ESTAR is a growing independent apprenticeship training provider looking to appoint an experienced and ambitious Head of Apprenticeships & Operations to join our Senior Leadership Team.
This is a key appointment for ESTAR and a genuinely hands-on leadership position.
You will work directly with our CEO and Chief Education Officer to run the day-to-day operation of ESTAR and help build the systems, processes and infrastructure required for our next stage of growth.
We are not looking for someone who simply manages from a distance.
One day you may be reviewing learner performance and managing Tutors; the next you may be checking an ILR claim, building a new process in Monday.com, writing a policy or work instruction, working with our commercial team on upcoming starts or investigating an operational issue.
We need someone who enjoys building, improving and doing.
What You'll Be Responsible For Running ESTAR Day-to-Day
You will take significant responsibility for the day-to-day management of ESTAR's apprenticeship operations.
This will include:
- Managing apprenticeship operations and the learner journey.
- Managing Tutors and Skills Coaches and holding staff accountable for performance.
- Monitoring learner progress, reviews, off-the-job training, gateway and EPA.
- Monitoring caseloads, capacity, retention, achievement and QAR.
- Identifying learners at risk and ensuring interventions happen.
- Managing operational priorities, actions and deadlines.
- Resolving operational issues before they require Executive Team intervention.
- Producing clear management information and performance dashboards.
- Supporting effective communication and accountability across the organisation.
You will be expected to know what is happening across the provision and ensure actions are followed through.
Building the ESTAR Operating System
ESTAR is growing and we want the successful candidate to help us build a scalable, well-controlled organisation.
You will have the opportunity to design, implement and continually improve how ESTAR operates.
This will include:
- Building and improving operational processes.
- Creating policies and procedures.
- Producing work instructions and standard operating procedures.
- Mapping process flows and responsibilities.
- Creating operational controls and checklists.
- Building and maintaining our Monday.com management system.
- Developing dashboards and management reporting.
- Improving how information moves between Commercial, Operations and Delivery.
- Identifying inefficient or unnecessary processes and redesigning them.
- Creating systems that provide clear ownership, deadlines and accountability.
- Helping develop an operating model capable of supporting continued learner growth.
We don't expect you simply to inherit established systems.
We want you to help build them.
Working With Commercial & Supporting Growth
Operations and growth must work together.
You will work closely with our Head of Employer & Learner Engagement and Commercial team to understand the sales pipeline, expected apprenticeship starts and future capacity requirements.
This will include:
- Reviewing upcoming starts and the commercial pipeline.
- Supporting planning around monthly learner-start targets.
- Ensuring ESTAR has the operational and delivery capacity to accept new learners.
- Identifying potential barriers to starts and helping resolve them.
- Ensuring completed learner onboarding is checked and ready for funding/delivery.
- Forecasting future tutor and operational capacity requirements.
- Contributing ideas for growth, efficiency and service improvement.
- Participating in strategic discussions about ESTAR's future development.
You won't be responsible for selling apprenticeships, but you will be expected to understand the commercial position and help ensure ESTAR can successfully convert growth into high-quality funded provision.
ILR, Funding & Compliance
This is a hands-on part of the role.
You will oversee and, where required, personally undertake activity relating to:
- ILR preparation, checking and submission.
- Reviewing and uploading monthly ILR claims.
- Investigating ILR errors and data-quality issues.
- Funding-rule compliance.
- Learner-file checking and sampling.
- Funding evidence and eligibility.
- MIS and learner-data accuracy.
- Audit and funding-assurance preparation.
- Identifying and correcting compliance risks.
- Ensuring learner records and systems remain accurate throughout the learner journey.
You must be comfortable getting into the detail and taking personal responsibility where required.
SAR, QIP, Quality & Ofsted
You will lead the operational delivery of ESTAR's continuous-improvement activity, including:
- Leading and producing the organisational SAR.
- Creating and maintaining the QIP.
- Turning identified weaknesses into clear actions.
- Assigning owners, deadlines and success measures.
- Following actions through to completion.
- Evidencing whether improvements have actually worked.
- Working closely with the Chief Education Officer on educational and curriculum matters.
- Supporting continuous Ofsted readiness.
- Working with external apprenticeship and quality specialists.
- Responding to challenge from Executive Leadership and governance.
We want the SAR and QIP to be live management tools that drive improvement throughout the year.
Strategy & Continuous Improvement
Although this is a highly operational role, you will also be a member of ESTAR's Senior Leadership Team.
We want someone who can look beyond today's workload and contribute ideas about how ESTAR should develop.
You will work with the CEO and Chief Education Officer on areas including:
- Operational strategy.
- Learner growth and capacity planning.
- Workforce requirements.
- Systems and technology.
- Process automation.
- Performance management.
- Risk management.
- Quality improvement.
- Organisational structure.
- New programmes and opportunities.
- Making ESTAR more efficient and scalable.
We want someone prepared to challenge existing ways of working and say:
"There's a better way to do this — and here's how we're going to build it."
What We're Looking For
You should have strong experience within apprenticeships, work-based learning or further education and ideally experience across several of the following:
- Apprenticeship operations or management.
- DfE apprenticeship funding rules.
- ILR and MIS.
- Funding claims and data submissions.
- Apprenticeship compliance.
- Learner progress and performance.
- SAR and QIP.
- Ofsted readiness.
- Funding assurance or audit.
- Gateway and EPA.
- Achievement, retention and QAR.
- Creating operational processes, policies or procedures.
- Using management systems and data to improve performance.
Experience within an independent training provider would be particularly valuable.
You do not need to have previously held a "Head of" title.
We welcome applications from experienced Apprenticeship Managers, Operations Managers, Delivery Managers, Compliance Managers, Quality Managers or similar professionals ready to take the next step.
The Person
We are looking for someone who:
- Takes ownership and follows things through.
- Is highly organised.
- Enjoys building systems and processes.
- Is comfortable getting into the detail.
- Can move between strategic thinking and practical operational work.
- Uses data and evidence to make decisions.
- Identifies problems early and resolves them.
- Is confident holding people accountable.
- Is comfortable challenging existing ways of working.
- Understands the responsibility associated with public funding.
- Is passionate about learner and employer success.
- Can work effectively with commercial, education and delivery teams.
- Wants to help build an ambitious organisation.
This role will suit someone who gets satisfaction from taking an organisation and making it more organised, more controlled, more efficient and more scalable.
Pay: £32,000.00-£35,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Company pension
- Flexitime
- On-site parking
Experience:
- Apprenticeship: 3 years (preferred)
- ILR Claims: 3 years (preferred)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Blaydon
