Programmes Manager

Position: Programmes Manager

Salary: £36,000 FTE

Hours: 80% (30 hours per week), with a possibility of increasing to FT

Responsible to: Director of WEN Wales

Line management: Project Officers within WEN and based within partner organisations for the Equal Power Equal Voice (EPEV) Programme

Contract type: Fixed term to March 2028 to start asap

About Women's Equality Network (WEN) Wales

WEN Wales is the leading gender equality charity in Wales. Our vision is of a Wales free from gender discrimination, where all have equal opportunity and authority to shape society and their own lives.

As a membership organisation, we work in coalition with our organisational and individual members connecting, campaigning and championing women to realise our vision. 

About the role

The Programmes Manager will be responsible for overseeing and coordinating programmatic work within WEN Wales, with responsibility for programmatic budgets, design and implementation of workplans, coordination of colleagues across the organisation and in external steering groups, and line-managing project officers within WEN Wales and – on programmatic elements – from EPEV partner organisations. 

The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of programme management (ideally within a partnership or coalition), managing staff and consultants, budget management and will have a deep understanding of equalities, ideally in a Welsh context. You will be highly organised and an excellent communicator. You will also need a good eye for detail and excellent self-management skills with the ability to prioritise competing demands in a fast-paced environment. 

About Equal Power Equal Voice

The Programmes Manager’s primary focus will be on our EPEV programme which provides mentoring, training and peer-networking opportunities to ethnic minority people, LGBTQ+ people, disabled people, women and people with any combination of these identities across Wales. WEN works in strong and established partnership with Disability Wales, Ethnic Youth Support Team (EYST) and Stonewall Cymru to deliver this important and unique programme.

The EPEV programme aims to ensure more diverse representation in politics and public life by strengthening the knowledge and skills of those who aspire to be there, while learning from and being supported by those who have achieved positions of power, influence and authority in the face of these challenges.

The Programmes Manager will build on the success of the previous EPEV programme cycle, which ran between 2021-2024. They will bring enthusiasm and innovation to ensure the next EPEV programme cycle (2025-2028) is efficient and effective and provides the best possible experience to mentees and mentors, paving a direct route to seeing greater diversity in political and public life in Wales.

We particularly welcome applications from candidates who have lived experience of intersecting discrimination. 

Welsh Speaker: Desirable

Key responsibilities of the role

Project/programme management: you will ensure the design and smooth running of programmes and projects for which you have responsibility. You will ensure that outputs and outcomes are delivered to the highest standards, within budget and on time.

In practice, we will expect you to:

• Apply appropriate project and programme management standards and principles
• Use (and introduce, as appropriate) project management software and office systems and ensure their efficacy across the team
• Identify and manage risk in the programmes 
• Keep track of funder reporting requirements and prepare narrative reports as required, with input from the rest of the team
• Develop basic monitoring frameworks for programmes and evaluation tools to ensure that the impact of WEN programmes is measured and can be referenced in reporting and broader communications/engagement etc.
• Ensure that any lessons learned from monitoring and evaluation are regularly fed into programmatic design and implementation

Finance: you will develop programme budgets (in collaboration with finance colleagues), manage spends and ensure programme delivery on budget and with careful recordkeeping.

In practice, we will expect you to:

• Work with WEN’s finance team to develop programme budgets
• Ensure budgets are regularly reviewed and revised as appropriate to ensure that programmes are delivered on time, on budget and to the highest standards
• Manage and track expenditure, ensuring value for money

People management: you will manage a team of officers in WEN and across partner organisations. In practice, we will expect you to:

• Line-manage programme officers, with shared line management responsibilities for three programme officers employed by the EPEV partner organisations

Stakeholder engagement: as a senior member of the WEN team, you will liaise with stakeholders in formal and informal settings and act as an ambassador for WEN and for the EPEV programme. In practice, we will expect you to:

• Forge strong relationships with managers in partner organisations
• Build and maintain strong links with high profile individuals in Welsh politics and public life and key equalities organisations across Wales
• Work with WEN’s communications and engagement team to ensure that information about programmatic outputs/outcomes reaches the right audiences in the best possible way

Funding: you will support the WEN Wales team to seek funding and to report to funders.

In practice, we will expect you to: 

• Contribute to fundraising applications with both strategic planning and detailed project plans and activity costings
• Communicate directly with funders on programme updates
• You will undertake any other reasonable duties as may be required by the role.

How to apply

Please send a CV and a supporting letter (no more than 2 sides of A4). Demonstrate how you meet the job criteria and tell us why you are the right person for the role. 

Email your completed application and Equal Opportunities form.

• Closing date: Friday, 21 February 2025, midday
• Online interview: Tuesday, 25 February 2025