4 Operations director jobs

A little bit about the role

Contract: Full time, fixed term
Salary: £87,632.09 (incl London Office Allowance) plus competitive pension
Location: Hybrid- 2 days per week in London Office

The Culture and Operations Director (COD) ensures Frontline is a high-performing, well-governed charity with a strong culture of freedom and responsibility - a place people can do their best work to achieve Frontline’s mission.

They have strategic responsibility for charity-wide planning to ensure Frontline’s operational functions, effectively support teams to navigate challenges whilst maximising new opportunities. The successful candidate will join Frontline at a pivotal moment and play a key role in driving the next exciting step of our growth.

The COD will ensure high-quality operational support is available to all teams. Working closely with Frontline’s Leadership Group (Heads and Directors), to make sure that the appropriate and timely information, tools and guidance (e.g. HR, IT and finance) are available to managers and teams as needed. This includes working alongside other members of SLT, to:

• Confidently support Frontline through a period of growth and structural change
• Embody the culture of freedom and responsibility, leading by example, and implementing strategies which improve efficiency and quality
• Maintain Executive oversight of Frontline’s finances, working  with Head of Finance and Finance Audit and Risk Committee (FARC) Chair to ensure budgeting and financial decision-making is robust and strategic, to support the ongoing stability of the charity
• Maintain clear communication across teams, ensuring a connected and informed workforce who collaborate effectively. Oversee the success of key events such as annual all-staff away days, monthly gatherings and leadership stocktakes
• Develop strong relationships with key stakeholders including Frontline trustees, partner organisations and the Department for Education (DfE)
• Effectively lead teams to maintain Frontline's strong track-record of meeting legal/regulatory requirements, to minimise risk to the charity

Key Responsibilities

The COD will lead teams delivering on operational priorities in line with freedom and responsibility, to ensure we remain high performing:

Change management:

• Lead the coordination and project-management of an organisation-wide restructure, ensuing the charity is well-positioned to deliver on contractual obligations whilst diversifying to further amplify our impact and that teams are kept well-informed and feed into structural changes
• Support Frontline teams to work  collaboratively and deliver plans to broaden the scope of Frontline's work, extending activity beyond current areas of focus whilst maintaining a strong, shard commitment to Freedom and Responsibility.
• Develop and adhere to tracking and monitoring systems ensuring annual priorities remain on track to achieve Frontline's mission and long-term strategy.

People and Culture:

• Manage the Head of People to identify new and creative ways to further strengthen and embed our culture and grow personal accountability
• Support the Head of People to ensure excellent HR administration, support and use of data (e.g. staff turnover, sickness levels and performance reporting) to inform future planning and decision-making
• Ensure the team design and deliver high-quality staff induction and training which support staff to thrive (e.g. personal leadership, managing effectively and radical candour)
• Maintain awareness of trends and developing technologies to support efficiencies, e.g approaches to recruitment and support to managers.

Finance and Governance:

• Manage Head of Finance and Compliance to ensure sound budget management (£25m annually), financial controls and clear reporting mechanisms are in place
• Work with the Finance team to ensure FARC and the board have the necessary information and confidence in the financial leadership of Frontline.

Charity Quality and Efficiency:

• Manage and support IT and System leads across Frontline, ensuring they have the resources and compliance mechanisms to ensure robust systems are in place.
• Support Contract Governance teams to negotiate and implement significant government contracts, ensuring outcomes are achievable and effective governance and commercially sound contracts are in place.

Who we are

Camphill Village Trust is a national charity that has been supporting adults with learning disabilities, autism and mental health support needs for more than 70 years. Across our communities in England, we enable people to lead meaningful, independent and connected lives through high-quality, person-centred support, underpinned by a strong commitment to inclusion, community and opportunity.

Our communities are distinctive places. Alongside high-quality care and support, people have opportunities to develop skills, build relationships and participate in meaningful activities through our farms, gardens, workshops, cafés, shops and wider community partnerships. Our connection with nature, land and community remains an important part of who we are and our ambition for the future.

Camphill Village Trust has been through a significant period of organisational change and is now entering an important next chapter. We are building greater stability across the organisation while continuing to develop the quality, consistency and sustainability of our services.

As part of this next phase, we are seeking an experienced Director of Operations to provide strategic leadership for our core care and support services and help shape their future development.

About the role

As Director of Operations, you will have strategic responsibility for our care and support services and play a critical role within our Executive Team.

Supported living sits at the heart of Camphill Village Trust and this appointment will bring deep operational and social care expertise, ensuring we continue to deliver safe, high-quality, person-centred services while developing a sustainable model for the future.

This is a significant leadership role with responsibility for a c.£20m budget and an experienced operational leadership team. You will provide strategic oversight of quality, safeguarding, regulatory compliance and operational performance, while working with colleagues to strengthen our approach to supported living and housing and ensure our services deliver meaningful outcomes for the people we support.

There is important transformation ahead. We need to continue strengthening quality and consistency, develop our operational and leadership capability, improve our understanding of service financial performance and ensure our structures and systems are fit for the future. We are also considering the future relationship between our housing and supported living provision and how our care and support model should evolve.

Our communities have experienced considerable change and they already have significant knowledge, commitment and capability. You will therefore take time to listen and understand before determining what needs to change, working alongside experienced colleagues and empowering leaders rather than imposing solutions.

You will also help us look ahead. We have ambitions to grow our impact and reach more people and you will develop strong relationships with commissioners and partners, understand emerging needs and opportunities and ensure future growth is both financially sustainable and consistent with the quality and values we expect.

This will be a highly visible role. We want our Executive leaders to understand our communities by spending meaningful time in them, meeting colleagues and the people we support, seeing our services first-hand and staying connected to the impact of the decisions we make.

Who we are looking for

We are looking for an established senior social care leader with significant experience leading complex care and support services.

You may have worked within learning disability and autism services, supported living or another relevant area of adult social care. Exact sector experience matters less than a strong understanding of regulated care and support, quality, safeguarding and the realities of delivering sustainable services in a challenging commissioning environment.

You will understand what excellent support looks like and bring the credibility to provide assurance and constructive challenge at Executive and Board level. Experience of CQC-regulated services and a strong understanding of the responsibilities associated with the Nominated Individual role will be particularly important.

Alongside your technical expertise, you will bring strong commercial and financial judgement. You will understand service models, commissioning arrangements and financial performance and make difficult decisions when necessary, without ever losing sight of the impact those decisions have on people’s lives.

Your leadership style will matter just as much as your experience.

We are looking for someone calm, considered and resilient; a leader who listens, builds relationships and creates confidence during change. You will recognise that meaningful transformation takes time and have the patience to understand what is already working before deciding what needs to change.

You will be comfortable working through others, developing capable leaders and drawing on the expertise around you rather than needing to have all the answers yourself.

Above all, you will share our commitment to putting people at the heart of decision-making and be excited by the opportunity to spend time within our communities, understand what makes Camphill Village Trust distinctive and help us build outstanding, sustainable services for the future.

Our client is a leading independent think tank and advocacy organisation. For over 50 years, we have worked to challenge inequalities and create a more just and equitable society through high-quality research, evidence-based policy development, and public engagement. Our work seeks not only to understand inequality but to challenge the structures and systems that sustain it. We are a values-led organisation – uncompromising on quality, rooted in care, thoughtfully courageous, and committed to solidarity and social justice.

We are seeking a resilient, confident, and strategically minded Director of Finance and Operations to lead our core operational and enabling functions. Working closely with the CEO as a trusted partner, you will ensure the organisation has the financial resilience, operational infrastructure, and governance frameworks needed to deliver its mission.

Key priorities for the role include bringing structure, stability, and clarity to a deeply passionate, activist-driven team of 15 people. You will build agile systems that enable a dual focus: balancing long-term strategic projects with fast-paced, responsive work, championing this reactive work as a natural and vital part of our impact.

Director of Finance and Operations
Our Client
Salary: £68,985 to £77,643 (FTE, pro-rata for part-time)
Location: Hybrid – two days a week in the office in London
Hours: 28 to 35 hours per week (0.8 to 1 FTE)

About you

We are seeking a highly collaborative and objective leader, with:

• A demonstrable background in a senior finance and/or operations leadership role within the charity, not-for-profit, public, or values-led sector.
• A recognised accountancy qualification or demonstrable equivalent senior-level financial management expertise gained through practice.
• A proven track record of building, structuring, and developing an operations team from the ground up.
• Experience working within a mission-driven or activist charity environment, possessing a strong understanding of how to support and manage the unique dynamics of a deeply passionate workforce.
• Resilience, confidence, and grit, with the ability to bring structure and clarity during times of organisational change or transition.
• Agility and adaptability, with the ability to shift gears quickly to manage a dual environment of long-term projects and fast-paced, responsive work.
• Diplomatic leadership capabilities to balance and bridge the rights and responsibilities of a mission-driven team.
• An objective, clear, and firm approach when establishing and embedding operational systems, processes, and expectations.
• Strong financial and analytical proficiency to interpret, present, and communicate financial information clearly to non-finance audiences including Boards and senior leadership teams.

Crucially, you will share a demonstrable commitment to social justice, equity-centred leadership, and fostering inclusive organisational cultures.

How to Apply

For further information, to access the microsite and to apply to this role, please click 'redirect to recruiter'

If you have any queries, please contact our retained advisor via email with a copy of your CV.

Recruitment Timetable

Closing date for applications is 27th September.