you require any assistance or adjustments so that we can help with making the application process work for you.

The closing date for applications is 9am on Monday 22 July 2024. Initial longlisting discussions with Lucinda will take place that week and interviews will take place with Parents 1st week beginning 5 August 2024.

C1EO