Outreach and Engagement Manager

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:

• Navigating complexity – sensing, interpreting and acting on what is changing in the world.
• Navigating influence – staying accountable to the consequences of the power you hold.
• 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.