Managing Director (1 yr Paternity Cover)

Summary:

Contract type: Fixed term (paternity cover) 12-14 months. Full time or part-time (minimum 3 days per week)

Start date: late April to early May 2023

About Pocket Power

Pocket Power is a social enterprise founded in 2020 that promotes financial inclusion for people on low incomes in the UK. We do this by providing a free phone service that helps people switch to better deals on their household bills and apply for discounts; reducing their outgoing costs and therefore putting money back in their pockets. We partner with housing associations across the country to reach their residents; our current partners serve over 280,000 households nationwide. So far we have helped 2,000 residents save over £400,000.

We deliver our service over the phone to residents, but are currently expanding to offer digital engagement opportunities. Over the coming year we are looking to grow and bring on several new partners, improve the service we offer to residents and improve efficiency in the business. We are a primarily remote business, with staff located across the country. We currently have a total staff of seven.

We care passionately about having a positive impact on our customers and as a socially-driven business we also are equally passionate about our society, our environment and our staff. We are an equal opportunities employer and strongly encourage applicants from all backgrounds and walks of life. We are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, race, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status.

Role & Responsibilities

We are looking to recruit a managing director (MD) to cover the current MD and founder whilst they are on paternity leave. This is a fantastic opportunity to gain experience in leading a growing social business. You will have significant autonomy and get to work in a role where you will see concrete real-world impact from your work.

As MD, you will be responsible for the day to day running of the business. This will include delivering on Pocket Power’s major priorities, identifying and capitalising on new opportunities for the business and for problem solving as issues emerge. You will report to Pocket Power’s board, which meets monthly.

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Business growth - working with partnership lead to secure contracts with new partners including housing associations and local authorities. 
• Staff management & recruitment - line management of four other team members, leading recruitment of new staff as required. 
• Company culture - ensuring Pocket Power is a rewarding and fun place to work.
• Financial & capacity planning -  managing cashflow, financial model & projections & capacity planning of staff.
• Product & service delivery - setting and monitoring performance and service KPIs, updating our offering to residents to ensure we continue to save them money.
• Media & external promotion - work with social media lead to set social media strategy, promote Pocket Power through the media and external presentations. 
• Managing existing partnerships: work with partnership lead to manage relationships with existing housing association partners. 
• Managing the unexpected! Dealing with unexpected problems as they emerge.

Who we are looking for

We believe the role could be a good fit for someone already working in social entrepreneurship/ impact who is looking to expand their executive experience or to do a role part-time alongside their own venture work. The role could also be a good opportunity for an experienced manager working in a corporate/ government/ NGO role looking to move into the world of social entrepreneurship.

Although there are some hard skills that would be desirable for the role, the following set of skills and attributes are most important to us:

Essential skills, experience & attributes:

• Passion for our mission: tackling the injustice of high bills and the poverty premium is what drives us. We are looking for someone who shares this passion.
• Communication: you will be the external face of the company, leading engagement with potential partners. You will need to be a confident presenter and credible representative of the company. 
• Adaptability & resilience: as MD no two days are the same, you will need to turn your hand to a range of tasks, some fascinating, some less so. We want someone who is adaptable, not afraid to get their hands dirty, and will remain calm when problems arise.
• Organisation & efficiency: we believe in work-life balance and no ‘late hours’ culture. For an MD, there is always more work than working hours, so you will need to be effective at prioritising and knowing what is ‘good enough’. We run the business along agile project management principles and would expect you to have some knowledge of these. 
• Management & leadership experience: we are looking for an experienced leader and manager, with a track record at building a supportive team culture.
• Commitment: we need someone who is committed for the length of the contract, to deliver consistency for the staff and the business. 

Desirable

• Experience working in a social enterprise or small business
• Comfort with numbers & excel, familiarity with financial models, cashflow etc. 
• Knowledge or experience of bills and bill support service.

More information

Website: https://pocket-power.co.uk/

Customer testimonial video (2m30): https://vimeo.com/768153602/65f9609cef