Community Lead: Operations and Impact

Overview

Community Lead: Operations and Impact at Arsenal Football Club.

We are looking for a passionate Community Lead to play a key role in driving a culture of continuous operational improvement and social impact measurement, aligned with the values, vision, and priorities of our club. In this role, you will lead the development and delivery of operational and impact strategies for Arsenal in the Community, reviewing and enhancing systems and processes, while ensuring compliance and efficiency across finance, legal, health and safety, and safeguarding functions.

Your day-to-day

• Oversee operational systems – manage and develop all processes and data systems, ensuring compliance with Premier League, funders, local authorities, and internal club requirements
• Manage documentation and contracts – maintain and update SLAs, contracts, and MOUs in collaboration with the club’s legal and governance teams
• Drive financial processes – partner with the finance department to embed robust financial systems supporting sustainability, forecasting, and reporting
• Lead monitoring and evaluation – develop and implement Arsenal in the Community’s outcome frameworks and measurement tools to ensure accurate and timely data capture
• Communicate impact effectively – create and share regular impact reports, using data storytelling to engage internal and external stakeholders across multiple channels
• Lead and develop the team – line manage operational and monitoring and evaluation staff, fostering growth, collaboration, and high standards across the community team
• Support strategic growth – contribute to long-term strategy development and support funding and partnership opportunities with insightful reporting and stakeholder liaison
• Ensure compliance and audit readiness – support audits, evaluations, and compliance checks to uphold high-quality operational standards

What We Are Looking For

• Experienced M&E specialist – a proven track record in developing, implementing, and managing monitoring and evaluation systems within sport, education, or community settings
• Data-savvy analyst – data literacy skills and the ability to transform complex data into clear, compelling insights
• Impact reporting expert – skilled at producing detailed impact reports and strategic documents for internal and public audiences
• Compliance focused – solid understanding of safeguarding, GDPR, and operational compliance within community environments
• Financial and legal mindset – experience managing financial and legal processes in not-for-profit, charity, or social enterprise sectors
• Proven leader – history of leadership and people management, inspiring and developing teams
• Sports sector knowledge – experience in football or professional sports and familiarity with reporting platforms like Upshot, Views, or Salesforce
• Passionate collaborator – proactive, organised, confident communicator, and a dedicated team player who thrives in cross-functional collaboration

Why choose us

• An exciting reward and recognition scheme
• Generous holiday allowance which increases with length of service
• Great internal learning and development programmes
• A flexible hybrid working model
• Priority access to apply for match tickets
• A competitive health and wellbeing benefits package
• An leading Employee Assistance Programme
• Great discounts with some of our Partners

Arsenal for Everyone

Arsenal for Everyone is our commitment to promoting and embracing equality, diversity and inclusion, so that everyone connected to the club feels like they belong to the same Arsenal family.

Disability Confident Leader

We are a Disability Confident Leader. We actively welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities and long-term health conditions. If you need disability-related adjustments to the recruitment process, please indicate this in your application. If you meet the definition of a ‘disabled person’ under the Equality Act 2010, you may be eligible to apply for an interview via the Disability Confident Scheme—please indicate this in your application. The information you share about your health or disability will not be used in recruitment decisions.

Our Commitment to Safeguarding

We are committed to ensuring that our environments for children, young people and adults at risk remain safe and inclusive. We require successful candidates to complete a DBS check and other essential background checks prior to starting employment. Depending on responsibilities, a DBS will be basic, standard, or enhanced.

Application Closing Date – Thursday 16th October 2025. We reserve the right to close the position early if application volumes are particularly high. We encourage you to apply soon. Updates on the status of your application will be sent via email; please check spam/junk folders as messages may be filtered there.

Good luck!