Operations Manager - FTC - Immediate start in London

Position Title: Head of Spacemaking and Operations

Reports to: Director of Finance, HR and Operations

Location: Liberation Centre Brixton, London (New office in Brixton)/ Remote working within the UK with at least 3 days’ work from our office (Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays)

Contract: Full time (40hrs/weekly), 2-year Fixed Term contract. As soon as possible

Benefits: TAA laptop and phone, employee assistance and health cash package including staff supervision, counselling, dental, optical care and more.

The Advocacy Academy is an activist youth movement. We serve as the political home for grassroots youth organising and the catalyst for collective action. The lives of the young people we work alongside have been directly shaped by living in an unjust world, and we exist to turn their anger into action.

We want youth organising to be enshrined in the UK for generations to come, and for young people to have tangible political power to influence national policy. Each will train organisations across the country to become youth organisers and work together to bring 100 young people together to identify the strategy and tactics needed to achieve change.

We are now looking for a Head of Spacemaking & Operations who believes in this vision and can ensure that TAA’s Liberation Centre is safe, fully operational, and intentionally designed as a welcoming, accessible, and inclusive environment. You will combine operational oversight, facilities management, and space experience design, working across teams to ensure the Centre is safe, compliant, efficient, accessible and welcoming for staff, young people, and the wider community.

• Supporting the Director of Finance, HR and Operations in maintaining and improving operational systems and processes
• Supporting the delivery of the Liberation Centre strategy, working across teams to ensure the Centre provides a functional, welcoming, inclusive, and safe environment for staff, young people, and the wider community
• Building relationships across departments, understanding their needs, and communicating operational updates to the Director
• Ensure escalations to the Director of Finance, HR and Operations are timely, well-prepared, clearly articulated, and supported by relevant information to enable effective decision-making.

You will ensure that your responsibilities run like well-oiled machines by supporting TAA’s facilities, ensuring the Liberation Centre operates safely, efficiently, and in full compliance with relevant regulations by:

• Acting as the main operational liaison for the Liberation Centre, including council, building management, and external contractors
• Managing relationships with facilities providers, maintenance contractors, cleaners, and IT vendors
• Overseeing health & safety compliance, including staff training, evacuation procedures, drills, and statutory checks
• Supporting the development and implementation of risk assessments (fire, general, wellbeing, incidents, remote work, etc.)
• Coordinating first aiders and fire marshals as required
• Ensuring operational cost-efficiency across facilities and space-related services

You will help shape the Liberation Centre as a purposeful, accessible, and welcoming environment by:

• Leading on accessibility improvements across the physical environment, ensuring equitable access for disabled community members
• Ensuring the space reflects TAA’s values of care, inclusion, and liberation in its physical design and use
• Supporting a positive, caring, and community-centred environment across all users of the space
• Acting as liaison for IT and facilities providers
• Ensuring infrastructure supports accessibility, inclusion, and ease of use
• Identifying improvements to systems that enhance operational efficiency and user experience

Work closely with programmes, Organising & Campaigns, community, and communications teams to ensure smooth operational delivery. Working with the community team to ensure safety practices are values-aligned.

• Provide senior functional leadership for Spacemaking and Operations, ensuring delivery of organisational strategy through effective planning, coordination, and implementation across your area.
• Work closely with leaders across the organisation to identify opportunities to improve organisational impact and efficiency, contributing operational insight to strategic planning and decision-making.
• Identify, assess and escalate risks related to operational delivery, organisational culture, and alignment with stated values and principles, ensuring timely mitigation within your area of responsibility.
• Take responsibility for your own ongoing leadership development, and actively support the development of others, building capability and leadership within the Spacemaking and Operations function.

Governance and Compliance:

• Provide strategic leadership on governance and risk management within your portfolio, working in close partnership with the Finance, HR and Operations team.
• Lead and hold accountability for risk identification, analysis and mitigation, ensuring risks to strategic objectives are anticipated, escalated and managed effectively.
• Maintain oversight of risk across your area, ensuring robust systems, controls and practices are in place and consistently applied.
• Ensure strong organisational compliance with TAA policies and practices, taking responsibility for their effective implementation, continuous improvement and alignment with wider organisational standards.

You will support Programmes, Campaigns and Community Departments by ensuring that the operations, structures, processes, and practices align with and support TAA's campaigning and organising goals, activating new allies' goals, and community goals.

Staff and community members experience the space as welcoming, accessible, and well cared for. You believe in the potential of young people to challenge the status quo and are dedicated to helping them become more powerful citizens.

From racism to the housing crisis to climate justice, you’ll be aware of how systemic injustice operates in our society, clued-up and well-informed on the big issues of our time, and committed to changing them.

You’re a sensitive and thoughtful relationship-builder who is interested in building a network of relationships to support the Advocacy Academy’s work. You’re proactive, organised, and eager to learn, whether that’s chatting with potential funders, researching new opportunities or collaborating with teammates.

Comfortable operating as the senior operational lead on site when required, maintaining full delivery responsibility and ensuring clear communication and escalation pathways.

• Demonstrated experience in facilities management and/or IT systems coordination, with an understanding of how operational infrastructure supports organisational effectiveness.
• Microsoft Excel / Google Sheets, Canva, and similar platforms, with willingness to learn and adapt to new systems as needed.