Responsible To: Chief Executive.
Directorate/Department: Operations.
Base Location: Gilwell Park, Chingford, with a high degree of flexibility to work from home; some weekend and evening working required; some travel required.
Salary: £116 – £120k per annum.
Direct Reports: Chief Safeguarding Officer, Chief Volunteering Officer; Chief Programme Officer.
Budgetary Responsibility: Responsible for significant income and expenditure budgets across the Operations Directorate; and management of external funding from a range of sources.
External Contacts: Youth organisations/charities in the third sector; funding benefactors; Disclosure and Barring Service; Disclosure Scotland; Access Northern Ireland; Charity Commission; Health and Safety Executive; Information Commissioner’s Office; Key Government Departments; governing and professional bodies; and Local Authorities.
Internal Contacts: Executive Leadership Team; Board of Trustees; Board Committees; UK Leadership Team; Senior Volunteers; Leadership Forum; and other staff across the organisation (including Nations).
The above list is provided for guidance only and is not an exhaustive list of all the contacts with whom the postholder may be required to liaise.
Role Summary and Purpose
Working in close partnership with senior volunteers, the purpose of the Executive Director of Operations role is to contribute to the overall strategic and operational activity of the Scouts as a member of the Executive Leadership Team; strategic and operational responsibility for the design and delivery of high quality services to support members; to lead the Operations Directorate, encompassing: educational programme, regional services teams, adult volunteering, member services (including nationally organised events), safety, safeguarding and vetting; contribute to the delivery of the organisational strategic objectives; take lead responsibility for critical incidents in the interests of members and the organisation.
Key Accountabilities
- Contribute to the successful strategic and operational functioning of the organisation as a full member of the Executive Leadership Team.
- Lead the Operations directorate to deliver high quality services to members and agreed programmes and projects to improve young people’s and adults’ experience of the Movement.
- Ensure the programme for young people is fun, engaging, exciting, accessible and shaped by young people in partnership with adults, so that the impact Scouting has on young people’s lives can be evidenced.
- Ensure that all young people, regardless of their background, can participate fully and safely in Scouts whilst ensuring that the organisation meets the required legal requirements with regard to safety and safeguarding.
- Collaborate closely with the Executive Director of Strategy & Transformation across all aspects of the role.
- Create a culture of supporting adult volunteers in a flexible way to ensure that they can be the best that they can be.
- Take lead responsibility for successful collaboration with senior volunteers, ensuring that decision-making is clear and meets the needs of the organisation.
- Ensure services provided to adult volunteers are of the highest standards with outstanding levels of customer service.
- Ensure that critical strategic and operational risks relating to the delivery of Scouting are assessed and managed (in line with the Scouts’ agreed approach to risk management).
- Ensure that there are robust plans to manage critical incidents and take a leadership role in the management and delivery of agreed plans, including attending any statutory reviews or inquiries (e.g. inquests)Lead the transformation of organisational processes and procedures to make Scouting easier to operate locally working closely with the Executive Director of Strategy & Transformation in relation to programmes of work.
- Role model successful and robust working relationships across all disciplines, ensuring staff work effectively in partnership with volunteers, to get the best out of people and achieve agreed objectives.
- Work with the Executive Director of Marketing & Fundraising to assist with the development of the organisation’s fundraising strategy.
- Develop a values based culture in the Operations Directorate so that the right things are acted on and challenged.
- Be an advocate for Scouting by mobilising and motivating people to get engaged and involved with the Movement.
- To take strategic and operational responsibility for the successful planning and delivery of Scouts’ events.
- Monitor the ‘temperature’ of the Movement, get out on the ground and seek ways to improve its impact, initiating steps to improve services provided to the Movement by UK Headquarters.
- Act and appropriately discharge the accountabilities of the organisation’s Lead Signatory for disclosures for those operating in Regulated Activity (as defined by the appropriate statutory disclosure bodies) and ensure the Association maintains the highest safeguarding standards to protect its members.
- Ensure that all aspects relating to Health and Safety for staff, volunteers, guests, etc. across The Scout Association Group are well managed and that there are effective frameworks and methods in place to provide compliance assurance.
- Build opportunities for external relations and speaking engagements to promote Scouting to external audiences.
- Deputise for the Chief Executive as necessary.
- Undertake any other responsibilities commensurate with the level of responsibility of the role.