Director of Welfare:

About The London Irish Centre

London Irish Centre is the heart of the Irish community in London. We develop and implement projects which showcase the best and protect those in need. Supported by our Patron, Dermot O’Leary, we are the oldest and largest Irish charity in the UK. More than 46,000 people a year benefit from access to our services and events spaces, we engage in excess of 100,000 online and our media coverage reaches millions.

We are a team of 18 with offices in Camden (HQ), Kilburn and West Kensington. You will lead in delivering a wide range of culturally sensitive projects, including advice & outreach, befriending, day centre, social groups for older people, volunteering and missing persons. Our services are professionally accredited and monitored using the Lamplight database.

About the role

You will line manage three service managers (Advice and Outreach, Wellbeing and Volunteering) to meet the diverse needs of the vulnerable Irish community in London. The post is part of our Senior Management Team and you will work with the CEO and Director of Culture on strategic planning, financial management and operations.

Key Responsibilities

  • To work with the CEO on strategy, programming and projects, finance and communications.
  • Provide support and leadership to all areas of the charity including Policy, IT, Finance, Information Management and HR.
  • Deliver strategic leadership and operational oversightof volunteering, advice & outreach and well-being projects.
  • Lead and support a team of welfare practitioners ensuring that they have the resources and skills to provide effective and high quality services to the organisation’s clients.
  • Collect, monitor and report relevant data to analyse performance.
  • Promote the work of the London Irish Centre to commissioners, funders, media and other external agencies.
  • Provide regular reports to funders, the board of trustees and welfare sub – committee.

About you

Working with the Irish community is highly rewarding, but the need is growing and funding this is challenging. In response, we are developing a range of innovative new projects and will launch an ambitious new strategy in the autumn. You may already be an experienced director, or an ambitious individual who is ready for their first senior management role.

Essential:

  • A strategic thinker, able to devise and communicate long terms plans for the charity
  • Good understanding of welfare issues in the UK, ideally London and the Irish community.
  • A successful track record in the delivery of high quality welfare provision, including monitoring and evaluation.
  • Demonstrated ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders
  • Excellent communication skills – both verbal and written, including report writing.
  • Results focused, but a person who succeeds primarily through influencing.
  • Able to lead, support and develop a multi-site team to deliver excellent community focused results
  • Ability to think creatively, to work under pressure and recognise and respond to sensitive issues
  • A strong commitment to our charitable mission in supporting the Irish community in London.

Desirable:

  • Understanding and knowledge of the issues affecting the Irish community in London
  • Experience of working with vulnerable people in either the statutory or charity sector.
  • Experience in developing and implementing successful projects, on time and to budget.
  • Experience in using Lamplight, or a similar database.
  • Experience in outcome reporting for welfare services.

Location

You will be based in our main office in leafy Camden Square, a 5-minute walk from Camden Town tube (Northern line) and the overland rail station.

Terms and conditions

The salary for the post will be circa £36k, and you will be entitled to 25 days holiday per annum and other benefits.

We would be prepared to consider flexible working arrangements, including some home working on completion of probation. You must be either an EU citizen, or have the right to work in the UK.

Next steps

For further information or a confidential discussion, please contact the CEO, Ian McLintock, on or Tel: 020 7916 2222.

Applications by CV and covering letter on no more than 2 sides of A4, outlining how you meet the ‘About You’ requirements above. No agencies.

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