Deputy Director – Migration Exchange

CLOSING DATE: 12:00pm (GMT+1) Wednesday 18th November 2026

Applicants must have right to work in the UK

Full job pack HERE

Purpose of role 

Migration Exchange (MEX)’s mission is to cultivate insight, collaboration, and collective action towards changing the UK migration system for good. Our vision is a country that treats people on the move with dignity, equity, and care. Our purpose is to act as a bridge between funders, charities, and communities, helping to connect knowledge, unlock resources and strengthen collaboration across the sector. In a rapidly changing context, our message is clear: the migration sector must come together with unity, urgency and hope, and philanthropy must help unlock the resources needed to sustain this work.

Migration Exchange is hosted by Global Dialogue, an international philanthropy support organisation partnering with funders to advance rights, equity and diversity.

Independent in status and global in reach, Global Dialogue provides funder networks, collaboratives and their partners with practical support and technical expertise to create lasting change.

We seek a Deputy Director to ensure that Migration Exchange operates as a coherent, high-performing programme.

Global Dialogue offers a range of benefits including 25 days’ annual leave plus public holidays (pro rata), a flexible working policy, and personal development leave. We contribute 6% to our employees’ workplace pension (on qualifying earnings).   Migration Exchange values  

• We strive for equity by elevating diverse voices, removing barriers, and creating spaces where everyone can belong, lead, and shape change.
• We collaborate by sharing insight, pooling wisdom and resources, and building bridges that multiply our collective impact.
• We stay responsive by listening deeply, adapting with care, and acting decisively in a fast-moving world.
• We act with integrity by staying true to our values, standing alongside others, and doing what’s right — no matter what.
• We lead with courage by facing challenges head-on, nurturing relationships and pushing for change — even when it’s hard.

Job Description

 1.Strategy Implementation & Deliverables 

• Translate strategic priorities into actionable operational plans, milestones, and outcomes.
• Oversee the implementation of MEX’s organisational strategy, ensuring alignment across all activities, and addressing barriers to impact.
• Maintain rigorous oversight of organisational risks, ensuring mitigation plans are actively managed.
• Contribute to further strategy development processes.
• Provide the Director with timely insight on organisational performance and delivery capacity.

2.   Team Management 

• Line manage the MEX programme managers providing clarity, direction, and support using the systems, templates and support provided by Global Dialogue.
• With the support of the Global Dialogue core team, lead on HR and team management, fostering a culture of accountability, equity, and continuous learning.
• Support staff development and wellbeing while managing performance effectively.
• Ensure our values, including anti-racism approach, is applied across all programmes.

3.  Programme delivery 

• Oversee delivery of MEX’s programmes, including our action programme and insight programme of work.
• Ensure programme work aligns with organisational strategy, values and intended impact.
• Maintain oversight of programme quality, timeliness, financial management and effectiveness.
• Support Programme Managers to steward key relationships with funders, partners and network members.
• Manage core MEX budgets and oversee programme budgets, ensuring highquality reporting and maintaining strong relationships with partners and finance team.
• Embed our impact framework across all MEX programmes and ensure consistent implementation.
• Develop high-quality learnings from pooled funds to share with both funders and the sector.

4.  Fundraising & Pipeline Management 

• Lead on the completion and submission of funding applications.
• Contribute to broader external positioning and fundraising strategy.
• Manage the funder pipeline, tracking prospects, deadlines and renewal cycles, and ensuring the organisation has clear visibility of income and gaps.
• Monitor grant spending and support financial management.

5.  Operations & Risk Management 

• Manage contracts, consultants, operational systems, and compliance requirements to ensure effective infrastructure.
• Ensure that external commitments and partnerships are operationally deliverable.
• Ensure appropriate policies and governance processes are in place and functioning effectively.
• Support the Director with governance management, with MEX advisory group matters and relationship management with Global Dialogue.

6.  Deputise for the Director 

• Deputise for the Director as required and represent MEX externally with funders and sector stakeholders.
• Support organisational communications and external positioning as required.
• Undertake any other activities relevant to MEX’s mission as required.

Person specification (essential experience) 

• Significant senior leadership experience within a charity, funder, or missiondriven organisation.
• Proven track record of translating strategy into operational plans and delivering against objectives.
• Experience managing budgets and complex reporting requirements.
• Experience in staff management and developing high-performing teams.
• Experience working with partners or sector stakeholders at a strategic level.

Essential Skills & Attributes 

• Strategic Thinking: Ability to translate vision into delivery with excellent planning and prioritisation skills.
• Relational Leadership: Collaborative and able to build trust across diverse stakeholders
• Commitment to Equity: Deep understanding of power dynamics and a commitment to shifting power to people with lived experience of migration.
• Resilience: Calm, decisive, and solutions-oriented under pressure.
• Self-Motivation: Ability to work effectively and autonomously in a remote environment.
• Knowledge of the UK migration and protection policy landscape.

Statement of Equal Opportunities   

We value, welcome and respect all the differences that make us who we are and stronger, and recognise that the intersections of our identities enrich our community. This includes age, cultural background, disability and mental health, ethnicity and race, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and social background.  We also recognise that the interconnected nature of these social categorisations can lead to overlapping systems of discrimination. We have a robust Equality and Diversity Policy that is periodically reviewed, ensuring that candidates and employees are treated fairly.

When talking to our team candidates can expect:

• To be asked questions that are relevant to the role.
• All recruitment materials to be written in such a way that avoids direct and indirect discrimination, for example, without the use of gendered language.
• To be given a chance to ask questions ahead of the interview.
• To be given a clear understanding of what to expect in the interview.
• To be compensated if asked to undertake an exercise that requires significant input.
• To be treated with kindness and respect in every stage of the recruitment process.
• Never to be asked irrelevant questions related to a protected characteristic.
• That reasonable adjustments will be offered and implemented at every stage of recruitment.
• Any concern or complaint raised to be taken seriously, investigated fully and managed in such a way that it would not negatively impact any recruitment decision.

How to apply   

To apply, please email hr@global-dialogue.org by 12:00pm GMT on Wednesday 18th November 2026 with MEX – DEPUTY DIRECTOR and your name in the subject line. Please attach a CV and short cover letter in English, setting out why you are interested in the role and how you meet the criteria in the person specification. Please do not put application information in the body of your email, as this will not be reviewed by the recruiting team. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an online interview, tentatively scheduled for Thursday 3^rd December 2026.

Further details on the role can be found in the job pack HERE. 

Questions about this role can be sent by email to HR@global-dialogue.org

Commitment to Safeguarding

We want everyone connected to our work to be safe from harm and abuse. We therefore take our safeguarding responsibilities seriously and expect everyone interacting with us to support us to do this. There are measures in place through policies, procedures and practice to guide us in our efforts to promote a positive safeguarding culture.

We will undertake safer recruitment checks to ensure that all representatives are suitable in their role and do not pose a risk to others; and will continue to ensure suitability through the induction process, probationary period, and beyond.

More about Global Dialogue 

We currently host seven large networks and collaborations, serving more than one hundred independent funders, including Ariadne, the network of European funders for social change and human rights; the Funders Initiative for Civil Society (FICS); the International Education Funders Group (IEFG); Migration Exchange; YIELD Hub; and

Hamrah, an initiative to strengthen the resilience and increase the impact of a cohort of Afghan civil society organisations in exile. We’re proud to have incubated several influential, award-winning charities including Each Other (formerly RightsInfo), IMIX and The Five Foundation.

Global Dialogue has set an ambitious three-year strategy which includes aspirations to be a trusted partner in philanthropy support, with an organisational approach that is consistent with our mission – endeavouring to practice rights, equity and diversity in our operations as well as pursuing it through our programmes. We want to be more visibly active in pursuing our mission, elevating the work of the programmes we host, and taking and making opportunities to promote rights, equity and diversity in philanthropy more broadly.  

Need assistance?

We are committed to the employment and career development of disabled people.  We are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that candidates may need during the recruitment process, and you will be asked whether you require anything if you are invited to interview. If you need this information in another format or if there are additional options you’d like to request, please contact our HR team at HR@global-dialogue.org to discuss this further.

Privacy Notice

As part of any recruitment process, Global Dialogue collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants. Global Dialogue is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations. Please read our Privacy Notice for job applicants here.

Thank you for your interest in working with Migration Exchange. We look forward to hearing from you.

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