Executive Director

Key details:

Salary: £62,000 per annum, plus pension contribution
Place of work: Eating Better is a remote organisation, so this role is home-based with travel in the UK for monthly team meetings and external events as needed.
Flexible working: Eating Better is a flexible working organisation with core hours and flexibility around this.
Hours: We are currently trialling a 4-day week (where salaries are unchanged) with a review of this way of working at the end of December, and a decision in the new year.
Contract: Permanent

Who we are

The way food is produced and consumed is harming people, animals and the environment. We're on a mission to change that.

We are a UK-based movement of 73 leading NGOs spanning farming, public health, animal welfare, social justice and worker rights, and climate and environmental protection. Our aim is to enable everyone to eat nourishing, affordable food, including more plants, and less and better meat and dairy, which is produced in ways that benefit people, animals and the planet.

By convening civil society organisations, Eating Better builds alignment and much needed infrastructure, supporting the sector to be a powerful collective voice for change. Together, we influence decision-makers and aim to drive the systemic changes needed to transform the UK's food system through our Better by Half Roadmap. We deliver this through our core work and three work streams on Narratives, Industrial Livestock Production and Justice.

We are a registered charity (no.1175669) and company (no. 9772128) governed by the Board of Trustees.

We receive funding support from trusts and foundations and our alliance members. To read more about our current funders and to read our funding statement, click here.

The role

The Executive Director will lead the alliance and our compact team in the effective running of the organisation and the development and delivery of our strategy. You will:

• Set Eating Better's longer-term strategic direction, building on delivery of the 2026/27 organisational strategy
• Lead the alliance and team in the delivery of our influencing strategy, maximising the alliance’s impact with governments and industry to make the change needed for more plants and less and better meat and dairy
• Lead and develop the Eating Better team, ensuring a high-performing, resilient and inclusive team culture
• Build the organisation’s profile externally, including overseeing the delivery of recommendations from a recent review to further strengthen Eating Better’s brand and strategic communications
• Bring your experience in, and commitment to, justice, anti-racism and equity, diversity and inclusion to strengthen Eating Better’s long-term strategy, and further embed these principles within the alliance’s work and ways of working
• Continue to develop the organisation’s long-term fundraising strategy, with a focus on securing additional core funding for future financial years, and diversifying the funding pipeline.

The person

We are looking for someone with passion to help develop and deliver our collective influence and impact.

You will have experience of building strong relationships across organisations (ideally civil society), designing and delivering effective organisational strategy and impact frameworks, alongside a track record in developing relationships with funders.

You will bring experience in and a commitment to justice, anti-racism and equity, diversity and inclusion in organisation and leadership.

Experience of harnessing strategic communications to drive impact, as well as knowledge of sustainable food systems and civil society stakeholders in the UK would be an advantage.

Main responsibilities

The purpose of this role is to lead Eating Better and the development of the alliance and its impact, specifically to:

• Ensure we achieve our mission through the work of Eating Better’s staff team, board and the collective impact of the alliance.
• Work with the Trustees, team and alliance members to set Eating Better’s organisational strategy, priorities and strengthen the organisation’s impact measurement approach.
• Lead and develop the Eating Better team, with line management responsibility for 5 staff members, to ensure a high-performing, resilient and inclusive team culture and provide oversight to the development and delivery of the workstreams.
• Lead the organisation’s justice, anti-racism and equity, diversity and inclusion work (JEDI), through strengthening Eating Better’s long-term strategy, and embedding JEDI within the alliance’s work and ways of working
• Lead the alliance and team in the delivery of the influencing strategy, maximising the alliance’s impact with governments and industry to make the change needed for more plants and less and better meat and dairy.
• Build the organisation’s profile externally and represent the alliance as the senior external face of Eating Better, communicating with senior-level audiences, including government Ministers and representing the organisation in the media where required. This includes overseeing the delivery of recommendations from a recent review of Eating Better’s brand and strategic communications.
• Continue to develop the organisation’s long-term fundraising strategy, with a focus on securing additional core funding for future financial years, and diversifying the funding pipeline.
• Develop and maintain strategic partnerships with current funders from Trusts and Foundations and alliance members, and lead on development of new funding relationships.
• Ensure effective performance of the charity, including good financial planning, management of the organisation and reporting to the Board. Monitor progress, and provide the Board with progress reports, including finance reports and information to enable decision-making and good governance.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Excellent organisational leadership skills, including a minimum 5 years experience in leading teams within civil society organisations, and demonstrable experience of creating effective and supportive team culture.
• Demonstrable experience in, and commitment to justice, anti-racism and equity, diversity and inclusion in your leadership.
• Evidence of track record in income generation, developing funder relationships and an understanding of fundraising strategy in a small charity context.
• Experience at a senior level of working collaboratively across organisations towards shared goals and ambitions (including with Boards or advisory committees, and external partners).
• Strong interpersonal skills that translate into an ability to build effective networks, work with the Eating Better Board of Trustees, and manage team members productively.
• Interest and experience in food systems work, including environmental sustainability, farming, food equity and/or public health or transferrable experience.
• Adaptable and agile approach to work, with exceptional planning, time management, and prioritisation skills across competing demands, and ability to set realistic timelines and meet deadlines.
• Excellent speaking, writing and presentation skills and experience of representing organisations externally.
• Demonstrable experience of financial management skills, particularly managing large budgets
• Excellent IT and social media skills.
• Flexibility to travel within the UK and attend regular meetings and events (the majority of member/partner in-person events are in London). Ability to travel to Europe if required.

Desirable

• Experience of leading remote teams
• Experience of organisational development
• Understanding of and experience in harnessing strategic communications to drive impact
• Experience of developing long-term fundraising strategies and successfully diversifying or growing funding pipelines
• Experience of managing organisational budgets and yearly business planning