Senior Consultant

Role highlights

• Exciting opportunity to join a growing social enterprise focused on maximising the positive impact of sport and physical activity on individuals and communities.
• Opportunity to work on interesting projects that result in significant community and social impact.
• Play a key role in shaping and delivering, at scale, club development programmes that will help to increase the sustainability and resilience of sports clubs and third sector organisations.
• Ideal for an entrepreneurial individual who aspires to progress their career and fit into a high performing team.
• Opportunity to earn up to £60,000 from base salary, bonus and pension.
• Hybrid working, combining weekly office time in London or Leeds with remote working.
• Full time (5 days per week) is preferred although part time will be considered for outstanding candidates.

About us

Sporting Assets is a mission-led social enterprise, working to support, sustain and grow healthy and resilient communities with sport and physical activity at their heart. Through our advisory services and investments, we empower local communities to develop their community assets, create new enterprises and deliver greater impact.

• Over the last 10 years we have supported over 250 projects with advice or investment  We have designed over £500 million of impact investment structures and manage the only dedicated impact investment funds for the sector.
• We have strong stakeholder relationships with leading sector organisations and funders.
• We are a social enterprise, with 51% of profits being recycled in on-mission activities and investments.

Sporting Assets is part of The Finance For Sustainability Group, a group of social enterprises that collectively has structured over £1billion of Impact Investment Funds, manage over £60m of Impact Investment Funds, and have advised on over 100 impact investment assignments across sport, the environment, arts and heritage, as well as creating new pieces of market infrastructure for the wider impact investment market. https://financeforsustainability.co.uk/

The role

The successful candidate will primarily be supporting our Advisory team, whichprovides an extensive range of services to public, private, and charitable organisations across the sport, leisure, and physical activity sectors. We help to deliver greater resilience and impact at scale through specialist advice and practical solutions. This is underpinned by our team’s unique, broad range of specialisms and in depth understanding of community engagement and development, facility development, finance, and impact investing.

The successful candidate will play a senior role in the Advisory team. You will:

• Develop and support innovative club improvement initiatives that help groups to secure greater access to facilities, increase participation, improve financial sustainability, and impact.
• Provide a range of support services to clients from market research, needs analysis, community and stakeholder engagement, governance, business planning and financial management, social impact and inclusion, raising finance, revenue diversification and operational development.
• Work in partnership with sector bodies (including Sport England, National Governing Bodies, Active Partnerships and local authorities) to develop strategies, tools and resources to help them and their associated /member organisations to diversify income, become more sustainable and deliver greater impact.

There will also be opportunity to support the Fund Management team, depending on the demands of the business, so the successful candidate must be willing to be flexible and adaptable. We currently manage £13m under two impact investment funds, Sporting Capital and Club Capital, focused on community sport, physical activity and facilities. Other sports-focused investment funds are in development.

We expect you to be capable and confident to lead projects independently supported by the wider team.

Skills and Experience

You will have at least five years’ experience, preferably in a related role and sector such as Sports for Development organisations, NGB, local authority, sports consultancy or community business and/or social enterprise sector.

Expected Personal Attributes

• A self-motivated individual with excellent interpersonal and leadership skills.
• Excellent communication and relationship building capabilities, and an adaptable style.
• Ability to operate in a dynamic working environment.
• Excellent time management and planning skills to effectively prioritise workload.
• Open, honest and a strong team player.
• We are a small team who work hard and have fun, you’ll need energy, enthusiasm and be able to work well independently where required.

Technical Skills and Competencies

• A strong working knowledge and network of the sport and physical activity and/or social enterprise sector
• Excellent oral and written communications
• Able to think creatively, apply problem-solving skills and build partnerships on behalf of clients.
• Fantastic empathy and listening skills and the ability to relate to a variety of stakeholders.
• Knowledge of business finances and the drivers behind profitability.
• Basic understanding of the legal structures open to community sports organisations.
• Understanding of community funding landscape including community shares and social finance.
• Operational experience of sports organisations/clubs/facilities.
• Have experience of developing and/or delivering workshops and presentations to a range of audiences.
• Business coaching and mentoring skills.
• Excellent proficiency in Microsoft Excel and other Microsoft Office programs.

We do not expect candidates to possess all of these skills and competencies, importantly what we are looking for is someone who can show how their skills and experience could be adapted to fit this profile, if/where there are gaps.

Compensation and location details

• Base salary of £35,000 - £45,000 per annum.
• Discretionary bonus of up to 30% of base pay, plus statutory pension contribution.
• Full time (5 days per week) is preferred although part time will be considered for outstanding candidates.
• 25 days flexible holiday plus 2-3 days free at Christmas (plus English bank holidays).
• Flexible home working arrangements.
• Potential to become a shareholder in the future.
• Learning and continuous improvement is core to how we support staff develop. Support is provided for individual development, through external training and coaching from members of the executive team.
• Opportunity to progress rapidly in a growing business and dynamic team.

It is envisaged that the role will be semi-flexible, with at least 2 days per week attendance required in our London Vauxhall or Leeds office. The remaining days can be worked remotely if required. There will be regular travel and some overnight stays as part of the project-based work.

Application

Applications that do not include a cover letter will be immediately discounted.

Please include in your cover letter your preferred location (London or Leeds), as well as your salary expectations for this role.

The closing date for applications is 9am, Friday 26 May 2023, however we will assess applications on a rolling basis and so the role may close before this date if we appoint a suitable candidate.

All candidates are required to hold the relevant Visas/Work Permits, please include the status of your visa (if relevant) in your cover letter.

Sporting Assets is an equal opportunity employer. We work to provide a supportive and inclusive environment where all individuals can maximise their full potential. Our strong commitment to a culture of inclusion is evident through our constant focus on recruiting, developing and advancing individuals based on their skills and talents.