Telescope: profile of a new leader
Accurate as at 25th July 2024
May 2024 marks 5 years since we started thinking how we could bring together policy and practice, so that they could better inform one another and build a better world. We started playing around with Post-Its, doing research, and having countless conversations to explore our what, how, and why. That’s how Telescope was born.
Telescope is a social enterprise that connects policymakers and decision-makers with frontline experts and practitioners, bridging the gap between policy and practice. Using our unique “empathy-based innovation” approach, we employ a blend of service design, user-centred practice, and innovation tools to encourage empathy, insights-sharing, and collaboration between people working to solve the same problems from different perspectives.
Since our inception in 2019, we’ve worked across sectors as varied as probation, homelessness, adult social care, young carers, transport, and local authority service provision. We’ve run 15 learning and leadership programmes with over 300 participants across 30 organisations. We’ve measured our impact through individual development and empowerment towards change. 88% of our participants gained new skills and 84% made new professional connections. Most importantly, people came away feeling empowered, with participants on average giving a score of 4 out of 5.
It thrills us to think of this growing cohort of people working across policy and frontline roles who are building their skills, connections, ideas, and confidence. We know that between them, they will make real change in policy development and delivery, and how it supports frontline practice to provide the best service for people across the country. We have a real sense of a ripple effect, and a strong belief in the long-term potential of our participants.
We know that continuing to work towards Telescope’s aim - connecting policy and frontline - is still important now, just as it was 5 years ago. We’re seeing great examples of connective work happening at the local level, such as the innovative partnership working like Rebecca Towers’ place-based approaches in Southwark. It’s also happening in certain parts of the policy sphere, like the brilliantly successful Cabinet Office Policy School. But there’s still not enough of this great work going on.
As we move into an election period in the UK, Telescope is well-positioned to support newly-forming policy teams within a new government, focusing on how they can really listen to frontline insights and leverage those for meaningful policy change. This is an exciting time to build on our previous work and take Telescope to the next level.
So we are starting to explore the possibility of bringing in someone new, who could take a leadership role in the organisation and really drive this next phase of Telescope's development.
Where we are now
We are a social enterprise, limited by shares and with a commitment in our articles of association to put our profits towards our social mission. We have an excellent track record, a good contact base, and strong financials including a low cost base and sizeable cash in the bank. This puts Telescope in a strong position to take on a new team member who can leverage our contacts, build out the project pipeline, and expand the business over time.
Incorporation date: 31st July 2019
Total # of programmes: 15
Total # client organisations: 30
Total # of participants: 327
Who we’re looking for
We’re interested in the possibility of bringing in someone new who could support business development and operational management as we start to take steps towards scale. We’re also interested in exploring other options for our future leadership, such as co-leadership. Whoever joins the team will do so in a leadership capacity, ideally bringing experience running and growing a social enterprise through and beyond the “side hustle” phase. This person will work alongside current co-founder Hebe to review Telescope’s work to date and create a short- and long-term strategic plan for the future. They will have the opportunity to identify high-potential resources and programmes that should be prioritised from within Telescope’s existing wheelhouse, while also thinking creatively about other ways to achieve the core mission. Over a transition period, they may also become increasingly responsible for building out the project pipeline, generating revenue, and expanding the team.
Skills + experience
An active interest in policymaking at both the local and national level and enthusiasm to explore innovative approaches to policy building on e.g. systems thinking and user-centred design and facilitation practices (high priority).
Strong belief (through direct frontline experience or otherwise) in the depth and breadth of expertise and knowledge that exists among frontline practitioners, and passion for platforming that knowledge (high priority).
Demonstrated leadership qualities through leading and/or building a team or venture (high priority).
Experience running a small business or project portfolio and scaling that business over time (high priority).
Comfort with numbers & excel, familiarity with financial modelling, cashflows etc (lower priority).
Knowledge or experience of policy design or advocacy (lower priority).
Good networks within the public sector, such as local and/or central government and/or charities / non-profits (lower priority).
Why join the Telescope team?
Join an established, small social enterprise with exciting growth potential and long-term growth based on sales, not grant fundraising.
Build and consolidate relationships across the public sector, including in frontline and policy roles as well as other policy innovators.
Drive real systems change by fundamentally changing the way that policy is made at a national and local level, making it more participatory and responsive to society’s needs.
Gain autonomy and creative licence to build out and professionalise parts of the business you see as exciting and important.
Maintain flexibility to pursue other opportunities or interests, since this would likely be a part-time role for at least the first year.
Over time, have the opportunity to build out your own team as the business expands.
Benefits
Proposed starting salary: £35,000 (pro-rated for part-time), with plenty of flexibility to increase over time as the project pipeline builds up.
Holiday: 28 days of paid holiday per year, excluding UK bank holidays.
Personal development: flexibility to use budget for learning and growth opportunities, such as conferences or training, that will help grow Telescope further.
Roadmap
We see this roadmap as an initial outline of how the first 12 months could play out, but we would welcome the new team member flexing and shaping this plan so you are driving the direction based on your experience and ideas, and taking increasing ownership as you come on board.
We anticipate that the new person could join the Telescope team part-time initially (2-3 days a week for Phase 1), before ramping up at a rate depending on your vision, the project pipeline and how the business grows over time (Phase 2).
Phase 1: months 0-9
During this transition period, you will work with the current co-founder to understand the business inside out and undertake a full debrief on key resources, clients, data, etc. You would also start to become a public face of Telescope, with introductions to the community and key stakeholders.
Primary objectives
Gain a comprehensive view of Telescope’s work to date, and the project pipeline.
Map out previous clients and contacts to understand the landscape of our work.
Start outreach to target clients and secure at least one new project. This is the primary focus for this phase, to give the business good momentum under new management.
Complete introductions to key stakeholders, including shareholders, major previous clients, newsletter community, and “warm” sales leads.
Understand current impact evaluation practices.
Review sales strategy and identify target clients and opportunities.
Phase 2: months 10-18
In the medium term, we would like you to start taking more responsibility and taking a leadership role in business development and operational management. This could still be part-time, depending on projects, but we hope to start ramping up to a more full-time role depending on the project pipeline.
Primary objectives
Continue to professionalise and improve our offerings (resources, tools, thought leadership).
Identify operational improvements (e.g. accounting, CRM system, marketing) and build a plan to complete them (with additional freelance support if required).
Secure further programmes according to the sales strategy.
Next steps
Please reach out to Hebe via hebe@wearetelescope.org if you’re interested in discussing the role more. We’ll schedule a conversation with you over the course of late June and July. We’re not currently conducting formal recruitment interviews, but rather assessing the interest and profiles of potential new team members, so if you feel the role could be right for you, but you want to find out more, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.