Associate Programme at On Purpose

Apply now for the October 2021 cohort of the Associate Programme

Do you want this to be the year you transform your career and start working to bring about positive change?
Since 2010, On Purpose has been helping people to transform their career and develop as leaders for the social and environmental impact space.

The programme brings together four elements to give you the on-the-ground experience, the skills and knowledge, and the network and community you need to establish a career with impact, all as part of a cohort of 15-20 like-minded people.

During your year as an Associate you will:

• Use your skills and experience across two 6-month placements with a range of organisations creating positive social and environmental impact. Organisations we have worked with include Big Society Capital, Oddbox, Samaritans, Systemiq, and many more
• Learn from experts from across the social and environmental impact space every week, developing your leadership and giving you the skills and knowledge to effectively create and deliver impact
• Access support and challenge through mentoring & executive coaching to develop yourself professionally and personally
• Develop your network and join our international community of impact-driven professionals

The Associate Programme is unique in providing our Associates with a gross salary of £1,800 per month to support your participation and value the important work you’ll do. 90% of our Associates continue working to create social and environmental impact after the programme, taking roles including Managing Director of Divine Chocolate, Sustainability Manager at ODDBOX, and Investment Manager at Big Issue Invest.

The Associate Programme is full-time, based in London and runs for 12 months from October 2021. You work in placements at purpose-driven organisation 4.5 days a week and spend Friday afternoons with your cohort for our Learning & Development programme.

Who Should Apply?

On Purpose welcomes applications from people with diverse backgrounds and experiences and people often under-represented in the impact sector. This includes people with disabilities, and people from all ethnicities, gender identities, sexualities, religions and cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.

We are looking for talented professionals from across different industries who have a determination to bring their skills and experience to purpose-driven projects.

We recruit from a wide range of industries and professional backgrounds. The specific sector/context is not important, but to be successful on the programme you need to have had experience working in an office environment and on tasks that require some level of complexity. Experience of some (not all) of the following, would be useful: managing stakeholders and partners, project management, strategy development, communications, analysis, research or business development amongst others. More specifically we are looking for people who can demonstrate:

Motivation and persistence – The ability to drive forward and manage projects, turn ideas into reality and seize opportunities. To challenge yourself and set goals and to know when to compromise or to involve others.

Interpersonal skills – Convincing, bringing in and inspiring others, whilst also dealing with conflict effectively and sensitively.

Attitude and mindset – Retaining high expectations, an open mind and an eagerness for new experiences; being pragmatic, self-sufficient and comfortable with changing situations.

Problem-solving – Structuring and breaking down complex problems into solvable elements, whilst not losing sight of the big picture; comfortable with quantitative analysis and mental arithmetic.

Please note, you must have a minimum of equivalent to 3 years of full-time professional work experience and the right to work in the UK to be considered.

Follow us on social media for more information and inspiration: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

RESPONDING TO COVID 19

Despite the Covid-19 outbreak & the challenges that this has brought, we are continuing to run the Associate Programme and will launch our October 2021 cohort as planned, adapting key elements of the programme to run digitally and will bring cohorts back together in person as soon as it is safe to do so.

Interviews for the upcoming October 2021 cohort are scheduled to take place from late-June through to early-July and will take place either online or in-person depending on the situation as it stands. For those of you interested in applying but who live outside the UK, interviews can always be arranged to take place online.