Head of operations jobs in Exeter, devon
Want more results?
Add job titles:
How's your job search on our site?
For almost 50 years, Animal Aid has been one of the UK's leading animal rights organisations. As we embark on an ambitious strategy to 2030, we're looking for an exceptional Head of People and Operations to help us build the organisation that will deliver our next stage of growth.
This is a new and critical senior leadership role. While our mission is to create lasting change for animals, it is our people who make that possible every day. You'll help ensure Animal Aid is a supportive, high-performing and values-led organisation where staff can do their very best work for animals.
Reporting to the General Manager and working closely with the CEO and Senior Leadership Team, you'll lead our people function, oversee HR strategy and operations, support organisational development, and play a key role in finance, governance and organisational effectiveness.
We're looking for someone who combines strong HR leadership with excellent operational skills, strategic thinking and a genuine commitment to building positive workplace cultures.
You'll bring:
-
Significant senior-level HR and people management experience
-
Strong knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice
-
Experience developing policies, processes and organisational systems
-
Excellent relationship-building, communication and leadership skills
-
The ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on delivery
-
CIPD Level 5+ (or equivalent experience)
-
Commitment to Animal Aid's aims and values, and sympathy with our ethical vegan position.
This is a rare opportunity to help shape the future of a respected and influential not-for-profit at a pivotal moment in its development.
Join us and help build the organisation that will power the next generation of progress for animals.
Please note: Animal Aid cannot provide visa sponsorship, so applicants must have the legal right to live and work in the UK to be considered for this role. You must live in the UK and we are unable to pay any relocation costs.
First-round interviews will be held online the week commencing 14th September, with the second round held in person on 21st and 23rd September.
Animal Aid campaigns peacefully against all forms of animal abuse and promotes cruelty-free living.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
We're looking for someone who can turn plans into reality; mobilising new services, embedding change, improving performance and helping operational teams overcome barriers to delivery.
Working across a diverse portfolio of clinical and non-clinical services, you'll play a pivotal role in ensuring new and existing services operate effectively, achieve their objectives and continue to grow. You'll work closely with operational, clinical and senior stakeholders to implement change, drive service improvement and support the successful delivery of care for patients and families across the South-West.
If you're someone who enjoys solving complex problems, improving services and seeing projects through from idea to implementation, we'd love to hear from you.
Hours: 37.5 hours per week
Contract: Full-time Permanent
Salary: £49,382 - £56,515 per annum (pro rata), plus a full range of Marie Curie benefits.
Location: Home-based, with regular travel to Tiverton and services across the South-West.
As Deputy Head of Operations, you will help turn agreed priorities into delivered work.
The work is not finished when a service launches. It is finished when the service is working, stable, understood and delivering what it was set up to deliver. You will help turn agreed priorities into delivered work.
That means building clear plans, keeping actions moving, resolving practical barriers, coordinating across teams, using data well, and staying with implementation after go-live.
This role does not carry a large line management portfolio. That is deliberate. Its value is in delivery, follow-through and operational grip. You'll work across multiple services and stakeholders to identify challenges, implement solutions and ensure services are delivering high-quality outcomes for patients and families.
You'll be someone who:
- Takes ownership and follows through on commitments.
- Enjoys solving problems and removing barriers to progress.
- Can balance multiple priorities and remain focused on delivery.
- Uses data and insight to drive decision-making.
- Builds strong relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.
- Thrives in environments where priorities evolve and change.
What success looks like:
In this role, success will mean that work moves more clearly and more quickly. New services are mobilised with better grip. Existing services have stronger follow-through on performance and improvement. Operational problems are identified earlier and resolved more practically. Senior leaders have better visibility without needing to chase every detail. Teams experience the role as helpful because barriers are removed, decisions are followed through, and work does not keep returning to the same conversations.
Key responsibilities include:
- Supporting the mobilisation and implementation of new services and service developments.
- Driving operational improvement and service redesign initiatives.
- Monitoring performance data and identifying opportunities for improvement.
- Working with operational and clinical colleagues to resolve complex challenges.
- Developing effective processes, systems and ways of working that support sustainable service delivery.
- Supporting services to achieve quality, operational and performance objectives.
- Building strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure successful delivery of operational priorities.
- Using insight and data to support decision-making and service planning.
Marie Curie provides a better end of life for more people, whatever the illness.

The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Job Title: Head of Finance and Income Operations
Hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week
Contract: Permanent
Salary: £45,000 per annum
Location: Home-based in the UK, with occasional travel for team meetings and events
Role profile: A detailed role profile can be found in the 'supporting documents' for this advert
About the Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN)
The Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN) is a farmer-led organisation helping farmers restore the balance between farming and nature. We support farmers by sharing knowledge, resources and case studies that help boost food production, protect wildlife, and build climate resilience.
We influence policy to secure fair rewards for farmers who care for nature, and we connect like-minded farmers across the UK.
Our network is open to all: farmers, the public and partner organisations.
About the Role
We are looking for a Head of Finance and Income Operations to lead NFFN’s finance function and help strengthen the systems, controls and reporting that will support the organisation’s next stage of growth.
This is a senior leadership role at the heart of a small, ambitious and mission-led organisation. You will oversee day-to-day financial management, budgeting, management accounts, restricted funds, funder reporting and income operations. You will also help improve how finance works across NFFN, giving budget holders clearer information and helping the organisation make confident, well-informed decisions.
The role is about more than keeping the numbers moving. We are looking for someone who can help build a stronger finance function, improve internal systems, support funder confidence, and help NFFN manage a more complex mix of grants, donations, restricted funding and revenue-based delivery work.
Depending on your background, this may suit someone with strong charity finance experience, or someone from a finance, grants, funding operations or mission-led commercial background who wants to use their skills in a values-led organisation.
Key responsibilities include:
-
leading day-to-day financial management, controls and reporting
-
preparing budgets, forecasts, management accounts and financial updates
-
supporting budget holders with clear, practical financial information
-
improving finance systems, processes, approvals and reporting tools
-
overseeing restricted funds, grant conditions, funder reporting and income tracking
-
supporting funding applications with budgets, financial information and reporting structures
-
helping NFFN manage VAT, full cost recovery and different types of income as the organisation grows
-
working with the CEO, CSO, Head of Fundraising, SLT, Board and external advisers
-
providing line management to the Head of Fundraising and potential future roles within the finance and income operations function
This role will suit someone who combines financial rigour with practical judgement. You will need to be comfortable working independently in a remote organisation, explaining finance clearly to non-finance colleagues, and improving systems in a way that is proportionate and realistic for a small non profit organisation.
We know this is a broad role, and we are not expecting one person to have done everything before. We are looking for someone with strong financial experience, good judgement, attention to detail, and a genuine interest in helping NFFN build the financial infrastructure it needs for the future.
This is a fully home-based role, with flexibility in how work is managed and occasional travel for team meetings and events. You will be joining a collaborative, values-led team working to support farmers, nature and a more resilient food system.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.