Chief Operating Officer & Director of Regions
Salary Commensurate with a senior position in a charitable organisation operating within a complex environment. Contract type Permanent Hours Full Time Location Poole, Dorset, England Location description Based in the RNLI’s Support Centre in Poole (3 days per week minimum) with travel across the UK and Ireland Interview location RNLI College, Poole. Interview date Initial interviews: Tues 9th June. Final interviews: Tues 16th June 2026 Closing Date 29-05-2026 Reference 21555
The RNLI is a unique and much-loved organisation founded 200 years ago by Sir William Hillary to enable communities to save lives at sea. Today, the skills and bravery of our lifesavers remain true to Hillary’s initial Appeal to the Nation in 1823 for volunteers to “risk their own lives for those whom they have never known or seen”. Good people responded then, and have continued to do so in present times, through the delivery of our core frontline services.
Since 1824, more than 147,000 people have owed their lives to the courage and professionalism of our volunteers and staff. The delivery of all this lifesaving work across the UK, Ireland, and further afield is only made possible by the support, dedication and commitment of the RNLI’s volunteers and staff – c. 27,000 people in total, all pulling together as ‘One Crew’.
As the RNLI embarks on its third century of lifesaving, the organisation must be receptive to progressive ideas and how it can better the quality of its service, the safety of its people, and the way it operates. The way people are using the coast and the water is changing; the RNLI needs to be operating in the most efficient and cost-effective way; exploring innovative ways to raise the required funds; and working with partners nationally and internationally to maximise its reach and impact.
The RNLI is seeking an outstanding leader who can make a wide-ranging and significant impact across the Lifesaving Operations’ Directorate and the wider organisation as Chief Operating Officer and Director of Regions. The postholder will ensure the efficient delivery of UK and Irish frontline services via a regional operational model and provision of the RNLI’s International programme of water safety training, education and advocacy.
The successful candidate will have:
1. a credible affinity with the work of the RNLI and the environment in which it operates
2. successful senior leadership experience in a dynamic commercial environment
3. the ability to win hearts and minds across a very broad demographic of volunteers, staff, supporters and donors
4. strong leadership in communications, advocacy and interaction with stakeholders
5. resilience, and an ability to make tough decisions as well as master the detail required to support them
6. the aptitude to create a vision and lead towards it.
Other essential qualifications and experience required from the successful candidate are:
7. An accomplished maritime practitioner with senior business management experience, preferably at director level
8. Significant experience of leading, managing and developing multi-disciplinary teams
9. Senior leadership experience in a complex operational environment
10. Significant experience of driving organisational effectiveness through continuous improvement and innovation
11. Significant experience of change leadership and delivering complex programmes / projects
12. Experience of setting and controlling large budgets.
Clicking on the 'Apply' button below will take you to the website of Odgers, who have been retained as an Executive Search partner for this vacancy with the RNLI and will handle all applications on behalf of the RNLI.