#BeeWell National Director

Overall Purpose of the Role

We are looking for an experienced, collaborative leader who is passionate about young people’s wellbeing to lead the #BeeWell national programme.

The purpose of the role is to lead the development of #BeeWell in its next phase. You will drive the future strategic vision for #BeeWell as it seeks to redefine how we support young people to thrive. You will champion #BeeWell nationally and amplify young people’s voices to ensure they are central to driving policy change.

You will be responsible for recruiting, working with, and supporting a number of new local project teams as we seek to deliver #BeeWell in 3–5 new locations across England, ensuring consistency and fidelity to the #BeeWell model while adapting to local need.

Alongside this, you will work with and support the Greater Manchester and Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton (HIPS) teams to continue delivery with excellence until 2030 and beyond.

About #BeeWell

The challenge and opportunity to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people in the UK is pressing. International surveys show that adolescents in the UK rank in the bottom four of around 70 countries in terms of life satisfaction.

#BeeWell is a coalition of local and national partners working together to deliver the change needed to address this.

#BeeWell:

• Measures young people’s wellbeing in secondary schools across a local area
• Works with local partners to deliver positive change
• Engages 70–80% of mainstream secondary schools, as well as APs, PRUs and special schools
• Uses data to understand young people’s experiences and how they are shaped by place, identity, school and community

Vision: An England where young people’s wellbeing is everybody’s business

Core principles:

• Listen to young people’s voices
• Act together for change
• Celebrate young people’s wellbeing

Schools receive confidential data reports and follow-up support to understand pupils’ experiences. Neighbourhood data is published to enable a place-based approach, bringing together partners including arts and cultural organisations, youth clubs, sports clubs, businesses and charities.

The long-term ambition is to rebalance the national focus on educational outcomes and highlight the relationship between wellbeing and academic attainment.

#BeeWell Team

You will be employed by The University of Manchester and lead a small national team consisting of:

• Impact Officer
• Project Officer
• Communications Manager
• Communications Officer
• Apprentice

You will work with the founders of #BeeWell (The Gregson Family Foundation, The University of Manchester and Anna Freud) on strategic issues.

Professional services at the University will provide administrative, legal, strategic and wider support.

You will also work closely with local delivery teams.

Key Relationships

• Local authorities, schools, Multi-Academy Trusts, Integrated Care Systems, think tanks, and voluntary and community sector organisations
• Local delivery teams in Greater Manchester and Hampshire County Council
• Research team at The University of Manchester, led by Professor Neil Humphrey
• Founding partners and funders
• Senior officials in national government, particularly the Department for Education, DCMS and DHSC

Key Responsibilities

Operational

• Lead identification of new locations for rollout of #BeeWell
• Open discussions and progress 3–5 locations to implementation by 2030
• Support setup and delivery in new locations
• Provide expertise on school recruitment, delivery, strategy and stakeholder management
• Ensure youth voice remains central to all activity
• Build a national coalition to make young people’s wellbeing everybody’s business

Cross-location collaboration and learning

• Support long-term sustainability in Greater Manchester and HIPS beyond 2027
• Share learning and best practice across delivery sites
• Create a supportive environment for collaboration
• Monitor and communicate programme impact locally and nationally
• Develop the model for different geographies and organisational contexts

Strategic

• Develop the strategic vision for national scale
• Advocate for rollout with national and local government
• Influence policy through research insights
• Oversee governance and stakeholder relationships
• Lead fundraising for additional programme elements (2027–2030)
• Develop plans for the period beyond 2030

Why Join Us

This is a rare opportunity to take on a senior role at the heart of a globally significant, civic university, supporting delivery of the University’s Manchester 2035 Strategy through effective, transparent and inclusive governance.

• University of Manchester Benefits
• Flexible and Hybrid working
• Equal Opportunities

As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.

Our University is positive about flexible working – you can find out more here

Hybrid working arrangements may be considered.

Please be aware that due to the number of applications we unfortunately may not able to provide individual feedback on your application.

Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.

Any recruitment enquiries from recruitment agencies should be directed to recruitmentservices.people@manchester.ac.uk

Any CV’s submitted by a recruitment agency will be considered a gift.

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name: Sunit Patel

Email: sunit.patel@manchester.ac.uk

General enquiries:

Email: recruitmentservices.people@manchester.ac.uk

Technical support:

0161 850 2004 https://jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home

This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date.

Please see the link below for the Further Particulars document which contains the person specification criteria.