UK Programmes Manager & Mentoring Lead in Stoke-on-Trent

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and may close early if suitable candidates are identified. Please only submit applications via email - applications submitted via LinkedIn or Indeed will not be considered.

Role Profile

• This is a UK-based role. Applicants must be currently resident in the UK and have the right to work in the UK.
• Flexible, remote, full-time (40 hours per week).
• Some travel within the UK is expected as part of this role, as well as work obligations on some weekends and weekday evenings.
• £30,000-£36,000 per year (dependent on experience), plus employer pension contribution (Nest Pensions) and professional development opportunities.

About The True Athlete Project (TAP)

The True Athlete Project is an international movement of athletes, coaches, mindfulness teachers, researchers, and sport-for-change practitioners. Together, we are on a mission to build a more compassionate world through sport. Sport has the power to improve lives, but too often sport is exclusive, uninspiring, and harmful. It falls short of its potential “to unite people, to speak to youth in a language they understand, and to bring hope where once there was only despair” (Nelson Mandela). We bring an imaginative, warm, and mindful approach – transforming how sport is experienced and lived. We work across the sporting ecosystem - from Olympic, Paralympic and professional environments to community centres and schools. TAP is a registered charity in both the UK and the USA.

Purpose of the Role

To ensure that TAP delivers the highest quality programmes to our partners, to build new relationships that will help us make a difference to a greater number of young people, and to be a leading figure for the mindful, compassionate approach to sport that we stand for. You will play a central role in TAP’s ability to make a growing and lasting impact through deep relationship building, thoughtful coordination, high quality execution, trusted communication, and a kind and warm approach.

Key Responsibilities

UK Programme Management:

• Lead the planning, coordinating and overseeing of delivery of the majority of our UK programmes - owning programme contracting, timelines, budgets, participant journeys, and delivery quality.
• Be the point person for UK programme partners - nurturing key relationships, coordinating and onboarding practitioners, regularly reporting to wider TAP team.
• Ensure programmes stay true to TAP’s mindful, inclusive, needs-led approach.
• Translate TAP’s strategic priorities into an annual UK programme roadmap.
• Design new partnerships, workshops, sessions and accompanying materials for delivery as part of our programmes.
• Identify and attend relevant networking events within the UK.

Mentoring Programme:

• Manage end-to-end mentoring cohorts (recruitment, matching, onboarding, support, coordinating external facilitators, evaluation & improvement).
• Facilitate mentor/mentee training and workshops, and host those run by external facilitators.
• Coordinate and oversee the mentor liaison team – onboarding, status meetings, ad hoc communication.
• Support mentees, mentors and mentor liaisons to ensure consistent, high-quality, values-aligned relationships across the programme.
• Acting as a point person for safeguarding concerns (in collaboration with designated leads).
• Create and enact a plan for developing new mentoring programmes both in the UK and internationally - ensuring we are reaching more young people who need a caring mentor in their life.

General:

• Build strong, trust-based relationships with athletes, mentors, partners, and delivery stakeholders.
• Create a sense of belonging and psychological safety across the programme community.
• Contribute feedback and learning to the wider organisation and help shape future programme evolution.
• Support with developing grant proposals to fuel our growth.
• Represent TAP in the UK sporting ecosystem where appropriate (events, partnerships, conversations).

Person Requirements

Essential:

• Strong experience managing programmes, projects, or initiatives involving youth development, mentoring, education, or wellbeing.
• Deep experience of the UK sporting sector (e.g. as an athlete, coach, practitioner, administrator, leader), including an understanding of the pressures faced by pathway and elite level athletes.
• Passionate about sport and the benefits it can offer individuals, communities and society.
• Feel strongly motivated by the mission and values of TAP.
• Excellent written and spoken communication, with the ability to tailor tone and style as needed.
• Proactive coordinator - able to initiate, track and follow through on long-term projects with multiple stakeholders, thinking ahead on what needs to be done to ensure project success.
• Emotionally intelligent, empathetic and sensitive to the needs of others.
• Personally well organised and a structured planner.
• Relationally open, warm, informal and process-focused.

Desirable:

• Experience of working in an athlete or coach support / development role (e.g. as a performance lifestyle advisor, sport psychologist, coach developer, etc).
• Experience with or strong understanding of: sport psychology / youth mental health and wellbeing / athlete transition / athlete dual-career / spiritual and philosophical practices.
• Rich personal experience and understanding of mindfulness-based practices.
• Strong network within the UK sporting ecosystem.
• Highly creative and imaginative (this role involves designing new, innovative programmes/workshops/camps, for athletes and coaches).

Doing Well Markers:

• Feedback from participants is that our programmes are professionally run, but delivered with a high degree of personalised care.
• Programmes run smoothly, on time, and with minimal friction for partners and participants.
• We build long-standing, sustainable partnerships with sports organisations who recognise the value of the TAP approach.
• Stakeholders experience you as organised, knowledgeable, calm, warm and enjoyable to work with.
• Colleagues experience you as a safe pair of hands, always willing to help and contribute with an optimistic outlook and attitude, and able to shift naturally between formal and informal ways of being at work.
• You balance structure and detail-orientation with compassion and understanding, holding both people and process well.

What We Offer:

• Flexible, remote-first working culture.
• A caring, supportive, friendly, energetic and mission-driven team.
• Opportunities to work in close collaboration and create new projects with many of UK sport National Governing Bodies, as well as other sporting organisations, schools and universities.
• Work alongside and in partnership with world class practitioners, leaders, and thinkers, to unleash the power of sport in the world.
• A chance to help shape the direction and growth of an international charity that is at the forefront of sport for social change.
• In short, this is a role that asks for presence, joy, warmth and judgement, as much as strong programme management skills. It could be for you if you are excited by the idea of forming deep connections, and advancing the mission of The True Athlete Project.

Salary: £30,000-£36,000 per year (dependent on experience), plus employer pension contribution (Nest Pensions).

Application Instructions:

• Please send a C.V. and cover letter to Laurence Halsted by March 24th.
• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and may close early if suitable candidates are identified. Please only submit applications via email - applications submitted via LinkedIn or Indeed will not be considered.
• If you require any accessibility assistance, please let us know by email and we will be glad to provide support.
• We are committed to nurturing a diverse and inclusive environment, and we encourage applications from all suitably qualified candidates, regardless of race, colour, gender, gender identity or expression, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age.