Head of Communications

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Head of Communications to come and join our team providing maternity cover until January 2027 during a period of organisational growth.

Location - This role is mainly working from home with one day a week in our London office (usually a Monday). Occasional travel to our other programme sites (currently Stoke-On-Trent, Redcar, Middlesbrough and Scotland) will also be required.

Salary - Circa £60,000

Employment Type - Fixed term until January 2027, 35 hours per week

Team - Communications team

About you

We are looking for someone who can demonstrate the following:

• Strong experience in strategic communications, ideally within a start-up, growing, complex or place-based organisation.
• Experience setting up and embedding communications functions, including establishing foundations and building approaches as priorities evolve.
• Significant experience in people leadership, including developing others and building a strong, collaborative working culture.
• Experience influencing senior stakeholders and working with an SLT, including supporting government policy, media, funding and influence related activity.
• Strong content, storytelling and copywriting expertise and the ability to communicate a clear organisational narrative.

About the role

The responsibilities of this role include:

• Overseeing and ensuring the delivery of national and local communications strategies and plans, including national content activity and priority local campaigns and stakeholder engagement.
• Leading the set-up and embedding of new place-based communications functions.
• Leading and overseeing the planning and delivery of Thrive at Five's 2026 Impact Report, communications relating to evaluations and learning, and our fifth-year anniversary, working closely with evaluation and fundraising colleagues.
• Maintaining and strengthening relationships with key national and local stakeholders in line with our communications strategy and goals.
• Providing professional and operational leadership and coaching to the wider Communications team to ensure they deliver to a high standard.

About us

Thrive at Five is a national charity focused on giving every child the best possible start in life. We know the foundations for life and learning are built in the earliest years, from pregnancy to five. By working alongside families, communities and local partners, we help build stronger, more connected support for parents, so more children get what they need to thrive and reach a good level of development by age five.

Thrive at Five is a relatively young organisation but with an already strong national and political profile, having been called out in Parliament for our ways of working in Stoke-on-Trent and invited to be interviewed at the 2025 Civil Society Summit by the Secretary of State for Education. We have grown rapidly in our first four years, with a growing team of nearly 40 across the country. 2026 will be a year of further growth and milestones for the charity as we celebrate our fifth-year anniversary and expand into our third and fourth regions. This will involve recruiting for a new teams, establishing our programmes and beginning to co-design and implement our work in partnership with communities.

About our benefits

• Pension contributions - We will contribute 3% and you can contribute 5% towards your pension through NEST.
• Hybrid working with one anchor day a week in our central London office near to Victoria train station, coach station and underground.
• 25 annual leave days per year plus bank holidays.
• In addition to your laptop and phone provided by us, you can also receive a £100 contribution towards your home-working set up.
• £100 contribution towards your professional body membership

Please note that as this role is subject to a successful Basic Level Disclosure check through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). If you have any unspent convictions, but wish to apply for this role, please advise us in your application. The successful candidate will also need to provide satisfactory references and current right to work in the UK.

To apply for this role, please submit your cover letter and CV by following the Apply Now button. Applications will be reviewed and shortlisted as they are received. While the closing date is midnight on Wednesday, 18 February 2026, we may close the vacancy earlier if a suitable candidate is identified.

If you have any questions about this role, please contact .