Employment & Skills Manager

Organisation: AFC Wimbledon Foundation
Salary: £36,800
Location: Cherry Red Records Stadium, Plough Lane, London, SW17 0NR
Contract type: Permanent (Full time)
Closing date: 7 August 2026
Job Description: Role Purpose

The Employment & Skills Manager will lead the development and delivery of our current and future Employment & Skills programmes, overseeing the successful delivery of the existing EFL Training Ground, Future Dons, DIVERT and Street Soccer projects.

A key aspect of the role will be to support the development of the Foundation's exciting new Health & Community Hub at the stadium, helping to shape a vibrant, inclusive space that promotes education, employability, health and wellbeing. This will include contributing to the creation of dedicated mentoring spaces and exploring the potential development of a Youth Hub in partnership with a range of stakeholders, creating new opportunities for young people and the wider community.

Working collaboratively across Foundation departments and with external partners, the Employment & Skills Manager will embed a consistent Work Experience and Volunteering pathway across the organisation, expand the Foundation's mentoring offer to schools, and develop innovative programmes that respond to local community needs while strengthening partnerships and maximising social impact.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
• Manage the development and growth of Employment & Skills projects, including the effective line management of the Employment & Skills Team members. Leading various mentoring and skills development projects and sessions.

• Drive programme design, delivery, and quality assurance in consultation with stakeholders, internal teams, and beneficiaries.

• Work with key internal staff to develop and embed a clear process, pathway and framework for volunteering and work experience across the organisation. Training staff to implement an effective framework that supports young adults to take early steps into the industry.

• Regular monitoring of staff performance and development to ensure all are working towards meeting programme objectives and KPI’s. Building a high-performing and collaborative team, fostering a culture of resilience, togetherness and constant improvement.

• Oversee all programme budgets, ensuring cost-effective and compliant use of funds. Ensuring all programmes are delivered within budget

• Monitor financial projections, reporting, and adherence to contractual obligations and funder/donor requirements.

• Develop and oversee Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning frameworks to assess impact. Preparing reports for internal and external stakeholders as required.

• Ensure robust data capture, analysis, and reporting systems are in place across all projects. Utilising equality, diversity and inclusion data to ensure programmes align to the organisation strategy, supporting communities facing the greatest need and worst health outcomes.

• Build, nurture, and strengthen strategic partnerships with delivery partners, funders, and community stakeholders.

• Represent the Foundation on working groups, championing our vision and mission to diverse audiences. Including local DWP, EFL and Schools and sport partnerships.

• Work with the Head of Programmes to identify development opportunities and service gaps within existing programmes, subsequently approaching suitable partners and/or funders. Including writing funding applications.

• Work closely with the Communications teams to produce effective marketing literature and promotional materials to aid recruitment. Ensure success stories and case studies are captured.

• Responsible for quality assurance of the projects ensuring the needs of each partner are met. Regular monitoring of staff performance and development to ensure all are working towards meeting programme objectives and KPI’s.

• Be the Designated Safeguarding Officer for Employment & Skills projects, liaising with associated partner Safeguarding Team’s to ensure a clear line of reporting to AFC Wimbledon Foundation Safeguarding Team. Ensuring all activity is suitably risk assesses.

• To create a safe environment and act to protect all young people and vulnerable adults that are either within the care of your programmes or attending club premises and report any concerns to the Safeguarding Lead.

• To adhere to the Foundation’s policies and procedures, including Health & Safety, Financial Authorisation, Confidentiality and GDPR.

• To act as an ambassador for diversity, equality, and inclusion, and demonstrate a positive commitment by treating others fairly in line with our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy and reporting any acts of discrimination through appropriate channels
• Deliver additional roles and responsibilities as agreed by Line Manager.

PERSON SPECIFICATION
Qualifications:
• Hold a relevant higher education or industry recognised certification or have a minimum of 5 years’ experience working within Charity and/or football and sports industry.
• Mentoring, Youth Work or Health & Social Care related qualification.
• Institute of Leadership and Management qualification or willing to work towards.
• Emergency Aid and Safeguarding Children Certificates.
• Ability to travel to activity & meetings across London and surrounding areas / Full Driving License

Experience:
• Experience of working in a management role at a Charity and/or football and sports industry.
• Experience of designing, delivering and managing employment, mentoring and training programmes to achieve set outcomes.
• Strong project management skills able to manage multiple strands of work to a high level.
• Outstanding track record in developing employment and skills opportunities for hard to reach groups.
• Knowledge of M&E and quality assurance programmes relevant to the industry sector.
• Knowledge of Community Club Organisations and Football Charity Programmes.
• Good knowledge of ED&I practices and policies, local demographic and social needs.

Skills & Behaviors
• Ability to lead, motivate and influence participants, staff, and partners to work towards greater community outcomes.
• Ability to build strong cross-departmental and organisational relationships.
• Strong analytical skills, proficient in the use of ICT and ability to analyse data and create reports.
• Ensures the secure and professional management of confidential information.
• Good communication and organisation skills.
• Confident and outgoing personality.

GENERAL INFORMATION
The Employee must at all times carry out his/her responsibilities with due regard to the AFC Wimbledon Foundation policies and procedures in particular Health & Safety, Financial Authorisation, Confidentiality and with regard to the Data Protection Act.
The Employee must act to protect all young people and adults at risk that are in their care or attending the Company’s premises. The Employee must report any misconduct or suspected misconduct to the Safeguarding Manager.
The Employee must ensure a positive commitment towards equality and diversity by treating others fairly and not committing any form of direct or indirect discrimination, victimisation or harassment of any description and to promote positive working relations amongst Employees and customers.
The above Job Description is not intended to be exhaustive, the duties and responsibilities may therefore vary over time according to the changing needs of the Club.
How to apply: Please go to our vacancies page for further details and to apply. https://afcwimbledonfoundation.com/work-with-us

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Employment & Skills Manager