Using our expertise in successfully delivering one of the first youth-focused social impact bonds (SIB), ThinkForward is hosting a workshop to trial a new toolkit which aims to help other youth-serving delivery organisations to develop and deliver a SIB.

SIBs are widely recognised as being complex vehicles to design, implement and deliver, which can be a barrier to charities to setting one up. ThinkForward wants to share lessons learned, promote good practice and demystify SIBs, as well as help guide organisations through the steps required to creating a successful SIB.

The workshop, which is being held on 18th October, is open to delivery organisations as well as commissioners, investors, social investment finance intermediaries and other experts. 

The toolkit will be presented by ThinkForward staff who were involved in the creation and implementation of our SIB. It will be followed by an opportunity to work through the materials, test ideas for SIBs and provide feedback. 

The aim is to create a conversation where everyone can share tips and tricks, ask questions and learn from each other. We will feed ideas and suggestions from the workshop into the final report, which will be ready by the end of 2017. 

The toolkit has been created with the support of Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML), based on a shared recognition of the need for more support and information for delivery organisations in the marketplace. Through this work, BofAML aims to build its support to organisations which are looking at social investment models, in order to drive social and economic progress. The event is being held at BofAML’s offices in King Edward Street, London.

If you would like to attend you can book a ticket here.

ThinkForward is now recruiting for a pivotal role in the organisation. We are looking for an inspirational leader who will drive forward the design and delivery of our programmes for young people. 

There’s lots to be proud of about ThinkForward – our innovative programme design, our promising impact on young people’s employability, and the scale we have achieved in a relatively short time. But there  also much more we need to do if we are going to deliver a programme that can really prevent the next generation of youth unemployment nationwide.

We need a Head of Delivery who can establish a learning culture amongst our delivery staff, using the insights from the frontline to refine the programme and make it even more impactful. A people-person who can operationalise our vision and get others to follow. A leader who can identify new business opportunities and execute them effectively.

This a role that’s likely to appeal to someone with experience in a similar strategic role. Our expectations are high, but we will provide you with a supportive team, fantastic learning and development opportunities, and exposure to leading edge thinking on impact management.

The Head of Delivery will be a key part of our four-person executive leadership team which will be developing and implementing a new business plan for 2018-2023. 

Our priorities include refining our programme delivery, proving our impact and extending our reach to more young people. We will also be consolidating two new pilot programmes – MoveForward and CareForward – which target young people with learning disabilities and young people leaving care. 

The post holder will have line management responsibility for five members of staff and be ultimately accountable for 28 full-time staff and around 300 volunteers across our main locations in London, Kent and Nottingham.

The role can be based in any of our sites with travel to the other two locations regularly, typically up to once a week. 

The deadline for applications is 29^th August. First interviews and assessment centre will be held during the weeks beginning 4^th and 11^th September, with final interviews taking place the week beginning 18^th September.

You can download more information about the role here.