People Development Officer

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of everything we do at Sport Wales. You will provide leadership and support, ensuring that inclusion and equality are embedded within people development programmes, projects and opportunities, within partner organisations and across the sector.

You will work across all Sport Wales partners, National Governing Bodies of Sport, National Partners and Sport Partnerships. You will also work across Sport Wales liaising with partner facing staff and strategic leads. In addition to partnerships within Sport and Wales we would expect the successful applicant to form effective relationships with partners outside of Sport and also UK Sport organisations who can help deliver the outcome of the role.

This strategic leadership role will shape the future of sport in Wales by developing inclusive, high‑performing leadership and culture across the sector.

You will work collaboratively with Sport Wales colleagues and partners to support the development of Chairs, Board Members, and senior leaders across our partners, National Governing Bodies, Sport Partnerships and National Partners-ensuring they have the skills, behaviours, and support to enable sport in Wales to thrive.

You will lead the cultural development work linked to the Arwain Cymru: Governance and people development framework, helping organisations evolve their behaviours and values. This role also connects across the UK and internationally to ensure Wales remains at the forefront of workforce development in sport.

The role requires strategic vision, stakeholder management expertise, and hands‑on experience in co‑designing, delivering and evaluating culture and leadership development initiatives.

Main duties

• Drive the strategic development of the workforce across the Welsh sport system, specifically focussing on leadership and culture strategies that instigates long‑term change and measurable improvement.
• Collaborate with the Sport Sector to support the development of Chairs, Board members and Leadership positions that will have a positive impact on Sport across Wales.
• Champion the importance of people development across the Sport Sector and work with organisations to improve the opportunities for funding and delivery of workforce development.
• Work collectively across Sport Wales on the implementation of Arwain Cymru and our approach to accountability focusing on people development and cultural change.
• Facilitate relevant networks to promote collaboration and best practice to ensure the network delivers value to its member and contributes to sector‑wide improvement.
• Build strong partnerships across Wales, the UK, and internationally to enhance the reach, relevance and innovation of workforce development initiatives.
• Manage budgets and oversee the work of the Senior People Development Officer to deliver maximum impact.
• Fulfil responsibilities which contribute to delivering an exemplary service for Sport Wales in respect of our statutory duties, including the Well‑being of Future Generations (Wales), Equality, Information Security, Risk Management, Safeguarding, Financial Regulation and Health, Safety & Environment.
• Work flexibly, performing any other duties as required, where relevant to the post and appropriate to the grade.

Degree in relevant qualification, or equivalent experience in a relevant field. Evidence of professional development in the area of leadership and management.

Experience

• Operational and strategic planning experience in the development of innovative ideas and solutions.
• Proven track record of achieving high performance through setting and measuring objectives in a multi‑disciplinary team of specialists.
• Experience of working at a Senior Level within organisations and influencing at senior executive and Board Level.
• The ability to set direction, manage a team and work with individuals to enable them to thrive.
• Significant experience of workforce development practice within Wales and across the UK.
• Experience of running leadership and cultural development programs.
• Experience of identifying the needs of workforce development and ability to implement effective interventions with partners.
• Effective management of multiple budgets.

Skills, Aptitudes & Abilities

• Ability to translate strategic intent into operational delivery.
• Understands the essential components of high performing teams and can build these using effective leadership skills.
• Leads, inspires and earns respect from colleagues and partners, through strong problem solving and decision‑making capacity, adding value to work.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively with a diverse range of partners and build strong, positive relations with these groups.
• Devotes time to others, listens and promotes knowledge sharing to better inform strategy delivery and development.
• Able to handle confidential data and information sensitively.
• Holds self and others accountable for standards of performance to successfully deal with a range of often complex situations; seeks support and guidance from others in the organization when needed.
• Copes effectively with pace, setbacks and changes to priorities; adapts to highly pressured situations and executes good control.
• Ability to communicate in Welsh, both written and spoken.
• Able to initiate projects, based on translating strategic intent into operational delivery, set goals, define roles and track progress, review, evaluate and implement learnings for optimal impact.

Special Circumstances

• Able to work flexibly, including out of normal office hours.
• Able to travel as required.

Sport Wales is the national organisation responsible for developing and promoting sport and physical activity in Wales. We are the main adviser on sporting matters to the Welsh Government and are responsible for distributing National Lottery funds. We aim to not only improve the level of sports participation at grassroots level but also provide our aspiring athletes with the support required to compete successfully on the world stage.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do at Sport Wales. Further information on this can be found in our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Statement here.

We are a progressive employer that offers excellent employee benefits and promotes a healthy work life balance, offering a range of flexible approaches to support you.

Language skills (bilingualism & multilingualism) are desirable characteristics across all roles within Sport Wales. We are passionate about promoting the use of Welsh language and, as part of our development programme, give everyone the opportunity to learn Welsh if they wish to do so, offering learning programmes from beginner right through to fluent.

Sport Wales embraces a blended approach to work, where you will be able to split your time between the office and home.

Sport Wales careers are funded by Welsh Government and the National Lottery. Find out more about Sport Wales\’ relationship with the National Lottery.

Sport Wales strongly advocates continuous learning and improvement. On your very first day of work, you will embark on a tailored induction programme and will be offered all the essential training to get you started. Joining Sport Wales means joining a culture of learning and continuous professional development. Job specific training, lunchtime workshops, coaching and mentoring, improving Welsh language skills and long term study opportunities are all part of being on our team.