Director of Outreach

Director of Outreach

CFA UK is looking for a new Director of Outreach. Our mission is to educate, connect and inspire the investment community to build a sustainable future. The Director of Outreach plays a crucial role in working towards that mission by leading our engagement with employers across the investment sector so that we can understand the sector's needs for skills and knowledge. The role requires an open mind and active listening, as well as the ability to translate what you hear to inform our strategy.

A recent example of our ability to pick up on what we hear is our work on sustainable investing. The society launched the Certificate in ESG Investing in 2019 and the Certificate in Climate & Investing in 2021 and has recently launched a new Certificate in Impact Investing. Alongside its position as a trusted provider of sustainable investment programmes, CFA UK is the awarding body for the Investment Management Certificate (the IMC). The new director will be responsible for helping the society to build on its position as the leading provider of investment qualifications and for accelerating the use of the society's programmes. Alongside the core work on education, the Head Director of Outreach will also be involved in engaging investment firms in the work that we do on diversity, equity and inclusion and apprenticeships.

The role requires a solid understanding of the investment sector. The successful candidate will have an entrepreneurial approach and will enjoy working with clients. The role can be part-time or full-time.

About CFA UK

CFA UK is a professional membership body representing 11,000 investment professionals in the UK and promoting the highest standards of ethics, education and professional excellence in the profession, in order to serve society's best interest.

CFA UK is part of the worldwide network of member societies of CFA Institute, the global, not-for-profit association of investment professionals, that awards the CFA and CIPM designations.

As a member society, we promote the development of careers in the investment profession and facilitate networking within and across member groups.

Role overview

CFA UK is a trusted provider of educational products and services to the UK's investment sector. We engage closely with firms across the profession (investment managers, asset owners and those serving the sector as well as with training providers and those that govern and regulate training and competence. The Director of Outreach is responsible for managing these relationships and identifying new business opportunities and works closely with CFA UK's senior leadership team in advising on and implementing the society's strategy.

Function

To work with CFA UK's key stakeholders to identify learning and development needs for investment professionals, to work with the rest of the team at CFA UK and with other parties on meeting those needs and to support regulators in ensuring that training and competency frameworks are fit for purpose. Activities include senior stakeholder engagement - in particular, managing the society's Advisory Council and the Asset Owner Council - identification of new business opportunities and working with training providers. The role is supported by a relationship manager, works closely with the education team and reports to the Chief Executive. The role requires close collaboration with CFA Institute's educational and outreach teams in the EMEA region and globally.

Role objective

The primary activities of this role are to build and maintain close relationships with key stakeholders at investment firms (C-suite team members, heads of desks and heads of learning & development) so that CFA UK can successfully meet their needs. You will grow and maintain high quality relationships with senior stakeholders, identify market opportunities and needs, and initiate the development of new educational products and services.

Activities

Firm Stakeholder Engagement and External Relations

• Work with the Chief Executive and the Board to develop the annual client and prospect outreach strategy with associated KPIs
• Deliver the strategy and report back on performance
• Maximise networking opportunities and opportunities for development of senior stakeholder relationships
• Deliver regular webinars on our education products and present at industry events to share insights and develop position as a trusted partner
• Oversee the development and management of new and existing investment and L&D relationships to understand the learning needs of employees and promote CFA products and services
• Identify and instigate relevant events to develop commercial opportunities
• Keep staffed office and volunteer stakeholders informed and work closely with marketing to hone messaging
• Develop and maintain the society's Outreach CRM
• Support the Chief Executive in developing and maintaining relationships with policy makers, standard setters and other key stakeholders in the investment management sector (eg Financial Conduct Authority; HM Treasury / BEIS; Investment Association)
• Develop and build partnerships with relevant bodies in the sustainability sector
• Identify opportunities to work more closely with CFA Institute colleagues across areas of outreach activities

Education Products - Qualifications and Professional Learning

• Drive and lead external stakeholder engagement to understand market needs and opportunities for qualifications and professional learning
• Deliver strong business cases, with support from internal colleagues, on proposed new products / services
• Review performance of any new products / services

Advisory Council and Asset Owners Council

• Oversee annual programme of meetings for both the Advisory Council and Asset Owners Council to gather feedback and leverage expertise and networks of Council members across full range of CFA UK activities
• Work on implementing a new Sustainable Investment Leadership Programme to replace the Ethical Leadership Programme