Operational manager jobs in leigh on sea, southend on sea

• Are you energised by hitting targets and building lasting partnerships?
• Do you love turning ideas into income and conversations into opportunities?
• Are you ready to make a meaningful difference through business development in the education and charity sectors?

Then this could be the role for you.

We are looking for a Business Development Officer to help drive the growth of Learning on Screen—the UK’s leading charity for moving image in post 16 education. This role is perfect for someone who thrives on relationship building, enjoys closing deals, and is passionate about supporting a mission-driven organisation. You will play a key role in helping us diversify income by generating revenue through B2B sales, partnerships, and sponsorships.

What you will be doing

• Selling our products and services (including memberships, subscriptions, and courses) to meet income targets
• Researching, identifying, and converting new leads across the education sector
• Supporting the development of sponsorship and partnership opportunities with external funders and collaborators
• Building and maintaining strong stakeholder relationships to maximise value and engagement
• Creating compelling proposals and marketing materials to support income-generating initiatives

What we are looking for

• Experience in B2B sales, partnership development, or fundraising (ideally in the non-profit or education sectors)
• A confident communicator with excellent writing and presentation skills
• Someone who is proactive, target-driven, and able to manage multiple priorities
• A collaborative mindset and the ability to engage with a wide range of stakeholders
• Strong data awareness, able to monitor performance and spot opportunities

This is a great opportunity to grow your career in a supportive, ambitious, and flexible environment while contributing to our mission of transforming education through the power of moving image and sound.
 

About us
Learning on Screen is a membership organisation that champions the use of moving image and sound in post-16 education. We give educators and students access to millions of films, TV programmes and radio broadcasts—spanning over a century—and support our members to use this content confidently and creatively. From expert copyright advice to innovative partnerships, we help bring teaching to life and open up new possibilities for learning. If you're passionate about education, media, and meaningful impact, you’ll feel right at home here.

Interim Head of Finance & Operations

Career Ready is a social mobility charity that believes that every young person deserves the opportunity to enjoy a rewarding future.

We were founded in 2002 by leading business figures with a mission: to boost social mobility by empowering young people and giving their talents a platform from which to flourish. Since then, we’ve grown in England and Scotland to support young people in areas of need.

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced, qualified Finance professional to lead our Finance & Operations function.

About the Role

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer the Interim Head of Finance & Operations leads on and assumes day to day responsibility for providing high quality, strategic financial management for Career Ready.

You will lead on business operations to ensure the ongoing effective functioning of the charity and drive sustainable growth.

The Interim Head of Finance and Operations plays a key role in leading greater organisational efficiency and simplifying processes and will continue the delivery of a project plan reflecting the 2025-30 strategy.

You will play a critical role in driving the increased quality of Career Ready’s offer to our stakeholders in line with our strategy, vision and values.

Member of our SMT, comprising of the CEO, Director for Scotland, Director of Programme and Partnerships and Heads of functions.

This is an interim role to cover a period of maternity leave.

Main responsibilities and accountabilities

· Lead, direct and manage the finance and operations functions, overseeing two direct reports, ensuring they deliver a high-quality service to all internal and external stakeholders and are seen as adding value, in enabling Career Ready to achieve its vision and strategic objectives through its people. 

· Continue the delivery of a project plan reflecting the 2025-30 strategy, ensuring that activities happen at pace, are deadline-driven and achieve a high level of impact.

· Assume overall responsibility for the financial management of Career Ready, working with the SMT to ensure high quality and effective use of charitable funds.

· Input into and review the financial elements of funding applications and ensure that fund accounting processes align with funders’ requirements for project reporting.

· Produce financial reports for various stakeholders, as well as leading on financial modelling.

· Have oversight of all financial and accountancy matters including month end reports, management accounts, cash flow management, compliance, tax liability, presentation of management information and KPIs. Ensure that the CEO and Trustees are provided with accurate, timely information and analysis. 

· Oversee and coordinate the fully managed payroll services with the external bureau for all Career Ready employees and for some internship students (Jun to Aug during the Summer)

· Administration of the Staff Opt-In Pension Scheme, including onboarding new staff (Royal London)

· Act as a role model in our ‘one team’ culture. Lead in the development of efficient working practices across the charity, creating momentum and supporting motivation within the charity. 

· Lead risk management strategies and internal control procedures to minimise the risk of loss, or damage to, Career Ready’s assets. 

· Prepare and submit annual operational budgets and annual accounts to the CEO for review and approval.

· Draft and deliver papers for Trustees and Finance and Fundraising Committee (F&FC) meetings. 

· Attend Board and F&FC meetings to present papers and answer questions related to areas of expertise. 

· Provide day to day line management of the Senior Finance Officers and support their ongoing growth and development.

· Management of organisational governance and compliance activities, including policy management.

· Oversee and manage the organisation’s risk management register and process, with input from SMT.

· Oversee reviews and renewals of all insurance policies that affect the organisation.

· Lead on the compliance of statutory and charity regulatory reporting, giving guidance to colleagues where required.

· Ensure any changes to processes and procedures across the function are clearly documented.

Person Specification

Essential skills and experience

•  Belief and commitment to Career Ready’s mission and values
• Qualified (ACA/ACCA/CIMA/AAT) accountant with at least 5 years’ experience in financial management including budgeting, preferably in the charity sector.
• Significant experience in producing management and financial accounts
• Skilled in financial reporting and producing VAT returns
• Preparing for and ensuring a successful year-end audit, and demonstrable knowledge of UK Charities SORP and other reporting standards
• Experience in budgeting to support strategic decision making.
• Financial dexterity and strong analytical skills.
• Strong IT skills, including advanced MS Excel skills and extensive of using an accounting software, preferably Xero
• Excellent organisational and prioritising skills and ability to work independently and with autonomy
• Strong starter finisher with ability to lead and drive projects
• Knowledge of charity governance and compliance requirements
• Ability to build excellent relationships and have effective engagement with stakeholders
• Good communication skills and ability to communicate financial concepts to non-finance staff
• Attention to detail
• Ability to present financial information to various audiences
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and sensitivity of financial information
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to cope with competing demands to deadlines
• Honest and dependable

Desirable skills and experience

• Experience of leading a team, strong team building skills
• Line management experience
• Experience of using MS Planner or other project management tools
• Genuine interest in the work done by the Charity
• Experience of using a CRM (Salesforce)
• Degree in financial management or accounting

Full details are provided in the candidate pack

Salary and Benefits

Salary: £52,000 to £54,000 FTE (salary will be pro-rata for part time hours)

28-35 hours per week.  Career Ready is committed to supporting condensed/flexible working patterns.

Permanent and remote.  Travel to London required on an occasional basis

You will be rewarded with the following benefits:

· 6% contribution to personal pension plan, subject to 3% employee contribution.

· Annual leave: 27 days per annum plus bank/public holidays (pro rata for part time). The charity is also closed between Christmas and New Year. Career Ready also allows flexible use of some Bank & Public Holidays

· Cycle to Work Scheme

· Access to both our Reward Gateway Portal and an Employee Assistance Programme.

· Flexible working

· Work from home allowance and paid travel expenses.

We regret that Career Ready is unable to offer visa sponsorship and candidates must be able to demonstrate their right to work in the UK. In accordance with our commitment to safeguarding, offers of employment are subject to completion of a DBS check. 

Timetable

Applications close at 9am on Monday 21 July 2025 

Please note that the closing date may be brought forward if we receive strong applications.

This is an interim role to cover a period of maternity leave, with a provisional start date of late September for a handover period.

For full information on this role, including the key responsibilities and person specification, please view the job pack.

Applications close at 23:59 on Sunday 6th July 2025.

The Organisation

ImpactEd Group supports education and purpose-driven organisations to maximise their potential. We do this by helping our partners to be consistently impactful and operationally sustainable. ImpactEd Group is made up of ImpactEd Consulting and its specialist practices, ImpactEd Evaluation, ImpactEd Philanthropy and our most recent practice ImpactEd Data and Artificial Intelligence. Drawing on our domain expertise and technical skills in these areas, ImpactEd Group aims to be the first port of call for leaders across the education ecosystem. Since being founded in 2017, ImpactEd Group has worked with thousands of schools and hundreds of organisations, serving more than a quarter of a million pupils annually. Our strategy commits to systemic impact by helping our partners to make better decisions. We also empower our team to make decisions on behalf of the organisation as part of our aspirations for employee ownership.

The Opportunity

The Director role is a new opportunity working across ImpactEd Evaluation. Our partnerships encompass education organisations such as charities, edtech organisations and government, and schools and multi-academy Trusts. Across all our partnerships, we aim to design and deliver high-quality research and evaluation projects that help our partners make better decisions for children using good evidence.

As a Director, you will be a senior leader of the evaluation practice and a statutory director on our Practice Board. Reflecting this, you will have a key role in the success of the practice, both commercially and in terms of social impact, and help to shape and deliver the strategy for ImpactEd Evaluation as a practice within ImpactEd Group, reporting to the Practice Lead.

The role will be a combination of business development, oversight and support of evaluation delivery, and strategic responsibilities. You will lead a number of sales and marketing campaigns, and support the design and delivery of our product offerings within those areas, as well as other priority strategic projects. You will also lead on a small number of high-priority partner engagements directly, and play a significant role in overseeing and quality assuring partnerships led by others.

The role would be ideal for a candidate with deep understanding of research and evaluation, a track record in business development, and the ambition to shape the leadership and direction of a growing social enterprise.

Why Us?

As an organisation we care about creating a meaningful place to work and supporting people to grow personally and professionally. These are reflected in our organisational values and our commitments to:

• Agile and flexible working: responsive management, flexible hours, hybrid or fully remote working

• Personal excellence: we invest significantly in professional development, including an external mentor, an individual CPD budget, and formal and informal training and support

• Mental health and wellbeing: access to health and wellbeing advice and free therapist support.

As a growing organisation we are committed to diversity and inclusion and providing a positive experience of work and maintain an annual EDI action plan, supported by a Board sponsor.

Are you an accomplished and innovative leader with a proven track record, looking for a unique opportunity to dedicate one day a week to something genuinely exciting and impactful? Do you have extensive experience in the charity or related sectors and a desire to apply your strategic thinking and networks to drive forward pioneering initiatives?

The Good Faith Foundation is seeking an experienced and visionary individual to join the foundation on a part-time basis as a Charity Development Lead. This is not a standard development role; it's designed for someone with significant expertise who wants to contribute strategically and drive innovation within the Foundation. The successful candidate will help the foundation explore new avenues and shape the future direction of our work on specific, high-impact projects. 

This role offers:

• A unique opportunity to apply your wealth of experience to exciting, innovative projects with genuine potential for impact.
• The chance to work strategically on complex societal challenges with significant autonomy.
• The opportunity to make a significant impact on society's most difficult problems with a limited time commitment.
• The chance to collaborate with experienced professionals dedicated to social change at a national strategic level.ch