Consultant at VCAS and SVSA

Contract Type: Contract / Temporary

Role Type: Employment

Hours: Part time

Application deadline: Friday, July 10, 2026 - 12:00

Based: Sunderland

Salary: £ Circa

Salary Type: Fixed Salary

Location: Tyne and Wear

Role description: Senior Project Support

Voluntary & Community Action Sunderland (VCAS) and Sunderland Voluntary Sector Alliance (SVSA) have recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding and Transition Framework (MoU), setting out a shared ambition to co-create a single, high quality Local Infrastructure Organisation for the Sunderland area.

The purpose of this commission is to support VCAS and SVSA to move, through a structured and time-bound transition process, towards the establishment of a single Local Infrastructure Organisation for Sunderland, subject to the safeguards and decision-making requirements set out in the MoU.

The Role of the Consultant

The consultant will act as:

• An independent external facilitator, accountable to joint VCAS–SVSA governance
• A transition programme lead, coordinating activity, timelines and dependencies
• A specialist advisor on charity governance, option appraisal, organisational integration and legal pathways
• A critical friend, supporting ambition while ensuring risks and safeguards are properly addressed
• A specialist to provide insight into the wider strategic and policy framework influencing VCSE Sector infrastructure

The consultant will work under the direction of jointly agreed governance arrangements, but is expected to provide pace, challenge and structure throughout.

Please see the attached Consultancy Brief and Memorandum of Understanding documents for full details of the consultancy opportunity, including timescales, scope of work and deliverables. 

How to Apply

VONNE is leading on the recruitment for this commission. Please submit your proposal by email to martin.brookes@vonne.org.uk by Friday 10th July at 12pm.