Operations Manager

We’re an award-winning charity running local learning centres in the heart of the communities where the young people we support live. Our centres provide a high impact education programme which include practical learning support, pastoral care, and motivational and confidence-building activities for young people aged 7-18. Our aim is to enable students from the least advantaged neighbourhoods to realise their ambitions and achieve their wonderful potential.

As the UK’s leading university access organisation, our staff team is helping 52,000 young people each year at its 41 learning centres and extension projects across England and Scotland, and we plan to scale-up our provision to 50 centres over the coming years. 

We are seeking a talented Interim Assistant Director of Programmes and Delivery, fully committed to our widening participation cause, to join the Senior Leadership Team for 8 months.

In your role, you will ensure that our centres are working effectively, that the high quality of programme delivery to young people is maintained across the network, and that targets are monitored and met. And of course, you will need to  have a genuine passion and enthusiasm for working with young people and helping them achieve their ambitions. 

As a member of our Senior Leadership Team you will also play an active and key role driving forward the broader objectives of the charity including its growth plans. As a charity with social mobility as its core objective, IntoUniversity is wholly  committed to equality of opportunity. We work with children and young people from a diverse range of backgrounds, and we believe that our staff team should be similarly diverse and representative.  

The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be, and we recognise that we have much more to do in this regard. We are committed to building a culture where students, staff and volunteers are valued for the unique people they are. We  therefore encourage applications from candidates from as wide a range as possible of ethnic, cultural and social  backgrounds. In particular, we actively and warmly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates,  male candidates and candidates with a disability as they are currently under-represented within IntoUniversity. 

Contract
This is an interim role from September 2024 to May 2025. This role can be either full-time or part-time (0.8 FTE) -  responsibilities will be adjusted proportionally for part-time candidates. 

Start date
September 2024 (or as otherwise agreed)

Working hours
09:00 to 17:30, Monday to Friday.

We are a delivery organisation providing frontline educational services for young people. The role will be based at one of our centres. We are an organisation with team members at different stages of their career, including many in their first roles: We are committed to nurturing talent and providing a developmental culture for all. Our central operations team works in-person 4 days per week (or 3 days for a 0.8 FTE staff member) with 1 day from home.

Location
The role could be based in one of the following offices, with regular travel: Bradford, Birmingham, Bristol, Clacton, Great Yarmouth, Hull, Kirkby, Leeds, Leicester, London, Manchester, Norwich, Nottingham, Weston-super-Mare.

Salary

• £52,000 from September 2024.
• Plus additional London contribution of £2,600 for London-based candidates. 
• (Pro rata for part-time candidate).

Annual leave

• 36 days (33 days leave inc. bank & public holidays + 3 closure days, two in December and one in July) 
• + up to 5 days additional length of service entitlement  (one day per year of service, up to 5) 

Staff benefits

• Employer pension contributions of 6% (and up to 8% after two years)
• Year round ‘early finish’ Fridays at 4.30pm 
• Employee Assistance Programme including access to medical and legal support
• Life Assurance scheme with AIG including SmartHealth service with access to 24/7 online GP appointments
• Interest-free new starter loans of up to £1,000
• Cycle to Work Scheme and Travelcard Loan Scheme
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption pay and sick pay allowances
• Staff in FOCUS – rewards, competitions and prizes across the year