Chief Executive

The vacancy

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award exists to support young people to build life-long belief in themselves; supporting them to take on their own challenges, follow their passions, and discover talents they never knew they had.

Today’s young people are facing a perfect storm of challenges, and it is our ambition that every young person should have the opportunity to develop the essential skills, self-belief and resilience they will need to thrive in life and in work.

We are looking for an Executive Director of UK Operations to join our dynamic team. You will play a vital role in delivering our ambitious growth strategy, leading a team over 200 operational staff to reach 1.6m participants by 2026 and remove barriers to access for the most marginalised and excluded young people.

You will be accountable for the design of the DofE Programme, licensing, training and quality-assuring our Licensed Organisations as well as overseeing our multi-million pound strategic growth programmes, and our £2m+ Resilience Fund that provides grants and bursaries to remove barriers to access.

As a member of DofE’s Executive Leadership Team, you will also contribute to the overall strategic and operational leadership of DofE, working collaboratively with senior colleagues to ensure DofE activity is aligned behind our strategy and modelling our values and behaviours.

About you

You will be an exceptional leader of operational teams who has worked at executive level and can provide empowering and motivational leadership to a Directorate of over 200 field-based staff, and our network of 5,000 Licensed Organisations and 40,000 incredible volunteers leaders.

Highly collegiate, with a ‘can do’ attitude and knack for developing impactful and innovative partnerships, you will be an authentic and inspiring leader who is adept at turning strategic vision into practical action.

You will be passionate about the power and potential of young people, and be strongly customer- and impact-focused, always seeking ways to improve the quality of operational delivery and participant experience. You will have a track record of building organisational cultures where safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, diversity is celebrated, and everyone is empowered and enabled to be the best they can be.

If you have a passion to improve the lives of young people, and the experience and drive to lead an exceptional team of Operations staff to expand DofE’s reach and ensure every young person has a high-quality, impactful DofE experience, we would love to hear from you.

Closing date for all applications: Sunday 14th July - Midnight.

First interview: Week commencing:  15th  July - to be held via Microsoft Teams

Second Interviews: Week commencing: 22nd July - to be held at the DofE London Offices SE1

Additional interviews or conversations may take place week commencing 29th July. 

If you would like to access the application form in a different format or if you would like any assistance that might help improve your experience while completing the application, please contact us.

The DofE are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people. All successful applicants will be required to undergo an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check (e.g., DBS/PVG or similar),  references covering any gaps of employment/education, confirm eligibility to work in the UK and complete a health check.

The geographical allowance is based on a staff member having a home or office-based postcode within 30 miles (as the crow flies) from Charing Cross, WC2N 5HS. The allowance is 7% capped at £4,000 (pro rata) per annum