Chief Executive
The Henry Smith Charity
London
Circa. £135,000 per annum
The Henry Smith Charity is amongst the largest independent grant makers in the UK, distributing about £40 million in 2021. We have plans to increase our grant making spend in the coming years. The Henry Smith Charity was established in 1628 by Henry Smith, a businessman working in the City of London. Since then, the charity has honoured the spirit of Henry Smith’s will, working to combat disadvantage and meet the challenges and opportunities facing people in need throughout the UK.
The Role
We are looking for an ambitious leader, passionate about social justice, to think creatively about how we can deepen our impact and translate this into positive action. You will be a strategic leader, comfortable with ambiguity and working with others to effect positive change.
Effective stewardship of our assets is central to our ability to give grants now and in the future. You do not need a background in investments, but you will be financially literate, able to work with our Board and our external advisers to ensure that we can maintain and increase our grant giving. However, we are open to the background of our new Chief Executive as long as you bring a commitment to our aims and mission and experience of working at the interface between executives and non-executives/trustees. You may not come from within the grant making world, you may have led a charity or other organisations focused on addressing disadvantage, or you may have served on a trustee board and are looking for a change in your executive career. Most importantly for us you will be a collaborative leader, able to work with the Board in the development of our strategy, and to inspire and develop a dedicated and high-quality team to deliver our mission.
Our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion is important to us and we are keen to ensure that our team reflects the diversity of the communities that we support. Our new Chief Executive must bring a deep and genuine commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion.
If you feel you bring the skills and experience we are looking for and share our passion to address inequality and drive social change, I very much look forward to hearing from you.
