Programme Manager, Early Years
£42,000 per year pro rata (0.8 FTE) / £33,600 per year
Part-time, 28 hours per week
Fixed-term contract for one year
Based in London SW8 / home and flexible working
We empower people with the literacy skills they need to succeed in life. Together, we're helping people change their stories. You could join us to lead the delivery and development of our early years programmes.
What you’ll be doing
Supporting literacy in the early years is one of our key strategic priorities, ensuring every child starts school with language and communication skills ready to grow and learn at school.
You will be responsible for leading the development and delivery of early years programmes to deliver impact at scale, and developing relationships with funders to ensure sustainability.
The programmes you will work on include First Words Together, which aims to empower parents and carers with skills and resources to support their child’s early communication and language before the age of two. You will also manage a professional development programme for practitioners that combines dialogic reading of stories and dialogic interaction to improve language outcomes. You will manage team members delivering this activity and develop new ideas and approaches to support language and literacy in the early years.
You will be contracted to our office in London, but this role is suitable for home and flexible working, with the majority of your work carried out from home if you would prefer. However, you will need to be available to travel to London for staff and team days, as well as to support project delivery and partnerships. This could be around a day a week on average, although at times it will be a lot less, and unfortunately, we are unable to cover travel costs for this.
What we’re looking for
You will be an experienced programme manager, including working with fundraising targets and budget management. You will be able to lead and motivate a team, as well as manage complex relationships with internal and external partners. Experience working in, or with, the early years sector will be essential. Knowledge of evaluation methodologies and impact measurement for large-scale programmes, and experience of working with the corporate sector and volunteers, would be an advantage.
This role is also subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check in line with our safeguarding policy and safer recruitment procedures.
Why our work is so vital
Literacy changes everything.
It gives you the tools to get the most out of life, and the power to shape your future. It’s the key to knowledge, confidence and inspiration. It’s better results at school, and better jobs. If children grow up without the tools to communicate, without books to read or opportunities to write, it’s harder to get where you want to go.
The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity helping people overcome these challenges and change their life chances through the power of words – reading, writing, speaking and listening. From first words, through school days, to training, jobs and beyond.
- We work collaboratively in local communities, focusing our work in 20 areas of the UK that are facing the biggest challenges.
- We support schools, developing the most effective tools and techniques and providing resources and programmes to engage and inspire children.
- We campaign to make literacy a priority for politicians and decision-makers.
- We support vulnerable adults, people in the criminal justice system and young offenders’ institutions to build their literacy skills.
What we offer you
Our team are passionate about our mission, and we have a strong and positive working culture, based on shared values and respect. We offer a range of flexible working options and promote a workplace where you can be yourself and contribute to our success, whoever you are.
As well as a competitive salary, we offer benefits including a generous leave allowance totalling 39 days (including bank holidays and office closure between Christmas and New Year), pension contributions of 8% of annual salary, a cycle to work scheme, employee assistance programme and other health and wellbeing benefits.
Application details
Our people are our most important asset, and we value and respect diversity in all its forms (seen and unseen). We particularly welcome applications from those from Black and Asian backgrounds, as well as candidates with disabilities and from the communities in which we work. We would like to increase the representation of these groups among our staff, as we know greater diversity will lead to an even greater impact for our work.
To apply, please select the apply button shown.
Closing date: 10am, Friday 1 May 2026.
Please note, we do not accept CVs. No agencies or recruitment sites. Registered charity no. 1116260 (England and Wales) and SC042944 (Scotland).