Programme Manager South East

We are looking for a self-motivated individual to lead our programme delivery in the South East, making it a vibrant and exciting hub that delivers real social impact for young people who need it.

At the forefront of the organisation, you will initially be responsible for delivering all programmes in your region (predominantly based around Reading and Winchester), we expect your direct programme delivery to reduce as we grow our presence and work, and you take on more management and oversight responsibilities. Working alongside the CEO, you will be responsible for creating new partnerships with schools and universities, and for building a team to drive our mission in that region.

Our programme delivery involves maintaining partnerships with schools and universities, supporting our volunteers to become highly effective coaches, and managing programmes end-to-end from initial planning through to impact evaluation.

You will also be responsible for the retention and renewal of partnerships within the region, and will support the CEO with generating new partnerships. 

You  will flourish in this role if you enjoy thinking quickly, responding to challenges, and leading a team to achieve impact for young people!

The South East Programme Manager will be responsible for:

Delivering programmes within the South East region:

• Creating regional strategies to ensure the effective running of CoachBright programmes

• Monitoring termly engagement and impact targets 

• Ensuring high retention of SE school partners year on year

• Directly managing a small number of existing school partnerships and programmes, ensuring high retention of partners

• With the support of the CEO growing a strong and supportive network of schools, Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), universities, corporate partners and others 

Volunteer recruitment and management:

• Delivering volunteer recruitment plan for SE programmes

• Supporting the training of volunteers in coaching and our pedagogy

• Allocating volunteers to programmes 

• Building relationships with volunteers and monitoring their coaching sessions, providing feedback when necessary

Managing partnerships with SE universities: 

• Maintaining regular contact with relevant staff members in outreach, widening participation, and or/ volunteering teams at each SE university 

• Managing room bookings for events at university campuses 

Coaching: 

• Completing a level one Coaching qualification and applying the coaching approach to interactions with, and management of, others

• Coaching on our Lifecycle programmes when required

As the region grows we will recruit Programme Officers to support the delivery of programmes. Once those Programme Officers are in place, the role will have the following responsibilities:

• Coaching and line managing a small team of two-four Programme Officers

• Holding 1-1 appraisals to monitor performance and set actions 

• Providing supportive, hands-on leadership

• Covering for Programme Officers during periods of leave

Essential characteristics and experience: 

• Passion for social mobility: we have big aims and are looking for those who share our desire to make education fairer in the UK so a person’s background does not determine their future.

• Ability to think on your feet: Volunteer management and working with young people can be unpredictable, so you will need to be comfortable working reactively to solve challenges at short notice.

• Experience with young people: Comfortable jumping in to run a session or deliver a workshop with a group of young people from age 8-18.

• Relationship building and facilitating: this a public-facing role so you will love communicating and delivering workshops to groups as well as communicating our mission to a wide range of stakeholders (business leaders, senior members of MATs, universities etc.)

• Experience of coaching or willing to complete a Level 1 Coaching Qualification.

• Experience of sales or partnership management/development.

Desired characteristics and experience: 

• Previous people management or team leadership experience 

• Understanding of the specific barriers to social mobility in the SE and the context for pupils we work with. 

Key details

Benefits:

• An opportunity to contribute to a young, exciting charity with scope to input widely and take on new responsibilities.

• Starting Salary: £31,000 - £33,000. 

• Annual Leave: 28 days (based on 7 hour working days; adjusted if on compressed hours).

• Rollover of 3 days of holiday to the next academic year.

• Hybrid working:This role will predominantly involve a mixture of home/remote working (with the option to use our Reading or London office space), and regular travel to schools around Reading and Winchester. During our busy programme periods (Nov-Dec and Feb-Apr) there will likely be travel required to schools three or four afternoons each week. 

• Training: We are a reflective organisation and keen to support your professional development. In particular, we offer each member of the team the opportunity to become a certified coach.

• £100 annual training CPD budget.

• Compressed hours policy: Option to work full-time hours over four days (Mon-Thurs).

• Access to a 24-hour employee assisted helpline facilitated independently by Health Assured.

• Access to BrightHR perks, providing team members with an array of discounts in various areas such as retail and technology. 

Key Information:

• Length: Permanent

• Hours: Full-Time, 35 hours per week. (with some weekend/evening hours required  during volunteer recruitment and training periods which will be acknowledged in TOIL). 

• Opportunity for compressed hours as noted above.

• This role requires travel. around the region, having a car and full driving licence would be desirable 

• Reporting to: Director of Programmes.

• Start date: As soon as possible.