Managing Director - PACE - Camden - Play, Adventure, Community & Enrichment

Salary: £65,000 - £70,000 per annum

Location: Camden, London

Closing Date: Thursday 2nd April 2026

Interviews: w/c 13th April 2026 (in person)

We are recruiting on behalf of a PACE Camden - Play, Adventure, Community & Enrichment.

This dynamic, grassroots charity have been transforming the lives of children and families for over a decade. Operating across three vibrant play centres, PACE deliver inclusive early years education, after-school and holiday play schemes, mentoring, and specialist support for children and young people with disabilities. Their mission is simple yet powerful: to create safe, engaging spaces where every child can thrive and play.

What sets PACE apart from most nurseries or schools is our unwavering belief in the power of play. Our services are designed around a play‑centred philosophy that puts children’s curiosity, autonomy and emotional wellbeing first, creating environments where every child can thrive on their own terms.

As Managing Director, you will be both the strategic and operational lead, driving innovation and growth while ensuring excellence in service delivery. Reporting to a committed Board of Trustees, you’ll oversee a talented team across three locations and work closely with partners, commissioners, and stakeholders to expand impact and develop new income streams.

We are looking for a commercially minded leader with a strong track record in play work, youth work with experience of EYFS provision. You’ll combine strategic vision with hands-on leadership, ensuring compliance, safeguarding, and financial sustainability while inspiring your team to deliver outstanding outcomes for children and families.

Key qualities we’re seeking:

• Senior leadership experience across services for children and young people, including play work, youth work, nursery management, and EYFS provision, within education, care, or community contexts.
• Proven ability to develop services and generate income.
• Strong financial acumen and operational oversight.
• Commitment to inclusion, safeguarding, and community engagement.

Please note, due to the front line nature of this charity, it's essential that you are open to working on-site most days.

This is an exceptional opportunity to lead an organisation that truly makes a difference to it’s community.

If you’re ready to bring your expertise and passion to a role with purpose, we’d love to hear from you.

Charity People is a forward thinking, inclusive organisation that actively and deliberately promotes equity, diversity and inclusion. We know organisations thrive when inclusion is at the forefront. We evidence our commitment by matching charity needs with the skills and experience of candidates irrespective of background e.g. age, disability (including hidden disabilities), gender, gender identity or gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. We do this because we believe that greater diversity leads to greater results for the charities we work with.

To be updated

Maudsley Charity

Salary: £45,000
Location: Hybrid (minimum 2 days/week in Denmark Hill, London)
Closing date: 5pm, Thursday 9 April 2026

Charity People is delighted to be partnering with Maudsley Charity to recruit their new Evaluation & Learning Manager, an exceptional opportunity to join a bold, forward‑thinking funder committed to transforming mental health care.

About Maudsley Charity

Maudsley Charity advances and accelerates positive change in mental health care in south London and beyond. Collaborating with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College London, and the King’s Maudsley Partnership we create lasting change for people experiencing mental illness.

This is a transformative moment in Maudsley Charity’s journey, and we’re looking for an exceptional relationship fundraiser to join us and help grow collaborative income generation at a critical time for mental health. We are a grant-making charity with a proud history and a bold vision: to ensure that everyone who experiences mental illness, without exception, can access the care that’s right for them.

The Role

As Evaluation & Learning Manager, you will play a central role in strengthening the Charity’s ability to understand, evidence and communicate the impact of its work.

This is a highly collaborative, cross‑organisational role supporting colleagues and grant holders to build a culture of learning, use data effectively, and embed high‑quality monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) practices across all programmes.

Working within the Impact & Effectiveness team, you will:

Lead on Evaluation & Learning Approaches

• Design and implement proportionate, inclusive approaches to data collection, evaluation and evidence generation.
• Identify gaps in learning and devise realistic plans to fill them.
• Develop organisational tools, templates and reporting systems that make learning engaging, accessible and consistent.

Generate Insight & Drive Improvement

• Analyse qualitative and quantitative data and synthesise clear, actionable insights.
• Commission and manage external evaluation partners where required.
• Produce evidence that supports decision‑making, accountability to Trustees, and continuous improvement across programmes.

Support and Equip Colleagues & Grant Holders

• Build MEL capability across the organisation through training, guidance and practical tools.
• Support applicants and grant holders with metrics, approaches and evaluation design.
• Help embed learning loops so insights flow between project delivery, strategy and grant‑making.

Collaborate Across the Charity

• Work closely with the Grants team to strengthen impact questions within applications and reporting.
• Provide evidence and insight to Communications and Fundraising colleagues.
• Contribute to organisational learning events, thematic analysis, and partner‑focused reflection sessions.

You will be joining a warm, values‑led team committed to compassion, inclusion, integrity and continual learning, all in service of better mental health care for all.

About You

We’re looking for someone who brings:

• Experience advising on or designing MEL approaches in a public or charitable context
• Confidence working with mixed‑methods data and transforming it into meaningful insight
• Strong collaborative skills and the ability to work across a diverse organisation
• Curiosity, initiative and the drive to improve systems and processes
• The ability to juggle complex information, respond to competing priorities and support others
• Familiarity with NHS or mental health settings (desirable)

You may come from a wide range of backgrounds, what matters is your skill in helping organisations learn, adapt and evidence change.

Benefits

Maudsley Charity offers a generous, values‑driven package, including:

• £45,000 salary
• Hybrid working – minimum 2 days per week in the Denmark Hill office
• 25 days’ annual leave, rising with service + Christmas closure days
• Enhanced parental leave, cycle‑to‑work, season ticket loan
• Pension with up to 6% employer contribution
• Group Life Assurance and Group Income Protection
• Extensive training and development, plus EAP support
• A friendly, inclusive culture where diversity, equity and learning are core commitments

Interested in joining this impactful, transformative charity?

For the full job pack and to apply, please share your CV with Glen Manners at Charity People. You’ll then receive details of the blind recruitment process, including a small number of short written/voice‑note questions used for anonymous scoring.

Closing date:   5pm, Thursday 9 April
Interviews:      28th or 29th April (in person, with reasonable adjustments available)

and 5^th May, final stage interview, online

Maudsley Charity is an equal opportunities employer, and makes no discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and sex. We are committed to offering interviews to candidates who meet the role requirements and have lived experience of mental illness.