Better EdSpace, East Grinstead
Salary: £24,000–£27,000 actual salary, depending on experience (approximately £34,000–£38,000 FTE)
Hours: Approximately 28–30 hours across four days per week
Working year: Term time plus two flexible weeks
Contract: Permanent, subject to a six-month probationary period
Location: Primarily on site in East Grinstead
Start date: 1st September 2026
Help us make a small and important education provision work brilliantly
Better EdSpace is an wellbeing-focused, ambitious and growing education facility in the centre of East Grinstead. We provide welcoming, high-quality education for young people who are home educated, need an alternative to mainstream schooling or benefit from a smaller and more personal learning environment.
Our approach is grounded in the belief that young people learn best when they feel safe, seen and supported. We combine strong academic expectations with small groups, meaningful relationships and close attention to supporting mental health.
We are looking for a warm, capable and proactive Business and Operations Manager to work closely with our Founder and Director and take ownership of the systems, communication and practical coordination that keep Better EdSpace running well.
This is a varied, hands-on role for someone who enjoys both people and systems. You might spend part of your day helping a parent understand our provision, speaking to a school about a possible placement, resolving a timetable problem, checking payroll information and then improving the process behind all four.
We are a small organisation, so this will suit someone who is comfortable using their initiative. Not every useful task will arrive on a list: we need someone who notices what requires attention, follows things through and takes satisfaction in leaving things even better than they found them.
The role
Working closely with the Founder and Director, you will take responsibility for:
- Responding warmly and professionally to enquiries from families, schools and other professionals.
- Coordinating admissions, enrolment paperwork and learner onboarding.
- Maintaining clear routine communication with parents and carers.
- Building relationships with schools, local-authority teams and other potential referral partners.
- Making proactive introductory and follow-up calls and ensuring that enquiries and opportunities are not lost.
- Managing timetables, registers, room use and day-to-day operational arrangements.
- Preparing invoices, monitoring payments and maintaining accurate financial records.
- Coordinating payroll and liaising with our accountant over pensions, taxation and non-routine matters.
- Processing authorised contractor invoices and preparing payments for approval.
- Maintaining compliance calendars, policies, safeguarding administration and safer-recruitment records.
- Supporting administration connected with our exam-centre and alternative-provision work.
- Coordinating practical arrangements with self-employed educators and other contractors.
- Keeping information about our services accurate and current including website and weekly newsletters.
- Supporting communications, outreach, open events and appropriate marketing activity.
- Identifying and implementing sensible improvements to our systems and ways of working.
The role does not currently include formal line management. The Founder and Director will retain responsibility for educational leadership, safeguarding case decisions, major expenditure and strategic direction.
About you
You will bring sound professional judgment, high standards and a practical approach. You will understand that professionalism involves reliability, discretion and doing things properly, while also recognising when a straightforward solution is better than unnecessary process.
You are likely to:
- Be highly organised, dependable and attentive to detail.
- Take ownership of work and follow it through.
- Enjoy speaking to people and feel confident initiating telephone conversations.
- Communicate with warmth, clarity and professionalism.
- Build relationships naturally and follow up in a timely manner.
- Remain calm and constructive when several things require attention at once.
- Write clear, accurate and engaging emails and information.
- Be comfortable working with invoices, spreadsheets, budgets and confidential records.
- Look for useful ways to contribute when immediate tasks have been completed.
- Know when to act independently and when to seek advice.
- Combine commercial awareness with a strong commitment to Better EdSpace’s values.
Experience in education, alternative provision, SEND, school administration or another regulated, people-centred environment would be valuable. We also welcome applicants from other sectors who can demonstrate the right combination of operational ability, initiative and relationship-building.
Experience of payroll, bookkeeping, communications or marketing would be helpful, but training can be provided.
Why join Better EdSpace?
This is an opportunity to play a meaningful part in the development of a small organisation with a clear purpose. You will work closely with the Founder, have genuine freedom to improve how things are done and see the direct effect that thoughtful, reliable operations can have on young people and their families.
We offer:
- A four-day working week.
- A mainly term-time working pattern.
- Some flexibility over the precise working days.
- A friendly and values-led environment.
- Genuine responsibility and scope to shape the role.
- Workplace pension.
- Appropriate training and professional development.
- The opportunity for the role to develop as Better EdSpace grows.
How to apply
Please send your CV and a covering letter answering the following questions:
- Tell us about a system or process you improved without being specifically asked to do so. What did you notice, what action did you take and what difference did it make?
- Tell us about a time when you initiated a professional relationship or followed up an opportunity. How did you approach it, and what was the outcome?
- Imagine that, on the same morning, a parent is waiting for a response, an invoice appears to be incorrect, a tutor reports a timetable problem and a school requests information about a possible placement. How would you approach the situation?
- What interests you about Better EdSpace and about working within a small, developing education provision?
Please use specific examples wherever possible. We are more interested in a clear and genuine account of your experience and thinking than in highly polished application language. Applications that do not respond to all four questions may not be shortlisted.
Closing date: 17th August 2026
Interviews: 18th August 2026
Application email: [email protected]
Better EdSpace is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Appointment will be subject to an enhanced DBS check, satisfactory references and all relevant safer-recruitment checks.
If you require a reasonable adjustment during the application process, please contact us.
Pay: £34,000.00-£38,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Free parking
- On-site parking
- Sick pay
Work Location: In person
