Head of Programmes. Job in London Education & Training Jobs

Santander UK Foundation - Head of Programmes

The Santander UK Foundation is a newly relaunched independent charitable foundation with a single, clear purpose: to improve the lives of the most disadvantaged 16-19-year-olds in Further Education. FE is the most neglected part of the education system – chronically underfunded, under‑researched and largely invisible to those with the power to change it. We want to help change that.

We have three interconnected aims: to transform the lives of young people facing the most severe disadvantages in FE; to help the sector tell its story and create more change; and to be a best‑in‑class funder. Our funding will focus on three programme areas: attainment of gateway qualifications, enrichment, and transition into and out of FE – the points at which young people facing disadvantages are most likely to fall behind or fall through the gaps entirely. We will initially fund in England, focusing on general FE colleges where the concentration of disadvantage is greatest, with ambitions to grow our reach across the UK over the course of the strategy. We aim to fund long‑term, without restriction wherever possible, across a mixture of direct service provision and systemic work. We will fund concentrated cohorts at any one time so we can invest deeply in learning and improvement alongside the organisations we support. We will put young people at the table when decisions are made.

We are a small, deliberately lean team in the early stages of building something we believe can genuinely change things. If you are excited by the prospect of joining at the beginning – shaping how the Foundation operates as much as what it does – and share our ambition for what a focused, well‑run foundation can achieve in a neglected space, we want to hear from you.

The role

This role sits at the heart of what the Foundation does, responsible for both the strategic design of what we fund and the operational management of how we fund it.

This is a rare role that combines both the strategic design of what we fund and the operational management of how we fund it, and the person joining will have the opportunity to shape what that looks like from the start. That makes the job more demanding and considerably more interesting. You will need to be as comfortable designing coherent programmes across our three strands as you are managing the grant relationships that deliver them. Central to our grants approach is a commitment to storytelling – we embed funding for storytelling into every grant, amplifying the voices of the organisations we support and contributing to a louder, better heard conversation about FE and the young people within it.

The role carries significant breadth of stakeholder engagement, working closely with trustees, Santander, FE colleges, practitioners, sector partners and young people, with relationships built at different speeds and requiring different kinds of care.

What you will do

• Design and develop the Foundation's funded programmes across our key strands, ensuring each has a clear theory of change, a coherent set of intended outcomes, and a learning agenda built in from the start.
• Lead grant‑making across the full cycle: from identifying funding opportunities and developing calls for proposals, through due diligence and grant decisions, to managing grant agreements, reporting and the ongoing funder‑grantee relationship. Both proactive outreach and responsive grant‑making will be part of the work.
• Build and sustain strong relationships with the organisations and colleges the Foundation funds – supporting grantees to do their best work, not just their most reportable work, and creating the conditions for honest learning and genuine partnership.
• Build and develop the field in each of the Foundation's programme areas: working with the team to identify gaps in provision and evidence, connecting organisations working on related issues, building coalitions and networks that extend the reach of individual grants. You will work with key colleagues to make the case to other funders for investing in FE. Field building is not a secondary activity alongside grant‑making – it is part of how the Foundation achieves change at a scale its resources alone could not reach.
• Work alongside young people throughout the granting process – from how programmes are designed and calls are structured, to how applications are assessed and grant relationships are held. Participation is not a separate process bolted on at the end; it is present at every stage. The question this role should always be asking is not whether young people were consulted, but whether they genuinely shaped what happened.
• Work in close partnership with other senior colleagues to ensure that evaluation findings, research and grantee learning flow back into programme design, and that the Foundation's funded work is continuously improving as a result.
• Contribute to the Foundation's influence ambitions: identifying opportunities to leverage other funders into areas where the Foundation is working, building the relationships and coalitions that support the case for systemic change, and ensuring the Foundation's grant‑making is visibly connected to its wider ambitions for the sector.

Who we are looking for

You will have significant experience in grant‑making or programme management in the charitable or social sector, with a track record of designing and delivering funded programmes that achieve real change. You will know what good grant‑making looks like in practice, and you will have even stronger views about how it can be better.

You will understand field building not as a vague aspiration but as a practical discipline: knowing which organisations to connect, which coalitions to help build, and how to use a Foundation's relationships and reputation to open doors that individual grantees cannot open alone.

You will be a skilled relationship‑builder, able to hold the trust of grantees while also holding them and us to account. You will understand the difference between a funder that supports and a funder that scrutinises, and you will know which one we are trying to be.

You will have a genuine, practised commitment to participation – not as a box to tick, but as a way of working. You will have experience of involving young people or communities meaningfully in programme design or decision‑making, and you will bring both the conviction and the practical skills to make it real in this role.

You will be comfortable working with evidence and evaluation, not as a compliance exercise, but as a genuine tool for improving the work. You will have an instinct for the kind of learning that is actually useful, and the ability to act on it.

Experience in the education sector, particularly Further Education, is an advantage. However, what matters most is a deep commitment to the young people at the heart of this work, and the skills and judgement to build a grants and programmes function that genuinely serves them.

Essential skills, qualities and experience

• Significant experience in grant‑making or programme management in the charitable or social sector, with a track record of designing and delivering programmes that achieve measurable change.
• Commitment to the Foundation's values and a genuine belief in the importance of FE and the young people it serves, grounded in direct experience of working in or alongside the youth or education sector.
• Demonstrated understanding of field building as a practical discipline – connecting organisations, building coalitions and using a funder's relationships to extend the reach of individual grants.
• Experience of involving young people or communities meaningfully in programme design or decision‑making, with the practical skills to embed participation throughout a granting process.
• An understanding of how policy change happens and a confidence in contributing to influencing work – whether through evidence, advocacy, sector coalitions or stakeholder engagement.
• Strong relationship management skills, with the ability to hold the trust of organisations while maintaining appropriate accountability.
• Comfortable working with evidence and evaluation as tools for improvement, with the ability to translate learning into action.
• Able to operate at both strategic and operational levels simultaneously – designing coherent programmes while managing the detail of individual grants and relationships.

Desirable

• Experience of or familiarity with the Further Education sector.
• Experience working within or alongside a start‑up, newly established or growing organisation.
• Experience of working with corporate foundations or in a context that involves managing a relationship with a parent organisation.

Encouraging diversity

We recognise that job descriptions can read as a wish list rather than a genuine guide to what matters. Research consistently shows that people from underrepresented groups are less likely to apply for roles unless they believe they meet every listed requirement and in the right context. Additionally, an unfamiliar salary range can make an opportunity feel out of reach, even for someone who is exactly the right fit. Neither of those things should stop the right person from applying here. If you are excited about this role and share our values, we want to hear from you – even if your experience does not align perfectly with what we have described, or if this role represents a step up from where you are now. We recognise the value of transferable skills. We are more interested in who you are.

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