Head of Programmes

ABOUT SMART WORKS

Smart Works is a dynamic, high profile and fast-growing UK charity that dresses and coaches unemployed women for success at their job interview. We empower each woman by giving her the clothes and the confidence she needs to succeed. After visiting Smart Works, 63% of clients secure a job within a month, gaining financial independence and transforming their lives.

The Smart Works service is currently delivered in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Newcastle, Reading and Leeds, with new centres in Bristol and Liverpool due to open in 2025. Over the past ten years, Smart Works has helped over 35,000 women. It is our mission that any woman who needs our service should be able to find her way to a Smart Works centre.

Our clients are mostly long-term unemployed and have experienced repeated rejections from multiple jobs: 40% have been unemployed for over a year, 20% have applied to over 20 jobs and 23% have applied to over 50 jobs. The majority are also from minoritised communities and face intersectional barriers to employment: 32% are lone parents, 16% consider themselves to have a disability and 52 % are from an ethnic minority.

In April 2022, Smart Works launched a new Three-Year Plan that will see the charity double the number of women helped annually from 5,000 to 10,000 women a year. At the end of year 2, Smart Works is on track to deliver the Plan, having delivered a 42% year-on-year uplift in engagement with our core Interview Dressing & Preparation service and with new centres opened in Croydon and Glasgow.

Smart Works has been voted Social Action Charity of the Year. More information about who we are can be found on our website.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are looking for a thoughtful and dedicated leader to oversee the delivery of the Smart Works service across the UK, ensuring that the charity remains on track to achieve our current growth ambitions, and to also play a key role in leading delivery of the service as we move into our next strategic plan.

The Head of Programmes will drive innovation, build impactful partnerships with referral organisations and enable excellent decision making across all centres. The Head of Programmes will be the guardian of the Smart Works service as the charity grows, ensuring decision-making across the charity is always client-centric and every client has the best possible chance of job success.

The Head of Programmes will oversee the opening of new Smart Works centres. Project managing the opening of new centres will require exceptional people management and an ability to balance important small details, with an awareness of the bigger picture and wider strategy.

The Head of Programmes will also be responsible for leading org-wide projects focused on quality, that will allow Smart Works to ensure our offer continues to improve, so that more of our clients can move into employment.

This is an important leadership role within the charity, with the Head of Programmes regularly sharing insights and ideas with senior decision makers. They will provide valuable insight into the Smart Works service and trends within the wider employability support landscape.

Ideally, the successful candidate will be based at one of our London centres, and will travel to other Smart Works centres across the UK when needed. There may be occasional evening and weekend work as the successful candidate will be part of the wider centre team, supporting with networking and other key events.

Our ideal candidate will be passionate about our service and will have a proven track-record of managing, developing and elevating programmes. They will be data-driven, enjoy a challenge, able to build impactful relationships with ease, and thrive in an ambitious, fast-paced environment.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting to the Director of Programmes & Operations, the successful candidate will lead on a range of activities, including:

• Ensure a high quality, consistent service is delivered across the UK (both in-person and virtually).
• Drive innovation and support pilot projects that will enable the charity to evolve, improve and help more unemployed women secure work.
• Identify opportunities for digitisation of the service, to streamline our processes and allow us to grow our impact.  
• Increase awareness of Smart Works by proactively identifying and nurturing partnerships with organisations who have the potential to refer to multiple Smart Works centres.
• Project manage the opening of new Smart Works centres, drawing on expertise of other staff across the Smart Works team to ensure the centre is set-up for success.
• Visit all centres across the UK to meet service delivery staff and understand opportunities for development and improvement.
• Supported by the Head of Data & Impact, track progress against KPIs, identify areas for development and, when needed, work closely with relevant staff to address shortfalls.
• Keep up to date with emerging trends within the employability support landscape, sharing relevant insights with the Director of Programmes & Operations and other relevant stakeholders.
• Line Management of staff within the Group Operations team.
• Champion inclusivity and ensure the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion strategy is woven into the day-to-day delivery of the Smart Works service and service delivery decision making.

Smart Works is a community that shares a passion to empower women to thrive in work and life, and is determined to meet our aim of helping as many women as we can back into work. The successful candidate will therefore build strong working relationships across this community, with their own immediate staff team as well as other local centres across the UK and HQ in London.

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, AND PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Substantial experience delivering and leading charitable programmes, or comparative work, preferably on a national scale.
• Demonstrable experience of managing projects, driving innovation and implementing new initiatives, with experience delivering digital solutions.
• Proven track record of writing and delivering strategic plans.
• Proven track record of setting and monitoring targets and KPIs.
• Excellent relationship building skills, preferably with experience working across split sites.
• Experience working within employability support is desirable but not essential.
• Detailed understanding of safeguarding requirements for a charity like Smart Works.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and able to communicate with stakeholders at all levels of seniority.
• Ability to manage competing priorities.
• Passion and commitment to making the Smart Works programmes the best they can be.

If you're passionate about our mission and believe you have the skills to make a meaningful impact, candidates are encouraged to apply, even if you don't meet every requirement listed.

We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, disabled candidates, and candidates with lived experience of unemployment as we would like to increase the representation of these groups at Smart Works.

Smart Works promotes equity, diversity, and inclusion in our workplace. We make employment decisions by matching the Charity's needs with the skills and experience of candidates.

These decisions are made irrespective of age, disability (including hidden disabilities), gender, gender identity or gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.

BENEFITS, TERMS, AND CONDITIONS

• Full-time role, ideally based in one of our London centres, with regular travel to other Smart Works centres. Open to discuss alternate locations at interview.
• Monday - Friday with typical working hours 9am - 5pm in line with centre opening times. Flexible working may be discussed at interview.
• Salary of £45,000 - £50,000 depending on experience.
• Reporting to the Director of Programmes & Operations.
• 25 days annual leave, plus discretionary leave over Christmas and New year.
• Positive, supportive working environment with opportunities for practical training and progression.

All successful applicants must provide references, have the right to work in the U.K. and complete a Basic DBS check.

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit a CV and answer the following questions via our recruitment portal by midnight on Thursday 24th October:

1.  Why do you want to work for Smart Works? (Max 200 words)
2. Why do you think you are well suited to heading up the delivery of a high-quality service across multiple locations? (Max 350 words)
3. What experience do you have of developing relationships or projects that have allowed a service to grow in scale or quality? Please be specific about what results were achieved (Max 350 words)
4. If there anything else you would like to share at this stage. (Max 150 words).

First round interviews will be held virtually on Thursday 31st October.  Final interviews will be held in person, in North London on Monday 4th November.  

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