Recruitment: Progress Executive Director

Job Description: Executive Director for Progress

Responsible to: The Progress Board

Salary: £40k – £50k (gross) per annum starting salary, with the potential for early progression; terms and conditions negotiable

Location: London, with regular travel

Duration: Initial fixed term contract

Progress is inviting applications for the position of Executive Director.

The Executive Director leads all aspects of the organisation and manages a small team of staff. Reporting to the Board, the Executive Director will oversee a programme of activity for members; be responsible for fundraising from a diverse range of partners; lead on developing and participating in strategic political and policy discussions both within the Labour movement and externally.

Applicants must be individuals with a significant track record of activism in the Labour Party and a demonstrable commitment to the modernising principles of social democratic revisionism.

They should have a strong interest, and preferably engagement in ‘policy’, from an ideological and political perspective. Progress is not an academic think tank, but it must have strong engagement with the academic, policy and think tank community. A key role for Progress is to promote discussion and debate within the Labour movement around ‘big picture’ policy ideas and key questions for Labour’s political strategy.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic and day to day leadership of the organisation, and its small team of staff, ensuring that the organisation is advancing the aims and objectives of the organisation
• Develop and deliver a programme of political thought-leadership activity and content that aligns with the social democratic ideals of the organisation
• Maintain and grow a strong network of partnership working with the academic, policy and think tank community
• Oversee and deliver income generation from a wide variety of partners including foundations and philanthropists, commercial partnerships, and member events
• Engage members and other stakeholders in the work of Progress to build a positive and future-focused organisation
• Act as a confident and engaging spokesperson for the organisation within the Party, and externally in traditional and social media

Person Specification:

• Strong personal commitment to the aims and objectives of the Labour Party and of Progress
• Excellent political judgement and understanding of the UK political landscape
• Strong strategic thinking, leadership and organisational skills with the ability to manage and get the best out of a small core staff team
• Strong ethos of delivery, with the ability to oversee and deliver a programme of events, and content aligned to the strategic goals of the organisation

Experience and Skills

• Experience of working in Westminster with a strong understanding of Parliament and the Labour party
• Experience of working in, or closely with, a think tank, policy institute or political organisation
• Strong networking skills, preferably with proven reach outside London, who enthuses and gets the best out of a network of volunteers and supporters, and a proven ability to build relationships with senior political and external stakeholders
• Strong background in public policy and political communications, with excellent written skills, and a proven understanding of both traditional and online media
• Strong background in generating income through a variety of sources from commercial partnerships, to work with foundations and philanthropies both within and outside of the UK.
• Track record in delivering political strategy programmes across multiple audiences
• Be proficient in IT, and preferably with all aspects of social media

Progress is a membership organisation and a key role for our new director is to work out how we service our existing members better and communicate with them more effectively, online as well as in person. The director must be responsible for devising a programme of regular briefings, meetings both online and in person, and providing vehicles for member content and feedback.

A particular role for Progress is to motivate Labour’s next post-student generation to be ambitious for themselves and the party. The director should be responsible for organising social events with a political focus, and campaigning trips round the country.

Also important, particularly as Britain seeks a closer relationship with Europe are our overseas contacts, our association with the Brussels based Federation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and continental political foundations, for example, the German SPD’s Friedrick Ebert Stiftung and Berlin’s Progressive Zentrum. Also the PPI in the United States.

Progress wants its new director to be a person with vision, ambition, and most of all, energy in spades: someone who see their role not just as an ordinary job but a political vocation. But she or he must also recognises that as a small organisation – that has to work hard to sustain its finances – we can only succeed by cooperating with others, both the wealth of talent and commitment among Progress members and supporters – as well as building new partnerships in the worlds in which we operate – members of Parliament, mayors and councillors, political advisers. Progress has advantages – an established brand of thirty years standing, a large mailing list, and unrivalled contacts across the party

The Burnham premiership offers a new opportunity for Progress. As a former Vice Chair of Progress, Andy knows what we stand for. We share his commitment to put behind us factional battles and build a new consensus for British social democracy. Progress agrees that Labour must face up to big questions on:

• our relationship with the EU,
• devolution,
• reindustrialisation and economic growth (which for example involves new policies both to promote innovation and the potential of AI, and at the same time ensure it serves the public interest),
• electoral and constitutional reform,
• greater public control of essential services and natural monopolies,
• housing and comprehensive social care as fundamental human rights where Britain falls disgracefully short.

At the same time our politics must adjust to a new world of change, not only since the Blair/ Brown governments, but since the 2016 Brexit referendum. The multilateral world order is in a state of near collapse. A modernised defence working closely with NATO allies and European partners must once again be the top national priority. Global competition, especially from China, threatens our remaining industrial base. Yet, the capacity of the British state to make radical change happen has been sadly weakened by the onward march of ‘proceduralism’ and the political failures of the last decade.

If you are interested in becoming director of Progress, you should send an application letter and CV by email to the Progress chair, Lord (Roger) Liddle.

[email protected]

Applications will close at 12 noon on Friday November 20^th, with interviews to be arranged quickly thereafter. If you do not hear from us, you should assume we have decided not to take forward your application. However, your application should include your phone number so that you can be contacted for further briefing.