Growth Partnerships Manager

Job Title       : Growth Partnership Manager

Department    : Rugby Development

Reports to     : National Player Growth Manager

Salary Banding : Circa £40,000

Job level      : Guide

Location       : Flexible - national role

Duration       : Permanent

Nature and scope: 

The role will be responsible for cultivating and managing relationships with existing and new regional and national partners, to help develop and grow the number of players and the Game’s reach. The role will be accountable for working with partners to deliver initiatives that maximize player growth, system capacity, and providing models that support future sustainable delivery. The role will impact across a number of RFU priority areas and teams. 

Accountabilities: 

• Strengthen and manage existing relationships and collaborations which contribute to sustainable player growth / reach and transition to regular playing 
• Identify and prioritise opportunities for new partnerships which can contribute to player growth e.g. in leisure sector, non-traditional agencies/partners, voluntary organisations/charities, social / health, youth and community development agencies 
• Manage the execution of any plans / programmes with identified partners to grow reach and numbers of players, working to ensure appropriate promotion where relevant 
• Support development of new projects and plans and any associated funding streams 
• Conduct relevant market research & monitoring and evaluation on projects and partners to support tools that can be scaled across RFU and the Game in general to build capacity 
• Develop the system and process for any partner agreements, KPIs and reporting to the business 
• Actively collaborate with colleagues to contribute to the development and delivery to the current strategic, business and operational plans 
• Act as an ambassador for, and promote the best interests of, the RFU at all times, including the promotion of the RFU core values and culture. 
• Undertake such other duties as maybe required from time to time as are consistent with the responsibilities of the post and the needs of the organisation 

Person Specification 

Qualifications, skills & experience: 

Essential: 

• Intervention/development expertise to work with targeted organisations to act differently to stimulate growth 
• Practical experience of collaborative partnership management, operational delivery, and of working with national / regional agencies within and without sport 
• Effective interpersonal skills with an ability to engage and influence at all levels 
• Effective oral and written communication skills (report preparation and presentation). 
• Self-motivated and able to work under their own direction to achieve stated objectives within the necessary timescales and demonstrate a determination to follow through tasks 
• Significant experience of developing close working relationships across multi-function teams and building relationships across organizations and stakeholders with diverse priorities to ensure effective solutions 
• Strong organisational skills with an ability to effectively manage a specific area of responsibility (e.g. budgets, training, operations, processes, projects) 

Desired: 

• Understanding of the local sporting (and Rugby) landscape in England 
• Experience in a partner or development facing role with a good understanding of partners’ / customers’ needs 
• Strong influence or negotiation skills and ability to generate activity with limited resources 

Additional Information: 

• All role holders must maintain an appropriate standard of confidentiality. Any disclosures of confidential information (including personal information kept on computer or other media) made unlawfully outside the proper course of duty will be treated as a serious disciplinary offence 
• Personal circumstances must allow the candidate to work extended hours on occasion during times of peak activity including evenings and weekends 
• Role holders not based at Twickenham must be available to work from there as and when required 
• The role description, person specification, job level and job title may be subject to change at the discretion of the RFU and in accordance with business developments. Any changes will be communicated to the role holder as appropriate 
• During your application, we will ask questions about your identity. This information is considered highly confidential and will not be seen by hiring managers. You can find out more about why we ask these questions here. 
• If you are a trans candidate applying for a job that requires a DBS check, please reach out to [email removed - click apply for more details] or directly to our safeguarding team ([email removed - click apply for more details]) to use the confidential sensitive application route. This will provide applicants with the choice not to have any gender or name information disclosed on their DBS certificate. 
• This role will require a DBS check 
• Please submit an ANONYMISED CV as part of your application with a covering letter. 

ABOUT US

About England Rugby 

England Rugby or Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby in England. We deliver three core activities, and our purpose is to enrich lives, introduce more people to rugby union and develop the sport for future generations. 

Our core activities are: 

Rugby – supporting rugby from grassroots to performance level

Commercial – building partnerships and hosting matches and events

Running the business - ensuring our organization and people can thrive 

Our Culture 

At England Rugby, one of our core objectives is to drive rugby union to better reflect the diversity of society. We are aware that rugby, and sports in general, has not always been as welcoming an environment for everyone as we would like, and we are working hard to make rugby a more inclusive space for all identities. 

We believe hiring people from underrepresented groups into positions at all levels is vital to creating spaces and initiatives that better support those identities. We would love to see applications from disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, people from ethnically diverse communities, people of faith, people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and women and non-binary people. 

We know that representation is more than just getting people through the door, it’s about keeping people by responding to structural barriers relating to identities and valuing the insights that different lived experiences bring. We have network groups that provide peer-to-peer support and drive forward change internally. We support colleagues to develop, and each colleague has access to a personal coaching platform that can provide same-day one-to-one coaching. We are pushing ourselves to create a more inclusive culture every day through role modelling our BACK behaviours which stand for Brave, Accountable, Collaborative and Keep improving. 

We know that flexible working is important to our colleagues, so our guiding principles are designed to support everyone to work in the way that suits them, their teams, and the organization in the best way. 

We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability and potential. If there is anything we could do to support you through your application or to provide the best environment for your interviews, including assistance or adjustment, please reach out to [email removed - click apply for more details]. 

What we can offer you 

We are proud of the range of benefits we can provide: 

• Retail discounts include 30% off Adidas, 20% off Optimum Nutrition, 25% off 02 and many more
• Priority access to purchase match tickets
• 25% discount in Rugby Store and EnglandRugby.com
• 25 days of annual leave and your birthday day off
• Free dental care and free access to the stadium gym
• Life assurance of 4x your basic salary, income protection scheme and Employee Assistance Programme that offers anonymous and confidential, emotional and practical support 24/7
• After 3 months, you will be enrolled in our Aviva pension scheme and we will match and double your contribution up to 10%
• Ride-to-work scheme, eyecare vouchers and season ticket loans

About Our Team

At England Rugby, we want to hear our employees’ thoughts, ideas and feedback on our strategies, new initiatives and our work environment. That’s why we have quarterly meetings called ‘the Voice’ where various topics are discussed, in addition to regular surveys, including our annual D&I survey. We are always striving to create the best environment for our colleagues, and we are proud to present some of our most recent feedback from Feb 2022:

• 85% feel motivated to perform their role to the best of their ability
• 83% feel supported by their Manager
• 90% agree or strongly agree that their Manager empowers and trusts them to deliver while working from home
• 83% feel informed and connected with the organisation

If you would like to find out more about our diversity and inclusion work or the culture at England Rugby, please visit our website here: https://www.englandrugby.com/about-rfu/rfu-policies/diversity-and-inclusion/our-approach