The Poppy Factory – Services Manager

Location: Home-based in London/Southeast, with significant travel within region and nationwide.

Contract: Permanent

Would you like to be inspired every day in a highly rewarding role? Whether it’s the veterans and family members we support, your colleagues or the partners we collaborate with, you will be working with an exceptional group of people. At the Poppy Factory, we help Armed Forces veterans with barriers to employment and their adult family members to find meaningful and sustainable employment after service. This often means overcoming significant barriers such as health conditions, criminal records, substance misuse, and homelessness, on their journey to employment. Our aim is to empower veterans, help them to recognise their unique skills and give them the confidence and motivation to move forwards in their careers.

As a Services Manager, you’ll play a key leadership role in shaping, delivering and expanding our support services. You’ll oversee a team of up to eight passionate team members, helping them deliver personalised, high-quality support to veterans and their families. You’ll also lead outreach and engagement in your region, building awareness of our services and ensuring we reach those who need us most. You’ll be joining a values-driven, supportive team that works collaboratively to achieve life-changing outcomes.

What we’re looking for:

• A collaborative mindset: You will thrive working as part of a team with colleagues based across the UK who support each other in what can sometimes be a challenging role. You enjoy building strong partnerships, and work effectively with colleagues and external organisations to enhance the services we offer to veterans and the Armed Forces community.
• Motivation and commitment: You understand that supporting people facing complex challenges can be demanding – and you’re ready to bring the energy, empathy and resilience needed to support your team to succeed.
• Adaptability: This is a hugely varied role and no two days are the same. You will often need to balance competing priorities or quickly shift focus depending on the needs of the people you will be supporting. Balancing operational needs with strategic thinking can present a challenge that you will be confident you can overcome.
• An empowering approach: You believe in people and their potential. Whether supervising your team or developing services, your goal is to support others to grow, achieve and thrive.

Why should you apply?

• A chance to make a lasting impact: Your work will help veterans and their families move forward in life with confidence and dignity.
• Competitive salary and benefits including generous holiday and pension contributions.
• A welcoming and empowering culture, with regular opportunities for team connecting and shared learning throughout the year.
• Flexibility and variety: a mix of travelling in your area, home working and regular visits to the historic Poppy Factory in Richmond, London.
• Autonomy and influence: The opportunity to shape your region, build meaningful partnerships, and develop services that meet real needs.
• Be part of an iconic charity with over a century of history supporting the Armed Forces community.

Due to the travel requirements of the role and the region covered, it is essential that the post holder holds a full driving licence and access to a car for business purposes.

How to apply:

To apply for this position please click “Apply for this job” to submit your CV and a covering letter outlining how you meet the essential criteria in the person specification. Please address your covering letter to Debbie Boughtflower, Director of Operations.

Top tip: we don’t recommend using AI to generate your covering letter – we want to know what makes YOU a good fit for the role, and AI covering letters can’t capture your personality, values and qualities, or what makes your specific combination of skills and experience an ideal candidate.

The closing date for applications will be 15 June 2025. Please note, we cannot accept late or incomplete applications. Only applications submitted through the online process will be considered. The successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced DBS check.

Applying for a role at The Poppy Factory:

We usually post jobs with a fixed closing date, although in exceptional circumstances we may review applications on a rolling basis – this will be clearly stated in the job advert. All applications will be reviewed together following the closing date, and we will shortlist candidates for interview. We will often conduct first stage interviews via Microsoft Teams, and this may be followed by a second stage interview in person at a suitable location (either in our Richmond offices, or at meeting rooms locally, for regional roles). Where possible, we’ll include anticipated interview dates in the job advert. We will keep you updated on the status of your application, so even if you are not successful, we’ll never leave you hanging.

We are committed to equality, valuing diversity and promoting inclusion within our workforce. As an equal opportunities employer our commitment is to take positive measures to recruit people from underrepresented groups, and we actively encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and LGBT+ candidates as these groups are currently under-represented in our organisation. As a Disability Confident employer, we offer a guaranteed interview for any job applicant with a disability who meets the essential criteria for the role. Please indicate in your covering letter if you wish to be considered under this scheme. We are also happy to discuss reasonable adjustments to the application or interview process to accommodate disabled candidates. Additionally, we offer a guaranteed interview to veterans of the UK armed forces or members of the Reservist forces who meet the essential role criteria. Please make it clear in your application if you wish to be considered on this basis.

We are a family friendly employer and happy to discuss flexible working.

About The Poppy Factory:

The Poppy Factory aims to be an exemplar employer. We recognise the impact that working with a challenging cohort can have on our staff, which is why we prioritise work/life balance and support mechanisms including training, supervision and EAP provision. The Poppy Factory provides competitive terms and conditions of employment, including:

• Opportunity for home-based/hybrid and flexible working
• 28 days’ basic annual leave per year (including a day in lieu of Armistice Day, and 3 days’ Christmas closure), rising to 32 days with long service, plus bank holidays
• Double-matched pension contributions up to 10% employer contribution