Head of Impact | Education & Social Mobility

Head of Impact - Education & Social Mobility | Zero Gravity | London-hybrid | £50k-£65k

Who Zero Gravity are

Zero Gravity is a tech platform connecting students from low-income backgrounds to university and career opportunities. Its programme is free for students, forever, and members are 2.3 times more likely to get into a top university. Over 23,000 students have been supported to date.

In April 2026 Zero Gravity launched an AI tutor that coaches students using the Socratic method rather than handing over answers. Early engagement and attainment results have been strong, and the company has since won a government contract to scale the tutor across the UK. Zero Gravity is a Certified B Corp, holds ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus, and has been covered by the BBC, The Times and The Guardian.

EQL Tech is Zero Gravity's exclusive recruitment partner for this search. All applications and enquiries for this role are handled by EQL Tech on Zero Gravity's behalf.

Why you will want this role

• A cause you can ask for without spin. You are raising money for young people the system has overlooked, so you win funders on belief and evidence, not pressure.
• A real strategic seat. You set the Fund's strategy directly with the CEO and trustees, weighing real options rather than executing a plan handed to you.
• A Fund that is already moving money. It has put real money behind disadvantaged young people. Your job is to make it genuinely ambitious.
• Room to build. In a lean, startup-paced team you shape how impact lands on the ground, including new AI-enabled delivery models for under-resourced schools, and you build the team around you as the Fund grows.
• Strong rewards. £50k to £65k depending on experience, plus share options.

The role

This is a fundraising role first. Zero Gravity runs a charitable fund alongside its core organisation. It now needs someone to take the Fund from well-run to genuinely ambitious by personally asking for the money: building relationships with banks, corporates, consultancies and major donors, and closing them.

Being on the asking side is the opportunity, not the catch. You choose who to approach and how, you take a relationship from a cold start to a committed partner, and the results are yours and visible. Alongside that, you set the Fund's strategy with the CEO and trustees, shape how impact lands on the ground, and work with the finance team and trustees to keep governance and reporting strong. This is a hands-on role, not a traditional charity post.

We hire on belief in the mission as much as on fundraising record. A funder can tell within minutes whether you believe in what their money will do, and it shows in the commitments you win. We are looking for someone who has genuinely bought into closing the gap between where a young person starts and what they are capable of, and who would be doing something in this space even if this exact job did not exist.

What you will be doing

• Asking for the money yourself: going from a cold start to a committed corporate partner or major donor, and writing and pitching propositions that get funding moving
• Building and owning relationships with UK corporates, banks, consultancies, foundations and major donors, from first approach to long-term partner
• Setting the Fund's strategy directly with the CEO and trustees, weighing real options
• Designing how impact lands on the ground, including AI-enabled delivery models, working with product and engineering so the technology and the mission stay pointed at the same target
• Producing quarterly trustee board packs that stand up to scrutiny
• Working with the finance team to keep financial controls, audit preparation and reporting strong
• Building and leading a small team as the Fund grows

Where you will be: Central London, 3 to 5 days a week in the office.

Interview process

1. Informal video discussion with EQL Tech, the recruitment partner running this search
2. A task, then an in-person presentation to the Zero Gravity team
3. A values interview with the COO, CEO and wider team

How to apply: Submit your CV and answer the short questions on the form. Every application is reviewed by hand.

Requirements

What you will bring

• Real belief in the mission: closing the gap between talent and opportunity for young people the system has overlooked. We would love to hear what you have done about it.
• You want to fundraise, and you are still doing it. Asking for money energises you and is a core part of what you want your week to look like.
• Direct experience on the asking side with corporates and/or high-net-worth donors, over roughly the last five to seven years: you personally sourced, pitched and closed the funding, rather than allocating or deciding it.
• Knowledge of the UK funder landscape: the corporates, banks, consultancies, foundations and major donors who fund education access. You already have relationships there, or you know exactly how you would open them.
• You have personally led a small team or operation day to day, not only held strategic or budget oversight inside a larger structure
• Real strategic ability: you can build a theory of change, not just recite the phrase
• Comfort working with trustees and finance on governance and controls [ZG TO CONFIRM]
• Hands-on use of AI tools on real problems, not a buzzword on a CV
• UK-based, with the right to work here without sponsorship. The in-office schedule makes this a hard requirement.

Not from education or charity? Please apply. If you have not worked in education or the charity sector, but have a strong affinity with the mission and can show a record of personally raising money from corporates or major donors in another sector, we want to hear from you.

Strong signals, but not requirements

• Scaling partnerships from inside a tech company
• A corporate fundraising or partnerships background
• People management experience
• Startup-stage experience (roughly 20 to 100 people)

Benefits

Compensation, benefits & culture

• £50,000-£65,000, depending on experience
• Central London, hybrid (3-5 days a week in the office)
• Direct strategic input into a fund that is already moving meaningful money to the people it is meant to help - not a junior seat several steps removed from the mission
• Share options - genuine ownership in the business, not a token gesture
• Private healthcare, including dental and mental health support, plus gym discounts
• An annual personal-development allowance to spend on your own growth
• Equipment set up so you can do your best work from day one
• Fortnightly team socials on the house, plus bigger quarterly events
• 25 days' annual leave plus bank holidays, with extra days off over the Christmas shutdown

Values aren't a poster on the wall here - they're what holds the team, members, partners, donors and investors together as one community, and it shows up in how decisions actually get made.