Head of Community Programmes

We are seeking an experienced third sector, football club Charity leader who wishes to join a progressive, innovative and nurturing environment, who are passionate about enabling communities to thrive as well as further developing their skillset and expertise.

Reporting directly to the Deputy CEO, the successful candidate will provide strategic and operational leadership accross the Trust's Community Engagement portfolio, ensuring that programmes are high quality, impactful, responsive to community need and delivered against agreed contractual and organisatiuonal KPI's.

The role will lead a diverse portfolio of community activity including youth mentoring, youth work, social inclusion, disability provision, alternative education, community education, heritage and wider community engagement.

We are looking for an experienced leader who understands the unique opportunities presented by working within a professional football club charity environment and who can translate the power and reach of Fleetwood Town Football Club into meaningful outcomes for local communities.

The successful candidate will bring a strong track record of programme development, partnership development, stakeholder relationship management, funding acquisition and high-quality service delivery.

The successful candidate will have:

• Significant senior leadership experience within the third sector, charity or community sector.
• Direct experience of leadership within a professional football club charity, community trust or similar organisation.
• A strong track record of developing and implementing high-quality community programmes.
• Significant experience of leading youth work and/or youth development programmes.
• Demonstrable experience of developing and implementing full youth work curriculums.
• Experience of leading and managing teams.
• Proven experience of managing programme KPIs and contractual performance.
• Experience of developing and maintaining strategic stakeholder relationships.
• Demonstrable experience of successful partnership development.
• Experience of identifying and securing external funding.
• Strong report-writing and communication skills.
• Experience of undertaking community consultation and using findings to shape provision.
• Experience of representing an organisation professionally at external meetings and events.

• A recognised Youth Work qualification or significant equivalent professional experience.
• Experience of working within a professional football environment.
• Experience of alternative education provision.
• Experience of disability and inclusive community provision.
• Experience of social inclusion programmes.
• Experience of heritage or cultural programmes.
• Experience of working with local authorities, education providers, statutory agencies and funders.
• Experience of commissioning and/or managing externally funded programmes.

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Exceptional leadership and people management skills.
• Excellent programme and project management capability.
• Strong strategic thinking combined with the ability to deliver operationally.
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills.
• Excellent written communication and report-writing ability.
• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to develop compelling programmes and funding propositions.
• Strong understanding of youth work principles and practice.
• Ability to analyse performance data and translate insight into action.
• Strong organisational and prioritisation skills.
• Ability to work confidently with senior stakeholders, partners, funders and community representatives.
• A proactive, solutions-focused approach.
• High levels of integrity, professionalism and accountability.

We are looking for an individual who is:

• Passionate about improving outcomes for local communities.
• Inspirational in their leadership of people and programmes.
• Ambitious for the Trust and the communities it serves.
• Highly credible with partners, funders and external stakeholders.
• Community-focused and committed to listening to local people.
• Commercially aware and able to identify opportunities for sustainable growth.
• Accountable for delivering high-quality outcomes and meeting agreed targets.
• Collaborative and able to work effectively across a football club environment.
• Resilient, organised and proactive in a demanding senior leadership role.