We are hiring a Programme Coordinator - Challenge Works

About Challenge Works

Challenge Works exists to design and run challenge prizes that help solve pressing societal problems that lack solutions. We shine a spotlight where it matters and incentivise people to solve these issues. We are independent supporters of change to help communities thrive and inspire the best-placed, most diverse groups of people around the world to take action.

We support the boldest and bravest ideas to become real, and seed long-term change to advance society and build a better future for everyone.

Challenge Works is looking for a Programme Coordinator to join its growing team and work across several of its programmes, such as our work with Ofwat on the £600m Water Innovation Fund. This role will be key to support the development and delivery of challenge prizes across a broad range of social and technology themes including: disruptive tech, environment, international development, global health and government innovation.

Our projects are usually complex with a high public profile, they have significant impact on the lives of many thousands of people, and involve working with an exciting mix of tech entrepreneurs, civil society organisations (not for profits and public interest organisations) and government bodies.

We have launched prizes that include improving outcomes for Nepalese farmers, improving access to energy for refugees and the £10m Longitude Prize for antimicrobial resistance. Some of our current prizes and programmes include the Water Innovation Fund, the Longitude Prize on ALS and the Good Start challenge.

The Role

Programme Coordination

• Work closely with Programme Managers and Assistant Programme Managers to enable smooth day-to-day programme execution.
• Monitoring of milestones, evaluation and finance to keep check of project budgets and deadlines. Flagging action points to the Programme Manager when necessary.
• Develop, maintain and revise (as necessary) administrative systems that will underpin the delivery of the prizes.
• Carry out procurement activities end-to-end, including development of contracts, legal documents and updates to the Salesforce system
• Development of key documents relating to the delivery of the prizes.
• Support internal and external meetings, including coordinating meeting times and spaces, and writing minutes.

Stakeholder Management

• Work with internal and external stakeholders to ensure effective delivery of the prizes.
• Innovator liaison management and supporting other external stakeholder relationships including clients.
• Stakeholder landscape mapping and upkeep of stakeholder databases
• Manage the prize inbox and liaise with finalist teams

Communications & Event support

• Support programme communications activities, for example, managing monthly newsletters, updating websites, and preparing engaging content suitable for a range of channels.
• Help create opportunities for public engagement activities.
• Help to plan events, workshops, and deliver them to a high standard.
• Coordinate the sponsorship of events, including contracting with organisers and suppliers, arranging delivery and logistics, and briefing event attendees on event objectives

General

• Work with diverse Nesta departments, including financial, legal, and communications.
• Take on ad-hoc projects and tasks to support the team as necessary.
• Occasional international travel and out-of-hours work.

The Person

Strong programme and client coordination

• Solid organisation, prioritisation and time management skills with the ability to coordinate multiple projects simultaneously.
• Initiative and drive, proactively identifying tasks that need to be actioned to enable effective delivery of the programme.
• Ability to coordinate and control aspects of large projects, along with general office support/administrative capacity.
• Experience of using project management tools and software such as Asana, or a willingness to learn.
• Experience of working to tight deadlines, delivering high-quality outputs across multiple projects and tasks.
• Good attention to detail and high standards of accuracy.
• Experience of organising and running events.

Strong communication skills

• Strong written skills - e.g. professional written communication with external stakeholders, drafting marketing materials.
• Strong verbal skills - e.g. able to ask questions and seek clarification when required, confident in speaking to a range of stakeholders.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work effectively with a wide range of high-profile partners, clients, team members and stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience tailoring written and verbal communications based on audience, channel and objective

Excellent digital skills

• Ability to use project management platforms, CRM platforms, databases and programmes (Asana, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Wordpress, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint & Excel and/or Google Docs, Slides and Sheets) to support the successful delivery of a programme
• Ability to spot gaps where there might be potential tech solutions to drive efficiencies.

What we offer:

Salary: Circa £29,300 plus array of benefits, including private medical insurance, dental insurance, the ability to buy and sell annual leave, eyecare vouchers and more

Location: This role is based in Blackfriars, London, hybrid working arrangement with a minimum of two days in the office

Term: 2 year Fixed Term Contract

Hours: Full-time

Making an application:

To apply for this role, please submit a CV and cover letter before 18th May 2026 at 8:00am.

Interviews will take place w/c 25th May 2026.

At Nesta, we believe that a diverse workforce leads to an organisation that is more innovative, more creative and gets better results.

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we serve. We also want our workplace to be one where different experiences, expertise and perspectives are valued, and where everyone is encouraged to grow and develop.

This means that when we are recruiting, we actively seek to reach a diverse pool of candidates. It also means that we are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that potential employees may need to in order to be successful.

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life, so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including working from home, compressed or part-time hours, job shares and other arrangements.

Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore.