CEO Recruitment
Chief Executive Officer
Working hours: Normal working hours are 37.5 per week (excluding breaks). Occasional weekend working and flexibility may be required with time off in lieu.
Annual leave: 25 days per annum plus national bank holidays.
Location: The role will be on site at our original King’s Cross premises at 34B York Way, N1 9AB and our new workspace in Euston, 1 Triton Square, NW1 3BF. Given the nature of this role, the majority of the work will take place on site at one of our workspaces. One day working from home per week.
Contract: Permanent with a 3 month probation period.
Starting Salary: £85,000 per annum, plus training allowance, pension, medical cash plan and profit share scheme.
The Opportunity
This is an exciting and challenging leadership opportunity for a dynamic individual who can combine passion for our purpose; motivational, inclusive team leadership; and the commercial acumen to secure strong financial performance.
The opening of our new Euston premises unlocks the opportunity to stepchange our revenue and our impact. The quadrupling of our physical space is the obvious immediate revenue opportunity, and the successful candidate will need to be convincing regarding their ability to seize this opportunity.
The partnership opportunities underpinned by our two spaces and the opportunities for greater impact that they open up are equally exciting. KQ has its own stellar membership including the likes of UCL, The Francis Crick Institute, The Wellcome Trust, Google, and UAL, as well as British Land, to name but a few. IHL has also built up a wide range of other collaborative partnerships over the years beyond KQ, delivering our extensive range of programmes, including Bank of America, JP Morgan, GoDaddy, Wates and AXA. Now is the time to build on these and take our impact to the next level, locally and globally.
Finally, the CEO will be expected to look and plan ahead for the future growth of the organisation across London. As will be explained more fully in interview, the leases for our two premises come on very favourable terms, reflecting our impact track record, meaning that the scope for financing future growth in revenue and impact is significant, under the right leadership. Equally, it has taken considerable investment to get to this point in the wake of post-Covid recovery, so the CEO will need strong commercial acumen to ensure we have the operational cash flow to repay our debts whilst scaling our operation.
As IHL is a social enterprise and registered B-Corp, this means the CEO is expected to take into consideration all stakeholders in the way they lead the business, and pursue the company’s purpose in a way that also protects and enhances the financial sustainability of the business. In particular, the inclusive team leadership required to scale our organisation will require a CEO able to effectively lead the change management, culture-building, and embedding of processes and practices that will enable the team and business to thrive.
Key Accountabilities
Purpose-driven leadership
Be a passionate and compelling champion of our purpose, both internally and externally:
Clearly and convincingly articulate IHL’s impact ambition, strategy, goals to engage and motivate our team, members, partners and other stakeholders
Ensure IHL has a portfolio of suitable programmes and community development activities to underpin its impact ambition, and the necessary funding and partnerships to deliver them
Ensure an effective measurement framework for IHL impact outcomes and their transparent, proactive onward communication
Proactively network on behalf of IHL externally, cultivating strategic partnership opportunities, including personal external representation, speaking and PR
Ensure IHL builds a positive reputation in the social sector especially in London and within the global Impact Hub network, ensuring an effective marketing and communications approach centred on IHL impact
Strong business model and financial performance
Combine a drive for revenue growth with proportionate cost control to ensure healthy operating surplus:
Cultivate a positive sales culture based on a deep commitment to delivering high levels of member and customer satisfaction
Ensure the business model is clearly understood and executed throughout the business, making full use of our strategic low/no rent platform to deliver competitive advantage and strong, sustainable financial performance
Maintain appropriate cost controls and financial processes that enable judicious investment in performance-enhancing improvers whilst ensuring the operation remains suitably lean and profitable
Develop a more data-driven performance culture throughout the IHL team
Thriving team and culture
Modelling our values through personal example, foster a thriving team culture that fuels and rewards outstanding performance and supports personal development:
Ensure IHL attracts, retains & develops the talent it needs
Design and implement appropriate reward & recognition schemes linked to performance management
Ensure appropriate personal development plans for all team members are agreed and implemented
Monitor team satisfaction and cultural health and take prompt, appropriate action to address issues with support from the board
Efficient and effective operations
Ensure IHL has the systems, processes and management practices embedded in its operations to deliver our plans efficiently and effectively:
Ensure key IHL systems are fit for purpose and interface effectively
Ensure IHL management processes and practices are effectively and efficiently utilising our systems to deliver efficient and effective operations
Embed continual improvement processes that focus the team on striving for ever-improving outcomes, and ensure adequate training provision
Ensure compliance with all relevant legal requirements and with reference to external best practices, including space that meets all health and safety requirements
Planning and budgeting
Ensure IHL has clear, aligned impact and business goals, strategies to deliver them, and plans to implement the strategies:
Regular (at least annual) review of IHL strategy, performance and external environment to inform future strategy development
Updating the strategy and business plan accordingly, in collaboration with the leadership team, board and other key stakeholders
Translation into an annual plan and budget owned by the management team and approved by the board, underpinned by clear, aligned and up-to-date KPIs for all team members
Periodic review of other key components as required (eg B Corp accreditation, vision and values etc)
Performance management processes including at least monthly financial performance reviews, quarterly board reviews, and 1:1 reviews for all team members at suitable frequency
Stakeholder management and partnerships
Work closely and collaboratively with all key stakeholders, internal and external in pursuit of IHL purpose and goals, including:
The board, and in particular the board chair, advising an inputting on board led topics including governance and expansion
Key people in the Impact Hub network, including IHC leadership, IHA board and other leading Impact Hub teams in UK and beyond
Directors of the IHL CIC
Programme funders and partners and other key players within the sector, especially in London
Key members of the IHL community
Person Specification
Overall we are looking for an experienced leader who can combine passion and ambition for our impact with great commercial acumen, and the ability to inspire, motivate and develop your team. In our years of experience in the social enterprise sector these are invariably the key ingredients for success, and IHL is no exception. You are likely to have several years experience in senior leadership roles, be able to point to a strong track record of delivery and to demonstrate your affinity with our values and purpose.
Key attributes
Values-led: model our values and lead by example
Impact ambition: you must be passionate about our purpose and driven by the desire to scale our impact
Commercial acumen: you understand how to make a business more profitable and sustainable and get a buzz out of doing so
People person: you have a collaborative mindset, enjoy building teams and enabling talented people to thrive internally, whilst identifying and nurturing collaborative strategic partnerships externally
Self awareness: nobody excels at everything, so humility and realism about your strengths and those areas where you are willing and able to rely on the expertise of others, is essential
Financial literacy and data driven mindset: you don’t need to be financially trained but you know your numbers, can manage a P&L/balance sheet, and understand the importance of making fact-based decisions whenever possible
Strategic thinking: able to understand the big picture, distil the key challenges, and translate into clear and actionable operational plans
Energy: you take a positive approach to challenges: there are and will always be plenty!
Great communicator: you enjoy listening and are good at it, but you are also a clear and concise communicator, good on your feet
Inclusive: you understand the sweet spot of inclusive, consultative decision-making without turning it into a voting exercise or popularity contest
Scaling mentality: committed to continual improvement, you understand the need to blend an entrepreneurial mindset with the systems, process discipline and culture building a scaling organisation needs
We welcome candidates from diverse backgrounds. We offer a working environment that has step free access. Feel free to reach out to us if you would like to discuss specific accessibility needs.
We are champions of inclusivity and diversity so we are particularly keen to hear from candidates who identify as Black, Asian, or Minority Ethnic, LGBTQIA+, disabled, from a less advantaged socioeconomic background as well as any other under-represented groups. We want this process to be as equitable and accessible as possible - all applications will be anonymised until the interview stage. Please help us by not including photos, marital status or other data that is not relevant to your qualifications for the job in your application. Please let us know if you require any adjustments to ensure you can fully participate in the application process.
How to Apply
To apply for the role of CEO please upload the following documents to our website:
Your CV, drawing out relevant experience for the role.
A supporting statement of up to 1,000 words that addresses the criteria set out in the person specification as well as your interest in the organisation’s work.
Please ensure that you have included a telephone number, as well as any dates when you will not be available or might have difficulty with the recruitment timetable.
If you wish to apply using an alternative format please contact Prospectus on 020 7691 1920 or email executive.admin@prospect-us.co.uk.
Applications via the Prospectus website should be made at:
https://prospect-us.co.uk/jobs/189255
Please ensure that you have included a telephone number, as well as any dates when you will not be available or might have difficulty with the recruitment timetable.
At Prospectus we believe passionately that a truly inclusive workplace leads to increased social impact. We are committed to supporting our clients build more inclusive teams. To understand how we are performing, we ask that you kindly complete the brief equal opportunities questionnaire when you submit your application via our website. Please be assured that your responses are kept confidential, separate from your candidate record, are not part of any application you make, and that the consultants never see individual responses to the questionnaire.
Recruitment Timetable
Deadline for applications: 22nd September (midnight)
Interviews with Prospectus: w/c 7 October & w/c 14 October
Interviews with Impact Hub: 23rd October and w/c 28th October
Queries
If you wish to have an informal discussion about the opportunity, please contact our retained executive search advisor, Awais Parvaiz, at Prospectus on email: