Chief Executive Officer

HARRIS HILL EXECUTIVE SEARCH; City Of London; On-site; GBP 95,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

A charity focused on community impact is seeking a Chief Executive Officer to shape strategy, oversee governance, and inspire a diverse team. The ideal candidate will have significant leadership experience in charity sectors and demonstrated success in strategic planning. This role offers an annual salary between £95,000 - £105,000 and generous employee benefits. The application closing date is 9am, Monday 10th November 2025.

Benefits

Benenden health membership

Pension

Season-ticket loans

Cycle-to-work

Subsidised lunches

Qualifications

• Seasoned senior leader within charity or community services.
• Experience with strategic planning and financial management.
• Ability to inspire and communicate with diverse stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and delivery of strategic goals.
• Oversee governance frameworks and financial controls.
• Inspire a diverse team and unlock new revenue streams.
• Forge relationships with community partners.

Skills

Strategic planning

P&L management

Stakeholder governance

Persuasive communication

Entrepreneurial thinking

Job description

Chief Executive Officer – St Luke’s Community Centre

Location: London EC1V (on-site presence required)

Salary: Between £95,000 - £105,000 per annum

Contract: Permanent, full-time (37.5 hours per week)

Are you ready to guide St Luke’s Community Centre - south Islington’s 500-year-old community hub - into its next era of intergenerational community impact?

About St Luke’s

St Luke’s Community Centre traces its roots back over 500 years, stewarding ancient parish endowments to relieve poverty in our defined area of benefit. In 1982 we opened our purpose-built home on Central Street. In 2019 we transformed from an over-55s’ welfare organisation into a vibrant, intergenerational hub. Our programme of over 100 weekly activities has grown year-on-year, and we’ve become the first organisation in Islington to achieve the trusted standard benchmark. Our already strong reputation was bolstered by our team’s incredible response to the challenges the Covid-19 pandemic, during which we never closed, but pivoted to preparing daily meals, running befriending calls and welfare checks, and welcoming the community back in as soon as it was safe to do so. Today, we are the beating heart of the community.

As our next CEO, you will:

• Shape Strategy & Impact: Lead development and delivery of our three-year rolling strategy, balancing service excellence with financial sustainability.
• Governance & Finance: Oversee robust governance frameworks and financial controls, stewarding our £20 million investment portfolio, trading income and grant programmes.
• Operational Leadership: Inspire and support a diverse team of 44 staff and hundreds of volunteers, embedding a culture of continuous improvement, inclusion and professionalism.
• Income Generation: Unlock new revenue streams - maximising room hire, cookery-school capacity, digital/social enterprises and corporate fundraising partnerships.
• Community & Partnerships: Forge and deepen relationships with local authorities, corporate sponsors, umbrella bodies and community groups.
• Brand & Profile: Be the public face of St Luke’s, elevating communications, safeguarding our reputation and ensuring our values of inclusion, equality, friendship, wellbeing and support shine through.

Who you are

• A seasoned senior leader (CEO or equivalent), ideally within the charity, membership or community-services sectors.
• Demonstrable expertise in strategic planning, P&L management and complex stakeholder governance.
• A persuasive communicator and boardroom presenter with the gravitas to inspire trustees, staff, volunteers and funders.
• Entrepreneurial and innovative, able to identify revenue opportunities and drive their delivery.
• Hands‑on and approachable - a visible presence on the shop floor as well as the board table.
• (Desirable) Experience of trading‑arm management, social‑enterprise models or corporate fundraising.

Why St Luke’s?

• Lead a historic, 500-year-old charity with a modern purpose-built centre at its heart.
• Salary between £95,000 - £105,000 plus generous employee benefits (Benenden health membership, pension, season‑ticket loans, cycle‑to‑work, subsidised lunches).
• Shape a charity whose community‑shop, wellbeing hub, cookery school, employment hub, lunch club and gardening projects touch hundreds of lives each week.
• Join a committed Board, supportive Chair and passionate team determined to grow St Luke’s impact in challenging times.

Please see the attached Recruitment Brief with details on how to apply.

Closing date for applications:

9am, Monday 10th November 2025

As leading charity recruitment specialists and a certified B Corp, Harris Hill is committed to high and ever‑improving standards of equitable and inclusive recruitment. We actively welcome applications from all sections of the community regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion, sexuality and other protected characteristics.