Established in 2007 by His Majesty the King when he was the former Prince of Wales and a group of British Asian business leaders, the British Asian Trust was created to address widespread poverty, inequality, and injustice in South Asia. We are a diaspora-led international development organisation that delivers high-quality programmes in South Asia. We believe that traditional approaches to development cannot alone defeat poverty and inequality. We are passionate about innovation and disruption and we are global pioneers in using social finance products to drive positive change. The vision of the British Asian Trust is a South Asia free from poverty, where everyone can reach their full potential. Our mission is to unlock the potential of disadvantaged people by leveraging the impact and support from the South Asian diaspora and beyond. Our focus, at all times, is on outcomes and impact.

THE ROLE

We are now at a crucial stage in our development and we strongly believe that our growth and impact trajectory can continue. This will be achieved by continuing to increase our ambition and growing and diversifying our income streams. But we can only be really successful if we are functioning effectively as an organisation to support these aims and ambitions.

We are therefore seeking an exceptional candidate to be our COO who will work with us at pace, bringing a proactive attitude that is as ambitious and entrepreneurial as we are. They will provide high quality internal operational support and development, covering finance, people, operations, IT and cybersecurity, risk and compliance – both in the UK and across our teams in South Asia. The postholder will be responsible for the development of these functions as we move towards a pioneering new phase, ensuring the right culture and processes are in place to build resilience as we grow. We are also looking for someone who can work closely with me to offer strong corporate leadership to the organisation, building and developing our strategy moving forward.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced leader who can engage, inspire and influence at all levels. You will provide a clear vision, bring a systematic approach to delivery, and be able to work at pace in a fast-moving and often ambiguous environment. You will have excellent interpersonal and influential alliance-building skills, show credibility at Board level, demonstrate strategic judgement and be comfortable with complexity. A technical expert but also a creative and entrepreneurial thinker, with ideas that are backed by the rigour and evidence to achieve change, you will also inspire our talented and committed team. You will be a self-starter and get things done, with a high capacity for self-reflection and resilience.