Introduction
Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN) is a well-established and highly respected UK-based charity working to reduce malnutrition globally. ENN strives to enhance the effectiveness of nutrition policy and programming by building evidence, convening critical actors and transferring knowledge. We are passionate about being field driven and are globally recognised as thought leaders and conveners in nutrition. Our vision is that every individual confronted by malnutrition is empowered to respond according to their needs. We work with governments, civil society, UN, donor and academic organisations to achieve mutual goals. Through these collaborations we support agencies to implement evidence-based nutrition programming, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries.
The Trustee Role
Being an ENN Trustee is an important, influential and valuable role and as well as ensuring that we are an accountable and well governed organisation you will make an important contribution to our current work and future direction. This is an exciting time to join ENN as a Trustee as we implement our strategy for 2024 - 28.
Fundraising Trustee Role
ENN is looking to strengthen its strategic performance by recruiting a Fundraising Trustee. We are seeking a dynamic professional to work closely with ENN’s Management Team and the Board to enhance our fundraising strategy, expand our funding base and enable ENN to deliver ever greater impact. If you would like to contribute to the reduction of global malnutrition this is an outstanding opportunity to deploy your strategic vision, experience and success in raising funds from corporate and private entities in this new role.
A helpful summary of trustee roles and responsibilities can be found in Charity Commission guidance ‘The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do’
Your Responsibilities as a Trustee:
- Assist the Fundraising Associate and CEO to assess where fundraising fits into the overall strategy and to ensure effective income generation
- Provide technical insight and guidance as the organisation works to expand its funding base, with particular emphasis on private sector giving.
- Work with the ENN Management Team to review and monitor progress against the fundraising strategy
- Provide support and constructive challenge to the Management Team
- Contribute knowledge of fundraising and marketing tools, techniques and strategies
- Encourage an entrepreneurial fundraising culture and provide advice in prioritising fundraising streams
- Advise on collective approaches behind ENN’s fundraising work.
- Attend quarterly Board and sub-committee meetings and contribute to key strategic debates within the organisation
- Safeguard, respect and demonstrate ENNs values, policies and reputation
- Contribute actively to the Board of Trustees’ role in shaping and reviewing key organisational policies
- Commitment to undertake ENN’s safeguarding training and adherence to relevant policies
Required Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- A substantial background in fundraising and income generation, with a focus on private sector with proven track record of success at both an operational and strategic level
- Proven ability in pro-actively engaging corporate organisations and businesses for support with fundraising
- Strong networking and communication skills.
- An understanding of the complexities of corporate fundraising for small organisations with a global focus.
- An ability to work effectively as a member of a team, contributing ideas, listening to others, and reaching collective agreement
- Willingness to input the necessary time and effort to achieve objectives and provide availability to staff for advice and enquiries on an agreed basis
- Alignment to ENN's culture and goals with an interest/commitment to the organisation’s aims and ambitions
Desired
- Experience of attending and contributing to Board or Commercial meetings
- An understanding of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship
- Experience in the international humanitarian sector
Membership and Operation of the Board
The Trustees of the Board are appointed by the Trust Members to provide a range of skills, expertise and ability to realise the vision and values of ENN and enhance its effective strategic leadership and management.
The term of office for any Trustee shall be four years. Any Trustee may be re-appointed or re-elected at a General Meeting (reference articles). The chair will be elected by the trustees and may hold a maximum of two terms of three years.
Time Commitment – And our Commitment to You
Your commitment in an average year is likely to be 4 pre-fixed board meetings, each of half a day. Each of these are preceded by sub-committee meetings, usually of ninety-minutes, and each trustee is expected to participate in one sub-committee. Other committee and ad hoc meetings and additional support will be arranged as agreed. We encourage active participation and engagement, and Trustees often give more time outside of this, on their own terms.
Board meetings are held virtually, with an intention to hold one facilitated face to face meeting at the ENN office in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, every two years. Sub-committee meetings will be convened remotely.
Ideally you will join the Board in October 2025, though we can show some flexibility on this for the right candidate, and in your first few months you should allow for additional time for induction and orientation (including meeting members of the Leadership Team).
Remuneration
This is an unpaid, voluntary position. Reasonable expenses will be reimbursed for attendance at Board meetings and other Trustee activities in line with ENN’s policies. Some employers encourage and enable trusteeship as part of wider career development and corporate social responsibility; please check with your organisation and their relevant policies.
Our Values and Commitment to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
ENN is committed to diversity and inclusion, and to building a culture where every staff member and volunteer is recognised and valued as an individual. We actively encourage applications from a broad range of experiences and backgrounds and are particularly interested in improving representation of younger people and minority ethnic groups on our Board.
To Apply
If you believe you’re the candidate we’re looking for please submit a CV and a covering letter of no more than 2 pages describing your motivation behind applying for the role, as well as explaining how you believe your skills and experience match what we are looking for. Please email this to: recruitment@ennonline.net.
Closing date for applications: 28 September 2025
Screening Checks
All candidates who we progress will be screened through Accuity World Compliance to comply with counter terrorism and financial sanctions regulations. Appointment will be subject to a satisfactory enhanced DBS check (or equivalent criminal records check where available, for non-UK citizens) and 2 satisfactory references. If you already have a transferrable enhanced DBS, please state this in your application.
*Please find additional information about ENN on our website https://www.ennonline.net/ and across the following pages.
Additional Information About ENN
A Letter From the Board of Trustees
At ENN we are truly passionate about what we do. Over the past 27 years ENN has become a powerful and recognised name in the nutrition sector, working with others to influence outcomes around the world. We produce highly regarded research and publications that inform and inspire practitioners worldwide and we convene technical interest groups and communities of practice who are the ‘go to’ networks for their specialisms. Our partners know and trust ENN for quality, rigour and impartiality. Our work makes a real difference in the lives of children in some of the most difficult parts of the world. The ENN-led Operational Guidance on Infant Feeding in Emergencies has become the key global policy guidance and has been endorsed by the World Health Assembly, and our technical leadership and convening has facilitated real change in awareness and a new narrative, challenging siloed approaches to Wasting and Stunting management.
Our work has never been more important. Nutritional challenges are growing across the world; undernutrition rates may be slowly decreasing but other forms of malnutrition are on the rise. The positive progress that is being made is unequal and many countries are now facing the double burden of both under and over nutrition. Crises around the world are increasingly protracted and the historical and artificial silos of ‘humanitarian’ and ‘development’ don’t reflect real needs which are much more fluid. Emerging threats, such as the broader impact on nutrition of the COVID-19 pandemic bring new challenges to address.
At present our annual turnover is between £1.4 and £1.8m we employ 28 staff and engage 20 - 30 specialist consultants. With our new strategy, we are keen to drive even greater impact by exploring new and innovative approaches and increasing our reach further still. We do so with funding in place from a range of institutional partners and private foundations.
We hope the enclosed information helps you to explore ENN and the role.
With best wishes,
The ENN Board of Trustees
Vision
Our vision is that every individual confronted by malnutrition is empowered to respond according to their needs.
Our History
Founded in 1996 in Ireland, ENN has a long and rich history in global nutrition. Following an evaluation of the Great Lakes Emergency in 1995, implementing agencies identified an urgent need to establish a vehicle for capturing programming experiences and preserving institutional memory in the emergency food and nutrition sector. This gave rise to ENN’s publication, Field Exchange, which was first produced in 1996, designed to stimulate critical thinking and learning, influence research agendas and cross-fertilise information and exchange. ENN was generously hosted by Trinity College Dublin for its first eight years, before relocating to Oxfordshire in 2004 and is now a UK registered Charity.
"To me, ENN is one of the most long-standing focal points for emergency nutrition technical information and coordination." (ENN partner)
Who We Are Now
Our Strategy aims to enhance the effectiveness of nutrition policy and programming by improving knowledge, stimulating learning, building evidence and providing support and encouragement to practitioners and decision-makers involved in nutrition and related interventions. We take a particular lens on fragile and conflict affected, and high burden, states. We have three core principles guiding our work:
- Independent, neutral and impartial
ENN is not bound by the views or positions of any one institution and is not a nutrition implementing agency. Any opinions expressed are based on the available evidence and the experience of our rich and diverse network.
- Driven by our network
ENN’s network is made up of practitioners, decision-makers and academics working on nutrition and associated fields all over the world. By supporting their learning and sharing their knowledge, ENN is able to make a unique contribution to turning knowledge into practice.
- Based on experiential learning and evidence
ENN believes that policy and practice can, and should be, informed by evidence and experience. Where this exists, ENN seeks to share the learning from this evidence and experience; where it is missing, ENN advocates for it to be developed or directly supports, and often brokers, its development.
Our People
ENN’s team is made up of a range of technical experts in nutrition, with decades of collective experience, and a small operational team. ENN’s Management Team comprises of the CEO, 2 Technical Directors, a Finance Manager, HR Manager & Projects Coordinator Lead. As well as our 28 staff, we engage a significant number of experienced specialist consultants on our projects. ENN is highly committed to diversity and inclusion, to enabling and promoting flexible working for our staff, and to supporting continued professional development.
Our Governance
ENN is a UK-registered charity (Charity Registration Number: 1115156) governed by the Board of Trustees and a set of ‘Articles of Association’. The Board is currently comprised of 8 Trustees and meets regularly throughout the year, with full board meetings on a quarterly basis. The Board currently has three sub-committees, one covering Governance & People, another Technical and the other Finance, which are responsible for ensuring the highest standards in terms of finance, personnel, and technical expertise and application.
As a UK-registered Charity, ENN also files accounts as a UK-registered Company with Companies House (Company Registration Number 04889844).
Job Type: Volunteer
Pay: Up to £0.01 per year
Benefits:
- On-site parking
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Kidlington OX5 2DN