Job Description

The Difference

Every week 109 of England’s most vulnerable children- equivalent to three full classrooms – are permanently excluded. And the true scale of the problem is even larger. Every year, hundreds of thousands experience less visible forms of exclusion – internal exclusions, repeat suspensions, managed moves and unexplained school exits.

Excluded children are likely to be the country’s most disadvantaged: 4 times more likely to be growing up in poverty, 7 times more likely to have special needs, 10 times more likely to have mental health issues and 10 times more likely to be interacting with social services.

Once excluded, life chances are bleak. Less than 5% of excluded pupils finish school with the qualifications they need in maths and English; 50% are not in education, employment or training (NEET) straight after GCSEs. 59% of young people who experience permanent exclusion have a criminal conviction or caution by the age of 19.

To date, there has been insufficient research, policy understanding and teacher training in how to measure or move outcomes for the most complex and vulnerable pupils – for anyone struggling at school, not just those at risk of permanent exclusion. Without the tools to support all students, increasing numbers of teachers are leaving the profession, disillusioned and disempowered.

The Role

The Difference is looking for someone who can support our growing coalition of funders, while helping us expand and develop our programme evaluation. You’ll play a key role in helping The Difference identify how schools can reduce preventable exclusions and better support young people facing challenges. You’ll use this understanding to motivate new stakeholders to invest in our work – whether charitable trusts, corporate foundations or high net worth individuals.

You will feel real ownership over your work and need to be self-starting, flexible and hungry to grow with the charity. You may have experience working in schools and be keen to widen the impact of your work; you may have a background in Impact Evaluation for other programmes; or you may have worked in fundraising or communications for a non-profit.

This above list is not definitive and we’re open to hearing from a wide range of professional backgrounds. We also welcome applicants at different stages in their career and are willing to adapt the role for the right person.

Key Tasks

Development

    Grow and support the community of philanthropists, businesses and trusts which support the work of The Difference

    Write compelling funding pitches and grant reports which allow non-sector specialists to gain insight into our work, impact and learning

    Build relationships and trust such that partners feel bought into The Difference’s ambition and strategy, can feel excited by our successes and aware of the challenges we work together to overcome

    Create compelling presentations of our work through film, photography, and events which resonate with the motivations of our funders in partnering with us

    Stay close to The Difference’s delivery teams, the internal monitoring & evaluation data, the emergent risks to the organisations and the unfolding strategy decisions of Trustees and the Exec team in order to keep our community of funders up to date

    Liaise with our partner schools, trustees, Difference Leaders and teams to organise great stakeholder engagement opportunities for our funders

Impact

    Implement and strengthen our impact collection systems: these span qualitative (interviews, case-studies, roundtables) and quantitative (surveys, monitoring and data tracking) methods

    Collate and analyse our data to diagnose successes, challenges and opportunities within our various work streams

    Support with the planning, writing and design of our annual Impact Report

    Act as an internal consultant with our Programme team: playing back the feedback we collect from our various stakeholders and acting as a “critical friend” as delivery and strategy decisions get made

    Contribute to a longer-term strategy around the external evaluation of our work and the external research we do with our partners organisations.

For more information on the role and how to apply, please see that attached job description.