Job Description
Job Title: Operations Director
Department: Project Management and Support
Location: Remote-Flexible
Travel Requirements: Occasional national travel
Salary: £75,000 PA
Overview of the Role
The Operations Director will be responsible for operational leadership, performance, and delivery of a national-scale, DfE funded education programme. Reporting directly to the Executive Director, you will drive strategic ambition into coherent, high-impact national delivery, ensuring excellence, consistency, and sustainability across all programme activity.
You will be accountable for the programme’s operational performance against national objectives, contractual obligations, and long-term impact goals. This includes leading a robust framework for performance management, with oversight of programme-wide KPIs, SLAs, financial performance, governance, and risk, ensuring the centre operates with rigour, transparency, and efficiency at scale. You will lead integrated operational planning and continuous improvement, embedding a culture of accountability, innovation, and evidence-informed practice. You will also coordinate across and draw upon Etio’s central shared services (IT, Finance, HR, Legal, Marketing etc) to ensure that programme delivery is efficient and aligned with Etio’s wider portfolio of UK programmes.
As a key member of the Programme senior leadership team, you will act as a principal advisor and deputise for the Executive Director, offering strategic operational insight, performance analysis, and risk-based judgement to inform organisational direction, and decision-making.
Key Responsibilities
Your core responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Operational Leadership and Programme Delivery
- Lead the operational performance and delivery of a national-scale education programme, ensuring all programme outcomes, milestones, and contractual obligations are met
- Translate strategic priorities into clear and deliverable operational plans
- Oversee the operational delivery across all programme strands, ensuring consistency, quality, and impact
- Ensure operational delivery models are effective, scalable, and responsive to the needs of schools, educators, and partners
Performance, Data and Continuous Improvement
- Drive performance against KPIs, SLAs, and impact measures, taking corrective action where required
- Establish and maintain robust management information (MI), using data to inform delivery, identify trends, and drive improvements
- Lead programme-wide performance reviews, embedding a culture of continuous improvement and learning
- Use insight from delivery, stakeholder feedback, and the wider sector to evolve Centre design and delivery approaches
Governance, Risk and Compliance
- Attend regular DfE client programme meetings and external governance forums, to represent Etio and the programme effectively, and, where necessary, being prepared to take account for and justify KPIs/milestones developments
- Ensure effective programme governance, reporting, and compliance with funder and contractual requirements
- Oversee risk management processes, ensuring risks are identified, mitigated, and escalated appropriately
- Maintain robust operational systems and audit trails to support accountability and transparency
- Ensure alignment with organisational policies, safeguarding requirements, and best practice standards
Financial and Resource Management
- Oversee programme budgets, forecasting, and cost control, ensuring delivery within agreed financial parameters
- Monitor financial performance and resource allocation across programme activities
- Ensure efficient use of funding, maximising value and impact
- Oversee resource planning and allocation
Stakeholder and Sector Engagement
- Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders, including delivery partners, schools, and sector organisations
- Act as a senior operational representative, supporting external engagement and partnership working
- Work closely with the Executive Director on stakeholder strategy and high-level relationship management
- Ensure the programme reflects and responds to the priorities and challenges of the arts education sector
Operational Excellence and Delivery Innovation
- Embed innovation and best practice in programme delivery, drawing on evidence and sector insights
- Identify opportunities to enhance reach, quality, and impact across the national programme
- Support the scaling and sustainability of the programme’s work
Line Management Responsibilities
- Lead, mentor, and develop the operational delivery team
- Build a high-performing team with clear roles, accountability, and performance expectations
- Set performance targets and manage team performance rigorously, addressing poor performance promptly.
- Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and creative working culture aligned with the values of arts education
Please note: You may be asked to take on other reasonable duties in line with business needs.
Expected Behaviours and Working Style
- Make every day count - Delivers with focus and pace, prioritising high-impact activity and using evidence and insight to ensure consistently high-quality outcomes at national scale.
- Lead the way - Provides confident, credible leadership through expertise and influence, setting clear direction, anticipating challenges, and building capability across the programme
- Deliver with empathy - Builds trusted relationships grounded in a deep understanding of Secondary contexts, communicating with clarity, respect, and sensitivity to the realities of practice.
Role Deliverables
- Successful delivery of the programme against agreed objectives and outcomes
- Lead continuous improvement planning and deliver measurable, impactful projects.
- Effective team leadership and performance management
- Strong stakeholder relationships and external representation
- Risk identification and mitigation delivered proactively
- Delivery milestones and contractual compliance met on time
- High-quality, consistent operations and delivery across all regions
- Strong performance against KPIs, financial targets, and impact measures
- Effective operational systems, governance, and reporting structures
- Engaged stakeholders and strong sector relationships
- Continuous improvement in delivery quality, reach, and impact
- Maintain robust and auditable financial processes for income and expenditure.
Skills, Experience, and Qualifications
Essential
- Significant experience in operational leadership within large-scale programmes or national initiatives Appropriate management qualification or equivalent experience.
- Proven ability to deliver complex education sector programmes against KPIs, budgets, and quality standards
- Experience leading Department for Education or central government funded programmes
- Strong data and performance management capability, with experience using MI to drive improvement
- Excellent stakeholder management skills with confidence facilitating collaboration across multiple organisations.
- Strong oral and written communication skills, including report writing.
- Effective interpersonal skills and ability to work collaboratively.
- Ability to work effectively under pressure, balancing competing priorities and meeting deadlines.
- Skilled in resolving complex project-related problems.
- High organisational ability.
- Accountability for own and team’s actions.
- Extensive experience in project management tools, techniques, and practices.
- Proven line management and leadership experience.
- Experience in project financial and commercial management
Desirable
- Experience with multiple technology platforms and system integration through reporting
- Experience working in arts education, cultural sector, or other teacher CPD/education programmes
- Project management qualification (e.g., PRINCE2/APM)
- Experience delivering large-scale national education programmes.
Note to all applicants - Etio reserve the right to close an advertisement to applications ahead of the advertised closure date. For this reason, shortlisting may take place prior to the closing date on some occasions. Therefore, please do not hesitate to apply early.
