CEO

Reference: HQ00180699

Location: London

Salary: £100,000

Contract type: Permanent

Date closing: 12/05/2022

A student from a disadvantaged background who gains a first-class degree from a top university is less likely to secure an elite job than a more privileged student with a 2.2.

Social mobility is a big problem in the UK and the top professions continue to be dominated by those who went to private schools. More students than ever from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds attend university but this has not translated to increased income or enrolment in competitive graduate programmes at leading firms.

upReach's vision is of a society in which everybody has an equal opportunity to realise their full career potential, regardless of social background. We take a double benefit approach to addressing this social mobility challenge.

We help young people achieve their career potential by providing an intensive programme of support that addresses socioeconomic barriers to employment.

We also work to influence the hiring behaviours of top organisations so that a commitment to equal opportunity permeates their organisational culture and they recognise the social and economic value of greater diversity within their workforce.

Founded in 2012 with an initial cohort of 39 students, upReach has grown into an award-winning charity supporting nearly 3,000 students in 2021/22. Our 2022-25 Strategy envisages further growth to 4,000 students on our core programmes by 2025, with other less intensive initiatives enabling us to reach a total of 25,000 young people annually.

We are looking for an inspirational leader to sustainably grow upReach to its next level of impact by significantly increasing the number of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds that we support and increasing our impact for each young person we work with.

Working closely with the Board and building on our award-winning reputation, the CEO will have the opportunity to further develop our growth strategy. For our core programmes, this will include regional expansion outside the South East, extending our university and employer partnerships, further diversifying our funding base and reviewing the content of our programmes to improve their effectiveness and impact. We also aim to grow our less intensive programmes of support to schools and alumni, promote our online Social Mobility Network and develop the commercial potential of our Real Rating contextualised recruitment platform

The CEO will provide the leadership and resources for our young passionate team, enabling them to achieve the best in their roles. They will provide visible and supportive leadership as we continue to grow our staff team to increase our reach, whilst ensuring our culture and values remain key.

In order to continue to develop and provide the best possible service for young people, we are looking for an individual with:

Effective leadership experience in a growth environment at CEO or senior Director level

Proven commercial mindset, preferably honed in business and/or social enterprise sectors at some stage

Experience of building solid relationships and credibility with a broad range of stakeholders - from the C-suite of our partners and funders to our young staff team and our associates

Our goal is to ensure that every student who is eligible for our support in the UK is aware of upReach and our work. In 2021, approximately 52% of our Associates were female and 72% were from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

upReach is an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate in employment matters on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability, social background or any other protected class. We support workplace diversity and believe it creates dynamic and effective organisations. We are working hard to increase diversity in our team and encourage applications from all with protected characteristics. We particularly welcome applications from Black candidates, candidates of colour and women.

We are committed to making our roles and culture inclusive. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the application and interview process. We offer all employees the opportunity to have their own reasonable adjustments plan if required during their time at upReach.