We are hiring for an Executive Director

The Charity

“We work to ensure that children and young people with ADHD are understood, supported and thrive.” 
 

ADHD Embrace is a small but impactful community support charity working with families and professionals to improve the lives of children and young people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). We do this through three pillars; providing information, knowledge and practical support, being an advocate for ADHD awareness and empowering those with ADHD. We support those in our community over many years  and have built a reputation over two decades.

Role

The Executive Director will be responsible for the execution of the charity’s mission with the long-term goal of ensuring it is a sustainable organisation with a positive team culture. The Executive Director will be pivotal in leading the organisation through its next phase of development to meet strategic and operational targets.  In partnership with the Board of Trustees, the Executive Director will develop and deliver a clear strategy and vision for sustainable growth.  

Key Responsibilities

Strategy and Delivery

  • Lead the charity in the development and delivery of its services to meet user needs and funding commitments 
  • Ensure that the charity continuously grows their reach and impact by meeting the needs of our community with service design and delivery underpinned by a clear understanding of and empathy for the challenges that our ADHD Embrace community face.  This informed by our user-led approach together with research and insight-gathering. 
  • Collaboratively develop strategy and policy proposals (taking account of strategic and risk management priorities) for Board discussion and decision  
  • Ensure a long-term strategy, business plan and budget are in place to guide the charity in the successful achievement of its mission  
  • Identify, assess and mitigate key risks that might impact the charity  
  • Ensure Trustees are provided high quality, regular management information and professional advice to allow them to govern and determine strategy 
  • Attend and contribute to all Board and Committee meetings, as required  

Leadership, Management and Culture

  • Provide inspirational leadership and motivation to staff and volunteers, ensuring roles are understood and employees are empowered to deliver agree targets  
  • Take the lead in building and embodying a positive team culture that is ambitious and agile, underpinned by the charity’s values  
  • Ensure the charity has a diverse, equal-opportunity workforce empowered with clear expectation, regular feedback, investment in training/talent, appropriate recognition and working conditions, and consistently applied policies and procedures  
  • Ensure staff have the right facilities and IT environment to deliver the business plan with a digital strategy to provide of the best service, support and experience for our community. 
  • Responsible for the charity’s compliance, regulatory and legal requirements, and internal policies. This includes equity, diversity, inclusion and social responsibility  
  • Work closely with the Chair of the Board to maintain a productive working relationship between the Trustees and staff, and harness the power of the Trustees’ input and influence for the charity’s benefit.

Fundraising and Financial Oversight

  • In collaboration with the Board, set 3-year business plan and budget that appropriately balances ambition and prudence, in order to deliver growth, value-for-money and long-term sustainability of the charity  
  • Deliver on income targets for growth in-line with its fundraising strategy  
  • Build long-term relationships with all relevant stakeholders who can support (financially or otherwise) the mission of the charity  
  • Ensure there is effective monitoring and control of income and expenditure in line with the annual budget  
  • Ensure that the charity has robust financial, informational and data-processing procedures, including monitoring and reporting on finances, impact and the identification of opportunity  
  • With the Board, ensure there is effective financial stewardship

Advocacy, External Relationships and Communication

  • Ensure that the charity’s brand and profile continue to grow thorough effective communications to all stakeholders (its community, funders, the regulator and in the wider community), which appropriately position the charity to achieve its strategic goals  
  • Provide credible, trustworthy and collaborative leadership for the charity’s advocacy work, having agreed the advocacy agenda with the Trustees, by having an active presence in this regard in the wider community.   
  • Safeguard and enhance the charity’s reputation in all aspects of their activities  

Person Specification

Experience – essential

  • Experienced executive with strong managerial and interpersonal skills with the ability to understand the operations of the charity and build on its strong reputation and its unique offering to its community.   
  • Experience in a leadership role in the voluntary sector or in a small company with a multi-disciplinary team 
  • Experience at senior level successfully leading complex team structure to deliver services and transformation against multiple, multi-faceted goals  
  • Experience in finance planning and budgeting processes 
  • Experience of working with governance bodies and understanding of serving Boards 

Experience – desirable

  • An understanding of brand management and effective communications more generally
  • Experience of dealing with, and being interviewed by, the media and external, ambassadors and building purposeful relationships. 

Skills & Knowledge – essential

  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills both in informal and formal settings  
  • Good interpersonal skills and ability to work with a range of people 
  • Ability to manage teams and ways of working which maximise operational efficiencies and enhance team work 
  • Ability to prioritise and plan for short and long term 
  • Problem solving skills and creative in finding solutions  
  • Strong organisational and good IT skills  
  • Analytical skills, using data and insight to identify and assess new opportunities for the charity  
  • Ability to look at the bigger picture yet also apply attention to detail  

Personal Characteristics

  • Self‐motivated and a self-starter with energy to lead the charity onto next stage 
  • Confident decision-maker  
  • Team player with a positive, proactive and supportive attitude  
  • Open and transparent communicator  
  • Reliable and trustworthy  
  • Positive, can-do attitude, adaptable, who can operate in a changing environment 
  • Passionate and committed to ADHD Embrace’s charitable cause  

Further details of the role

Salary:                      £45,000 per annum (prorated for 4 days if appropriate)

Benefits:                   Employers’ pension contribution 3% of salary, holiday entitlement 30 days including bank holidays (prorated for 4 days if appropriate)

Location:                  Hybrid.  Our in-person activities take place in and around Richmond and Kingston. Other than for our in-person activities, this initially will be a virtual role but in future, we expect the role to be delivered from an office/shared workspace in the Borough of Richmond or Kingston. Local candidates would be preferred. 

Hours:                     Forty hours per week with some of the tasks requiring attendance in the evening or weekends. There is potential for the right candidate to work 4 days a week (32 hours per week). 

Application:              If you would like to apply for this position, please send a current CV (no more than two sides of A4) along with a covering email outlining your relevant skills and motivation for applying and also indicating if applying for a 4 or 5 day a week role.  Please send to [email protected].  

Deadline:                  21 July 2025