Charity CEO jobs · charity chief executive roles

Charity CEO jobs: what the role looks like

A charity chief executive is the most senior member of staff.

NCVO’s guidance for boards sets out the shape of the job: the chief executive reports to the board, manages the staff team and leads the organisation day to day.

The board holds the chief executive accountable, and the chair usually manages them.

The job varies with the charity’s size, income and work.

At a small local charity the chief executive may be the only senior manager, writing grant bids and running services themselves.

At a large national charity they lead a senior team across fundraising, finance, operations and policy, and they are the public voice of the organisation.

Who hires: the trustees

Trustees make the appointment, usually through an appointment panel of a few trustees led by the chair, which recommends a candidate to the full board.

The Charity Commission’s The essential trustee (CC3) says trustees can delegate to senior staff but cannot delegate their overall responsibility, and that the chair usually line manages the chief executive on the trustees’ behalf.

So your first working relationship is with the chair, and your authority is whatever the board delegates in writing.

Before you apply, read the charity’s entry on the Charity Commission’s register of charities.

It shows what the charity does, who its trustees are, its income and spending, and any action the Commission has taken.

Charities in Scotland are registered with OSCR, and those in Northern Ireland with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.

How charity CEO pay is set and why we give no figure

Pay for a charity chief executive is the board’s decision.

NCVO’s guidance for boards lists it among the questions a board should settle: how it will decide how much the chief executive is paid.

Its guidance on setting salaries says charities should balance affordability, internal fairness and external competitiveness, and names ACEVO’s annual Pay and Equalities Survey as the most comprehensive breakdown of the sector’s chief executive pay.

We hold no sourced figure for charity chief executive salaries, so this page gives none.

Pay depends on the charity’s size, income and complexity.

On every shortlist we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate, so the panel and the candidate see it before interview.

Where charity CEO jobs are advertised and how to track them

Start with the charities you care about.

Charities advertise senior roles on their own websites, and some hire a search firm to find candidates.

ACEVO Jobs, run by ACEVO, the membership body for charity and civil society chief executives, lists only chief executive, senior management and trustee roles, with job alerts.

The Charity Commission does not list vacancies.

Its register is for research: use it to read a charity’s accounts and trustee list before you apply, and to check how its income has moved.

Serving as a trustee is one way to see how a board works from the inside before you apply for a chief executive post.

Our non-executive director recruitment page covers board roles.

For senior roles across every sector, see our fractional and interim jobs board.