£75.5k-£85.3k pa plus excellent benefits

This is a full-time role but we offer a range of flexible working arrangements and encourage our people to take advantage of them.

Blackfriars, London – Hybrid working

We are recruiting for a Head of Operations to join Challenge Works

About Challenge Works

Challenge Works is world-leading in the development and implementation of high-impact challenge prizes that attract and enable innovation to solve pressing societal problems. Our model shines a spotlight on specific problems and opportunities, to inspire and guide the most creative and dynamic groups of innovators to deliver impact.

We are owned by the innovation foundation Nesta and have delivered over 90 high-profile challenge prizes worldwide. From combating antimicrobial resistance to tackling plastic pollution, we have worked with more than 12,000 innovator teams and helped foundations, governments, international NGOs and corporations to direct nearly £250m in prize funding to support the boldest and bravest ideas to become real.

We believe it has never been more urgent to incentivise innovators to explore radical and boundary-pushing solutions for societal benefit. We have a new strategy which builds on our strengths and our Head of Operations will be key in enabling our team of 40 to deliver on this.

The role

We are looking for an exceptional individual for a Head of Operations role who is excited to help us embed our new strategy and strengthen our foundations for greater impact. This is a senior role within Challenge Works with responsibility for leading our operations function and making strategic recommendations as we look to grow our impact globally.

The ideal candidate will have experience of operational functions within a project-based or consultancy environment and will bring knowledge and fresh perspectives on effective resourcing approaches, people management and people development processes, and finances. You will have experience of making things happen in a changing organisation and be comfortable and enthusiastic implementing change and supporting other team members to understand and embrace opportunities to scale our impact and propel our organisation forwards.

Our new Head of Operations will need to be very comfortable with big picture thinking and making strategic recommendations, at the same time as being heavily involved in the detail of finance, people and the appropriate deployment of resourcing across projects to support the impact of our work and to meet client demands and deadlines.

Main Responsibilities

Support to the Executive Director

Support the Executive Director to implement the new strategy, strengthen ways of working across Challenge Works, and report to our new Challenge Works Board.

Leadership

Contribute to the leadership and management of Challenge Works as a flourishing and groundbreaking social enterprise, proactively working with other members of the senior leadership team to execute the strategy and solve day-to-day challenges.
Foster and support a collaborative environment and role model the behaviours that will help transform us into a learning organisation with a culture of continuous improvement and establish our team as thought leaders, actively supporting other team members to develop the skills needed.

People & Culture

Lead on all People related matters across Challenge Works, working closely with the Nesta People Team whose processes and policies we follow, and introducing new People related initiatives which support our work.
Responsible for learning and development including working closely with the Leadership Team to create a healthy, positive and high performing organisational culture.

Finance & Legal

Manage and oversee financial planning, budgeting, reforecasting and business modelling for Challenge Works to ensure financial decision-making is consistent with short-term and long-term strategy, including introducing improvements to support efficiency.
Serve as the liaison to the Nesta Finance Team, with responsibility for all financial reporting to Nesta, Challenge Works Committee and Nesta Board where required.
Support Programme Managers in managing their individual programme budgets, including regular forecasting and monitoring.
Main liaison with the Nesta Legal Team who support us with compliance and governance.
Manage procurement, contracting and relationships with key central suppliers.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Lead our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion work to deliver on our ambitious EDI goals, working alongside Nesta’s Head of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion as part of Nesta’s overall approach. The 2021 strategy can be found here.

Resource planning

Responsible for resource planning for c30 programme delivery staff across our team of 40, facilitating prioritisation decisions with the Leadership team, and introducing improvements to existing processes to support efficiency and decision making
Advise on and manage all recruitment, working with the Nesta people team.

People Management

Ensure the effective and collaborative line management of your direct reports supporting their career trajectory, through appraisals, objective setting and productive feedback

Operations

Own and lead on the identification, development and implementation of new policies, protocols and business processes necessary to maintain/enhance the performance of Challenge Works.
Own and lead on management information across the team - the gathering and reporting of management data to enable informed decision making e.g finances, resourcing and pipeline.
Act as a key interface between Challenge Works and Nesta, building strong relationships with a wide range of contacts and peers such as Finance, Legal, People, IT, Business Processes teams.

Reporting

Reports to the Executive Director of Challenge Works.
Responsible for the Operations Manager, who in turn line manages a Team Assistant as well as interns and apprentices when applicable.

Experience

The successful candidate will be passionate about helping organisations to thrive and have operational leadership experience in innovative and ambitious organisations

Have a strong track record in business management and operations.
Have a good understanding of talent and culture management
Have experience in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (E,D&I) practice.
Have strong financial acumen.
Have experience in managing resourcing of multiple projects within a project-based or consultancy environment and have knowledge of best practices for effective resource planning and management.
Have experience of change management and be comfortable and enthusiastic implementing change and supporting other team members through periods of change.
Demonstrate a clear passion and commitment to social innovation.
Be comfortable and skilful in handling ambiguity and a changing environment.
Be intuitive and have sound judgement.
Be able to think strategically and make recommendations while also having attention to detail.
Be a true team player - empowering others, fostering teamwork and developing people.
Demonstrate ability to build strong relationships across a diverse team.
Have excellent diplomatic and negotiation skills.

What we offer

Salary: £75.4k - £85.3k (offers are expected to be made towards the bottom of the band) plus an array of benefits, including private medical insurance, dental insurance, the ability to buy and sell annual leave, eyecare vouchers and more

Location: This role is based in London, Blackfriars, hybrid working arrangement with a minimum of two days in the office. These are currently Tuesday and Thursday.

Term: Permanent

Hours: This is a full time role but we offer a range of flexible working arrangements and encourage our people to take advantage of them. Many do.

Making an application

To apply for this role, please submit your application before 8:00am on the 16 of September 2024.

Interviews will take place w/c 23rd of September 2024.

At Nesta, we believe that a diverse workforce leads to an organisation that is more innovative, more creative and gets better results.

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we serve. We also want our workplace to be one where different experiences, expertise and perspectives are valued, and where everyone is encouraged to grow and develop.

This means that when we are recruiting, we actively seek to reach a diverse pool of candidates. It also means that we are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that potential employees may need to in order to be successful.

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life, so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including working from home, compressed or part-time hours, job shares and other arrangements.

Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore.

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Head of Operations