We are recruiting for a Programme Manager, A Fairer Start Mission Team

About Nesta

Nesta is a research and innovation foundation that designs, tests and scales solutions for the biggest challenges of our time.

Driven by a vision to improve the lives of millions of people, our focus up to 2030 is on three missions: breaking the link between family background and life chances, halving obesity and cutting household carbon emissions.

We work with partners across the public, private and third sectors to develop high-potential solutions and test them as they evolve, drawing on deep expertise in qualitative and quantitative research, data science, behavioural science and design.

Once confident in the effectiveness of a solution, we are relentless in the pursuit of scale. We create and make the case for ambitious national policy proposals, develop consumer-facing products and services, spin out and support commercial ventures and harness the power of the arts to shape national narratives.

We extend our impact through two specialised units that help others to solve complex problems and achieve their missions. BIT applies a deep understanding of human behaviour to help clients achieve their goals. Challenge Works designs and runs challenge prizes to spark innovation in science, technology and society.

Together, we are building a powerful ecosystem for innovation that delivers proven solutions to create lasting, positive change.

The Role

This role supports our mission, A Fairer Start, in its aim to narrow the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers.

Part chief of staff, part delivery manager, the focus of this role is to help our mission leadership and project teams to work effectively and efficiently - nurturing a collaborative and high-impact culture, improving our systems and processes, making the most of our capabilities and resources, and supporting the delivery of our most complex programmes.

This is a role for a proactive, hands-on operator who loves getting things done and helping teams thrive.

You will maintain a strong pulse on mission priorities, progress and challenges, help the mission leadership team and project leads turn ideas into action, and proactively surface and mitigate risks. You will help nurture team culture, and facilitate team-wide rhythms and routines. And you will manage our mission processes and resourcing across a complex portfolio, unblocking barriers and ensuring our projects have the right skills at the right time to succeed.

You will manage an Assistant Programme Manager, supporting their development while automating mechanical work, so everyone can focus on higher-value work.

Alongside these core duties, you may also support the delivery of complex projects in a Delivery Manager role, and/or support organisational change programmes.

This role is also a part of Nesta’s community of Programme and Project Managers who work together to design and manage Nesta's processes and ways of working - helping us plan, deliver and manage programmes and projects.

Your responsibilities will include:

Programme management:

• Act as a thought partner to the Mission leadership team: frame questions and choices, pressure-test thinking, and turn strategic intent into concrete plans.
• Support leadership decisions: proactively provide analysis, options and recommendations to support strategic decision-making on a regular basis and at key crunch points.
• Manage team resourcing: ensure we deploy the right people on the right projects at the right time, maintaining an adaptive budget & resource planning system across a 30+ person team and 15+ projects – using automation to keep it current with minimal manual effort.
• Build tools that make the team faster: identify manual, repetitive work across the Mission and replace it with lightweight automation, using no-code/low-code tools, scripting and AI to streamline reporting, resourcing and status tracking.
• Lead rhythms and routines: drive efficient, low-faff team routines that foster alignment, learning and collaboration - keeping process light and only where it earns its place.
• Nurture team culture: play a key role in fostering a team culture that is inclusive, joyful and impact-focused - building relationships with everyone in the team and planning moments of connection
• Support project delivery: for key projects, provide Delivery Management support or coaching to help coordinate project teams and drive effective, efficient delivery of a project’s objectives.
• Own problems end to end: when something is ambiguous, blocked or falling between people, pick it up and drive it to a resolution without waiting to be asked.

Developing Others and Nesta:

• Line managing an Assistant Programme Manager (APM). The APM operates much of the day-to-day mechanics of the Mission; a key part of your role is supporting them through automation and better tooling so those mechanics run smoothly with less manual effort.
• Supporting the APM to grow their skills and confidence, and to take the lead on aspects of these responsibilities.
• Build delivery capability across the Mission: spot where a project lead is stuck or a team is struggling, and coach them through it so the fix sticks.
• Contribute to Nesta’s community of delivery people by sharing what works and helping keep our ways of working pragmatic and right-sized, rather than heavy for its own sake.

The person

We are looking for someone who has:

• Experience bridging strategy and delivery – proactively surfacing ideas and options, facilitating leadership decisions, and owning end to end delivery
• Experience managing portfolio resourcing across a team of 30+ people and 15+ projects, or comparable complexity
• Experience adapting delivery management frameworks, processes and tools to a team’s specific needs and context – informed, not evangelist.
• Experience providing hands-on delivery management support for multiple large projects or programmes
• Very strong people acumen, with the ability to build trust and work effectively with a wide range of partners, team members and senior stakeholders.
• Low ego and a bias towards action, comfortable with high autonomy and minimal process, adaptable when priorities shift, and willing to roll up your sleeves for whatever needs doing.
• Embraced tech and automation to make things better and faster – preferably already technically capable - or a fast, motivated self-teacher. Deep technical credentials are not required; appetite and aptitude are.

What we offer

Salary: £50,700 - £67,800 (offers are expected to be made towards the bottom of the band) plus an 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, with a hybrid working arrangement with a minimum of two days in the office

Term: Permanent

Hours: This is a full-time role, but we offer a range of flexible working arrangements and encourage our people to take advantage of them. Many do.

Reports to: Head of Profession (Programme & Project Management), PMO

Please note: We are looking to appoint one, and potentially two, Programme Managers for Nesta’s A Fairer Start mission team. Should we appoint a second Programme Manager, the Job Description will be consistent with what is set out below, but with a greater focus on Delivery Management. We will discuss this possibility with any finalists before making a second appointment.

Making an application

To apply for this role, please submit your application before 8:00am on the 7th of September 2026.

Interviews will take place w/c the 14th of September 2026.

Whatever it takes

Everyone works at Nesta because we are driven by a deep commitment to our missions. A guiding principle of our culture is that we do whatever it takes to achieve them, bringing our best to all our work. You can read more about our culture on our website.

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.