Are you someone who’s detail-orientated but can still zoom out to see the big picture? A natural leader who’s able to inspire and motivate others to be at their best and get results? Passionate about social mobility, early talent and creating equal access to great careers?

If the answer is yes, we have a great role for you.

Visionpath is an early talent specialist on a mission to make early careers more equal.

We’re a trusted early talent partner to businesses of all sizes, creating programmes that help them reach, recruit and retain diverse school leavers for apprenticeships and early careers.

Social mobility is in our DNA at Visionpath and it’s central to our mission. We work with school leavers whose background could limit their access to great careers. In doing this, we help our clients tap into new talent with skills and perspectives to drive their growth, while unlocking opportunities for young people who need them most.

Since 2008 we’ve worked with over 50,000 students and our clients include some of the UK’s top employers and most exciting growth businesses.

As we grow, we’re looking for a Head of Programmes to oversee programme and client delivery and lead our brilliant team making a difference for businesses and young people every day.

If you love working in a purpose-led, values-driven business, have proven project management skills and experience of managing high-performing teams, we’d love to hear from you.

About the role:

As Head of Programmes you’ll report to our CEO and work closely with him and the Associate Director. You can make a huge difference in this role – to our team, our clients and especially the young people who we help to access great careers that can shape their future. How?

• Ensuring our programmes are always delivered to the highest standards, meeting our clients objectives and achieving great outcomes for young people.
• Building great relationships with our clients to understand and deliver on their needs, acting as a true partner on all things early talent and social mobility.
• Empowering, supporting and coaching our team to continue living our values and delivering on our purpose and mission day in, day out.
• Helping to create and launch new programmes that will make early careers more equal, unlock new talent for employers and shape young people’s futures.

To do this and be really effective in this role, you’ll need to bring project management expertise, an operational mindset that’s focused on detail but able to see the big picture too, an ability to build strong working relationships (with colleagues and clients alike) and excellent communication skills. We're also looking for you to bring high standards of professionalism while retaining a sense of fun and infectious enthusiasm.

We’re a small but growing business, so no two days are the same, and you’ll need to get up to speed quickly. A can-do attitude, curiosity and willingness to learn and get stuck in will be critical to success, as well as the ability to bring some initiative and be a positive team player.

We’ll shape a roadmap for your first 100 days in role to help you thrive in the role and provide ongoing support, coaching and training to be at your best.

Early on you’ll get the opportunity to experience our range of programmes and what we deliver and be hands-on, as this is the best way to really understand the power of what we do and our renowned high standards of delivery, for which we’ve won multiple awards.

Some of the key responsibilities of the role include:

• Operational leadership of programme and client delivery – overseeing delivery plans, tracking progress with Programme Managers and others, and attending client meetings to ensure we’re meeting their needs and expectations.
• Quality assurance – setting in place processes to ensure that as we grow, we continue to maintain the highest standards of programme design, development and delivery.
• Team management – line managing initially 4-5 Programme Managers and other colleagues who play a critical role in delivering our programmes with clients and young people.
• Reporting – embedding data and impact reporting in everything we do, ensuring the story of our programme success is being shared, and regularly reporting to the CEO and Associate Director on programme effectiveness and progress.

As part of a small but growing business, you can expect other responsibilities and duties to form part of your role, but this gives a flavour of what we need from our new Head of Programmes.

Experience of working in the world of early careers, talent development, youth engagement and social mobility would be desirable and a real advantage in this role.

If this sounds like the new challenge you’re looking for, where you can help us to make a positive impact on young people’s futures and unlock diverse talent to help businesses grow, then we’d love you to apply.

We offer hybrid working with a minimum of three days per week in office in Sawbridgeworth, Herts. There may be times when you’ll need to travel to client locations in different parts of the UK, with some early starts or late finishes and possibly overnight stays too. Expenses are covered.

The salary is £48,000-£52,000 per year depending on experience. It’s full-time, with working hours of 09.00-17.00 Monday to Friday.

If you’d like to find out more about the role, you can reach out for a confidential informal chat with our CEO, Patrick Philpott, on 01279 295361.

What we can offer you:

• Purposeful, mission-driven work with the chance to make a real impact
• An opportunity to work with a passionate, dedicated and collaborative team
• 25 days’ holiday (plus bank holidays)
• Extra day off for your birthday
• Early finish Fridays – wrap up at 4pm and enjoy the weekend!
• Regular team socials (we’re talking charity quiz champions…)
• Bright, modern, riverside offices with free parking and close to train station, cafes and shops
• Company pension scheme
• Access to perks and discounts with High Street retailers, cinemas and more

Safeguarding:

Visionpath is committed to upholding the highest standards of safeguarding.

As this role will involve working with children, any successful applicant will be required to undergo an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check including children’s barred list. Any offer of employment will be conditional upon this check being carried out and its results.

Recruitment Agencies:

We will not be using agencies for this role, so kindly ask that you don’t approach us to offer your services or to share details of potential candidates.