Head of Programme for Children from Vulnerable Backgrounds (Leeds or London)
Employer: Book Trust
Location: The role could be based in either BookTrust’s Leeds or London offices, with an average of 8 days every month to be spent in the office or in face-to-face commitments. The position will require regular travel to BookTrust office bases and to visit and engage with partners and other organisations as needed.
Salary: £70,000 - £75,000
Closing date: 14 June 2026
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Location Leeds or London
Salary £70,000 - £75,000
Application Deadline 14 June 2026
BookTrust
We are currently recruiting this role via a recruitment agency, Green Park. To apply, click on the following link: BookTrust
BookTrust is the UK’s largest children’s reading charity. We know that children who read are happier, healthier, more empathetic, and more creative. They also do better at school.
Working with every local authority and across every region in the country, and supported by Arts Council funding, we reach over 3 million families a year via partners in schools, children’s centres, health visitors and libraries. This incredible network helps us to get children reading across the country.
To apply please complete the application along with a copy of your CV and covering letter showing how you meet the person specification and your motivations for applying for the role. Your covering letter should not be longer than two sides.
Want to join us? Find out more about who we are at: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/about-us/work-at-booktrust/
Job Summary
Job Purpose
The Head of Programme for Children from Vulnerable Backgrounds will lead and coordinate the development, long-term planning and delivery of our programme of work to bring the benefits of reading to children from vulnerable family backgrounds. This includes existing programmes (Letterbox Club and Story Explorers) as well as new activity. This work spans the organisation – from research and impact, design and innovation, through partnership development, growth planning, communications, profile-raising and income generation – and requires strong collaborative working to draw on skills and capacity in all these areas. The Head of Programme for Children from Vulnerable Backgrounds will work with teams across BookTrust to provide long-term strategic direction and to coordinate existing activity, driving forwards our progress, and championing our work for children from vulnerable family backgrounds. They will help us to balance customer and design priorities, marketing, communication and profile-raising needs.
This role will report to the Director of Partnerships (who is a member of the ELT) and also work closely with one of the Co-CEOs. There are currently multiple roles across BookTrust whose work contributes in whole or significant part to our objectives in this space. We are looking for a leader who can lead a virtual team across different functions, problem solve and design new ways of working, and lead and embed change and transformation.
Core Responsibilities:
Increase impact across our work for children from vulnerable family backgrounds
Defining choices and priorities for activity in this area, and holding clear certainty of focus – to enable planning of long-term learning activity.
Working closely with our Head of Research and Impact who leads our learning activity, and our Head of Design, Development and Innovation who translates insight into programme design.
Growing our understanding of the policy landscape and what this means for our work – so that we can respond to how the system is changing.
Develop new programmes and ways of working
Planning and prioritising across multiple opportunities for development, supporting strong and transparent decision-making.
Supporting the development of child, carer, practitioner and customer journeys.
Identifying new customer groups and ways that our existing/adaptations to our products could support them.
Facilitating and championing our focus on co-creation.
Working closely with the Head of Design, Development and Innovation who leads our programme design and maintains our cross-organisational development plan.
Delivering existing Programmes
Lead the delivery of Letterbox Club and Story Explorers to existing customers. Manage existing relationships with virtual schools and other customers.
Develop and lead delivery of a more holistic approach to our support for customers and partners – spotting opportunities emerging from existing relationships and wrapping support from other programmes (research, books expertise, Bookstart connections) around what we do.
Develop new markets and delivery pathways to grow reach
Develop a growth plan to deliver the expansion we are aiming for in the next five years, based on market and customer understanding.
Understand upstream developments – and how these will affect funding and regulation in the future.
Develop supply chain, systems and data to meet the needs of growing numbers and variety of customers and beneficiaries.
Raise the profile of reading for children from vulnerable family backgrounds
Being a visible and credible presence in the policy and practice landscape for this sector.
Establishing and supporting a. a strategic steering group and b. a co-production practice group to help steer our work.
Advising and supporting long-term planning for profile-raising activity that uses evidence, relationships (including with authors and illustrators) and practice examples to raise our profile and maintain our presence as a key voice in this sector.
Grow the income we need
Understanding and advising on the implications of current funding requirements and constraints (e.g. for virtual schools) and navigating changes.
Support commercial leads to develop, hone and refresh our trading strategy for this work – though sector and partner insight and through understanding of near and longer-term landscape.
Working with income generation and commercial leads to develop a strategic plan for securing and maintaining revenue to support our work in this space from trading our programmes and also from statutory and corporate sources and from trusts and foundations.
These responsibilities are also supported by the work of teams across the wider organisation, and the Head of Programme for Children from Vulnerable Backgrounds will hold joint accountability for much of this work with other leaders. BookTrust is a relatively small and highly interconnected organisation, requiring true commitment to collaboration.
In addition to responsibilities relating to the delivery of the above requirements, the postholder will need to be committed to their own personal development; promote BookTrust and its vision and values in all activities, both internally while carrying out duties and externally with stakeholders and the general public; and carry out all duties in line with BookTrust policies and procedures, being prepared to undertake additional reasonable duties as required.
Other Information
The role could be based in either BookTrust’s Leeds or London offices, with an average of 8 days every month to be spent in the office or in face-to-face commitments. The position will require regular travel to BookTrust office bases and to visit and engage with partners and other organisations as needed.
How to Apply
We are currently recruiting this role via a recruitment agency, Green Park. To apply, click on the following link: BookTrust
Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity
We aim to provide an inclusive recruitment process and actively welcome applications from diverse talent pools: minority ethnic candidates, candidates with disabilities and long-term conditions and candidates from underrepresented communities.
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