Candidate Brief Pack

Director of Technology

Who we are

World Jewish Relief provides life-saving and life-changing action to people in crisis around the world. Founded in 1933 and proud to have rescued over 65,000 Jews fleeing the Nazis, World Jewish Relief today supports vulnerable people from marginalised communities, suffering the consequences of conflict and disaster. We work with trusted local partners to help people survive the consequences of conflict and disaster, to thrive and rebuild their lives. We deliver programmes using our expertise, with urgency to achieve maximum and sustainable impact for those within and beyond the Jewish community.

Last year we assisted over 179,000 people in 19 countries worldwide with life changing interventions. All of our programmes are delivered in partnership with local organisations rooted in their own communities. We are also a leading provider of direct employment services to refugees here in the UK.

Our philosophy builds on this heritage and our values insist we support those both within and beyond the Jewish community in many of the world’s harshest environments recognising the dignity and potential of all people.

“World Jewish Relief provides life-saving and life-changing action to people in crisis around the world.”

Paul Anticoni OBE, Chief Executive

Why World Jewish Relief

Dear Candidate,

World Jewish Relief is the Jewish community’s international development and humanitarian agency. We tackle Jewish poverty and reach beyond our community. We create opportunities for those out of work to become self-reliant; we bring dignity to the elderly and we respond to international disasters.

Last year we assisted over 179,000 people in 19 countries worldwide. All of our programmes are delivered in partnership with local organisations rooted in their own communities. Our Jewish values compel us to support those both within and beyond the Jewish community in many of the world’s harshest environments, recognising the dignity and potential of all people.

We pride ourselves on having a talented, welcoming and high performing team that recognises the critical role that each and everyone plays in achieving our goals. If the role of Director of Technology appeals to you then we will look forward to receiving your application.

Kind regards,

Paul Anticoni OBE Chief Executive

The Role

As a leading international humanitarian charity, delivering a range of services across the world and in the UK, we have grown significantly in recent years in terms of scale of operation, income and supporter engagement. The charity’s centralised systems development, information/data management, IT and processes have not evolved at a similar pace nor in an integrated strategic way, and each department has brought in their own systems and software to support their growth and underpin their processes.

Use of legacy systems has led to manual data processes, a lack of centralised, visible real-time data and a level of systems efficiency that requires fundamental change to maximise organisational effectiveness and value for money. With external support, we have started to introduce automation in some business areas and now need to transform the way we gather, manage and work with data across the board. Our new organisational dashboard helps us track performance against key indicators but will need ongoing development.

We currently have limited in-house technical resource and outsource both our technology consultancy and our IT support function. In transitioning from outsourced technology consultancy to in-house technology support, we are making our first senior technology hire and are looking to the Director of Technology to revolutionise our use of IT from the ground up, reviewing and reshaping the core platforms that hold our donor, income, financial and people data.

Specific responsibilities

Lead the development and implementation of World Jewish Relief’s technology, digital, AI and data strategy ensuring this enables efficiencies in growing the scale and impact of our services, raising more revenue and expanding our support base.

Identify how technology and data management can best support all aspects of our organisation including maintaining a thorough understanding of the charity’s work, identifying options, assessing feasibility, agreeing priorities, and approving solution approaches where practical.

• Strengthen confidence and capability throughout World Jewish Relief in the effective use of technology and data, including by identifying learning needs, helping to train colleagues and supporting the adoption of new systems to drive sustainable change.

• Shape organisational expectations for data governance, quality and utilisation, ensuring data can be trusted, is accessible and used responsibly.

• Advise the Senior Leadership Team on technology-related opportunities, risks and prioritisation, providing clear recommendations where required.

Work with all managers to assess their team’s needs and usage of technology and data solutions, assess whether solutions are useable, well-adopted and embedded into business practice, driving continuous improvement through appropriate modification.

• Identify where improvements in systems integration and data flow optimisation are needed, propose and agree solutions and lead on implementation across the organisation ensuring all relevant staff and kept informed.

• Advise on development, maintenance and use of departmental and organisational KPI dashboards to optimise effectiveness

• Identify where fragmented and disparate systems can be brought together in a unified platform, implementing necessary AI workflows on top.

• Plan and conduct a formal review of our CRMs, identify alternatives and agree solutions with key stakeholders, lead on procurement, implementation and migration of any solutions.

• Enable GDPR and SIRO compliance through technology.

• Assess resourcing needs in the technology team, agree plans with the CEO and Director of People and implement.

• Manage transition away from external consultancy arrangements, ensuring key technology capability brought in-house.

• Provide hands-on technical expertise to colleagues ensuring the suitability of technical solutions that will drive change.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Work with directors and their teams to understand needs and propose the most suitable solutions and data-driven reporting for each distinct area of work.

• Maintain excellent working relationships with senior leadership, trustees (particularly our tech lead on the Board) and with colleagues at all levels.

Partner with the Director of Finance on contract and vendor management and the Director of People on resource planning and staff training.

You will be able to demonstrate the following:

Education and Qualifications

Essential

• Demonstrable expertise through experience in technology and data management - no formal qualification required

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Proven technical expertise and experience at a senior level, or a strong step-up candidate ready for a leadership role.

• Strong background in IT infrastructure & business-driven data management.

• Proven track record of leading a major systems migration or platform consolidation end-to-end - from requirements gathering and vendor selection through to staff adoption.

• Daily use of AI productivity and automation tools (e.g. Claude, Microsoft Copilot) with a clear view on practical applications for a charity of WJR’s scale.

• Practical DevOps and cloud experience, including servers, networking, security, Linux/Unix, and Azure.

• Experience with Data Visualisation, warehousing and database technologies (e.g. Tableau, Power BI, Looker, BigQuery, Microsoft Fabric, PostgreSQL and MySQL) Knowledge of Data Privacy, Data Security, and Compliance regulations (GDPR).

Desirable

• Experience working with charities, NGOs, or humanitarian organisations.

• Hands-on experience with no-code/low-code tools (e.g., Zapier, Make.com, Airtable).

• Experience with data analysis tools such as iPython or Jupyter.

• Familiarity with CRM systems (Blackbaud, Salesforce, MS Dynamics).

• Experience with process improvement methodologies (Agile, Six Sigma).

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills including the ability to translate complex technical terminology for non-technical stakeholders.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Highly organised, systematic and adept at prioritising own and team’s work.

• Excellent stakeholder management and cross department collaboration.

• Open and collaborative style.

• Adaptability to evolving technologies.

• Continuous learning mindset.

Other

Essential

• A commitment to and empathy with the work and values of World Jewish Relief.

Employee Benefits

• 23 days holiday plus bank holidays and Jewish holidays. After 2 years’ service holiday entitlement increases to 25 days.

• Pension scheme – we contribute 5% to the World Jewish Relief pension scheme.

• Life Insurance – up to 3 times salary to nominated beneficiaries.

• Health Cash Plan – cash back to cover the costs of dental treatment, optical care, specialist consultations and a range of complementary therapies.

• Enhanced maternity & paternity pay.

• Employee Assistance Programme – free, confidential advice or support with any personal or work related concerns or free counselling if needed.

• Season ticket / travel to work loan.

• Cycle to Work Scheme.

• On Friday the office closes at 3pm.

Terms and Conditions

Salary circa £85,000.

Contract Permanent

Hours Normal hours of work are 9:00 am to 5.30 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 9.00 am to 3.00 p.m. on Friday.

Location Location: Hybrid working between our offices in NW2 and working from home. We encourage flexible working/working from home when and where appropriate.

Safeguarding

As this role involves significant access to sensitive data and high-level IT security, it is subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and references. World Jewish Relief is participating in the Inter-Agency Scheme for the Disclosure of Safeguarding-Related Misconduct in Recruitment Process within the Humanitarian and Development Sector. We will therefore seek information about safeguarding-related misconduct (i.e. sexual exploitation, sexual abuse or sexual harassment) that a candidate has been found to have committed when we obtain references from successful applicants.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

World Jewish Relief promotes equality, diversity and inclusion in our workplace. We invite and welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds. We encourage applications from candidates of different ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation and of faith or none that meet the criteria set out for this role. You don’t need to be Jewish to work for us, but you must share our desire to assist those who need help based on their vulnerability, not their identity, recognising the dignity and potential of all people.

How to Apply

Please apply via our website by uploading your CV and a cover letter which demonstrates your suitability for the role by answering the following question:

Why does this role appeal to you and how do you meet the criteria in the person specification?

Closing date: 17th June 2026