Head of Strategic Partnerships - London, United Kingdom - FIRST UK

Description

WHO WE ARE

We're FIRST UK, the UK's most epic Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) enrichment programme for young people*- as voted for by robots.

We build More Than Robots
We invest in the young people who will invent the future.

We're a tech charity using robots, role models and competitions to equip young people with the technical know-how and soft skills to thrive.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
A Head of Strategic Partnerships. A people person. An expert relationship builder and sophisticated negotiator.

Someone who can drive forward our new 3-year strategy by identifying and leveraging partnerships which help us generate income, reach more young people, raise awareness, and deliver greater impact.

Through your ability to seek out the relationships which matter you will ensure the charity develops a pipeline of;

• Corporate partners who fuel our programmes with volunteers and funding
• Income generating relationships with trusts, foundations, and philanthropists
• Welltargeted, committed schools and youth organisations
• Delivery partners who maximise our reach and help us scale
• Trustees, advisors, ambassadors and advocates

Your tenacity will help us build a network to achieve our mission better and sooner.


What you'll get
Leadership, autonomy and sense of purpose. You'll be working in a small organisation (currently 5 headcount + 2 interns) which is lean, agile and fast-paced. Unimpeded by hierarchy and bureaucracy you'll have the freedom to experiment, fail fast and crack on. We have a clear strategy and strong operating model.

You'll be presenting a compelling case for support, Long before pandemics we were working flexibly and remotely - it's embedded to our culture.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

Strategic Relationships

Reporting to the CEO, working alongside Head of Impact and Engagement you will lead on all strategic relationships within the Charity.

You'll be supported by two programme officers as well as paid interns to implement - but it will be your responsibility to get the Charity in front of the right people, having the right conversations which result in more schools, more volunteers, more investment and more impact.

Schools Relationships

We work with thousands of young people, mostly in schools - who are designing, building and then competing with robots in a series of epic competitions.

Ensuring that the Charity presents the potential for impact and obtains buy-in at a leadership level is critical to embedding the programme and ensuring the young people who will benefit most from the intervention are served.

You will implement the Charity's strategy for reaching and targeting young people through:

• Partnering with other STEM organisations, charities, societies to cocreate opportunities which get our programme into schools and youth organisations
• Overseeing the creation and quality control of a national delivery partner network to support acquisition and retention

Corporate Partnerships
Young people and their teachers are supported by mentors from industry who coach them.

The charity is supported by generous corporate partners who both fund us and critically provide a rich pool of employee role models who act as mentors and event volunteers.

A number of blue-chip multinationals already invest in us - including XTX Markets, Arm, Bloomberg, Qualcpmm, Raytheon, Disney and others.

Working with the CEO you will help us capitalise on these relationships and build more like them by:

• Providing executive stewardship of existing corporate partnerships
• Understanding the potential to grow or leverage them particularly through referral and introduction to supply chain partners and customers
• Identifying new potential partners to go after making the approaches, getting us in the door and delivering the pitch
• You'll also help the CEO steward relationships with trusts and foundations

Advocacy and influence
We're a young charity (just 18 months old when COVID struck). We have established some impressive contacts and relationships with industry, NGOs, sector players, influencers.

With the CEO and Head of Impact & Engagement you will now unlock their potential via:

• Helping to identify, recruit, onboard, manage and leverage Trustees
• Supporting creation and management of relevant Advisory and Fundraising Boards
• Building and owning relationships with external bodies and individuals who can help increase our share of voice, influence, investment, impact

Requirements:


WHO MIGHT THIS ROLE SUIT
Clearly a people person - passionate, intellectually curious, credible. Able to effectively flex their style to any audience. As comfortable in the boardroom as on the shop-floor. Not afraid to challenge or be challenged - but is considered and balanced.

You might already be working in the Third Sector - in a Corporate Partnerships role and ready for your first headship.

Maybe you are from a commercial background i