Operations Manager (Sector Skills: Community)
c.£64,000 per annum
Bedford
Fixed Term Contract (18 months)
Hybrid Working
Are you passionate about making a difference in people’s lives? Do you have experience in managing and delivering high-profile programmes? If so, we have an exciting opportunity for you!
We are looking for an Operations Manager to lead and manage the delivery of Money Guiders, a programme that helps organisations and practitioners across the UK to deliver good money guidance. In this role, you will work collaboratively with the Operations Manager (Sector Skills: Digital Learning) to jointly lead and manage programme delivery.
The Operations Manager will report directly to Sector Skills Network and Communities Lead. In this role you will be responsible for the following;
To lead and manage the delivery of Money Guiders; a learning, development and support programme which helps organisations and practitioners across the UK to deliver good money guidance. An overview of the programme can be found here.
The primary purpose of the job is to lead and manage the Network & Communities workstream which involves the delivery of a significant programme of events, workshops, webinars, training sessions, forums and conferences across the UK, as well as a communications and engagement strategy for a growing network of UK practitioners currently numbered over 7,000. Online community activities and in-person events are facilitated by MaPS and delivered through external suppliers. This role manages the effective delivery of the workstream including a small team, and its integration with other cross-cutting Money Guiders workstreams such as eLearning and Award, Partnerships and system change, evaluation and research, digital and data.
Key Accountabilities
- Lead and manage the delivery of Money Guiders and associated supplier contracts, budget resources, delivery timelines, quality, risks, key stakeholder relationships, internal reporting, impact assessments (e.g. data protection, equalities and vulnerabilities)
- Lead and manage cross-cutting programme objectives including communications, data and information management, external evaluation, research
- Lead and manage the delivery of a high-quality experience for 7,000+ members of the Money Guiders UK Networks, including on-boarding, access to up-to-date knowledge, events, online communities, communications and maintenance of practitioner record.
- Strengthen and grow the UK money guidance practitioner network through management and development of the annual programme of UK Money Guiders events and online community.
- Create and manage programme and project plans to track and monitor delivery against milestones and KPIs
- Manage external supplier contracts and performance against KPIs
- Work with the Commercial team to develop procurement approaches, including tender documents and processes, evaluation of bids, supplier mobilisation and decommissioning
- Manage spend in line with budget, minimising variance, forecasting and accruals, and ensuring timely and accurate Supplier payments to agreed schedules
- Manage continual improvements to systems and processes to optimise quality and efficiency, to mitigate risks and Single Point of Failure and to support business continuity.
- Use monitoring, reporting and evaluation data as an evidence base for service design and specifications
- Responsibility for programme data protection compliance and data management
- Lead and manage governance through working groups, reporting structures and escalation routes
- Lead and manage project teams including internal specialists, external suppliers, and senior stakeholders
- Line manage team members, including some matrix management, setting objectives, monitoring performance, managing training-needs,
- Contribute to strategic and operational planning for future phase of Money Guiders
You will need to demonstrate the following skills and experience;
Essential Criteria
- Senior operational management experience within a complex service delivery environment, including team/ line management.
- Experience of developing practice based learning programmes e.g. Community of Practice, Learning Communities, Peer To Peer, Action Learning, professional training events, workshops, forums, seminars / webinars, (un)conferences etc
- Contract management experience, including knowledge of public sector commercial procurement
- Experience of working in a setting that supports customers in vulnerable circumstances, those most in need, or facing multiple disadvantage.
- Strong project management skills with ability to handle multiple priorities and to help others prioritise
- Skilled in collaborative problem solving, delivering continuous improvement within complex interconnected work programmes; implementing processes that promote efficiency, effectiveness, and quality
- Skilled in monitoring and analysis of management information and working with ongoing evaluation and research data to inform continuous improvement.
- Ability to communicate effectively across a range of internal and external stakeholders and audiences
- Influencing and negotiating skills at all levels; able to challenge constructively and derive shifts in beliefs and behaviours to deliver positive change.
Desirable Criteria
- Knowledge of the money guidance, advice, or skills sectors
- Experience of working on external facing UK-wide programmes
The Money and Pensions Service is based in Bedford and as a key employer in the town we work hard to ensure that we are an active part of the community. This is a great opportunity for you to join us in Bedford and to be an integral part of the Money and Pensions Service team.
We are already forging great relationships with Bedford Borough Council and other local organisations to ensure that we are an active part of the community and fully integrated to play our part in the Government’s “levelling-up” strategy. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to be one of the first colleagues to join us in Bedford and to be an integral part of helping us establish ourselves in the town.
At the heart of the Money and Pensions Service are our values – caring, connecting and transforming, which are the foundation of our success. They permeate every area of our work and define all our business relationships and the way we work with each other. We’re not only looking for the best people in and around Bedford to come and work for us, but we need people who align themselves to our values: -
- Caring
We care about our colleagues and people whose lives we are here to transform. - Connecting
We will transform lives through our ability to make positive connections. - Transforming
We are committed to transforming lives and make a positive societal impact.
About MaPS
At MaPS, we help people – particularly those most in need – to improve their financial wellbeing and build a better, more confident future. Working collaboratively across the UK, we make sure customers can access high-quality money and pensions guidance and debt advice throughout their lives, however and whenever they need it.
About our people
In our move to Bedford, we aim to attract and retain the absolute best talent, so we can achieve our objectives and continue to make a difference to millions of people’s lives. We are keen to encourage applications from individuals across the whole community with the skills, knowledge, and behaviours for the job, and who show a strong commitment to MaPS’ objectives, values, and vision. It is important to us that we continue our ambition to be a genuinely diverse and inclusive organisation, so that we reflect the people we are here to help.
Our inclusive working environment
By fostering our values, we are immensely proud of the inclusive working environment that we have created.The diversity of our people is a strength that we embrace and wish to build upon, so we are committed to attracting people of all backgrounds.
We work hard to ensure that we have a progressive approach to inclusion, equity and belonging. We really do want our colleagues to “bring their whole selves to work.”
By way of brief example, we have an enviable ethnic diversity mix, equal gender balance with a zero mean gender pay gap and thriving colleague and ally networks, including LGBTQ+, neurodiversity, women’s health, men's health, ethnicity, and diversity.
The Money and Pensions Service is based in Bedford and as a key employer in the town we work hard to ensure that we are an active part of the community. This is a great opportunity for you to join us in Bedford and to be an integral part of the Money and Pensions Service team.
We are already forging great relationships with Bedford Borough Council and other local organisations to ensure that we are an active part of the community and fully integrated to play our part in the Government’s “levelling-up” strategy. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to be one of the first colleagues to join us in Bedford and to be an integral part of helping us establish ourselves in the town.
At the heart of the Money and Pensions Service are our values – caring, connecting and transforming, which are the foundation of our success. They permeate every area of our work and define all our business relationships and the way we work with each other. We’re not only looking for the best people in and around Bedford to come and work for us, but we need people who align themselves to our values: -
- Caring
We care about our colleagues and people whose lives we are here to transform. - Connecting
We will transform lives through our ability to make positive connections. - Transforming
We are committed to transforming lives and make a positive societal impact.
About MaPS
At MaPS, we help people – particularly those most in need – to improve their financial wellbeing and build a better, more confident future. Working collaboratively across the UK, we make sure customers can access high-quality money and pensions guidance and debt advice throughout their lives, however and whenever they need it.
About our people
In our move to Bedford, we aim to attract and retain the absolute best talent, so we can achieve our objectives and continue to make a difference to millions of people’s lives. We are keen to encourage applications from individuals across the whole community with the skills, knowledge, and behaviours for the job, and who show a strong commitment to MaPS’ objectives, values, and vision. It is important to us that we continue our ambition to be a genuinely diverse and inclusive organisation, so that we reflect the people we are here to help.
Our inclusive working environment
By fostering our values, we are immensely proud of the inclusive working environment that we have created.The diversity of our people is a strength that we embrace and wish to build upon, so we are committed to attracting people of all backgrounds.
We work hard to ensure that we have a progressive approach to inclusion, equity and belonging. We really do want our colleagues to “bring their whole selves to work.”
By way of brief example, we have an enviable ethnic diversity mix, equal gender balance with a zero mean gender pay gap and thriving colleague and ally networks, including LGBTQ+, neurodiversity, women’s health, men's health, ethnicity, and diversity.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to
Disability Confident.
