Associate Director of Strategy and Impact

What if your strategic leadership could be the force that ensures every directorate, every project, and every pound spent is aligned to our mission to end the devastation caused by dementia? As Associate Director of Strategy & Impact at Alzheimer's Society, you'll work directly with our Chief Operating Officer and Executive Leadership Team to shape, deliver, and measure the strategy that drives our impact for people affected by dementia.

About the opportunity

As Associate Director of Strategy and Impact, you'll be a member of our Senior Leadership Team, responsible for coordinating our Corporate Strategy and ensuring it remains evidence-based, ambitious, and achievable. You'll work at the intersection of strategy, data, and delivery - translating vision into action and measuring the difference we make.

You'll lead the evolution of our Corporate Strategy through consultation and evidence, define our Goals and Impact measures, and establish an organisational impact framework that embeds evaluation across all our work. You'll also establish and lead a high-quality Project Management Office (PMO), embedding project and programme management capability across the Society to ensure effective delivery of our strategic initiatives. Through portfolio management governance, horizon scanning, and strategic insight, you'll help the organisation anticipate challenges, seize opportunities, and maximise our impact for people living with dementia.

About you:

You're a strategic leader who combines big-picture thinking with rigorous delivery. You're as comfortable advising the CEO and Board on strategic direction as you are building the systems, frameworks, and teams that turn strategy into measurable impact. You thrive on complexity, can hold ambiguity while driving clarity, and know how to mobilise others toward shared goals. You're passionate about using data and evidence to inform decisions, and you understand that effective strategy is both consulted and accountable.

You'll have:

• Extensive project and programme management experience, including planning and delivering major, complex, multi-disciplinary projects and programmes (budgets exceeding £1m).
• Proven track record communicating complex information succinctly and effectively to diverse audiences, including senior stakeholders and Boards.
• Strong evidence of building and maintaining relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, with ability to build and maintain senior-level networks.
• Excellent analytical skills with proven experience working with data and evidence to drive strategic decision-making.
• Ability to think strategically and corporately, holding ambiguity while continuing to deliver and lead teams successfully.
• Experience as an effective corporate leader who makes timely decisions, drives change through influence, and mobilises others to achieve organisational objectives.
• Track record of building and developing high-performing teams, fostering a culture of accountability, high support, and continuous improvement.

What you'll focus on:

• Leading the coordination, evolution, and delivery of a fully consulted and evidence-based Corporate Strategy that remains relevant, ambitious, and achievable.
• Defining and overseeing an organisational impact framework, embedding evaluation and outcome measurement across programmes and projects to demonstrate the difference we make.
• Establishing and leading a Project Management Office (PMO) to deliver key strategic projects, embed standard methodologies, and build project management capability across the Society.
• Developing portfolio management governance and the Effective Organisation portfolio governance group, ensuring prioritisation of projects maximises strategic value and impact.
• Providing strategic insight and foresight through horizon scanning, trend analysis, and data to help the Society anticipate challenges and opportunities.
• Producing high-quality reporting to ELT, Board, and Committees on strategic progress, performance, risks, and impact outcomes.
• Championing a culture of accountability and delivery, ensuring all directorates understand and own their contribution to strategic impact, while driving organisational learning from projects and evaluations.

Are you ready to lead the strategy and impact work that ensures every part of Alzheimer's Society is aligned, accountable, and making measurable progress toward ending the devastation of dementia? Can you bring both strategic vision and delivery excellence to drive our mission forward?

Please note that the deadline for applications is 12:00 on Tuesday 4th November.

Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer. One in three people born in the UK today will develop dementia in their lifetime.

At Alzheimer’s Society, we’re the UK’s leading dementia charity and the only one to tackle all aspects of dementia by giving help and hope to people living with dementia today and in the future. We give vital support to people facing the most frightening times of their lives, while also funding groundbreaking research and campaigning to make dementia the priority it should be.

Together with our supporters, we’re working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives.

Our values make sure that our focus is clear for the challenges and opportunities ahead and remind us of what we all stand for.

Our commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging

We need to ensure the voices around our table better reflect and understand the communities we exist to serve. We strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Alzheimer's Society.  

We want everyone we work with, as a colleague, volunteer, supporter, or someone we support, to feel included and that they belong at Alzheimer's Society. 

Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy here along with our internal employee forum and Employee Lived Experience network groups help us promote inclusion and belonging, becoming an engaged and inclusive organisation for all our people. 

Our hiring process

During your recruitment process we want to make sure that you bring your whole self and can be at your best. We are working hard to ensure our recruitment process is as inclusive as possible, so please do inform us of your experience and anything you think we could do better by completing our candidate survey when you apply.  Please also contact Alzheimer’s Society Talent Acquisition Team via [email protected] for application support or any adjustments you might need.

To ensure fairness and consistency to select the best candidate for this role, all our applications are anonymised up until an interview has been confirmed. We recognise the benefits of AI, but if you're considering using it to submit your application, we encourage you to reflect on the value it truly adds. AI tools often lack the personal touch and authenticity that set candidates apart. We want to hear your unique perspective, experiences, and skills, so we encourage you to showcase them in your own voice.

We try to avoid closing roles early where possible, however if we receive a high volume of applications, we may close earlier than the advertised closing date. Should this occur, we will aim to provide you with at least 48 hours' notice.

We are committed to safer recruitment and ensuring the welfare of those we work with, due to the nature of some of our roles, we might need to carry out a DBS check at the relevant level.

Giving back to you

Our employees work hard every day to make a true difference in people's lives. We are proud to support them with a range of benefits, recognition and many options for working agilely, all contributing to a strong work life balance. We also have various learning programmes to support you in your development and help you grow to realise your potential and shape a career with Alzheimer's Society. 

You can also visit our Working for Us pages, which give you more information about what it’s like to be an employee at the Society.