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Manager

(Connected Futures)
Candidate Pack

February 2023

Welcome letter

Too many of our young people are prevented from finding a job they love by a

lack of access to appropriate information, advice and connections; inadequate

support to overcome multiple layers of disadvantage; or as a result of discrimination.

It is unacceptable that one in 10 young people in the UK are not in education,

employment or training (NEET).

Young people from marginalised backgrounds We are committed to removing the structural

and particular ethnic minorities are and systemic barriers to employment and

disproportionately likely to be neither earning progression young people from marginalised

nor learning, or underemployed, and their backgrounds face. We take an evidence-led,

outcomes vary significantly more by region. This structural and systems-based approach that

has been compounded by the pandemic that recognises the importance of national learnings

caused significant economic and educational and local context. In 2021 we launched our

disruption. As the economy recovers, the Youth Employment Evidence and Gap Map –

benefits are not being felt equally as long-term the world’s largest, quality-checked evidence

youth unemployment remains higher than pre- base on youth employment – that shows the

pandemic. This is the core mission of Youth global evidence base on what works to

Futures – to support young people facing improve youth skills, employment and job

disadvantage into the record number of job quality.

opportunities that are now available.
We promote strong coordination and
Long-term youth unemployment causes long- partnership working across government,
term scarring effects on the individual and funders, delivery organisations and employers.
their ability to fulfil their potential in society. This Our flagship £6.1million Connected Futures
is worsened by the current cost of living crisis Fund aims to address fragmentation at a local
that is hitting young people hard - they pay level to reduce the fragmentation of youth
double on essentials like rent and bills, employment and skills delivery in the places
compared to the over-50s. Yet the personal that need it most, so that young people furthest
and economic prize for addressing this issue is from the job market receive consistent high-
significant. Supporting young people to quality support to address complex needs.
secure good quality jobs is a sustainable way
to tackle the cost of living crisis. UK GDP could

benefit by £38billion by lowering levels of

young workers classed as NEETs to German

levels, according to our recent research.

We have the opportunity to create a

profound change in the way this country

supports young people from marginalised

backgrounds into employment. Improving

employment prospects for all young people is

a crucial factor in achieving national

productivity gains, reducing the benefits bill,

and enhancing health and wellbeing in

society.

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About us

Youth Futures Foundation is an independent not-for-profit organisation established in

December 2019 to improve employment outcomes for young people from

marginalised backgrounds. Youth Futures launched with an initial endowment of £90

million from the Dormant Assets Scheme and, in January 2022, the government

announced that we had been allocated a further £20 million.

Identify Ignite

Our vision Our primary beneficiaries are young people aged 14-24 who
To create a society where all face at least one personal or

young people have equitable systemic barrier to progressing into

access to good quality jobs. meaningful work, including:

This includes: • ethnic minorities, particularly those most at

market (e.g. Pakistani; Bangladeshi;
people who face discrimination or

Black; Mixed; Gypsy, Roma and Traveller)
disadvantage

work
caring responsibility

• improved progression pathways for
• economic disadvantage (e.g. eligible

young people
for free school meals or living in an area

of high deprivation)

To narrow the employment gap by • school exclusion or alternative provision

identifying what works and why, • experience of homelessness

investing in evidence generation • a mental health or long-term health condition

and innovation, and igniting new • experience of problem substance use
ideas that change behaviour and

practice.

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Our values

We are bold champion diversity in all its forms

We want to disrupt the status quo – it’s core to who we are

and transform the youth- We are collaborative

employment system We build partnerships and

We are always learning share power to increase the

We are evidence-driven, we collective impact

innovate and we aren’t afraid to We are determined

fail We are relentless in our pursuit of

We are inclusive a better future for all young

We embrace, celebrate and people

Strategy

Our strategic priorities

We are an ambitious organisation

that wants to tackle the root causes

of youth unemployment for young

people from marginalised

backgrounds. To do that, we will

focus on three priorities over the next

three years:

1 Changing the youth employment system by working in partnership with
organisations, policymakers and young

people to address structural and

systemic barriers.

2 Creating opportunities with employers
to recruit and retain more young people

from marginalised backgrounds.

3 Building capacity with practitioners to support and train more young
people from marginalised

backgrounds to be ready for work.

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Equity, diversity and

inclusion statement

The young people we aim to serve - and the challenges they face - are all

unique. We need to build a team that reflects this diversity, is highly skilled and

committed.

Our commitment to inclusion across all protected characteristics, experiences and

socioeconomic background forms the cornerstone of our work.

We work hard to ensure we have a diverse and inclusive workforce. We use identity-blind

software for all our permanent recruitment campaigns to reduce unconscious bias during

recruitment. We have flexible working policies which are kept under review and many of the

more flexible working practices we adopted during lockdown have been retained. The

recruitment of our team around our three hubs of Birmingham, Leeds and London has enabled

us to attract a greater diversity of talent than simply focusing recruitment in one city.

In building the Board, the Future Voices Group, and making external appointments to the

Grants Committee, we have also ensured our governance and advisory structures contain a

broad diversity of background and experience.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committee within the staff team has senior

management sponsorship and leads the creation of a more broad- based EDI strategy. This

committee has been created to support accountability pathways within the organisation to ensure

our EDI values are upheld. We also launched a staff diversity survey last year which aimed to

understand the sociodemographic characteristics of our staff and be able to compare this information

with salary data.

We also ensure, where possible, there is diverse representation on our recruitment panels by actively

involving wider team members in recruitment activities to ensure we have diverse perspective and

representation.

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Finances
Total expenditure in 2021 was £11.7m

2021 (2020: £13.8m), which primarily comprised £8.6m (2020: £11.7m) of grant expenditure
committed to grantees and other

partners engaged in our delivery and

evaluation projects. Many of our

programmes are multi-year in nature

with cash outflow increasing as the

programmes scale up.

As such, cash outflow in 2021 was £10.3m. By

the end of 2022, we expect to have

embarked on multi-year programmes that in

total will utilise 72% (£79m) of our allocated

£110m funding, with further programmes to

be launched in 2023.

£5.2 million
Grant funding awarded

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Job description

RELATIONSHIPS MANAGER

CONNECTED FUTURES

GRANTS & INVESTMENT DIRECTORATE

Term: Fixed-term until January 2025 with the possibility of extension

Hours: 37.5 hours per week. We offer flexible working and consider alternative patterns of work.

Salary: £35k - £42k per annum

Reporting to: Connected Futures Lead

Location: Preference for Leeds or Birmingham. You will be asked to indicate your preferred hub when

applying. You will be required to work up to 2 days per week at the hub or in Connected Futures

partnership sites. You must also be prepared to travel to other hub locations requiring up to six overnight

stays per year of 1-2 nights each.

Transforming youth employment

Youth Futures is an independent, not for profit organisation set up in 2019 with an endowment from the Reclaim

Fund. We exist to tackle youth unemployment, finding effective ways to help young people find and keep

good jobs. There are over 750,000 young people not in education or employment in the UK. Young people

facing discrimination and exclusion are disproportionately affected.

Youth Futures Foundation is committed to:

• Equipping young people from diverse backgrounds to find and progress in work

• Removing structural and systemic barriers to employment and progression

We are working to close the employment gap by:

• Building the evidence base

• Understanding and highlighting structural and systemic barriers

• Improving the quality of employment programmes for young people

• Empowering government to carry out evidence-based policy making

• Equipping employers to improve productivity through hiring the best talent

About Connected Futures

When we asked young people facing discrimination about their experiences of employment support, they told

us they want a more joined-up and consistent approach, so that they get the right help from the right services

(from employment or education to health or housing, statutory or voluntary) at the right time.

We set up the Connected Futures Fund to encourage these kinds of approaches at a local level. We want to

fund work that builds connections, aligns incentives and fills gaps in support. We also want to remove barriers in

how support is provided, for example through anti-racist practice.

We are currently looking to add a small number of new local partnerships to the Connected Futures portfolio,

led by people from minoritised ethnic communities. Our current portfolio includes a number of organisations

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led by people with Black African, Caribbean or British heritage, but not people with Bangladeshi, Pakistani or

Gypsy, Roma or Traveller heritage. We are therefore prioritising these groups.

We recognise that issues facing young people from these groups may need distinct solutions. We are keen to

create the space and time for minority-led responses. In the initial phase of funding, we envisage that

partnerships will explore how and why current systems are failing young people, identify opportunities for

change, and mobilise people and organisations around a common vision for change. We hope to make

larger, longer-term investments in support of these ambitions in Phase 2.

JOB DESCRIPTION

We are looking for a Relationships Manager to accompany minority-led partnerships during Phase 1, acting as

the key point of contact for Youth Futures in order to:

• support each partnership to make the most of their work in Phase 1

• enable Youth Futures to make informed decisions about Phase 2 investments

• bring local insight and learning into Youth Futures, and to channel information and support from Youth

Futures to local partnerships

You will lead our relationship with a small number of local partnerships led by people from minoritised ethnic

communities – most likely with Bangladeshi, Pakistani, or Gypsy, Roma or Traveller heritage. We particularly

welcome applications from members of these communities as it is advantageous for this role that you have the

relevant lived experience and understanding.

You will work alongside the partnerships to help Youth Futures understand the potential for change, and how

and where we can add value. As well as support and future investment from Youth Futures, this may include

helping partnerships identify alternative sources of funding, develop business cases for future support or

capture their learning to influence decision-makers. You will have the strategic vision and analytical thinking to

assess future potential as well as current progress, and spot these emerging opportunities.

This is an enabling role, which requires exceptional abilities to establish and maintain close, supportive

relationships that put local partners and young people in the lead. You will have excellent stakeholder

management skills, helping partners navigate the tensions between different parts of the system, while keeping

their eyes on the prize of connected, consistent and responsive support.

You will work with Connected Futures colleagues across the organisation, ensuring that we maintain a shared

picture of progress, challenges and learning in each local partnership.

Key Responsibilities

Lead the Youth Futures relationship with 2-4 Connected Futures partnerships, enabling partners and Youth

Futures to make the most of our work together through:

Relationship management

❖ Build and manage relationships with core partners in each local partnership

❖ Get to know new allies / potential partners, and assess the state of local relationships and collaborations

❖ Build relationships with other funders with interest in overlapping groups / places / issues / approaches

Accompaniment

❖ Accompany the Phase 1 process and monitor progress, challenges and lessons

❖ Support local partnerships to develop and maintain ‘whole system’ perspective

❖ Assure Youth Futures of continued involvement and voice of young people in design, development

and decision-making

❖ Develop a deep understanding of local context, systemic issues, actors and emerging solutions

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Insight and oversight

❖ Identify strategic insights, opportunities and learning from local partnerships, and bring these back to

colleagues across Strategy and Innovation, Impact and Evidence, and Grants Directorates

❖ Provide assurance to YFF Grants team of progress and quality of local work in each partnership

❖ Work across Youth Futures to build a shared assessment of local analysis, ambition and alliances, and

potential for local systems change

Additional support

❖ Coordinate process to enable local partnerships to access additional support

❖ Manage budget for additional support

❖ Coordinate additional support for local partnerships, working with colleagues and specialist support

providers as appropriate

Transition

❖ Contribute to developing and delivering transparent process for reaching decisions on Phase 2 investment

❖ Lead engagement and support with local partnerships in transition to Phase 2

❖ Coordinate scoping and agreement of Phase 2 investments

❖ Support local partnerships to make a good exit from Phase 1

General

❖ Contribute to a supportive and empowering culture of creativity, continuous improvement, learning,

collaboration and excellence

❖ Help to ensure Youth Futures adheres to the highest standards of probity and judgement

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Knowledge, experience and abilities

Essential Desirable

Knowledge of key issues

• Understanding of policy and delivery context for youth employment, X

education and wider work with young people

• Familiarity with systems / design thinking and techniques X

Lived experience

• Heritage from a minoritised ethnic group X

Experience of partnership and stakeholder management

• Extensive experience of establishing and managing successful X

partnerships in the public or not-for-profit sectors

• Experience of effectively managing tensions and (potential) conflict X

between partners / stakeholders

• Successful track record of building and maintaining productive X

relationships with key / senior stakeholders across sectors

• Experience of operating in a facilitative / supportive role, influencing X

without formal authority

• Experience of building or supporting coalitions or collective action X

beyond formal partnerships

Experience of operational realities

• Experience of managing budgets / projects / contracts and monitoring X

progress / performance

• Experience of working on service / organisational transformation X

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• Experience of grant making / working for a funding organisation X

• Experience of programme delivery in public or not-for profit sector X

• Experience of youth employment and / or youth-led programming X

Abilities

• Proven ability to foster and sustain positive, collaborative relationships X

both internally and externally

• Empathy and ability to understand a range of perspectives and apply X

appropriate situational / contextual judgement

• Ability to analyse and synthesise complex, emerging information, and X

derive actionable insights and lessons even in the absence of complete

information

• Strategic thinking and ability to assess long-term potential and evaluate X

risks and opportunities, considering a range of issues and dimensions

• Creativity and ability to unlock solutions and encourage new ways of X

thinking and working

• Excellent interpersonal communication abilities, listening skills, and written X

and presentation skills

THINGS TO KNOW

As part of Youth Futures Foundation’s safeguarding policy, all employees are subject to a basic Disclosure and Barring

Service (DBS) check

The young people we aim to serve – and the challenges they face - are all unique. We are looking to build a team that

reflects this diversity. Our commitment to inclusion across race, gender, age, class, religion, identity, and experience forms

the cornerstone of our work. We are an equal opportunities employer, welcoming applications from all sections of the

community.

We are particularly keen to encourage people with lived experience of the challenges facing young people in the labour

market, and committed to supporting you in your application. Please contact us if you require any additional support.

Internally, we encourage an open, collaborative and inclusive working environment.

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home office equipment to ensure you are properly

Summary of Terms, equipped to work effectively from home. A
catalogue of equipment is offered for you to select

Conditions & Benefits the required equipment.
Volunteering days

We offer three paid volunteering days per year,
Probationary Period

pro-rata for part time employees, unless otherwise
All offers of employment are subject to a three-

agreed at our discretion each year (January to
month probationary period. Reviews will be

December) to allow employees to undertake
undertaken at six and twelve-weeks.

voluntary/charitable work. This time can be split into

half days. Volunteering time can be logged on the
Holiday Year

Who’s Off app.
1st January to 31st December.

Personal/professional training allowance
Holiday entitlement

A personal training allowance of £750 is allocated
28 days holiday, plus 8 statutory bank holidays.

to each employee per year to use in a variety of
Entitlement is pro-rata for part-time employees.

methods such as conferences, events, books,
Holiday can be requested via the Who’s Off app.

journals, professional subscriptions/memberships,
We are also flexible for employees to work on

contribution to qualifications, coaching, to support
occasional public holidays (except Christmas,

with CPD, and £250 per head for functional teams
Boxing or New Year’s Day) in lieu of taking a day off

to pool and engage in collective training.
to celebrate an alternative significant religious day.

Please discuss this further with line manager of

Salaries
Head of People.

Paid via BACS direct into bank accounts on the 25th

of each month, where the 25th falls on a weekend,
Hours of work

payment will be made the Friday before. Payslips
Full time hours are 37.5 per week, standard working

are issued electronically via Xero.
hours are 9:00am – 5:30pm including one hour

lunch. Core hours of work are between 10:00am

Enhanced Maternity Pay
and 3:00pm.

Weeks 1 to 26 on full pay, weeks 27 to 39 on

Standard Maternity Pay (SMP), weeks 40 to Lunch break

Lunch breaks are a minimum of 30-minutes . 52 unpaid (eligible at 6 months service).

Refreshment facilities are provided in each of our

hub locations. Enhanced Paternity/Partner leave

Three weeks at full pay.

Flexible working

We offer a range of different working patterns such Absence reporting

as variable start / finish times part-time or Employees are expected to contact their line

compressed hours. Please speak with your line manager and/or Head of People to notify of any

manager or Head of People to discuss any absence at your earliest possible opportunity and

variation to current working pattern or hours. by no later than 10:00am.

Location Sickness absence payments

Each employee will be given a hub location as Employees with less than six-months service will be

their place of work, however there is a requirement paid at the current SSP (Statutory Sick Pay) rate,

to visit or work from other hub locations as where eligible. More than six-months but less than 1

necessary, including to attend the periodic face to year is four weeks full pay, more than one year but

face, all staff away days (which involve an less than five is up to 12 weeks full pay. After this

overnight stay). The hub locations are London, period the below income protection policy will then

Birmingham and Leeds. apply.

Hybrid working Travel card loan

We currently offer an arrangement that allows you The company can provide financial support to

to work three days per week from home (which purchase travel cards. This is then deducted on a

can be averaged out over a few weeks). monthly basis from salary for an agreed time

However, if your home working situation or general period.

working preference means that you prefer to work

in an office, there is no upper limit to the number of

days working in the office. We provide all relevant

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Income protection Group Life Assurance

Provides replacement income if an employee is A policy which enables employees to provide a

absent from work through long-term illness or injury. tax-free lump sum benefit payment, and/or a

After 13 weeks of absence, the income protection longer-term income to their family and dependants

plan provides 75% of basic salary for a two-year in the event of death whilst in Service. Cover

period. provided by Aviva. Payment is based on 4 x basic
salary.

Pension
There is an auto-enrolment pension scheme Season Ticket Loan
provided by People’s Pension. If you meet the An interest free loan for a 6 month or 12-month
auto-enrolment criteria, you will automatically season ticket with monthly deductions from salary.
become a member of the scheme. Youth Futures
Foundation pay an employer contribution of 6%, Cycle to Work Scheme
with an employee contribution of 5% of salary. An Allows you to buy commuter bikes and cycling
opt in to an additional 2% matched contribution accessories through us, so you spread the cost and
can be made with a contribution totalling 15%. making savings through a tax break.
Membership details will be issued to you upon
commencement. You can choose to opt out the Expenses
scheme should you wish. Reasonable expenses incurred in line with the
Travel & Expense Policy will be reimbursed against
Employee Assistance Programme receipts. Expenses can be claimed back via the
A 24-hour helpline with access to a range of legal, Zoho app.
consultancy, 24/7 crisis assistance support and
signposting. Provided by Assured Health. Dress Code
We do not have a dress code. It is expected that
Health Cash Benefit you will dress appropriately for the work in which
A cash plan insurance policy that helps cover the you are carrying out.
cost of everyday health care, such as dental,

optical and therapies. The plan reimburses some or
all of the cost of routine and/or unforeseen

healthcare costs and appointments. Full details of

entitlements and support available will be issued to
you direct from the provider Medicash. Totalling

£995/year.

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How to apply

To apply for this role :

Please follow this link to BeApplied timetable

Questions

If you any questions or wish to find

out more details about this

opportunity please contact:

Lisa Metcalf

Head of People
[email protected]

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