Skills Bootcamp Programme Manager

You're the person who keeps a programme running when a dozen things are moving at once — timetables, coaches, learners, funder deadlines — and you're happiest when none of it drops. You're also close to the learners: the one who spots someone slipping, chases the absence before it becomes a drop-out, and gets them back on track. You'll run our Data Skills Bootcamps end to end — the Level 3 in Oxford, the Level 4 in London, and the coaches, markers and support around them — while staying hands-on with learners yourself: following up absences, running retention interventions, and being a point of contact people actually reach out to. You hold pace, retention and compliance across every cohort from enrolment to outcomes.

About iO-Sphere: We train people to do things with data and AI, not just learn about them. Learners work on real problems — including in Prism, a simulated business we built on 500 million rows of real data. 900+ people have trained with us, we're rated 4.8 on Google, and we're one of the UK's fastest-growing data and AI training startups. Teams at PwC, BAE Systems, Dunelm, Motorway and CBRE send us their people. We're a startup, so how we coach isn't finished — and we'd want you helping build it. The people who improve how we do this are the ones deepest in it.

What you'll do:

• Run the Data Skills Bootcamps end to end — timetables, session scheduling, logistics and the day-to-day across every cohort.
• Coordinate the delivery team — lead coaches, support coaches and markers — sorting cover and caseloads, and keeping the 48-hour marking SLA on track.
• Be a point of contact for learners: follow up absences fast, check in on anyone going quiet, and keep people engaged and on programme.
• Run and document retention interventions yourself — and make sure ALS plans and IAG are in place — logging absences, contact, actions and progress in Aptem to the standard a regulated, inspected provider needs.
• Help with enrolment and onboarding: eligibility and suitability checks, starts, and getting learners set up in Aptem and iO Academy.
• Track attendance, pace, retention and completion against funder targets — and act on the numbers before a cohort drifts.
• Keep the compliance and funding record audit-ready — accurate Aptem and ILR data, evidence, and whatever an inspection or funding audit would ask for — and lead funder and awarding-body reporting with the Delivery and Quality teams.
• Keep careers support and job outcomes on track — progression into data roles is part of what the funding is for.

What we're looking for:

• Experience running or coordinating a programme, cohort or delivery operation — you've held the moving parts before. Skills Bootcamp experience is strongly desirable.
• A people-first instinct — you're comfortable picking up the phone to a learner who's slipping and getting them back on track.
• Comfortable with delivery data and targets — attendance, retention, completion, outcomes — and confident acting on the numbers.
• Organised to the point it's a reflex; you keep records straight and deadlines met.
• A clear, calm communicator who keeps a delivery team and its learners aligned.
• Familiar with a learner management / MIS system (Aptem ideal) and the discipline of audit-ready records.
• A genuinely inclusive approach — you make sure every learner can access the programme and its support.
• Experience in a funded or regulated training environment (Skills Bootcamps, apprenticeships, FE) and with funder or Ofsted requirements is ideal.
• No teaching qualification needed for this role — it's operational and learner-facing — though understanding how regulated programmes are delivered helps.

The essentials:

• Fixed-term contract, roughly four months. Starts October 2026, through to the week after the programme ends.
• London hybrid — 2-3 days a week with the ability to flex if extra time is required. This role is hybrid - when our learners are in-person you need to be on-site and when they're remote you can be remote.
• Pay: £5k–£9k for 4 months at 2-3 days per week — £35k–£45k annualised — under PAYE.
• Enhanced DBS, safeguarding and Prevent training, and the right to work in the UK (we can't offer sponsorship).
• Progression: depending on programme volume when the contract ends, there's a genuine route into further delivery, operations or programme roles with iO-Sphere.
• Location: This role is London-based and two days a week — you'll be at our E1 office (by Liverpool Street), with the rest remote, working alongside the delivery team and the wider skills bootcamp team.

How we hire: A short screening call, a conversation with the delivery team you'd work with, and a practical task drawn from real delivery or marking rather than an invented puzzle. We move quickly — we need people ready for October.

Safeguarding: iO-Sphere is committed to safeguarding and operates within regulated Further Education environments. All applicants must complete their application honestly and in full, and consent to the pre-employment checks required for the role. Failure to disclose relevant information, or providing false information, will result in the application being withdrawn or employment being terminated.

Equal opportunities: iO-Sphere is an equal-opportunities employer. We hire on merit and welcome applications from every background. If you'd need any adjustment to the process, just tell us.