Full-time Permanent Mid-level Senior
Posted 15 Sep 2026
Description
1. Job Overview
The Head of Operations & Programmes is the operational engine of BelEve day to day — the person who takes strategic plans and turns them into scalable systems, consistent delivery, and cross-organisational accountability. This is a leadership role, not a coordination role: the postholder has real autonomy over how BelEve runs operationally, and is trusted to anticipate problems before they arise. This role reports to the CFO, who holds strategic oversight of BelEve's operations. That reporting line matters for scope: where the CFO owns financial control, supplier contracts, IT/facilities infrastructure, and organisational data governance, this role owns the operational execution within that framework — running programme delivery, managing the programme team, and making sure every part of the organisation has what it needs to deliver at pace and quality. Per BelEve's design rule that no responsibility is owned twice, Section 3 below states plainly where this role executes directly and where it defers to the CFO's ownership. “Mentoring” means something different here than it does on the Director of Mentoring & Corporate Partnerships' scorecard. This role's School Mentoring & Facilitation Leads deliver in school mentoring embedded within programme delivery for girls aged 8–16. The Director's Mentor Programme Manager runs a separate, externally-facing mentoring programme for girls 16+, operating outside the school framework and linked to near-peer and corporate mentors. The two are deliberately distinct functions in different parts of the organisation, not a duplicated role under two names.
2. Strategic Context
BelEve delivers transformative experiences that build confidence, ambition and belonging through BEAM, BeEmpowered, LeadHERship, BelEve In Her Space, Readiness for Mentoring, BelEve In Her Success, and the flagship Summer of Dreams — spanning the Girls' Life Cycle Model's phases from age 8 through to 22+. This role sits primarily within the Delivery and Culture pillars, with a direct stake in Impact through safeguarding, quality assurance, and the accuracy of the readiness data those programmes generate. As BelEve grows toward £1m+ turnover and 3,000+ girls reached with sufficient depth to expect a Readiness outcome, the internal infrastructure this role builds — systems, delivery calendars, facilitator development — is what makes that growth deliverable rather than aspirational.
3. Key Responsibilities
3a. Operational Delivery & Systems — Head of Operations & Programmes-owned; budget and contracts ultimately owned by the CFO
- Lead the day-to-day operational running of BelEve's delivery function, acting as the main link between strategic plans and execution.
- Ensure programme and delivery data in BelEve's CRM (HubSpot) is entered accurately and used effectively by the programme team day to day; the CFO retains overall ownership of the CRM platform and the organisational data-completeness KPI.
- Manage day-to-day spend against the programme delivery budget set and ultimately owned by the CFO, flagging variances promptly rather than holding independent budget authority.
- Manage programme-delivery supplier relationships — venues, session materials, delivery partners — flagging renewals and risks to the CFO; general office, IT, insurance, legal and HR vendor relationships sit with the CFO, not here.
- Build and refine internal systems for scheduling, workflow, performance monitoring and internal communication across the delivery team.
- Identify and implement continuous improvements to internal delivery processes and ways of working.
3c. Cross-Organisational Coordination — Head of Operations & Programmes-owned
- Maintain a master delivery calendar coordinating all programmes, events, reporting deadlines, partnership activations and fundraising milestones.
- Drive accountability through structured reporting cycles, team check-ins and operational dashboards for the delivery function.
- Facilitate cross-functional collaboration between Programmes, Mentoring, and the CEO/CFO office — including reconciling the delivery calendar against the Director of Mentoring & Corporate Partnerships' mentoring and corporate activity.
- Act as a thought partner to the CFO and senior leadership team, providing operational insight and delivery-side decision support.
3d. Compliance, Risk & Quality Assurance — delivery-side risk owned here; organisational finance risk register owned by the CFO
- Ensure compliance with safeguarding, GDPR, data protection and health & safety across all delivery functions.
- Maintain the delivery and safeguarding risk register, and lead incident response protocols and audit preparation for programme delivery — distinct from the CFO's organisational finance risk register.
- Regularly review and update delivery-facing operational policies and SOPs.
- Implement systems for quality assurance across delivery sites and partner-facing interactions.
Company Overview
BelEve is an award-winning girls' charity committed to inspiring the next generation of female leaders. For over 14 years, BelEve has supported girls and young women aged 8–22 through mentoring, leadership development, emotional wellbeing support, employability pathways, and community programmes.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
