Director of Programmes and Impact
Employer: Real Farming Trust
Location: UK-based, remote with some travel required.
Working hours: Part-time (0.8 FTE, 7.5 hrs/day, 30 hrs/wk)
Salary: £54,000 – £56,000 (pro rata at 0.8 FTE equates to £43,200 – £44,800), depending on level of experience.
Closing date:12pm BST (midday) on Tuesday, 28th July 2026
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About the Real Farming Trust
The Real Farming Trust (RFT) runs a number of programmes which bring people of all food and farming backgrounds and experiences together to build the case for agroecology. We are a small charity and value honesty, empathy, care and compassion in our interactions with each other in the organisation and with the partners we work with. Read more about our work.
About the role
We are looking for a thoughtful, strategic and collaborative Director of Programmes and Impact with a strong understanding of agroecology and food justice to support and strengthen our programmes across the organisation. This is a pivotal new role, created as we consolidate a period of significant growth and focus on deepening our impact, strengthening our systems, and fostering a healthy, well-coordinated working culture across a fully remote team.
The Director of Programmes and Impact will work across a diverse portfolio of programmes spanning events, communications, policy, funding and food justice. The role is responsible for the coordination, management and continuous improvement of RFT’s programme portfolio, and for supporting programme staff to work collaboratively, sustainably and effectively. They will manage a team of programme managers, bringing greater cohesion, coordination and shared learning across our work. A key priority will be to develop simple, effective approaches to monitoring, evaluation and learning, enabling us to better understand, communicate and improve our impact.
Working closely with the Co-Executive Directors and Operations Manager as part of RFT’s senior management team, the Director of Programmes and Impact will play a central role in shaping organisational strategy, supporting the development of new programme ideas and partnerships, and ensuring our work remains aligned with our mission and values and embeds an equity and anti-oppression lens. They will also help create the conditions for creativity and collaboration across teams, reducing pressure on staff and strengthening our collective effectiveness. The Director of Programmes and Impact will work closely with the Operations Manager to ensure programme systems and organisational systems are aligned and support sustainable and effective ways of working. They will also work closely with the Communications Manager to support the organisation to communicate its impact effectively.
This is an exciting opportunity for someone who combines strategic thinking with a practical, empowering approach, and who is motivated to build the systems, relationships and culture that allow RFT to thrive over the long term.
This role is remote, with some travel required across the UK to attend in-person staff away days and occasional in-person meetings and events.
This role is currently funded for three years through an unrestricted grant. We are committed to sustaining the role long-term as part of our core structure.
Key Responsibilities
The Director of Programmes and Impact has two primary aims: (1) to support and strengthen the organisation’s coordination across programmes, ensuring high-quality delivery, strong impact, effective monitoring and evaluation, and the development of new programme opportunities, and (2) to support staff well-being and organisational learning by improving programme systems, coordination and collaboration.
Strategic Programme Leadership
Provide strategic oversight across all RFT programmes.
Ensure programmes align with RFT’s organisational strategy, mission and values
Support the integration of equity and anti-oppression principles and practice across the programmes.
Identify opportunities for collaboration and synergy between programmes.
Lead organisation-wide programme planning, prioritisation and review processes.
Programme Management
Line manage programme managers and senior programme staff.
Support effective programme planning and delivery.
Monitor programme progress, workload pressures, risks and resource allocation across programmes, supporting teams to prioritise sustainably and effectively.
Ensure programmes meet funder commitments.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
The Director of Programmes and Impact is the organisational lead for monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL). Specifically, they will:
Design and implement an organisation-wide monitoring, evaluation and learning framework.
Work with programme teams to define outcomes, indicators and approaches to evidencing impact.
Develop systems for collecting and analysing programme data.
Produce an annual organisational impact report.
Support the organisation to communicate its impact effectively, working closely with the RFT Communications Manager.
Identify and share learning, insights and emerging opportunities across programmes to strengthen organisational effectiveness and impact.
Staff Leadership and Support
Support programme staff to work sustainably, collaboratively and effectively.
Encourage collaboration, reflection and knowledge-sharing across programme teams.
Support a culture of learning and continuous improvement across programmes, working closely with the RFT Operations Manager to ensure alignment with wider organisational culture and staff wellbeing practices.
Programme Development and Fundraising Support
Work with the Executive Directors to identify and develop opportunities for new programmes, partnerships and funding.
Contribute to funding proposals and programme design.
Ensure new programmes are grounded in evidence and organisational learning.
Senior Leadership
Play an active role in organisational leadership, strategy development and decision-making as part of RFT’s senior management team.
Contribute to organisational planning, risk management and resource prioritisation across the programme portfolio.
Support the organisation’s culture, values and staff well-being.
This role requires the following skills:
Essential
Experience
Significant demonstrated experience of leading multiple programmes in a charity, public or social impact setting
Experience of line managing and developing managers or senior staff
Experience of working in a complex organisation with competing priorities and limited resources.
Experience of improving or implementing programme management systems or processes
Experience contributing to funding proposals, programme design, and/or organisational strategy
Skills & Knowledge
Strong ability to see across multiple programmes and identify connections, gaps and priorities
Ability to translate strategy into practical plans and systems
Experience designing or implementing monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) approaches (does not need to be highly technical, but must be confident and practical)
Strong people management skills, including supporting staff well-being and performance
Ability to manage workload, prioritise effectively, and support others to do the same
Excellent communication and collaboration skills, including working across teams
Confidence working with senior leadership and contributing to organisational decision-making
Good understanding of agroecology, food sovereignty and food justice
Personal Qualities
Calm and pragmatic, able to bring structure without creating unnecessary bureaucracy
Collaborative and empowering leadership style (not directive or hierarchical)
Comfortable working in a small organisation where things are not yet fully systematised
Strong commitment to staff well-being and sustainable working practices
Values-led, with a commitment to building an agroecological food and farming system
Desirable
Experience
Experience of building or embedding organisation-wide monitoring and evaluation frameworks
Experience working across diverse programme types (e.g. policy, campaigns, service delivery, events)
Experience in a similar-sized or scaling organisation (£1m–£3m)
Experience of organisational change or growth phases
Experience of cross-programme learning or knowledge-sharing initiatives
Experience working closely with communications and/or fundraising teams
Skills & Knowledge
Familiarity with theory of change development and outcome measurement
Ability to use data and insight to tell a compelling impact story
Understanding of funder expectations around impact and reporting
Experience developing new programmes or partnerships
You will thrive in this role if:
You are creative, people-focused, and enjoy building connections and networks
You are a natural leader and feel comfortable driving progress and building trust
You are organised, proactive and enjoy turning ideas into action
You have excellent written and verbal communication skills
You are comfortable working in a remote and digitally collaborative environment
You are happy remote working and enjoy collaborating with a small team
You remain calm under stress and time-pressure
You can prioritise tasks to meet deadlines under pressure
You are passionate about the food and farming movement.
What else you need to know:
We do not have an office. You will need to provide your own workspace and laptop; however, an equipment subsidy is available to support with home working expenses (upon successful completion of the probationary period).
We all work remotely from home and meet twice a year in-person for a few days each time. All staff are expected to attend.
We all work flexibly, but you will be expected to do the majority of your work weekdays between 8am and 6pm. Some evening and weekend work may be required to join events.
The probationary period is six months.
The benefits you will get:
Annual salary: £54,000 – £56,000 (pro rata at 0.8 FTE equates to £43,200 – £44,800), depending on level of experience.
25 days annual leave, plus 8 bank holidays (33 days total, pro rata); an additional 3 days between Christmas and New Years are gifted.
Flexible working to suit your other commitments during the week.
Annual well-being and training budget of £350 (upon successful completion of probationary period).
Equipment subsidy (up to £550) and zero interest loans available to support the purchase of laptop and key office equipment (upon successful completion of probationary period).
Employer matched pension of 4%.
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