EY Foundation - Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Specialist (1494956)

Introduction to EY Foundation 
The EY Foundation is a charity and a company, limited by guarantee, established in 2014. We were founded by EY, the professional services firm, which continues to provide funding and donations to the charity under a multi-annual funding agreement.  We are governed by a board of trustees, who are supported by a number of committees and leadership and management teams.  
 

The EY Foundation helps young people, disadvantaged in the labour market, to fulfil their work potential. We are unique in our position as the link between employers and young people, having strong relationships with both.  
Our work involves designing, developing and running our own services: Smart Futures, Our Future and Accelerate, as well as raising independent funds to support new initiatives and reach more young people across the UK. We work with organisations from across all sectors, including commercial, not-for-profit, education and government. 
 

As an independent charity we have to diversify and raise our own income through traditional fundraising, grants and, increasingly, through the development of our work with corporate partners. 

EY Foundation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful applicant will need to undertake an Enhanced DBS check via the Disclosure and Barring service, where appropriate. 
At the EY Foundation, we have a hybrid working model in which our staff work from the office (one of our Hubs in London, Birmingham, Manchester or Glasgow) at least one day per week.
 

Our roles 
Within the Foundation we adopt flexible roles that reflect the dynamic nature of our charity and enable our people to learn, develop and grow their skills and open up career opportunities. This is part of our investment in you. 

This role profile provides an outline of what will be involved in your role rather than an exhaustive list of duties. Both you and this role will naturally evolve. 
 

Our values 
In your role you will be expected to demonstrate or develop leadership competences based on the Foundation’s four key values. They are: 

• Growth mindset – increase our impact on more young people through dedication, innovation and hard work  
• Empower people – everyone is given the opportunity to develop and to succeed 
• Courage – use new learning and diversity of thought to challenge the status quo, embracing lessons learned even if a project misses its targets 
• Collaboration – build relationships – internally and externally – to share ideas, embed an inclusive approach, and achieve bigger outcomes. 

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion 
The scale of the challenge to tackle racial inequality is huge but we are passionate in our determination to secure change – both for our organisation and the young people we serve.  
 

With over 80% of the young people we work with from Black, Asian or ethnic minority communities, our team and Board need to reflect the young people we support.  
 

In 2019, we made diversity and inclusion a strategic priority, with a focus on race and in 2020 we published eleven race commitments. This included 50% of our team and leadership team coming from the Black, Asian or ethnic minority communities by 2025. Specifically, it is our objective that 30% of our team and leadership team will come from the Black community. You can find out more here. 
 

Your role as Technical Lead 
Whatever your specific responsibilities and specialisms, as a Technical Lead you will be customer and delivery-focused, structured and organised in your approach to your work. You will be adept and creative in resource management and an expert in your specialist field. You will be a clear, proactive communicator and highly engaged and mutually collaborative in your work and that of your colleagues. You will take personal ownership of your work and will be proactive in your own development. 
 

Your role as Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Specialist 
We’re thrilled to offer an exciting opportunity for a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Specialist (DEI) at the EY Foundation. Join our People Team and make a national impact across the UK. As a key part of our strategic ambitions, you’ll lead and drive our DEI agenda. The successful candidate will report directly to our Head of People. 
 

Our Goal: Create an inclusive and diverse organization that reflects the young people we serve. 
In this role, you’ll contribute to fostering an inclusive workplace, promoting diversity, and ensuring fair practices within the organisation. 
Join us to help us foster a working environment where everyone feels valued, belongs, and thrives. These efforts extend externally to our programmes and interactions with both young people and corporate partners.  
 

The role will include several key responsibilities but are not limited to:  

1. Specialist collaboration: 
   • Collaborate with the Head of People and the Leadership Team to develop and implement DEI strategies aligned with organisational goals and public commitments. 
   • Advocate for systemic change by identifying and addressing bias in work practices. 
   • Act as the EY Foundation Lead (alongside EY Co-Chairs) of the joint EY-EY Foundation staff Social Mobility Network, ensuring that the network's aims are aligned to wider EYF ambition. 
2. Analysis and Expert Advice:  
   • Analyse existing HR practices, processes, policies and procedures from a DEI perspective. Recommend and implement changes in alignment with any UK Employment Law requirements to ensure compliance with legal and regulatory frameworks, where appropriate, to create a more inclusive environment. 
   • Conduct DEI assessments of organisational processes.  
3. Creating Inclusive Spaces :
   • Foster a sense of belonging for all employees (e.g., manage relevant learning and development training and relevant initiatives aimed at inclusion and belonging to drive positive action for underrepresented communities).  
   • Develop positive action interventions to ensure that underrepresented groups have a voice within the organisation. 
   • Manage internal and external DEI events. 
   • Design and develop inclusion activities aligned to the DEI calendar. 
   • Design and develop communication materials for the DEI newsletter to inform, educate and raise awareness of inclusion activities and support publication of external DEI reports in partnership with the Communication Team. 
4. Education and Upskilling:  
   • Coach and upskill managers and employees on DEI’s importance and value, including identifying systemic bias and creating plans for change. 
   • Support culture of trust where individuals feel safe to speak up. 
   • Conduct needs training analysis to recommend DEI training for our employees.  
   • Design and deliver DEI training to our employees. 
   • Develop Training Impact Surveys to measure training effectiveness and ROI (for internal and external DEI training) 
   • Act as the Project Manager for a charity sector DEI social mobility project. Responsible for stakeholder engagement of external charity partners to deliver on action plan to tackle social mobility. 
5. Data Monitoring and Reporting: 
   • Collect, monitor and analyse DEI data. 
   • Use data insights to inform decision-making and track progress. 
   • Manage our internal and external metrics, measures, and legislative reporting requirements (Gender & Ethnicity Pay Gap, Social Mobility Index, etc.). 
   • Monitor and evaluate ROI and effectiveness of the talent development initiatives for our underrepresented communities.  
6. Other Projects 
   • Support ad hoc People and organisational projects. 

Your experience, competencies and knowledge 
What you will bring to the Foundation is your demonstrable experience and knowledge in the following areas: 

1. • Proven experienced DEI Specialist with a successful history of influencing organisational practices. 
   • Demonstrated expertise in DEI legislation, UK employment law, ACAS best practices, and CIPD professional standards and code. 
   • Proven experience in translating data into actionable insights and, developing & delivering comprehensive presentations. 
   • Research proficiency, enabling effective scoping of projects with an inquisitive mindset. 
   • Strong communication skills, capable of simplifying complex topics to engage stakeholders. 
   • Project management expertise, with a track record of successful completion. 
   • CIPD Level 3 qualification, or completion of CIPD, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Accredited Programme or equivalent demonstrable experience. If lacking a CIPD qualification, or, completion of CIPD Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Accredited Programme a willingness to pursue CIPD Level 3 or the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Accredited Programme is essential. 
   • Adherence to strict confidentiality principles and laws due to the sensitive nature of the role. 
   • Proficiency in Excel. 
   • Collaboration and flexibility in your team working, whilst also being able to work with minimum supervision. 
   • Strong commitment to improve the working lives and prospects of disadvantaged young people in the UK. 
2. Desirable competencies:  
   • Experience working with the communities and cultures relevant to our organisation, with a focus on achieving workforce representation. 
   • Handling grievances, capability assessments, and disciplinary matters. 
   • Awareness of PowerBI. 
   • Third-party submission management experience.

Your competence 
You will be able to demonstrate the competences expected of the EY Foundation management job family. Where you need more time to fully develop those competences we will support you in so doing.