Swap to Admin, HR, legal or Sales & marketing or go back to all job sectors
Charity directors plan ways to develop a charity's services, generate income and raise awareness of its work.
You could work: 9am to 5pm; attending events or appointments
Your day-to-day duties may include:
You could work in an office, in the community or at events.
Your working environment may be emotionally demanding and you may spend nights away from home.
You can get into this job through:
You could do a business management foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree to learn the general management skills needed for this job.
Another option is to do a degree in the subject area you want to do charity work in, and work your way up into management and director roles.
You'll usually need:
You could do a college course like a Level 4 or 5 Diploma in Business Management.
You'll usually need:
You could work your way up to this role through a fundraiser advanced apprenticeship
This typically takes 18 months to complete.
Employers will set their own entry requirements.
You could start out in the voluntary sector as a charity fundraiser or administrator and work your way up into management after getting experience and training.
Volunteering is often a good way to start. You could volunteer with organisations that promote the causes you're interested in and then apply for paid roles as you get more experience.
With further training on the job, you may be able to move up to senior positions within your charity.
If you want to apply for this type of job directly, you'll need a lot of experience at senior management level, and of building partnerships and fundraising.
You'll also need a lot of knowledge of the challenges faced by your charity's service users, what can be done to help them and a very strong commitment to the charity's aims.
Excellent presentation and confident public speaking skills are essential.
You can find out more about working in the charity sector from The National Council for Voluntary Organisations.
You could move to a bigger charity, work for an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), or become a consultant, advising charities and government on policy.