Head of Delivery

Head of Delivery – Employability & Skills Contracts

Location: North East of England

Salary: Excellent package – discussed at candidate screening

Contract: Full-Time, Permanent

Progression: Outstanding career development opportunities

Head of Delivery – Employability & Skills Contracts

Are you an experienced operational leader with a passion for delivering high-quality employability and skills programmes?

We're recruiting on behalf of an ambitious and growing organisation for an exceptional Head of Delivery to lead the successful performance and operational delivery of employability and skills contracts across the North East of England.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a strategic leader looking to make a real impact within a highly respected organisation that offers genuine progression opportunities and the chance to shape the future of contract delivery.

The Role

As Head of Delivery, you'll provide strategic and operational leadership across multiple contracts, ensuring outstanding performance, quality, compliance and customer outcomes. You'll lead high-performing management teams, drive continuous improvement, and build strong relationships with commissioners, employers and key stakeholders.

This role requires someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment and has a proven track record of successfully managing large-scale employability, skills or government-funded contracts.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the operational delivery of multiple employability and skills contracts.
• Drive contract performance against KPIs, quality standards and financial targets.
• Develop and inspire senior managers and delivery teams to achieve exceptional results.
• Ensure compliance with funding body requirements, contractual obligations and regulatory standards.
• Monitor performance through data analysis, management information and reporting.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with commissioners, employers and external stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities for service improvement, innovation and growth.
• Support mobilisation of new contracts and service expansions where required.
• Manage operational budgets and ensure commercial objectives are achieved.
• Promote a culture focused on customer outcomes, continuous improvement and high performance.

About You

We're looking for an experienced operational leader who can demonstrate:

• Significant senior leadership experience within the employability, skills or welfare-to-work sector.
• Strong understanding of government-funded programmes and contract delivery.
• Proven experience managing large operational teams through multiple levels of management.
• Excellent knowledge of performance management, quality assurance and compliance.
• Strong commercial awareness with experience managing budgets and financial performance.
• Outstanding stakeholder engagement and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to analyse performance data and implement effective improvement strategies.
• Inspirational leadership style with experience developing high-performing teams.
• Full UK driving licence and willingness to travel across the North East where required.

What's on Offer

• Excellent salary package (discussed during candidate screening)
• Exceptional progression and career development opportunities
• Join a growing, forward-thinking organisation
• Opportunity to influence strategic direction and operational success
• Collaborative and supportive senior leadership team
• A rewarding role where you'll make a genuine impact on communities and people's lives

To apply, please contact Craig Doyle on 07933 797535 or email across your CV to