In 1824, a small group of people met in a London coffee shop, determined to change animals’ lives. They created the society that became the RSPCA, sparking a movement that spread around the world. Before that time, cruelty to animals was widely accepted. Few people kept pets, and animals were used for working, food, or entertainment. Setting dogs on chained bulls or bears was considered a sport. Things had to change. The first-ever law protecting animals was the Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act of 1822. It’s often called Martin’s Act, after Richard Martin who helped get the law passed. He was one of 22 people who went on to meet at Old Slaughter’s Coffee House, St Martin’s Lane, on 16 June 1824. With him was the Reverend Arthur Broome, credited as our founder, and anti-slave trade campaigner William Wilberforce. By forming what became the RSPCA, they prompted a vital social shift in how people thought about animals.

THE ROLE

This is an exciting year in which to join as we celebrate our 200th anniversary. Having recently rebranded, we are in a new chapter in our story as we look to inspire one million more people to action and join our movement to keep creating a better world for animals.

We’ve been working hard to develop our culture and performance and we’ve also transformed our governance. Our new strategy to 2030 requires us to push our cause further into the public consciousness, inspiring society to defend and improve animal welfare, so we’re also working to further strengthen our influence. 

This is a pivotal role for the charity helping to lead a large, complex national directorate and in which you will get the opportunity to deputise for me and help to build a positive culture that ensures the wellbeing of staff who are spread geographically in multidisciplinary diverse teams. Exciting changes in technology and science around animal welfare have allowed us to reshape the whole Society and directorate and so we’re looking for someone who embraces and can lead and support cultural change in order to be successful in this role. 

We’re looking for a strong people person who is able to build rapport easily and brings proven success in developing high performing teams. You’ll be a resilient but flexible leader with a proven track record in translating strategy into operational delivery in a complex, dispersed organisation and will understand how to engage and influence across an organisation and with key stakeholders. We are open to where you come from, but you must be a strong communicator who can get people on side and can deal with challenge in a robust but open way. Detailed knowledge about animal welfare is not essential, although a demonstrable commitment to it is. 

We recognise that a diverse and inclusive workforce is essential to achieving our core mission. For this reason, we actively encourage a wide diversity of applications – in particular from members of minority ethnic groups, and people with disabilities – as these candidates are currently under-represented at the RSPCA.