Blueprints

Chief Executive/Senior Leader or Director 

Role responsibilities 

You are the Chief Executive, or are in another leadership role in your organisation

With your Board and other senior colleagues, you are responsible for, or contribute to, setting the organisation’s vision, values, strategy and direction

You develop the business plan, allocating resources and planning activities to fulfil the strategy, and setting objectives for your team

You are responsible for implementing the business plan, and for planning and implementation of your function’s activities, setting and reaching targets and achieving goals

You take significant decisions for your organisation, in line with the strategy and business plan

You are the main contact with your Board, or have Board level relationships for your function, supporting good governance and contributing appropriately to Board decisions and discussions

You play a key role in developing and supporting your organisation’s culture

You lead your team, providing direction and management to your colleagues

You represent your organisation, writing and speaking about your work, and raising awareness of your activities

You lead on key relationships with stakeholders and supporters

You play a role in sector-wide activities, bringing your expertise and your organisation’s experience to contribute to developments and collaborate with others in your area of work

Finance Manager/Officer 

Role responsibilities 

You are responsible or partly responsible for the financial processes in your organisation

You record financial information, interpret financial statements, and carry out reconciliations

You need to understand accounting concepts and standards, and apply them to your work consistently

You develop and maintain processes in the finance function and identify changes needed, understanding how they have an impact on and are affected by other parts of the organisation

With colleagues, you develop key financial performance indicators, collect data and analyse trends to monitor financial performance

You understand and manage costs, and set budgets for the organisation, monitoring expenditure against budget and preparing forecast information

You produce financial reports which for different functions, including the leadership of the organisation and the Board, and create financial presentations when needed

You interpret reports to extract relevant financial data

You use systems to manage the finance function, and can explain to others how information is recorded and managed

You are responsible for the financial compliance of the organisation, applying key principles of integrity, transparency and professionalism in the process

You need to understand and manage financial risk and be able to develop procedures to mitigate and manage risk

Chief Executive, Head of Function, Finance Manager/Director, Team Leader 

Role responsibilities 

With colleagues, you use tools or frameworks such as Theory of Change to articulate your organisation’s purpose, activities and desired impact

With colleagues, you decide what data and information is needed to manage organisation performance and understand the impact of your services and activities

You design or co-design data collection tools such as surveys, interviews and focus group discussion guides

You are responsible for collecting quantitative (numbers) and qualitative (comments and feedback) data, through regular operational activities and using other tools (eg surveys)

You analyse qualitative and quantitative data, producing internal reports and reports for external stakeholders, including funders

You prepare reports which highlight learning at operational and strategic levels, and make recommendations for improvement

You work with colleagues to implement recommendations to improve processes and provide excellent service user experience

HR Officer/Manager or Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive, Finance Manager, role with HR/people 

Role responsibilities

You are responsible for HR compliance – meeting legal and regulatory standards, and mitigating risks

You prepare and maintain HR policies to guide, inform and support employees and meet legal and regulatory requirements

Employee relations: you address issues arising between employees and the organisation, ensuring fair and equitable treatment and compliance with legal requirements

You are responsible for or contribute to HR operations – advising or managing resource planning in line with organisation strategy, and delivering operational efficiency. 
You may develop a workforce strategy.  You look at organisation capability needs and address gaps, mitigate risks and support the achievement of strategic objectives

You manage recruitment activities to attract people to the organisation, including equitable processes to build a diverse, representative and skilled workforce

You establish performance standards, support colleagues and directly manage performance issues, promoting clarity, wellbeing, growth and accountability

You make recommendations on reward and recognition for staff to motivate high performance, promote inclusion and influence employee engagement

You plan ahead in terms of succession, identifying potential future leaders and managers, to support continuity and sustainability of key areas of work

You contribute to activities which build a positive culture and enhance employee engagement, satisfaction and retention, creating a positive work environment and a sense of belonging and purpose

You integrate DEI practices to develop a workforce that reflects diverse perspectives and backgrounds, ensures equitable decision-making, and nurtures an inclusive culture or respect, empowerment and belonging

You implement initiatives to support employees’ wellbeing, fostering a positive work environment, in which people feel safe to express opinions, take risks and make mistakes without fear of retribution, to enhance trust, innovation and collaboration