Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Team Domenica
Location: Brighton & Hove (hybrid; 2-3 days per week on-site)
Salary: Circa £85,000
Contract: Permanent, Full time

Could you lead a warm, community-centred charity that turns specialist education and hospitality enterprises into sustained employment for young people with learning disabilities?

About Team Domenica

Team Domenica exists to help young people with learning disabilities build independent, fulfilling lives through sustained employment. Founded in 2016 by Baroness Rosa Monckton, the charity combines a Department for Education-recognised Specialist Further Education college, employment coaching and long-term employer support to achieve unrivalled outcomes for young people with learning  disabilities - around 80% of programme graduates move into paid work.

Over the last decade the organisation has supported more than 200 candidates and built a portfolio of social enterprises that provide genuine workplace training: Café Domenica and a coffee roastery. Most excitingly, we have recently opening The North Star pub. The North Star is a purpose-acquired, prime-location commercial venture adjacent to the Royal Pavilion, operating as a full-scale hospitality business (circa £1.3m turnover) and functioning as a peerless, day-to-day training environment for candidates while contributing vital unrestricted income. Now that the pub is fully up and running, it presents a major opportunity for commercial development. Growth to date has been rapid and successful, but the organisation now needs a Chief Executive who will consolidate operational foundations, secure sustainable trading and fundraising, and protect the quality and culture that make Team Domenica distinctive as we prepare for further growth.

As our next Chief Executive, you will:

• Strategic Leadership & Direction- Set and deliver a strategy that balances growth, financial sustainability and strong employment outcomes for candidates.
• Commercial & Social Enterprise Performance- Lead the charity’s commercial enterprises, primarily The North Star pub, but also Café Domenica and the roastery - ensuring strong commercial performance and high-quality training opportunities.
• Fundraising & Income Growth- Diversify fundraising beyond founder-led networks, building sustainable income from trusts, corporates, major donors and individuals.
• Education & Programme Quality- Work with the Executive Director for Education to maintain high-quality, compliant specialist FE and supported internship provision.
• • Organisational Leadership & Infrastructure- Strengthen operational foundations across finance, HR, systems and communications to support a growing, multi-site organisation.
• People & Culture- Provide visible leadership that supports staff, strengthens management and protects the charity’s candidate-centred culture.
• Partnerships & External Profile- Act as ambassador, building relationships with employers, partners and supporters to expand employment opportunities.
• Governance & Board Partnership- Work closely with trustees and the founder to strengthen governance and ensure long-term sustainability.

Who you are:

• Seasoned senior leader with experience of running organisations of similar scale and complexity, including multi-site operations.
• Proven strategist with a strong track record of delivering organisational change, restructuring and sustainable growth.
• Confident commercial leader with P&L ownership and demonstrable success improving trading performance in hospitality, retail or other trading businesses.
• Experienced income generator in the charitable sector - trusts, major donors, corporate partnerships and individual giving.
• Credible and committed to specialist education and employment pathways for people with learning disabilities.
• Strong communicator and public spokesperson, comfortable with high-profile fundraising and stakeholder engagement.
• Financially literate, resilient and emotionally intelligent; visible, hands-on and pragmatic as a leader.
• Desirable: direct hospitality experience, experience scaling social enterprises or knowledge of FE regulation/Ofsted would be advantageous.

Why Team Domenica?

• A proven, distinctive model that delivers real, long-term employment outcomes for young people with learning disabilities.
• A rare leadership role that combines mission-driven practice with commercial stewardship across cafés, a roastery and a training pub.
• Hybrid working with regular on-site engagement at Pavilion Buildings and social enterprise sites, offering visible day-to-day impact.
• The opportunity to shape national growth, with London the priority for careful expansion and a high-profile platform to influence practice nationally.

For full details of the role including how to apply, please contact Jenny Hills at Harris Hill at executive@harrishill.co.uk  to request an information pack. For an informal and confidential conversation about this position, please contact her at the same address with times to speak and (optional but appreciated) a CV or professional profile which will be treated with the strictest confidence.

Closing date for applications: 9am, Monday 6th April 2026

As leading charity recruitment specialists and a certified B Corp, Harris Hill is committed to high and ever-improving standards of equitable and inclusive recruitment. We actively welcome applications from all sections of the community regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion, sexuality and other protected characteristics.