Outreach and Engagement Manager

Location: Home-based in the UK - Manchester or Leeds - with regular travel across the UK and occasional international travel as required.

Salary: £30,000-£34,000 per annum, depending on experience (pro rata for 0.8 FTE)

Contract: Fixed Term until July 2028, full-time or 0.8 FTE 

Working pattern: We offer a fully flexible working environment.

Annual leave: 25 days of annual leave per annum, plus 3 additional days over Christmas.

Additional benefits: Comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).

The role

We are looking for an experienced Outreach & Engagement Manager to play a key role in growing Common Purpose’s work with diverse young people and university students.

This is a hands-on, outward-facing role. You will be responsible for finding and engaging the young people, partners, organizations and contributors we need to make our programmes happen - from working with youth organizations to identifying young people who could benefit from an opportunity, to persuading an organization or senior leader to contribute their time and perspective to a programme.

Our programmes take young people and students beyond their usual environment, exposing them to different places, people and perspectives. Participants learn by encountering real situations, exploring different perspectives, reflecting on what they have experienced and considering what it means for their own lives and futures.

A significant part of your role will be looking outwards and making things happen. You will identify the organizations, communities and individuals who can bring the right perspectives and experiences to a programme, approach them and secure their involvement. You will build relationships with youth organizations, universities and other partners and work through those relationships to reach and recruit young people and students for relevant opportunities.

This requires more than being a good relationship builder. You will need to be proactive and persistent: able to identify who we need to reach, make a compelling case for getting involved, follow up and turn an initial conversation into a commitment.

You will be equally comfortable approaching a youth organization you have never worked with, engaging a group of young people or persuading a senior leader to give their time to a programme.

The role will also involve working directly with groups of young people and students. Experience of bringing young people together, engaging groups or creating inclusive spaces for participation would be particularly valuable. Over time, we would like you to develop as a Common Purpose facilitator, independently facilitating elements of our programmes both in person and online. Previous facilitation experience would be an advantage, but we can support the right person to develop this capability.

You will work as part of a small, dedicated, home-based team alongside programme, learning and partnership colleagues, working collaboratively to create and deliver high-quality Next Generation programmes.

What you’ll be doing

• Finding the right people and organizations for our programmes – researching organizations, communities, leaders and other individuals who can bring relevant and diverse perspectives, experiences and opportunities to our learning.
• Securing contributors and partners – making proactive approaches, communicating the purpose and value of getting involved, following up and securing commitments from people and organizations to contribute to our programmes.
• Creating experiential learning opportunities – identifying and securing organizational visits, place-based experiences and engagement with communities that expose participants to different environments, people and perspectives.
• Briefing and supporting contributors – working with contributors so they understand the purpose of their involvement and can create meaningful learning rather than simply providing a presentation or organizational introduction.
• Convening and engaging groups of young people / students – creating inclusive environments in which young people and students feel welcome, able to participate and confident engaging with others from different backgrounds and experiences.
• Developing as a Common Purpose facilitator – building the skills and confidence to facilitate elements of our programmes independently, both in person and online, with support and development from experienced colleagues.
• Reaching and recruiting young people – working with youth organizations, universities and other partners to identify and engage young people and students who could benefit from our programmes and converting interest into participation.
• Building a strong network of youth and education partners – identifying and developing relationships with organizations that can help us reach diverse groups of young people and create opportunities for them to participate in our work.
• Working collaboratively on programme delivery – working with programme and partnership colleagues to understand what each programme needs and ensuring the right participants, contributors and experiences are in place.
• Contributing to programme development and improvement – bringing insight from young people, partners, contributors and external networks into the continued development of our Next Generation programmes.
• Representing Common Purpose – building trusted relationships with young people, clients, contributors and partners while maintaining Common Purpose’s independence and values.

What you’ll bring

We are looking for someone who is naturally outward-facing and gets energy from making things happen. You will enjoy finding and approaching new people, creating opportunities and turning conversations into action.

You will bring:

• Strong outreach and engagement experience – experience of proactively identifying and engaging people or organizations and successfully securing their participation, involvement or support.
• The ability to make a compelling approach – confidence communicating why an opportunity matters, adapting the proposition to different audiences and persuading people to get involved.
• Persistence and follow-through – comfortable working towards clear outreach or recruitment goals, following up leads and continuing to find new routes when an initial approach does not work.
• Experience engaging young people or students – an ability to build rapport and trust with young people and / or students from different backgrounds, experiences and levels of confidence.
• Confidence bringing people together – experience of convening, engaging or working with groups and creating environments in which people feel able to participate and contribute.
• Confidence engaging people at all levels – from young people and community organizations to university colleagues, employers and senior leaders.
• Energy, curiosity and external orientation – a genuine interest in people, organizations, places and the wider world, and an instinct for finding the people and perspectives that can create opportunities and bring learning to life.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills – including the ability to listen, ask good questions, communicate confidently and build trusted relationships.
• Autonomy and judgement – the ability to take responsibility for outcomes, use your initiative and make things happen without requiring close supervision.
• Organization and adaptability – the ability to manage multiple prospects, relationships and priorities, keep track of follow-up and respond when plans or circumstances change.

Highly desirable

• Experience of working with young people or university students, particularly within youth outreach, youth participation, student engagement or experience, widening participation, employability or community engagement.
• Experience of convening groups of young people or students and enabling them to participate, connect and contribute.
• Experience working across sectors and cultures.

All applicants must also

• Have excellent written English, oral communication and interpersonal skills.
• Be comfortable working independently while also contributing actively to a collaborative team.
• Be able to manage a varied workload and competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Be willing and able to travel regularly across the UK, including - where necessary - outside normal working hours.
• Be committed to Common Purpose’s independent and non-aligned approach to programme experiences.
• Be able to demonstrate their facilitation experience through relevant examples or other evidence of practice.

What we offer

• Purpose – the opportunity to create meaningful learning experiences for young people and students as they navigate education, work and life.
• Variety – exposure to different sectors, cultures, organizations, communities and perspectives through your work.
• Growth – opportunities to continue developing your facilitation and engagement practice, alongside access to internal learning and development opportunities.
• Responsibility – meaningful responsibility and autonomy from day one.
• Flexibility – flexible, home-based working.
• A global network – the opportunity to work with colleagues, participants and partners across different countries and contexts.

About Common Purpose

Common Purpose is a global non-profit organization that develops people to navigate the complexity, influence and competing interests that shape the world around them.

Our work is built around three disciplines:

1. Navigating complexity – sensing, interpreting and acting on what is changing in the world.
2. Navigating influence – staying accountable to the consequences of the power you hold.
3. Navigating legitimacy – having, and granting others, the ground and courage to challenge across boundaries that are not theirs to control.

We bring these disciplines to life through experiential learning. Participants encounter different perspectives, enter unfamiliar environments, engage with people and organizations beyond their usual experience, and work through real questions and situations. Our programmes create the conditions for people to test their assumptions, understand the consequences of their decisions and develop the confidence to act differently.

Our Next Generation work builds on this experience to create opportunities for young people and students to develop the confidence, capabilities and connections they need to navigate education, work and life.

Next Steps

If you are an experienced facilitator who enjoys connecting with people, building networks and creating learning experiences for young people and students, we would love to hear from you.

Please send us your CV and a cover letter explaining why you are interested in the role and what you would bring to Common Purpose, including evidence of your experience of building relationships with different audiences and stakeholders, and any previous facilitation experience if relevant.

Common Purpose is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and will consider candidates based on the relevance of their skills, experience and potential.

If you have any access requirements during the recruitment process, please contact us at hr@commonpurpose.org.