Head of Youth

Organisation

Access Sport CIO

Salary

£45,000 – 50,000 FTE, with salary offered subject to location and experience

Location

London or Manchester or Bristol

Contract type

Permanent (Full time)

Closing date

17 July 2026

Interview date

27 July 2026

Job Description

Access Sport is a national charity with a vision that no one should be
excluded from the transformational benefits of community sport. We
are on a mission to make inclusion the norm in community sport by
tackling the access barriers faced by disadvantaged, disabled and
neurodivergent young people.

We do this by training, equipping, and supporting community sports
clubs, organisations, and volunteers to provide inclusive programmes,
unleashing their potential to transform the lives of underserved young
people in their local communities.

This work is either place based (Changing Places) or sport focussed
(Changing Sports). All the clubs we support are invited to join our
Inclusive Club Network.

In 2025/26, Access Sport engaged over 40,000 disadvantaged and
disabled young people, with a strong representation from ethnically
diverse communities, girls, and previously less active young people.

Read more about our impact in our Annual Review. A number of videos
showcasing our work can be found on our YouTube channel. These
include a recent film about our Access Sport and an episode from our
Youth Board’s recent Changemakers series.

Role purpose
Summary
Access Sport is seeking an ambitious and values-driven leader to shape, embed and scale our youth leadership and youth voice work across Access Sport and the wider sports sector at a pivotal moment of growth.

This role will lead the strategic development and delivery of our new
Youth Leadership programme while ensuring that youth voice, coproduction and shared decision making become embedded across all Access Sport’s programmes, partnerships, evaluation and governance.

Working across the UK, you will oversee a national model that supports clubs to embed youth voice within their ways of working, develop flexible leadership pathways and enable young people to influence community sport.

The postholder will bring a strong understanding of the changing realities facing young people today and use insight from youth policy, research and practice to ensure Access Sport's approach remains relevant, inclusive and responsive to young people's needs and aspirations.

As a member of the Delivery Leadership Team, you will play a key role in shaping organisational strategy and culture, ensuring lived experience informs decision-making. You will lead a growing team and network, including staff, partners and Youth Advisors, to deliver impact at scale.

This is a unique opportunity to drive systemic change in how youth voice is embedded within community sport nationally.

Responsibilities
Strategic leadership and programme development
• Lead the strategic development of Access Sport's organisational
approach to youth voice, participation and co-production,
ensuring consistent practice across programmesteams and
decision-making structures.
• Oversee delivery of our UK-wide Youth Leadership programme,
ensuring effective implementation across the three pillars:
- club readiness and inclusive conditions
- youth leadership pathways and progression
- youth influence on decision-making and practice.
• Lead, manage and inspire a high performing, values-driven
programme team across multiple locations.
• Maintain a strong understanding of the national youth policy
landscape, emerging research and trends affecting young people,
ensuring Access Sport's youth leadership and participation
approach remains evidence-informed and relevant.
• Contribute to organisational strategy and act as a key member of
the Delivery Leadership Team.

Programme delivery and impact
• Ensure high quality delivery at scale across multiple regions and
nations, working closely with internal teams and UK partners.
• Lead robust monitoring, evaluation and learning, embedding
youth-led evaluation approaches and using data to drive
continuous improvement.
• Oversee the scaling of youth leadership opportunities, enabling
thousands of young people to progress into meaningful leadership
roles.
• Ensure safeguarding, inclusion and equity are fully embedded
across all aspects of delivery.

Youth voice, co-design and leadership
• Champion and embed meaningful youth voice across all aspects of
Access Sport’s work, from programme design to governance and
evaluation.
• Lead the recruitment, development and progression of our paid
Youth Advisors and wider voluntary youth voice structures,
ensuring roles are meaningful, inclusive and appropriately
supported.
• Promote the development of clear and flexible leadership
pathways that support young people to progress into coaching,
volunteering/ micro-volunteering, advocacy and governance roles
within community clubs.
• Promote a culture where lived experience informs decision-making
and power is shared with young people.

Partnerships and system change
• Build relationships across the youth sector and identify
opportunities to align Access Sport's work with national youth
priorities, strategies and policy developments.
• Act as a senior representative for Access Sport, representing the
organisation at key forums and influencing sector practice, policy
and funding.
• Lead effective collaboration across the four nations, balancing
consistency with local adaptation.

Funding, sustainability and growth
• Drive the growth and sustainability of the youth leadership
portfolio through strategic partnerships and funding.
• Contribute to funding applications, reporting and relationship
management with funders.

Person specification
Skills/ experience
Essential
• Senior leader with experience in sport for development, youth
work, education or a related field.
• Experience of developing meaningful youth participation, coproduction or youth governance structures that influence
organisational or programme decision-making.
• Proven track record of designing, delivering and scaling
programmes that centre young people, community engagement
and/or leadership development.
• An understanding of the social, economic and cultural factors
shaping young people's lives, alongside knowledge of current youth
policy, participation and leadership practice.
• Experience in leading and developing high-performing teams
across multiple programmes or locations.
• Experience in building and managing partnerships across local,
regional and/or national stakeholders.
• Financial and operational management experience, including
budget oversight and funding awareness.
• An understanding of safeguarding responsibilities and best
practice when working with children and young people.

Desirable
• Knowledge of national youth policy and strategy across the UK,
including developments relating to youth participation, youth
leadership, inclusion and wellbeing.
• Experience working with community sports clubs, governing bodies
or system partners.
• Experience influencing policy, systems change or sector-wide
practice.
• Experience in establishing or supporting youth advisory boards,
youth governance structures or youth research approaches.
• Lived experience of the communities Access Sport supports,
including disability, neurodivergence and/ or socio-economic
disadvantage.

Personal attributes
• A personal commitment to Access Sport’s vision and values.
• Self-motivated, able to use initiative, and have a highly flexible
approach to work.
• Proactive and adaptable - ability to think creatively and use
initiative to achieve outcomes.
• Reliable and hardworking with the confidence to work
independently.
• A team player with good interpersonal skills.
• Committed to continuing personal and professional development.

In addition:
• The post holder must have the right to work in the UK.
• The post holder must be able to travel regularly within the UK,
including to our partners' offices in Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland.
• There will be some requirements to work on evenings or weekends,
for which time off in lieu (TOIL) can be taken.

Equal opportunities
We welcome and encourage applications from people of all
backgrounds. Access Sport is committed to creating an inclusive culture, through fostering a diverse workforce where everyone feels like they belong, differences are valued, and everyone can reach their potential.

We are actively seeking to diversify and create a workplace that is
welcoming for all, ensuring that our workforce is representative of wider society and the communities we support. If you need any adjustments to the recruitment process, at either the application or interview stage, please contact us.

We offer disabled applicants the option of requesting that their
application is considered under the terms of our Guaranteed Interview
Scheme (GIS). If you wish to apply under our GIS, please indicate this in your cover email. For more information, please visit our Join the
Team page.

Background checks
As this role may, at times, involve working in a regulated environment
with young people, any offer will be conditional to satisfactory
background checks which includes a criminal record check with the
Disclosure and Barring Service and two references.

Staff benefits
Access Sport is an exciting and dynamic place to work. We pride
ourselves on being a close-knit and well-supported team with a clear
sense of purpose, delivering real impact. Inclusion is at the heart of
everything we do.

We are committed to supporting the development of our team members and, should you wish, there are opportunities for team members to get involved in different aspects of the charity, from the delivery of our programmes on the ground, to fundraising, events and advocacy.

Staff benefits include:
• Employee Assistance Programme - Access to a 24/7 confidential
helpline, counselling services and online information.
• Annual leave - 28 days annual leave, including 3 days between
Christmas and New Year, plus 1 extra day of leave per year of
service for the first 5 years. This equates to 33 days of annual leave
after 5 years of continuous service. Plus 8 days paid public holidays.
• Healthy living and wellbeing employer - We welcome staff to
embed regular exercise into their daily work lives and have
quarterly team away days.
• Volunteering/ personal development days - Two additional days of
paid leave each year to volunteer for an Access Sport club or other
charity, or to use as personal development days.
• Pension - 5% employer pension contribution.
• New Mums and Dads, including adoptive parents, can take
enhanced maternity and paternity leave.
• Flexible working and family-friendly - Hybrid and flexible working
arrangements which are family-friendly and provide flexibility
around caring responsibilities.
• 24/7 GP service to provide employees with a phone or video
appointment at a time and date that suits them.
• Cycle to Work scheme - saving up to 39% off a new bike and
accessories.
• Group Life Assurance for all staff on payroll.

How to apply

To apply, please email Careers@AccessSport.org.uk and attach: • A copy of your CV. • A covering letter (maximum two sides) that includes: - Why you are interested in joining Access Sport as Head of Youth. - Evidence of how your skills, knowledge and experience meet the person specification. - Your thoughts on the opportunities and challenges facing youth leadership and youth voice in community sport, and how you would contribute to the continued growth and impact of this work at Access Sport. • A completed equal opportunities form, which can be found here: www.AccessSport.org.uk/join-the-team. Candidates who have been shortlisted for an interview will be notified by Friday 24 July. The first interviews are currently due to take place during the week commencing w/c 27 July. If you have any questions or would like to have an informal discussion about the role, please email Sue.Wheeler@AccessSport.org.uk. Data protection Access Sport CIO will only process and store your personal information, this means any information that identifies or could identify you, for the purposes of recruitment, after which it will be securely disposed.

Share

• X
• LinkedIn
• Email