Assistant Director - Impact (2044)

Do you want to create a better world for animals? At the RSPCA, we believe all animals deserve kindness and respect. We work for the benefit of every animal – as well as pets, that includes farmed animals, wildlife, and animals used in science. Choose a career with us and make a difference for every kind.

The RSPCA are recruiting for an experienced and passionate leader to join our Strategy and Transformation team as Assistant Director- Impact.

This pivotal role will drive our organisation's performance, track the progress of our strategy and will ensure we maximise our impact on the lives of animals. 

This is a fantastic opportunity to play a crucial part in shaping the future of animal welfare in the UK.

• Working hours: 35 hours per week - Monday to Friday. 
• Hybrid role: Home and office based. 

Our Assistant Director - Impact will lead both the development and assessment of our strategy and plans; championing data-driven decision-making and providing critical insights to inform the Society's direction. 

This role will be responsible for overseeing performance measurement, impact reporting, prioritisation through business planning, and risk & issue management and for ensuring alignment with our overarching strategic goals.

This is a fantastic and rewarding opportunity; the role is extremely varied; your days will be filled with a diverse range of responsibilities and numerous opportunities to collaborate with a range of colleagues from across the society.

We will look to you to develop and implement a comprehensive approach to understanding our impact; overseeing the use of evidence and intelligence to determine priorities and strategic options. 

You will be responsible for creating compelling narratives from complex data; collaborating with our Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications to showcase the RSPCA's impact. 

As Assistant Director- Impact, you will support our fundraising efforts by demonstrating the effectiveness of our programs. A key part of this role will be to oversee the strategy management lifecycle; tracking progress and engaging stakeholders on risks and opportunities. 

You will lead the strategy development process; preparing materials for senior stakeholders and the Board. You will also lead the annual business planning process; aligning plans with the budget and ensuring they are rigorously tested for feasibility and risk. 

In collaboration with the Assistant Director - Change Portfolio, you will support the development and curation of the forward plans for the RSPCA. You will champion a data-led culture, as well as ensuring data integrity and security.

You will also lead the development of a risk management strategy, fostering a risk-aware culture. 

This includes overseeing risk assurance activities and maintaining the corporate risk register. You will identify and assess potential risks, developing mitigation strategies and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations and ethical standards.

You will serve as a central coordinating support to the wider leadership on ensuring all our work is aligned to our purpose and enabling the achievement of the outcomes required for our strategy.

This is a pivotal role within the RSPCA, so the post holder must be working at this level already and be hungry to progress within the organisation. 

We are seeking a candidate who possesses a strong blend of strategic thinking, leadership acumen, and technical expertise. 

Our ideal candidate will have significant experience in a similar role, at Assistant Director or Director level and will have proven experience of leading a team to deliver against a changing agenda and driving for success.

To  succeed within this role, you must be comfortable with operating at both strategic and operational levels; you must be able to demonstrate that you have the resilience needed to handle competing priorities in a pressurised environment and to have challenging conversations with key stakeholders across the Society. 

You will also have: 

• Proven knowledge of diverse business operating models, transformational change,, governance, and risk management. 
• The ability to identify and manage risk; demonstrating a holistic understanding of issues and their long-term implications.
• Strong leadership, management, and mentoring skills with a proven track record of effectively leading teams. 
• The ability to develop and leverage strong relationships at executive levels. 
• A confident orator with the gravitas and ability to win and maintain the confidence of senior stakeholders.
• Strong partnering and influencing skills, with the ability to engage and influence diverse employee groups.
• A proven ability to show independent judgment, provide pragmatic advice, and deliver commercially sound solutions. 
• Strong planning and organisational skills.
• The ability to proactively anticipate challenges by leveraging data and metrics in decision-making.
• Technical competence and experience in developing data strategies and reporting mechanisms.
• A background in Economics would be a real advantage.
• Experience of writing compelling business cases and driving activity for social change. 
• The ability to analyze complex regulations and develop practical compliance strategies.

Successful candidates for certain RSPCA roles will need to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK - We are unable to sponsor visas at RSPCA

The first stage interviews will take place remotely on the 7th of March and the second stage interviews will take place in London the following week. 

The process will involve a task, two panel interviews and the completion of psychometric assessments. 

Due to high interest in some of our roles, we review applications as they are received. This can occasionally result in positions closing earlier than advertised. Therefore, we strongly recommend submitting applications early. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept applications after the posted closing date.

We want to ensure we do all we can to give you a positive candidate experience through our recruitment. Whilst we do try to give feedback where we can, sometimes due to receiving high levels of applications, this may not always be possible

We are building the future of a diverse Society, and our priority is to support animal welfare by finding people from all backgrounds who are committed  to our mission.  For this reason we actively encourage a wide diversity of applications - in particular from members of minority ethnic groups, and people with disabilities - as these candidates are currently under-represented at the RSPCA. Your transferable skills & lived experiences could make you a valuable addition to our RSPCA Family! 

Should you need any support with your application or interview process please contact resourcingteam@rspca.org.uk / 0300 123 0685.

Our mission is to ensure animals have a good life by rescuing and caring for those in need, by advocating on behalf of all animals and by inspiring everyone to treat them with compassion and respect