Join Hearing Help Essex as Our New Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Are you an inspiring leader with a passion for making a difference? Hearing Help Essex is seeking a visionary Chief Executive Officer to drive our mission forward and expand our reach to support even more individuals living with hearing loss across the county. This is a rare and exciting opportunity for a dynamic and adaptable leader, ideally with experience in the charity sector and a strong connection to the challenges faced by those with hearing loss. With demand for our vital services growing, you'll be at the forefront of a dynamic and rewarding environment, balancing strategic vision with hands-on engagement. In this role, you'll have the opportunity to: · Shape and implement innovative strategies to meet the evolving needs of our community. · Build meaningful relationships with stakeholders, partners, and supporters to amplify our impact. · Lead and inspire a dedicated team, ensuring the delivery of exceptional support for those we serve. This position is more than a job - it’s a chance to lead transformative change and improve the lives of thousands of people. As CEO, you'll work closely with a committed Board of Trustees, ensuring the charity’s continued success within our robust governance framework. Are you ready to lead a charity with heart, vision, and purpose? Apply today to become part of a team dedicated to changing lives across Essex. For more details, including the job description, please read on. Appointment process How to apply: Send your CV, with a covering letter explaining how you feel you meet the job requirements by Friday 14 th February 2025. Selection: Following review, selected applicants will be invited for interview. The process will involve some of our trustees and our current CEO will also participate in this. We envisage that there will be two or three stages to the process. The board of trustees is looking to undertake first interviews before the end of February 2025 and to conclude the process as soon as reasonably possible thereafter. The appointment would commence as soon as the successful candidate is available and ideally no later than 1 July 2025. Equality: Hearing Help Essex is an equal opportunities employer and operates an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy. We actively encourage applications from people with a lived experience of hearing loss. All those invited to interview will have the opportunity to discuss any reasonable adjustments required for their interview(-s). Further information: If you would like an informal conversation about the role prior to applying please contact Sophie Ede via email or telephone. About Hearing Help Essex Our mission - A quarter of a million people in Essex have some degree of hearing loss. Nationally that amounts to one in six of the population. Hearing Help Essex exists to alleviate the isolation and loneliness that hearing loss can bring by providing a range of services to the Essex community. Our achievements Founded in Chelmsford in 1986, Hearing Help Essex originally formed to create a local drop-in session for people to receive practical help with their NHS Hearing Aids. Over time more volunteers were recruited and more sessions were added. In 2019 the charity was recognised by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and it was presented with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award available to a voluntary group in the United Kingdom. Demand for our services continued to increase, with significant growth in the charity’s activities in the period after the Covid lockdown. In 2018 Essex County Council commissioned Hearing Help Essex to provide information, advice and guidance services to those with hearing loss on a county-wide basis. Our charity’s funding now benefits from a range of public and private sources as well as our own fundraising and we have good working relationships with commissioning groups and hospitals serving Essex. By the end of 2024 our services were providing over 15,000 support interactions per year. Our hearing aid support service was running up to 30 community sessions per month in community venues situated across the county and supporting over 6,000 individuals per year; and our reach across other interactions such as helpline or home calls and attendance at events now exceeds 9,000 individuals per year. With new arrangements coming in to place in South Essex, we expect to see these numbers to continue to grow. Despite these service achievements we believe that there still significant opportunities where the new CEO can take the lead and continue our growth. Nevertheless, key is providing excellent service to existing users; 98.5% of those responding to our feedback request say that they would recommend the service to family and friends. We regularly feature in local media coverage promoting the cause of those with hearing loss. We have been prepared to invest in people, technology and premises to support our growth and our goal remains to continue to increase our presence across all areas of the county in order to make a real difference to those with hearing loss in Essex. Our team Governance is overseen by our board of seven trustees who have a breadth of experience drawn from diverse backgrounds including health, charity and private sector business. The CEO will be responsible for all our employees and volunteers, being our entire operational team who fulfil our services, reporting regularly to the board in relation to agreed plans. This team comprises 11 employees (both office-based and outreach, many of whom are part-time) and 56 volunteers fulfilling the services through a relatively simple business model which focuses on the different service types and methods of contact for each. Our Services Practical help with NHS hearing aids Information, advice and guidance Home safety assessment service Assistive equipment demonstrations and loans Hearing Loss seminars and training Drop-in sessions and events Signposting to other organisations Role summary Role purpose To deliver the charity’s strategy and annual business plan as approved by the board of trustees To inspire, lead and develop our employee and volunteer team in order to meet our plan objectives To enhance the public profile and reputation of Hearing Help Essex with all stakeholders, partners and media To strengthen the charity’s resilience through new and diverse sources of income Salary: £45,000 to £50,000 per annum depending on experience. Holidays: 25 days inclusive of five public holidays (Easter, May and August). In addition there is a two-week office closure over the Christmas and New Year period. The three Christmas and New Year public holidays are included within the closure period and the other closure days are additional to the above annual entitlement. (Dates of closure and reopening are at the discretion of the Trustees). Hours: Full-time 37 hours per week. There is some out of hours work predominantly in support of fundraising events, run either directly by HHE or by third party supporters. Location: Office-based (in central Chelmsford with ample free parking) with opportunity for occasional limited home working; with travel across the county as required. Critical requirements accompanying any offer Two satisfactory references. Pass DBS checks satisfactorily. Full UK driving licence. Access to a car insured for business purposes in connection with the charity. Job Description - Chief Executive Officer Job Title: Chief Executive Officer Reporting to: Hearing Help Essex board of trustees Location: Office-based in Central Chelmsford, with opportunity for occasional limited home working; with travel across Essex as required Hours: 37 hours per week Contract: Permanent Responsibilities Strategy and Service Delivery Ensure sustainability, through effective governance, sound finance, and delivery of services in accordance with approved plans. Leadership and Governance Provide inspiring and effective leadership and management to the staff and volunteer team, working with them to develop and deliver the charity’s activities. Ensure the organisation’s policies and best practices are fit for purpose and well embedded, effectively anticipating and addressing risk. Support the Board providing them with relevant and timely information and seeking approval for recommendations where required. Work with the Chair in developing good governance practice. Uphold Hearing Help Essex’s values and commitment to human rights and equality, ensuring everyone is valued and equipped to do their job. Influencing and external relations Champion excellent hearing care and support across the county. Enhance the public profile of Hearing Help Essex. Work with the team to strengthen relationships with NHS and Clinical Commissioning Group bodies, local government, and other charities in order to advance our mission. Communicate the unique expertise that Hearing Help Essex has to stakeholders through events and meetings with external stakeholders, to help shape and influence service provision across the county. Ensure Hearing Help Essex is well represented in the published press, at events, and be able to deliver talks to local groups, and act as a media spokesperson when required. Funding, Fundraising, and Finance Make statutory and grant making trust applications in line with our funding plan for the year. Complete monitoring and reporting on current grants. Organise and promote fundraising opportunities. Consult with the Board and Treasurer to generate annual budget. Manage overall budgets and resources for charity as a whole. Ensure timely preparation and submission of the annual accounts and report. Manage the organisation’s budget and financial controls, and ensure the administration of records, procedures, and banking is up to date. Ensure accurate and timely completion of Gift Aid return for HM Revenue and Customs. Line management To lead and manage direct reports and the wider team appropriately, based upon adherence to legal requirements, our policies and best practice. To be visible and demonstrate a culture of engagement across the team, encouraging and acting upon feedback. To energise the team, promoting service quality, training, personal development and knowledge-sharing through both specific events and ad hoc interaction. Know our people and our business metrics in order to resource adequately to meet service commitments, anticipating both workflow demands and shrinkage and proactively allocating or recruiting employees and volunteers to address these. Foster key relationships Volunteers Staff Trustees Service Users Hospital / Audiology Departments Other partner organisations Local media Other All such other duties as may be required from time to time commensurate with the level of the post. Experience and skills Contributing to and implementing strategic plans. A track record of growing an organisation’s or significant function’s influence, ideally in the charity sector. Experience of income generation and fundraising. Effective financial management and governance experience. Excellent engagement and presentation skills, able to build confidence across a range of different stakeholders. A track record of effectively leading cohesive teams to meet business plan outcomes across a range of services. Fostering positive workplace culture and nurturing talent. Strong media and communication skills. Highly competent in all typical MS Office applications. Knowledge Knowledge of the challenges associated with hearing loss. Knowledge of charity policies, practices and legal duties, including safeguarding, finance and key governance matters such as data protection. Appreciation of issues affecting charities, including funding challenges and opportunities. Personal qualities Commitment to our mission and values. Effective, reliable and collaborative working ethic. Confident and articulate communicator with high levels of emotional intelligence. Inspiring and credible leader who motives their team to deliver realistic agreed objectives. Self-starter able to work independently when needed. Aptitude and adaptability to deal with the unexpected. Willingness to occasionally work outside normal