CEO

About the Ethical Property Company

The Ethical Property Company (EPC) brings people and organisations together to create inspiring places where we facilitate the connections and activities that are needed to create a better future.

Formed in 1998, today EPC owns or manages a dozen Centres in England, with a portfolio value of around £35m, and supports over 1,000 changemaking organisations. Our tenants work across a wide range of activities from the provision of welfare services, research and advocacy on policy, campaigning groups, through to farmers’ markets selling local produce. We currently have Centres in Bath, Brighton, Bristol, London, Manchester, Oxford, and Sheffield, and our workspaces are as diverse in scale and style as our tenants. We build close relationships with our partners – tenants, investors, and other strategic partners – to understand their needs and to explore and design ways in which places can be used to meet their objectives, and thus to unlock the potential that exists in their communities. We set up and manage these places, working closely with the communities that use them, to deliver positive outcomes. We measure, audit, and then report on the impacts we have achieved, relating them to externally validated frameworks of social and environmental impact.

 

Organisational Setting

Over the past six years the company has faced a series of significant challenges to its operating model – continuing pressures on occupancy following on from Covid and the rise of hybrid-working, high levels of interest rates, and geo-political shifts impacting the funding of many of our tenants. To adapt we have sold some property assets, and paid down some debt, but the gradual process of restructuring our estate and our balance sheet is not yet complete. Looking forward, the company sees new opportunities to work with like-minded organisations, to offer flexible and attractive workspace for the charity and social impact sectors. As well as owning our own Centres, we will look for opportunities to co-own and to manage workspaces with partners who share our values, to continue to provide our tenants with flexible and attractive work environments, where they can make the connections and develop the networks that allow them to succeed in the pursuit of their goals. The company remains focused on the quality of its service for tenants, and the continuing importance of its impact in the places where it operates.

The Opportunity

Ethical Property Company (EPC) is seeking a strategic, execution driven CEO to lead the organisation through its next phase. Our new CEO will be commercially capable, and purpose driven, and they will lead the company through the final stages of restructuring, ensuring a stable and sustainable financial platform from which EPC can focus on new partnerships and future growth. You will be supported in this by a diverse team of 60+ people who are committed to EPC’s values, its success and its impact.

The CEO will be responsible for setting and executing the overall strategy, strengthening execution and operational excellence and reassessing and defining the business model. The role requires an entrepreneurial leader who can inspire teams, set and execute strategy that delivers both outcomes and financial results, and translate innovation and opportunity into results.

Leadership and Management

• Set and communicate a clear long term vision and strategy for EPC’s business model and its impact.
• Provide strategic direction and take responsibility for key decisions in line with the company’s objectives and values.
• Inspire, lead, and develop a high performing, values driven workforce. Ensure the company has the right mix of skills and experience to deliver its objectives.
• Lead the senior management team, ensuring effective performance management of key roles.
• Represent EPC with credibility and influence in key forums and with investors, and strategic partners.
• Advocate for and model the company’s values by demonstrating the viability of for profit companies that promote social responsibility, sustainability, and inclusion.

Entity, Finance & Risk Management

• Hold overall responsibility for P&L leadership, financial performance, and sustainability.
• Lead the company through a period of portfolio optimisation and financial restructuring while maintaining its social mission.
• Oversee annual budgeting, forecasting, and budget to actuals monitoring.
• Ensure EPC has sufficient and appropriate finance in place to deliver its objectives and to maintain operational independence.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate strategic, operational, financial, and regulatory risks.
• Lead crisis management planning and safeguard the organization’s reputation and license to operate.
• Maintain a healthy and productive working relationship with the board.

EPC would like to consider individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and we acknowledge that the best candidate may not come from our spheres of influence. As such, and to prevent candidates discounting themselves by not meeting all criteria, individuals should assess themselves first against the following list. If their experience matches 2-3 of the areas listed then we would welcome an application:

• Leadership of an organisation.
• Business development/analysis experience.
• The management of commercial workspaces and/or the management of commercial property portfolios.
• Partnership working – for example with major charities, trusts and foundations, Local Authorities, private sector partnerships – to achieve agreed financial and impact goals.
• Sustainability within the built environment, including both meaningful progress towards zero-carbon and improved biodiversity, but also the expansion of the place based impact economy.
• The cultivation of an inclusive working culture and the effective and timely delivery of commercial goals.

Essential Qualities

• Established leadership career.
• Excellent business management skills.
• Experience of change management.
• Excellent people management skills.
• Excellent resource mobilisation skills.
• The ability to cultivate an inclusive working culture.
• Credibility, diplomacy, and confidence to represent with senior external stakeholders.
• Growth oriented mindset with the ability to identify, test, and scale business models.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and a demonstrated commitment to integrity and cross cultural respect.

Desirable Qualities

• Experience of the management of commercial workspaces and/or the management of commercial property portfolios.
• Experience of meaningful progress towards zero-carbon and improved biodiversity, but also the expansion of the place based impact economy.
• Experience of cross sector partnership working (e.g. major charities, trusts and foundations, Local Authorities, private sector partnerships) to achieve agreed financial and impact goals.
• Experience of sustainability within the built environment and the expansion of place based impact economy.
• Experience of raising long-term capital to finance blended financial and social returns, and the management of investor relationships.

 

Candidate Profile

Ethical Property Company is seeking an inspiring leader to lead their organisation into its next phase. The successful individual will be able to balance ambition and energy with professional leadership experience and high levels of business acumen, while at the same time being strongly aligned to the organisation’s values and impact focus. They will have a bias toward action with strong governance combined with a drive toward a sustainable business model; able to demonstrate discipline in the strategic leadership of financial and operational structures.

EPC seeks someone not afraid to make key decisions to develop the business model, however they are looking for someone able to do this based on sound business analysis and understanding of the external environment. Accordingly, EPC are open to candidates from all sectors and backgrounds who are able to deploy these strategic business skills. There is a strong preference for the strength of business and leadership skills and experience over specific sector knowledge. Adjustments to the business model may mean internal change and as such it is essential that the new CEO has had experience of managing through change. Core attributes of dynamism, energy, courage and leadership in a principled manner are essential.

They will be an emotionally intelligent leader who can build and lead senior teams capable of operating with high accountability and maintaining organisational focus through periods of growth and external volatility. They will be a leader who is able to build a vision and mobilise a team around it, bringing the team together. They will respect internal experience and be able to blend this with leadership development for the team. They will be an excellent communicator and an effective storyteller, able to bring the work of EPC to life and to advocate for for-profit companies that promote social responsibility to a wide range of audiences.

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