3 Employability manager jobs in Cardiff
How's your job search on our site?
Job title: Services Manager (Maternity Cover)
Salary: £44,558 – £45,895
Hours: Full-time 37.5 hours per week (part time or flexible working options considered)
Location: Home-based ideally Wales or Midlands area, but any location will be considered, with travel around England and Wales
Contract: Fixed term – 9 months from December 2026
Are you an experienced employability service manager who would be able to confidently step into a 9-month maternity cover position and oversee a team of up to eight passionate and person-centred Employment Consultants, helping them deliver personalised, high-quality support to veterans and their families? You will also have the opportunity to contribute to our services development and continual improvement programme.
At The Poppy Factory, we believe that everyone who has served our country deserves the opportunity to build a fulfilling life beyond the armed forces. For over a century, we have stood alongside veterans and their families, evolving our services to support veterans and adult family members to overcome barriers to employment and transform their lives.
What we're looking for
- A collaborative mindset: You will thrive working as part of a team with colleagues based across the UK who support each other in what can sometimes be a challenging role. You enjoy building strong partnerships, and work effectively with colleagues and external organisations to enhance the services we offer.
- Motivation and commitment: You understand that supporting people facing complex challenges can be demanding, and you're ready to bring the energy, empathy and resilience needed to support your team to succeed.
- Adaptability: You will often need to balance competing priorities or quickly shift focus depending on the needs of the team you will be supporting and the clients they are working with.
- An empowering approach: You believe in people and their potential. Whether supervising your team or developing services, your goal is to support others to grow, achieve and thrive.
Why should you apply?
- A chance to make a lasting impact: Your work will help veterans and their families move forward in life with confidence and dignity.
- Competitive salary and benefits including generous holiday and pension contributions.
- A welcoming and empowering culture, with regular opportunities for team connecting and shared learning throughout the year.
- Flexibility and variety: a mix of travelling in your area, home working and to the Poppy Factory in Richmond, London
- Autonomy and influence: The opportunity to shape your region, build meaningful partnerships, and develop services that meet real needs.
- Be part of an iconic charity with over a century of history supporting the Armed Forces community.
For further information, including the full job description for the role, please refer to the candidate pack.
Due to the travel requirements of the role and the region covered, it is essential that the post holder is able to meet these requirements through their own transport arrangements.
How to apply
To apply for this position please click "Apply for this job" to submit your CV and a covering letter outlining how you meet the essential criteria in the person specification. Please address your covering letter to Debbie Boughtflower, Director of Operations.
Top tip: we don't recommend using AI to generate your covering letter (we've seen a lot of covering letters and we promise, we can tell!) - we want to know what makes YOU a good fit for the role, and AI covering letters can't capture your personality, values and qualities, or what makes your specific combination of skills and experience an ideal candidate.
The closing date for applications will be 23 September 2026. Please note, we cannot accept late or incomplete applications. Only applications submitted through the online process will be considered.
Online interviews will be held on 1 or 2 October 2026, with potential second interviews on 12 October 2026 in person @ The Poppy Factory in Richmond, London.
To arrange an informal conversation about the role, please contact Kirsty Gronow
No agencies please.
The successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced DBS check.
The Poppy Factory supports veterans with health conditions and their families into employment, helping them overcome any barriers.


The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Youth Programmes Officer – West Midlands
SALARY: £18,731 pro-rata including holiday pay, based on a working pattern of 30hrs/week across 4 or 5 days, and 39 weeks/year. £26,700 FTE
LOCATION: Homebased with travel within West Midlands (mainly Wolverhampton and Telford)
HOURS: 30hrs a week, working term time only (39 weeks/year).The hours and days of coverage may be negotiable for the right candidate and experience.
CONTRACT: Permanent
Ideal opportunity if you enjoy working with young people and want to help them be the best they can be.
Flexible and rewarding position within a dedicated and supportive team, working together to develop teamwork, leadership, and employability skills that inspire the next generation to aim high.
Are you looking to join an exciting organisation that’s truly making a difference?
The Jon Egging Trust are seeking a highly motivated individual with experience of working with young people, to plan and deliver inspiring teamwork, leadership and employability programmes in the West Midlands. The role involves liaising with school staff, local partners (including the Military and local businesses) and volunteers to ensure programmes meet the needs of our young people and is supported by the Regional Manager, Midlands. You will be joining a fantastically motivated and committed team of workers who are all passionate about improving the lives of young people through our specialist youth programmes.
The successful candidate will be based from home with a requirement to travel to partner schools and business sites in and around Wolverhampton and Telford. Fuel expenses are paid and travel time is included as part of working hours. Working with secondary schools to provide early support programmes, core delivery time is usually within the school working day and during school terms only. All other working hours can be managed with flexibility by the post holder to ensure that all administrative tasks are completed as required.
Across the JET team we cultivate a culture of inclusion that respects individual strengths, views, and experiences. We believe that our differences enable us to be a better team – one that makes better decisions, drives innovation, and delivers better outcomes for our young people. We welcome applicantswhatever your background and whatever your stage in life, so if you arereturning to the workforce after a period away,or even seeking a change of pace, please get in touch.
About the Jon Egging Trust (JET)
At JET, we support vulnerable young people to get back on track and realise their potential; more than 30,000 young people right across the UK to date, and there’s so much more we can do. We’re an organisation that really values its people and we’re immensely proud that our team culture is based on caring and raising each other up.
Our benefits package includes:
-
Flexible working
-
Enhanced annual leave
-
Homeworking allowance
-
Occupational pension scheme
-
Occupational sickness scheme
-
Special paid leave provision
-
Enhanced family leave
Download the Candidate Information Pack
Read our Applicant Privacy Notice
Child and adult at risk protection policy statement
The Jon Egging Trust is committed to providing a safe and positive environment for everyone involved in its services and activities. The Trust takes its extended moral and legal duty of care very seriously in relation to children, young people, staff and volunteers. We seek to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all children and to protect them from harm or abuse when they engage in any of our activities.JET expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. The suitability of all prospective employees or volunteers will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment.
To apply
Please complete our online application form. LINK TO ATS
The closing date is Sunday 13th September at 23.30 hrs
Formal Interviews to be held via Teams plus an in-person session delivery at one of our partner schools in West Midlands week commencing 21st September 2026, location to be confirmed.
Questions?
Contact through our website.
Please note:
Due to our anonymised recruitment process, if your application is not shortlisted, we are unable to provide personalised feedback.
To become an employee at JET, you must be able to provide evidence of your right to work in the UK and a satisfactory DBS check – enhanced with children's barred is required for this role.
As part of our safer recruitment process, all candidates invited to a final interview will also be required to complete a confidential self-disclosure form, which allows any relevant information to be discussed in line with our safeguarding policy.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
The Role
Thank you for the interest in this role – it is an exciting one.
You would be joining us at an exciting point in our journey as we reach the midpoint of our ambitious five-year Evolve strategy, following the launch of our new identity as the Leadership Skills Foundation. Over the next two and a half years, we will continue working towards our goal of reaching 200,000 young people annually across through education and community leadership programmes, while cementing our position as the trusted voice for leadership skills development.
This role will play a significant in making that happen via:
-
Identifying and securing new customers.
-
Retaining and growing income from our current customers.
-
Building relationships that drive programme registrations.
-
Using data and insights to adapt approaches and drive efficiency.
Looking ahead, with a new identity for the organisation and new programmes and partnerships emerging, this role requires a dynamic storyteller who can confidently identify the needs of our customers and clearly demonstrate the value our programmes can offer.
You'll be a proactive and confident development professional, skilled at spotting opportunities and transforming these into tangible outcomes. You'll thrive on creating and delivering development and engagement plans that directly support our departmental income goals and customer service objectives. With a passion for building strong relationships, you'll bring excellent communication and presentation skills to every interaction.
Previous experience in a business development, or sales role is essential as well as good knowledge of the education systems in the UK. Ideally you will be based within or near the West Midlands, South West or Wales due to potential travel requirements in these regions.
Please note: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. The Leadership Skills Foundation cannot offer visa sponsorship.
Role summary:
Role purpose:
Retain and grow relationships with existing centres through tailored engagement strategies that drive programme registrations and increase impact.
-
Identify and convert new opportunities through proactive outreach, lead generation, and effective nurture tactics to deliver new business income.
-
Deliver excellent customer service, ensuring a high-quality centre experience that builds trust and long-term loyalty.
Key responsibilities:
Retain and grow existing centre relationships
-
Manage a portfolio of existing centres, ensuring regular and meaningful engagement aligned to their needs, delivery patterns, and growth potential.
-
Deliver against annual centre income targets by supporting centres to continue and expand programme delivery.
-
Develop and implement tailored engagement plans that reflect sector priorities, sector and programme maturity, and centre feedback.
-
Analyse Business Intelligence (BI) dashboards to identify retention risks, spot growth opportunities, and respond to trends with proactive support.
-
Coordinate requalification conversations and re-engagement activity to sustain long-term partnerships.
Generate and convert new business
-
Identify and research high-potential leads across your allocated sectors (e.g., secondary, Wales, community, international schools) using BI and CRM insights, sector intelligence, and marketing-generated activity.
-
Plan and deliver proactive outreach activity via a Sector, Segment and Region Development Plans.
-
Build and maintain a personal pipeline of prospects and log progress regularly updating conversion insight and forecasts.
-
Support new centre onboarding, from initial conversations through to registration and early delivery support.
-
Collaborate with Marketing on lead nurture campaigns, sales funnel activities, and content that targets sector-specific priorities.
Deliver outstanding customer experience
-
Proactively communicate and engage with customers to support their delivery of Leadership Skills Foundation programmes.
-
Serve as a primary point of contact for your centres, responding promptly and professionally to queries, issues, and feedback.
-
Ensure every interaction reflects the Leadership Skills Foundation’s values.
-
Proactively use our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to maintain consistent and accurate records of communications, registrations, and engagement history.
-
Support customer feedback collection and contribute to the analysis of satisfaction and improvement opportunities.
-
Champion a customer-first mindset and share insight to improve performance against our customer experience objectives.
Use data, systems, and insight to drive decisions
-
Regularly review and report on programme performance, income data, and registration trends for your assigned centres and sectors.
-
Use BI dashboards and management reports to inform your planning, prioritisation, and stakeholder engagement.
-
Report on your own progress against KPIs and contribute to departmental performance reviews and forecasting activities.
-
Use our CRM systems and workflow as a planning and prioritisation tools to anticipate risk and drive quality interactions and personal efficiency.
Collaborate across teams and support innovation
-
Work closely with key teams to plan and coordinate campaigns, messaging, and respond to customer feedback.
-
Feedback insight from centres to inform programme development and sector-specific improvements.
-
Contribute to team planning meetings, training sessions, and department-wide initiatives.
-
Support the induction of new team members and contribute to a collaborative, learning-focused team culture.
Skills, experience, and knowledge
Essential
Previous experience in a customer supporting role, with an emphasis on relationship management and customer experience.
-
An understanding of education systems in the UK.
-
An understanding of initiating prospect engagement, business development strategies and meeting sales targets.
-
Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
-
Experience of working on own initiative and being a self-starter.
-
Confidence in presenting externally to customers and partners.
-
Experience of working with CRM systems, sales forecasting tools, and Management Information systems.
-
Analytical thinking and evaluation skills, with the ability to interpret data and performance metrics to support decision making.
-
Ability to present information concisely using Microsoft Office programmes.
-
An ability to network, influence and build relationships with key stakeholders andcustomers.
-
An ability to convert external relationships into long standing customers results.
Desired
Previous experience in a sales environment.
-
An understanding and passion for leadership skills development and the value it provides for young people and centres.
-
Excellent customer service skills.
-
An understanding of awarding bodies and their operating landscape.
Empowering every young person to shape their future and lead their communities.



The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.