Head of South East

Welcome

We are a social mobility charity on a mission to support pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds become confident, independent, and resilient learners so they can lead the lives they want.

There is an attainment and outcomes gap in the UK between disadvantaged pupils and their wealthier peers. This is exacerbated when pupils have lower confidence in their own abilities and potential. Upward social mobility is made even harder when pupils lack relatable role models who have been to university or have professional occupations. We want to change this!

Now, more than ever, it is essential that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds get the support they need to achieve their goals. That’s why we’re playing our part to narrow the gap and support a generation of pupils to be their best.

We are young, ambitious, and optimistic, and are looking for someone as passionate as we are about creating a socially just world. If you get out of bed to transform the life chances of young people and want to shape and grow a values-driven social mobility charity, we would love to hear from you.

Head of South East Role Description

We are looking for a self-motivated individual to lead our programme delivery in the South East, making it a vibrant and exciting hub that delivers real social impact for young people who need it.

You will initially be responsible for delivering all programmes in your region (predominantly based around Reading and Winchester), however, we expect your direct programme delivery to reduce as we grow our presence and work, and you take on more management and oversight responsibilities. Working alongside the CEO, you will be responsible for creating new partnerships with schools and universities, and for building a team to drive our mission in that region.

Our programme delivery involves maintaining partnerships with schools and universities, supporting our volunteers to become highly effective coaches, and managing programmes end-to-end from initial planning through to impact evaluation.

You will also be responsible for the retention and renewal of partnerships within the region, and will support the Chief Exec with generating new partnerships.

This is an “in-at-the-deep-end” role. Delivering programmes in schools and with volunteers can be challenging, with every day looking a little different from the last. But it is ultimately extremely rewarding! You will flourish in this role if you enjoy thinking quickly, responding to challenges, and leading a team to achieve impact for young people!

Key areas of Responsibility

The Head of South East will be responsible for:

Managing the SE team as a sustainable CoachBright region:

• Creating regional strategies to ensure the effective running of CoachBright programmes
• Monitoring termly engagement and impact targets
• Ensuring high retention of SE school partners year on year
• Supporting the CEO with generating new school partnerships
• Directly managing a small number of existing school partnerships and programmes
• Growing a strong and supportive network of schools, Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), universities, corporate partners and others
• Ensuring the retention of volunteer coaches

Line managing a team of Programme Officers (as we grow in the region):

• Coaching and line managing a small team Programme Officers
• Holding 1-1 appraisals to monitor performance and set actions
• Providing supportive, hands-on leadership
• Covering for Programme Officers during periods of leave

Programme Design and Delivery:

• Setting timelines for programme start and finish dates
• Visiting schools to oversee quality
• Supporting and overseeing Programme Officers’ relationships with schools
• Contributing to the design of current workshops and creating new workshops when needed
• Running in-school workshops for groups of pupils and facilitating university trips at the start and end of our programmes
• Delivering training for Lead Coaches in the SE team

Create a thriving community of social mobility advocates among university students and young professionals:

• Delivering volunteer recruitment plan for SE programmes in collaboration with our Volunteer and Partnerships Team
• Supporting the training of volunteers in coaching and our pedagogy

Managing partnerships with SE universities:

• Maintaining regular contact with relevant staff members in outreach, widening participation, and or/ volunteering teams at each SE university
• Managing room bookings for events at university campuses

Person Specification

Essential characteristics and experience:

• Passion for social mobility: we have big aims and are looking for those who share our desire to make education fairer in the UK so a person’s background does not determine their future.
• Ability to think on your feet: Volunteer management, and working with young people, can be unpredictable, so you will need to be comfortable working reactively to solve challenges at short notice.
• Experience with young people: Comfortable jumping in to run a session or deliver a workshop with a group of young people from age 8-18.
• Understanding of the specific barriers to social mobility in the SE and the context for pupils we work with.
• Previous people management or team leadership experience
• Relationship building and facilitating: this a public-facing role so you will love communicating and delivering workshops to groups as well as communicating our mission to a wide range of stakeholders (business leaders, senior members of MATs, universities etc.)

Benefits

An opportunity to contribute to a young, exciting charity with scope to input widely and take on new responsibilities.

• Starting Salary: £31,000 - £33,000.
• Annual Leave: 28 days (based on 7 hour working days; adjusted if on compressed hours). 
• Hybrid working: Working one-two days from our SE office in Reading.
• Training: We are a reflective organisation and keen to support your professional development. In particular, we offer each member of the team the opportunity to become a certified coach.
• Compressed hours policy: Option to work full-time hours over four days (Mon-Thurs).
• Access to a 24-hour employee assisted helpline facilitated independently by Health Assured.
• Access to CharlieHR perks, providing team members with an array of discounts in various areas such as retail and technology.

Key Information

• Length: Permanent
• Hours: Full-Time, 35 hours per week. (with some weekend/evening hours required during volunteer recruitment and training periods which will be acknowledged in TOIL).
• Opportunity for compressed hours as noted above.
• Reporting to: Director of Programmes.
• Start date: August 2023

How to apply and next steps

Please click Apply to send a CV and cover letter of no more than 350 words by 11th August 2023, 12pm. In the subject line, please mention you are applying for the Head of South East role.

There will be two rounds of interviews, which will take place virtually over the following two weeks.

Thank you!