Strategic Lead for Tackling Povety

Job description

Contract terms

Starting salary: PO8 (£66,078 – £69,807)
Work location: Alexandra house, 10 Station Road, Wood Green, London, N22 7TR
Hours per week: 36 per week
Contract type: Fixed term contract (24 months from start date)
Closing date: Sunday, 22nd November 2026 at 23:59
Expected interview date: W/c 30th November 2026

About Haringey

Haringey is a fantastic place to live and work – the world in one borough. A place brimming with creativity, personality, radicalism, and community. It is a place where we stand up for each other. A place that is proudly distinctive. We’ll be celebrating all this and more as the “rebel borough” when we are the 2027 London Borough of Culture.

Our history champions change-makers and everyday rebels; revelling in our differences, battling discrimination, championing equality, and doing things our own way. Haringey’s people are a huge asset, with knowledge, expertise, and passion. Our staff members embody our organisational values: Caring, Creative, Courageous, Collaborative and Community-focused. These values keep us looking forward, ambitious for the future, and continuously striving to do our very best for all of our residents.

About the role

Lead one of London’s most ambitious anti-poverty programmes

Haringey is a place of extraordinary diversity, creativity and resilience, and the London Borough of Culture in 2027. It is also a borough where too many residents face the daily realities of poverty, rising living costs and inequality. We can’t change national economic and welfare policy, but we can choose how to respond in Haringey.

Tackling poverty locally is not the responsibility of a single service or organisation. It requires bold leadership and strong partnerships. We are looking for an exceptional Strategic Lead for Tackling Poverty to drive that agenda forward.

This is an exciting opportunity to lead the delivery of Haringey’s Anti-Poverty Strategy and oversee our £18m Crisis and Resilience Fund programme, using evidence-based decision making and a relentless focus on improving people’s lives.

As Strategic Lead for Tackling Poverty, you will be the council’s strategic convenor and catalyst for action. You will work across council services, the voluntary and community sector, public sector partners and local communities to ensure our collective efforts are coordinated, innovative and impactful. You will knit together a complex delivery landscape into a coherent programme that delivers measurable outcomes.

This role has the potential for significant influence and visibility. Success will depend on your ability to bring people together around a shared purpose and deliver outcomes through collaboration rather than formal authority.

You will:

• Lead delivery of Haringey’s Anti-Poverty Strategy and associated programmes.
• Oversee the governance, performance and financial stewardship of an £18m investment programme.
• Build and strengthen partnerships across the council, the NHS, schools, community organisations and other stakeholders.
• Develop and maintain a strong evidence base to underpin and evaluate investment decisions.
• Identify opportunities to maximise impact, reduce duplication and strengthen collaboration across the borough.
• Commission and oversee projects and services that support residents facing hardship.
• Develop robust approaches to measuring impact and understanding what works.
• Work with leaders across the council and external organisations, community groups, elected members, and residents.
• Advise and be accountable to senior officers and Cabinet Members on policy, investment and programme decisions.

About you

We are looking for an experienced strategic leader who combines intellectual curiosity, emotional intelligence and a strong commitment to social justice.

You will have:

• A strong track record of leading complex programmes or initiatives that deliver meaningful social outcomes.
• Strong research, data analysis and performance management skills, with the ability to turn insight into action.
• Excellent partnership-building and influencing skills, with the ability to secure commitment across organisations and sectors.
• Experience working in politically sensitive environments and engaging effectively with elected members and senior stakeholders.
• A deep understanding of poverty, inequality and the evidence base for effective interventions.
• Experience overseeing significant budgets, commissioning activity and programme governance.
• Outstanding communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• A collaborative leadership style and the ability to deliver through influence rather than hierarchy.

Local government experience would be valuable, but more important is your ability to learn about local government quickly, navigate complexity, build consensus and drive change.

Working for Haringey

At Haringey Council we are committed to creating a workplace culture where all our people feel valued, included, and able to be their best at work, and we recognise the benefits of a diverse workforce so welcome applications from all ethnicities and communities so that we continue to make a difference to our residents and community.  Our benefits package includes a leave entitlement of 31 days + bank holidays, potential hybrid working opportunities, health and wellbeing support, a generous local government pension scheme and a range of discount schemes across leisure and culture that provide both financial and money-saving discounts.

Please note: we reserve the right to end this advert before the noted deadline if we receive sufficient applications. If you wish to apply for this role, please ensure that you do so as soon as possible.  

Additionally, we are aware that automated emails may be diverted through to junk email folders.  Please continue to check these through the application process.  If you have any questions about the status of your application, please contact ResourcingHub@haringey.gov.uk

Interested in applying but would like to know more first?

If you have any questions about the role or would like an informal discussion before applying, please email Angela.Moukouta@haringey.gov.uk. They will be happy to arrange a brief conversation with the hiring manager so you can find out more about the opportunity.