Jobs for the Sport sector

The Director of Communications is an exciting new leadership role with ambitious charity that is working to tackle the challenge of physical inactivity and inequalities in access to options to be active. You will be contributing to improving the health outcomes and lives of the people of Lincolnshire.

Working closely with the CEO and senior leadership team, this role will lead our strategic communications approach - shaping powerful narratives that articulate impact, influence system-level change and champion the role of physical activity in tackling inequalities across Lincolnshire.

The role has the following core purpose:

• Set and lead the organisation’s strategic communications approach, ensuring audiences are clearly defined, understood, and engaged.
• Shape and govern the organisation and sector narrative, using communications to articulate impact and create advocacy for inclusive systemic change around physical activity.
• Develop and oversee system-wide communications strategies, fostering collaboration and change at scale through cross-sector partnerships.
• Lead strategic stakeholder stewardship, building and maintaining long-term relationships that influence system-level change and galvanise system partners around a shared narrative.
• Drive monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) for communications, using data and insights to demonstrate impact and inform future direction.
• Provide inclusive leadership, inspiring and developing the communications team, being a senior leader in the organisation, embedding a values-driven, learning culture.

The role will enhance the positioning of the organisation and the wider impact of physical activity, through clear and compelling messages and storytelling.

You will need an exceptional ability to translate complex insight into clear strategic messaging, identify opportunities for influence, and create system-wide approaches to communications that drive meaningful change. You will be proactive, innovative and able to respond quickly and appropriately in a shifting environment.

You will bring extensive experience in senior level stakeholder engagement and stewardship, nurturing and developing relationships that enable Active Lincolnshire to further influence opportunities to shift the system and make a difference in tackling the inequalities that exist.

You will have the ability to influence and advocate. Using your excellent communication skills, combined with insight you will create deep and meaningful narratives championing the physical activity sector, the benefits of being active and the contribution it makes to wider community and economic opportunities and to promote the options to be active in the county.

An outcome focused approach is key, ensuring there are robust measures in place to understand and evaluate the impact of our work.

Reward Package:

• Circa. £50,000 per annum depending on experience
• 25 days annual leave, plus all bank holidays and 3 days during the Christmas week (Total c.36 days per annum).
• ‘Celebration day’; additional day for an occasion / birthday / event (subject to annual review)
• Westfield Health private healthcare
• Cycle to work scheme
• Flexible working approach
• Time to be active in the working week
• Team away days
• Personal development and training opportunities
• Time in the working week to volunteer
• Employer contribution pension scheme
• Employee wellbeing policy
• Contribution to making a difference to the lives of people in Lincolnshire

Deadline for applications is Sunday 18 January 2026
Interviews will be held at the Active Lincolnshire office in Lincoln the week commencing Monday 26 January.

Do you believe learning is the root of place-based change? Are you driven to turn insight, evidence and lived experience into action that improves lives?

Active Black Country is recruiting 3 Learning Leads to play a pivotal role in shaping a more active, healthier future across Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.As a Learning Lead, you’ll put learning at the heart of place-based working - capturing what’s working (and what isn’t), sharing insight across partners, and strengthening collaboration to tackle physical inactivity through Sport England’s Place-Based investment.

We’re looking for people who love connecting dots and people - champions of co-design, reflection and evidence-led practice. You’ll be curious, influential and confident turning complex learning into practical action that drives health and social change.

Your experience could come from any sector - community development, health, education, local government, research or beyond. What matters most is your expertise to lead learning, build trusted relationships and help places learn their way forward.

If you’re excited by the idea of learning with communities, not just about them — we’d love to hear from you. Application deadline: 30th January 2026. 

Role description:

The learning lead will work with local partners to ensure strategic learning is captured &

applied to develop partnerships and strengthen understanding to collectively tackle physical

inactivity and support wider health and social outcomes.

Working to established learning goals the learning lead is responsible for developing,

implementing, and managing learning and development initiatives that enhance connectivity

and understanding between partners to work together. This will involve providing focused

support to partners to capture accurate insight & learning, assessing what works and what

does not, ensuring key learning is shared throughout the process with partners and

communities.

The learning lead will work as part of a team, working across the areas of Dudley, Sandwell,

Walsall and Wolverhampton respectively, whilst engaging with partners & organisations at a

Black Country level to focus on the agendas of transport, housing and health.

Main Duties:

1. Work with the place partners across the 4 Black Country local authority areas and Active Black Country to implement the Monitoring Evaluation & Learning framework as part of the Sport England ‘Place Based’ investment.

2. Develop effective working relationships with a breadth of partners and organisations to support collaboration and the development of a shared purpose to address inequalities that prevent people from moving and being active. 

3. Working with the support of the learning and monitoring & evaluation partners, ensure strategic learning is captured and applied to help us fulfil organisational and place ambitions. 

4. Develop a SMART learning plan for each place, drawing in the real time priorities of partners, ensuring community engagement is at the heart of decision making. 

5. Champion how partners can cascade learning into their organisation to influence wider change, devising creative ways to share the learning at a local level, highlighting need and connecting to priorities to maintain momentum. 

6. Be an advocate for the Behaviour Change framework to ensure this is fully embedded by partners and community groups, ensuring communities are engaged and involved in the co-creation of marketing collateral and key messages.

 7. Participate in local forums and meetings, including forming part of the learning forum, chaired by Active Black Country, to share learning and identify opportunities to integrate physical activity across the thematic areas of transport, health & housing. 

8. Review existing local data and insight, identifying gaps and areas that require further exploration. 

9. Support the local test and learn interventions that have been identified as part of the Place Expansion Development Award, capturing the key learning to support the development award. 

10. Support partners with monitoring, evaluation and learning. 

11. Work with the Active Black Country Strategic Communications Lead to share case studies and good news stories. 

12. To be responsible and take reasonable care for the Health, Safety and Welfare of self and other employees and the public in accordance with Health and Safety Legislation and company procedures. 

13. To adhere to the Data Protection Act at all times. Confidentiality must be maintained at all times. 

14. To adhere to all relevant policies and procedures at all times. 

15. To undertake such other duties as may be appropriate

Person Specification:

1. Able to work as a trusted partner and build strong, effective, and valued relationships across a wide range of people and organisations.

2. Visibly values and promotes co-design and can bring people together to jointly create innovative ideas and practice. 

3. Skilled in building trust and long-term relationships across sectors—especially with local partners, community-based organisations, local authorities and charities. 

4. Proven experience supporting specific communities or localities—particularly in roles involving community development, learning or collaborative partnerships, ideally across the Black Country. 

5. Demonstrates professional, voluntary, or lived experience of communities most marginalised or under-represented in being active. Has knowledge and understanding of the barriers to activity. Can articulate, demonstrate, or evidence the valuable role that physical activity and sport can contribute to health, environmental & socio-economic outcomes. 

6. Strong understanding of how to track, assess, and learn from outcomes in complex, community-driven settings. Familiarity with both qualitative and quantitative methods. 

7. Skilled at applying evidence led approaches to design effective learning interventions which build meaningful impact. 

8. Demonstrable expertise in building a culture of continuous improvement and reflective practice, by supporting teams to ask effective questions, use data wisely, and apply learning practically. 

9. Able to work with complexity and influence and advocate for learning beyond programme delivery. 

10. Proven experience in using learning as a driver for change. Demonstrating a deep commitment to inclusive practice, with experience applying in real-world settings. 

11. Can effectively prioritise and set and meet objectives within deadlines and planned goals. 

12. Can demonstrate a quality of thought disseminating data, insight and trends translating it into meaningful action and decision making. 

13. Strong written and verbal skills, able to distil learning clearly for different audiences, including communities, partners, and funders. 

14. A self-starter who shows skills in agile and adaptive working proving they can respond quickly, work flexibly and navigate through fast-paced, changing, complex and uncertain environments.

We are currently recruiting a Partnerships Manager, for an exciting role within the charitable foundation of a globally renowned sporting event and club.   

The charitable foundation provides grants and financial support and donates resources such as physical gifts and use of its facilities. It works with charity partners locally, nationally and internationally to champion opportunity for all. The foundation has a rich selection of programmes with a focus on the community based in South West London in particular, as well as a national sport for development programme and international charity partners. In 2024 grants and donations totalled more than £5 million.

The role:  
This is a central role within the Foundation team to manage, develop and maintain partnerships and programmes with national and international charities, corporate partners and colleagues across the business. This role offers high visibility across the organisation and is ideal for someone who thrives on acting as a brand ambassador, networking and building relationships.

You will work with a diverse range of stakeholders, to manage multiple partnerships, oversee the delivery of programme activities and events and track and monitor the overall success of these partnerships. You will also work closely with the team, business colleagues, charity and corporate partners to identify new opportunities to develop and promote the partnerships. This will include designing and delivering programmes and events that are mutually beneficial, as well as collaborating on materials, content and publications to promote the foundation’s partnership work.

Full time role, 35 hours per week.

Hybrid working, with usually three-days at the office in South West London.

The person:  
The ideal candidate will be highly skilled at building inspiring, energising and positive relationships, with a strong track record of developing and managing partnerships and programmes across a variety of stakeholders. You will be confident as a brand ambassador connecting with people and bringing a problem-solving and collaborative approach. This role needs a natural communicator who leads with positivity and clarity, building relationships with existing and new contacts at all levels, including service users, colleagues, board and senior management level. You will be accountable for creating and delivering against large scale partnership plans and developing new activities and events in collaboration with existing partners. They are looking for someone with demonstrable experience of developing and delivering partnerships with charity/voluntary sector organisations as well as businesses, particularly in the sport for development field.

Recruitment timeline and interviews:
Successful candidates will be invited for a first-stage interview on 27th and 28th January. Second-stage interviews are set to take place on Tuesday 3rd February.

At Prospectus we invest in your journey as a candidate and are committed to supporting you with your application. We welcome all candidates to apply, regardless of age, sex/gender, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, marital status or pregnancy/maternity. If you have any disability and require reasonable adjustment/s to any part of the process then please contact Ariha Semontee at Prospectus.
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If you feel you meet some of the criteria but not all, we really hope you'll enquire and learn more. Prospectus can advise and support on each part of the role and hopefully your application, so we look forward to hearing from you.              

In order to apply please submit your CV in the first instance. Should your experience be suitable, we will arrange for a meeting to brief you on the role. You'll then have all the information you need to formally apply. We are looking forward to connecting with you soon.