Director of Operations in Slough

W1se Angels is a social enterprise focused on empowering individuals to build skills and achieve their career goals. The organization supports people across all life stages, from childhood through their careers, through services in employability, education, learning and skills, children’s services, and health and wellbeing. W1se Angels is committed to challenging inequality, breaking down barriers, and enabling social mobility. The team puts people at the center of its work, providing the right support at the right time to create meaningful, tangible outcomes. Joining W1se Angels means contributing to a mission-driven organization that prioritises dignity, opportunity, and impactful change.

The Operations Manager plays a pivotal role in ensuring the Operations, Quality and Compliance is a success in all government funded delivery. You will be spearheading the development, execution, and management of the delivery processes to drive consistent quality and growth of services for ASF and Skills Bootcamp contracts. This entails taking charge of developing and continuously refining standard operating procedures across all facets of the provision to uphold and enhance its quality standards. Additionally, a key responsibility involves overseeing the seamless integration and onboarding processes for learners, while ensuring the delivery and onboarding teams are supported to ensure every member of the team thrives in their role. You will also focus on managing funding and compliance matters, requiring effective collaboration and management to deliver an excellent Management Information Systems (MIS) data service. The position involves developing and implementing efficient processes aligned with funding body requirements, ensuring accurate tracking, and reporting of recruitment and funding performance data.

Key responsibilities

• Operationally organise work academies, sector-based learning programmes, progression pathways, to ensure learners can progress across their regions.
• Operationally manage the Delivery team, Business development and Compliance team.
• Manage area stakeholders, referral agents and ownership of programmes in the area against plans.
• Interpret and analyse performance information and plan workloads in order to achieve targets ensuring high quality performance.
• Manage assessors to ensure timely completion of learners and maximise their caseload capacities through allocation of new learners.
• Carry out regular caseload reviews with assessors and provide the necessary support where needed to maintain high performance.
• Monitor targets of signups, leads etc to honour our entitlements for short courses.
• Developing and implementing strategic plans to develop business, increase sales target and company policies.
• Leading and driving forward the business’s strategic objectives, providing leadership and driving the strategic vision.
• Working with the Curriculum Team and sales team to ensure caseloads are maintained, proactive recruitment to meet additional sales pipeline, resource planning across different funding streams.
• Managing and overseeing critical aspects such as all funding data submissions, course file management, funding awareness and Individual Learner Record (ILR) and data quality assurance, and reporting and contractual financial management activity.
• Responsible for managing operational relationships with internal and external partners, ensuring that processes to secure operational, funding, and legislative compliance are in place across the business.
• To be the lead and go-to person and key driver in all aspects relating to AEB and all funded provision with an expert up-to-date working knowledge of legislation and other funding related guidance, industry best practice.
• Oversee and support the development and delivery of a program of internal compliance testing, providing timely and meaningful information to the Senior Leadership Team.
• Provide operational management for audits, inspections, and reporting to all relevant external agencies and stakeholders.
• Ensure teams are supported to maximise effectiveness.
• Develop plans, policies and procedures to ensure compliance.
• Develop and deliver an annual program of assurance engagements (and, where necessary, investigations) to ensure compliance with prevailing regulations & legislations across the business.
• Ensure that student information is accurately recorded in the MIS system and is complete.
• Make sure that the registers are populated in a timely manner and have been accurately filled out and chase relevant staff when they are not.

Essential requirements:

• Strong comprehensive knowledge of Government contractual obligations and funding rules in relation to funded training in particular GLA AEB.
• Strong knowledge of the successful performance criteria of funded provision and how to manage data to drive success.
• Sound commercial, financial and legal knowledge with regards to funding, and data management.
• Comprehensive knowledge of all company policies and procedures and their application in relation to data and contractual compliance.
• Highly effective and consistent communication and active listening skills.
• Strong organisational and presentation skills.
• Strong relationship-building and interpersonal skills.
• Decisive, with good judgement and problem-solving skills.
• Acute attention to detail with a methodical approach.
• Strong data analytical and interpretation skills.
• Experience of supporting inspection / compliance activity.
• Experience of people management and relevant leadership skills.
• Experience of working with key stakeholders including but not limited to staff, SMT and external bodies.
• Open honest and supportive behaviours which are in alignment with the Company’s values.
• Supportive behaviours which encourage team members to provide innovative ideas, solutions and continuous improvements, which benefit the business.
• Well-developed engagement behaviours, which motivate and encourage high levels of quality and performance.
• Enthusiastic and innovative behaviours with a solution orientated approach.
• Influential behaviours and commands respect within the business.
• A positive and proactive approach in anticipating customer requirements and delivery to high standards of customer satisfaction.
• Positive team player to ensure company wide solutions and improvements are effective.

Experience:

• Further education: 3 years (required)
• ASF, AEB, SKILLSBOOTCAMP, APPRENTICESHIP: 3 years (required)
• Quality Assurance: 3 years (required)