Centre for London is the capital’s dedicated think tank. We develop new solutions to London’s critical challenges and advocate for a fair and prosperous global city.
The role
Are you looking for an opportunity to lead a forward-thinking organisation and generate impactful ideas that will inform policy and shape London‘s future?
Centre for London is seeking a new Chief Executive who is passionate about cities and public policy to support our committed team and deliver our strategic vision.
Key roles and responsibilities
As Chief Executive your role will vary from day to day, from meeting and sharing ideas with policymakers, to fundraising for new projects, writing persuasive opinion pieces for newspapers, chairing panel discussions and leading motivational sessions with the team.
There has never been a more pressing need for politically independent thought and reliable evidence-led research to guide the capital through the present crisis and the challenging years ahead.
You will join Centre for London just as a new mayoral term gets underway and will ensure our ideas have traction within City Hall through London’s recovery and beyond. You will lead the team as we undertake our largest engagement programme yet through our London Futures review, which aims to build a vision for London’s future with Londoners. You will develop the next phase of our strategic plan, creating a sustainable business model, and will be ready to work with the team to raise the funds necessary to achieve our mission.
Experience and skills
Experience:
- Significant senior level experience with proven ability to inspire, support and coach a team to create a culture of creativity and commitment to deliver a strategic programme of activities that achieve impact.
- Developing, implementing and monitoring organisational strategy and financial planning.
- Growing income from a variety of sources such as identifying new financial opportunities, building relationships with major donors and/or corporate funders.
- Developing relationships and networking confidently with senior-level stakeholders such as policy advisers, politicians, civil servants and academics, as well as business and charity leaders.
- Leading and delivering against diversity and inclusion targets.
- Working with boards, or similar governance structures, and advising and guiding robust decision making.
Skills and knowledge:
- A good understanding of London, cities or urban policy, with experience of advocating
for policy change. - Able to deliver effective policy change.
- Able to bring together ideas and recommendations from across a wide-reaching programme and lead a team in creating a coherent and persuasive message across multiple platforms.
- Able to identify and lead change, and to support others to become leaders.
- Able to create a culture of accountability and hold others to account for their responsibilities.
- Expert verbal and written communicator.
- Able to help others develop their skills and knowledge in urban policy, leadership, and communication.
- A good understanding of finance and risk management.
- Knowledge of charity governance, policies and statutory requirements would be an advantage.
Application information
If you are excited about this opportunity and fit the criteria we are looking for, we’d love to hear from you. The successful candidate must have permission to work in the UK by the start of their employment.
Applicants are asked to submit:
- A blog that would be appropriate to be shared on Centre for London’s website to share your thoughts on the role of a think tank like Centre for London in addressing the city’s critical challenges. The blog should be 500 words maximum, saved as a PDF with your initials as the title. This will be reviewed without reference to your personal information.
- A CV and cover letter, which should show how your experience and achievements to date would make you a suitable candidate for this role. Your file should be saved as a single PDF with your initials as the title. It should be no more than four pages in total (including both the CV and cover letter).
The process will include two interviews with trustees and the opportunity to meet with members of the team. These interviews will be conducted over Zoom or Microsoft Teams, unless applicants have access issues that require the use of a different platform. We will speak with all candidates and will share some of the interview questions ahead of the interview.
To apply:
Please follow this link to complete your application.
Email your two PDF files to [email protected] with the subject line “Chief Exec”.
File 1: Your blog (max 500 words) saved as a PDF with your initials as the file title.
File 2: Your CV and cover letter (max four pages combined total) saved as a PDF with your initials as the file title.
Please note, applications will only be submitted when the form has been completed and your PDF files have been received via email.
If you have any questions, please send them to [email protected].
Deadline – 9am on Monday 4 January 2021
Expected first interview dates – w/c 11 January 2021
Expected start date – from February 2021
We do not want any contact from recruitment agencies regarding this vacancy.