Shape the future of Public Practice as a Head of Operations in this integral role
Overview
£58000
Hybrid, 2 days in London
Expires 07-7-25 - Applications reviewed after this date
About Public Practice
We are a small social enterprise that supports the public sector in building and developing its placemaking teams. We do this by helping built environment professionals transition into careers in the public sector and celebrating and supporting the work of those already there. Read more about us on our website, through our widespread press coverage, or watch this video about our work with a local authority in Cambridge.
About The Role
The Head of Operations plays a central role in the success of Public Practice, ensuring the effective and efficient running of our internal operations. As a key member of the team, you’ll work closely with the CEO to support strategic delivery, financial planning, people operations, and organisational compliance.
You will lead the development and oversight of systems and processes that enable the team to work well and deliver on our mission. This includes overseeing grant delivery, internal resource planning, and performance reporting. You’ll line-manage the Operations Manager and work collaboratively across the team to embed operational excellence.
This is a new role within the organisation, created following the departure of our current Chief Operating Officer. It represents an opportunity to shape how we work as a growing and ambitious not-for-profit.
The core responsibilities of this role will be to:
Operations & Data Management (30%)
Lead day-to-day operational delivery of Public Practice’s strategy. Manage and improve core operational systems, tools and processes to support smooth internal functioning. Coordinate cross-team resources and planning to enable programme and business delivery.
- Oversee delivery planning and internal coordination mechanisms
- Lead organisational use of planning, reporting, IT and CRM systems
- Manage grant tracking, milestone delivery and impact reporting
- Lead data collection and analysis for business planning and Board reporting
Finance (25%)
Deliver Public Practice’s financial operations and planning. Support CEO on strategic financial oversight and business model development.
- Lead on budgeting, forecasting and financial planning
- Oversee cashflow management and financial reporting
- Work with the Operations Manager and external accountants on payroll, VAT, bookkeeping and audit prep
- Ensure timely production of management accounts and financial KPIs
People (25%)
Oversee people operations, with a focus on maximising team performance, inclusion, wellbeing and development.
- Support the CEO on creating a highly inclusive culture ensuring team members thrive and organisation goals are met
- Lead workforce planning and structure reviews
- Oversee recruitment, induction and retention
- Review and implement HR and EDI policies
- Support line managers on staff development and performance management processes
Legal & Compliance (10%)
Ensure compliance with statutory and legal requirements for a Company Limited by Guarantee. Maintain robust risk, governance and policy frameworks.
- Work with external legal advisers as needed
- Maintain and review operational policies (e.g. H&S, safeguarding, data protection)
- Support risk management across the organisation
- Ensure compliance with Companies House and HMRC requirements
Team Contribution (10%)
Actively contribute to Public Practice’s leadership culture and support cross-organisational goals.
- Participate and support team activities and workshops and your own professional development
- Support delivery of key organisational priorities such as fundraising, team events business development, or Board reporting as needed
About You
You are a highly organised and proactive operational leader who thrives in a collaborative, mission-driven environment. You bring strong analytical skills, excellent judgement, and a commitment to supporting effective, inclusive working practices across an organisation.
We’re looking for someone who can demonstrate:
- Strong analytical and financial skills – you’re confident working with budgets, forecasts and data, and can interpret financial information to support strategic decisions.
- Effective team management – you bring a collaborative mindset, and are able to lead internal delivery, support others to manage their time and workload, and keep operations running smoothly across multiple priorities.
- Creative problem-solving – you enjoy finding pragmatic solutions to complex or ambiguous challenges, and are comfortable navigating trade-offs while keeping our values at the front of mind.
- Excellent attention to detail – whether reviewing a policy, coordinating a grant milestone or finalising a report, you care about getting the detail right.
- Confident technical skills – you’re comfortable working with digital tools such as spreadsheets, CRM systems, and cloud-based file-sharing (we use platforms like Airtable, Google Workspace and Slack).
- Sound judgement – you can assess risk, respond to unexpected developments, and make decisions based on context and values, not just process.
Alongside these six core attributes, we would also value:
- A commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion – you understand the value of inclusive practices and have experience supporting equitable cultures within teams or organisations.
- An interest in the built environment and public sector – while you may not have a background in the sector, you're motivated by the impact that great places and public service can have on communities.
Working at Public Practice
We are a small company but work hard to ensure we provide and continue to develop inclusive and progressive policies and benefits. Currently, we provide all employees with the following:
- We operate under a 9-Day-Fortnight working policy for ten of the twelve months of the year.
- 2 days of office access per week at the co-working office Better Space, Farringdon, of which we currently require a minimum of two days in the office per week (on Mondays and Wednesdays).
- Quarterly team away trips and team lunches.
- 27 days of holiday per year (excluding bank holidays).
- A flexible and remote working policy that allows employees to work from abroad for two months of the year (in August and December).
- Provide a 5% employer’s pension contribution.
- Enhanced sick, maternity, paternity and adoption leave.
- £600 annual training budget and up to four professional development days a year.
- Employee perks budget provided by With Juno monthly.
The Hiring Process
Our hiring process assesses a candidate's ability to meet the attributes we think are necessary for someone to do well in the role, you will see these listed at the beginning of each job advert. We are also interested in a candidate's motivation and interest in working at Public Practice and in a small company team. We do not review CVs or a candidate's educational background when making hiring decisions. To us, it doesn’t matter how you built your skills and knowledge, just that you have the right ones for the role we want to hire for.
We remove as much bias as possible during our hiring process, and candidates remain anonymous to all assessors until Stage Two and are all marked against pre-set criteria. We also aim to collect and provide as much feedback as possible to all applicants at each stage of the process.
- Stage One (18 June - 7 July 10 am)
Submit an online application by clicking Apply answering some short written questions. All applications are then anonymously assessed. Those scoring above a minimum threshold are then invited to:
- Stage Two (14 or 15 July)
Attend astructured online interview with a number of colleagues, lasting approximately 25 minutes. Selected candidates will then be asked to:
- Stage Three (18 July afternoon)
Conduct a timed assessment and attend a second interview, in person in Londonwhich will include one of our Board Directors on the panel.
- Stage Four (21 July)
We aim that all candidates will have been communicated with an update on their application, and the selected candidate will receive an offer of appointment.
We hope to see the candidate in the post by November 2025, but we are flexible for either earlier or later start dates, depending on the candidate's situation and notice period.