Head of Delivery in Bishop Auckland

Working Hours: 35 hours per week 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday

Triage provides information, advice, guidance, skills, workplace training, work preparation and supportive recruitment services that help people secure a job, progress in the workplace and build meaningful careers .

Delivering from locations across Scotland and England, Triage partners with multiple public, private and community organisation.

Working with local, regional, and national stakeholders, prime contractors and Jobcentre Plus, we deliver employment, education and training programmes that respond to the social, cultural, inclusive and economic growth agendas .

We are looking for people to join us, who reflect our values.

With offices across the UK, our values are what helps unite our teams and provides us with a sense of belonging.

No matter the location we work in, or the role we carry out, we feel a sense of community and that's all because of our values.

For us, our five values frame our interactions and set standards both internally and externally - they are the building blocks on how we do business.

We thrive together, We do something amazing everyday, We never give up, We know our knowledge is power, We act with kindness .

In other words, if you have a true passion for working with and helping others, Triage could be the employer for you.

We are seeking an exceptional operational leader to join us at an exciting and transformative time for our organisation.

As we continue to grow, expand our impact, and strengthen our position across the employability and skills sectors, this appointment represents an important leadership hire within our business.

The successful candidate will play a critical role in shaping the future of our operations, driving outstanding performance, developing our people, and ensuring we continue to make a meaningful difference to the lives of customers, communities, employers, and colleagues.

This is far more than a programme management role.

We are looking for a leader who genuinely cares about people, is driven by purpose, and is passionate about helping others achieve their potential.

Someone who combines commercial awareness, operational excellence, and strong leadership with a deep commitment to delivering positive social impact.

The successful candidate will not only have the skills and experience to lead high-performing employability and skills programmes but will also embody our values, champion excellence, and inspire those around them to consistently deliver the highest standards.

For us, average is never the goal.

We strive to be the best in everything we do, and we're looking for someone who shares that mindset.

This role offers significant opportunity for future growth and progression as our organisation continues to evolve and expand.

About the role

The Head of Delivery will provide strategic and operational leadership across our employability and skills provision, primarily covering the North East and North Yorkshire Mayoral Strategic Authorities, with the majority of current delivery taking place across the North East region.

This includes oversight of key contracts such as Connect to Work, delivering the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model across Durham, Gateshead, and Sunderland, alongside other employability and skills programmes within the portfolio.

As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, you will have accountability for operational performance, financial sustainability, quality assurance, people leadership, stakeholder engagement, and continuous improvement.

Working alongside another Head of Delivery, you will play a key role in ensuring consistency of culture, quality, performance, and leadership across the organisation.

You will lead a team of Operations Managers and Performance Managers, ensuring programmes consistently achieve and exceed contractual, financial, quality, and customer outcome targets.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership
• Provide visible, inspirational leadership across the region.
• Work collaboratively with fellow Heads of Delivery and Executive Leadership Team colleagues to ensure a consistent approach to operational excellence, customer experience, quality standards, and people leadership across all regions.
• Support business development colleagues, contribution to bids, tenders, service development, delivery planning, and mobilisation activities.
• Drive a culture of accountability, innovation, collaboration, and high performance.
• Ensure operational decisions align with organisational values, objectives, and long-term ambitions.
• Champion a "One Organisation" culture, ensuring regional priorities align with wider business objectives.
• Operational Excellence
• Lead a portfolio of employability and skills programmes across a geographically dispersed area.
• Ensure all programmes consistently achieve contractual KPIs, customer outcomes, compliance requirements, quality standards, and financial targets.
• Monitor operational performance through robust analysis of management information, performance data, risks, trends, and opportunities.
• Implement improvement strategies to maximise performance and customer impact.
• Maintain strong governance and operational controls across all contracts.
• Hold responsibility for programme profitability, budget management, forecasting, and financial performance.
• Identify opportunities for operational efficiencies and growth.
• Identify opportunities for contract growth, service expansion, and market development across the region.
• Ensure contracts are delivered within agreed financial parameters whilst maintaining high-quality outcomes.
• Work alongside Business Development colleagues to support contract retention, growth opportunities, and successful tender activity.
• Balance social impact, quality, and commercial sustainability when making operational decisions.
• Develop, maintain, and strengthen relationships with commissioners, funding bodies, local authorities, and strategic partners.
• Act as a credible ambassador for the organisation with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Ensure commissioner requirements are fully understood and translated into operational delivery.
• Represent the organisation at senior-level meetings, performance reviews, and partnership forums.
• Develop strong employer relationships and maintain knowledge of local labour markets, economic trends, and regional priorities.
• Leadership, Culture & People Development
• Lead, coach and develop a team of senior operational leaders to achieve exceptional performance.
• Build future leadership capability through talent development and succession planning.
• Foster a culture of accountability, inclusion, wellbeing and high performance.
• Lead complex people matters in partnership with HR.
• Ensure effective recruitment, onboarding, performance management and employee development practices are consistently applied.
• Champion a positive, high-performance culture where expectations are clear and standards remain consistently high.
• Quality Assurance & Customer Experience
• Oversee quality assurance frameworks and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Establish effective feedback loops from commissioners, participants, employers, and colleagues.
• Drive service improvements that enhance customer experience, outcomes, compliance, and operational effectiveness.
• Lead investigations and responses relating to escalated complaints and service concerns.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for an exceptional leader who combines commercial acumen, operational expertise, and genuine compassion.

• Significant senior leadership experience within employability or adult education.
• Proven experience leading multiple sites, programmes and geographically dispersed teams.
• Strong track record of delivering against financial, contractual, and performance targets across multiple programmes concurrently.

Experience managing senior operational leaders and developing high-performing teams.

• Strong understanding of performance management, quality assurance, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Experience analysing and interpreting data, MI, and performance information to drive decision-making.
• Proven experience managing senior-level commissioner, funder, employer, and strategic stakeholder relationships.
• Experience of applying a risk management approach to decision making and planning.
• Strong understanding of people management and employee relations processes.
• Demonstrable commercial acumen, including experience balancing social impact, operational performance, and financial sustainability.
• Experience leading large-scale operational delivery with accountability for significant budgets, multiple service locations, and senior leadership teams.
• Experience across both employability and skills programmes.
• Understanding of IPS delivery models and Connect to Work provision.
• An understanding of skills provision funding rules and regulations.
• Understanding of the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework.
• Experience supporting business development, bids, tenders, and contract mobilisation.

You'll be someone who

• Leads with integrity, authenticity, and purpose.
• Strategic thinker and the ability to translate organisational vision into operational delivery.
• Genuinely cares about improving the lives of customers and colleagues.
• Hold themselves and others accountable to exceptionally high standards.
• Is ambitious for both people and organisational success.
• Can influence and inspire at every level.
• Works collaboratively and always puts the success of the whole organisation before individual programmes or regions.
• Thrives in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Has the ability to lead through ambiguity, change, and growth.
• Brings energy, resilience, and optimism during periods of change and growth.
• Is passionate about developing others and creating future leaders.

Why Join Us?

This is a rare opportunity to join an ambitious organisation during a period of significant growth and development.

You'll have the opportunity to influence the future direction of the business, lead talented teams, and make a genuine difference in people's lives every day.

If you're looking for a role where you can combine commercial success, operational excellence, and social impact whilst playing a key part in our future growth story, we'd love to hear from you.

This is a career-defining opportunity for an exceptional operational leader who wants to leave a lasting impact on both our organisation and the communities we serve.

NB

This job description is intended as a guide. Duties may change in line with service needs and will be agreed through the business performance management process.

For the successful candidate, this role will require a satisfactory enhanced disclosure check appropriate to the level of responsibility involved.

We handle all disclosure information inline with the relevant safeguarding legislation and the DBS Code of Practice, ensuring a fair and transparent process for all applicants.

Cost will be reimbursed through our onboarding and internal expense process.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we wish to engage and encourage people with a disability or long-term health condition to work for us, ensuring they have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.

We will interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum requirements for the job and make reasonable adjustments to ensure candidates are not disadvantaged in any way.

If this applies to you, you can request consideration under this scheme during the application process.

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• Working Hours
• 35 hours per week 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday
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