Participation Officer

Organisation: Basketball England
Salary: £25,000-28,000 per annum
Location: Nationwide, with regular travel to Manchester office
Contract type: Permanent (Full time)
Closing date: 25 February 2026
Job Description: Applications closing date: Wednesday 25th February

Contract: Permanent
Working Pattern: Minimum 37.5 hours per week. Some travel, out of office hours & weekend work may be required
Location: Nationwide, with regular travel to Manchester office
Reports to: Participation Programme Manager

PURPOSE

This role plays an important part in supporting the administration, development and logistical rollout of Basketball England participation programmes. These programmes include, but are not limited to the following: Jr. NBA, Slam Jam, Her World Her Rules, Volunteer Awards and Club Development Initiatives. The primary focus of the participation team is to grow the game through engaging new and retaining existing participants through fun, open and inclusive environments.

The role heavily relies on the ability to proactively work with a wide range of local, regional & national partners and stakeholders to ensure all participation programmes positively drive the numbers of people playing basketball across the country.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Support sustained growth through a range of insight led participation projects across England, growing participation and membership.
Plan, deliver, support and be the first point of contact for the day-to-day running of Basketball England’s Participation Programmes.
Create and maintain databases and key administrative functions such as CRM management, answering telephone enquiries, writing communications and designing data capture.
Responsible for ensuring projects offer excellent engagement opportunities that are delivered on budget, marketed effectively and have robust monitoring and evaluation methods from which you will be able to demonstrate and communicate the wider impact.
To engage, build rapport with and encourage clubs and delivery organisations to support participation projects including but not limited to Slam Jam, Her World Her Rules, Jr. NBA, Volunteer Awards, as well as other participation initiatives.
Maintain the recruitment, accreditation and deployment of clubs and delivery partners to ensure continued growth, maintaining high standards and strong governance structures.
Work with colleagues to identify, establish, develop and maintain strategic partnerships to create opportunities which positively contribute towards increasing participation, especially targeting underrepresented and unreached groups.
Support the delivery of participation programme events and activations such as Jr. NBA finals and Slam Jam activations.
Manage the customer journey for participants, delivery partners and other key stakeholders for all programmes.

OPERATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITIES

Service Delivery: To coordinate the operational delivery of participation programmes ensuring they are effective and fit for purpose ensuring partners are involved throughout.

Communications: Design and deliver frequent key messages and ongoing communications with all internal and external communications across all partners.

Decision Making: Make appropriate operational decisions to meet the programme objectives in liaison with your line manager and other teams across the business.

Marketing Support: To provide briefs and quality information to support the required campaign, marketing, communications and PR for the portfolio of programmes and related events.

Governance, Risk & Compliance: Abide by all of Basketball England’s rules, regulations and policies (including but not limited to: Equal Opportunities & Equity Policy; Safeguarding Policy; Code of Ethics & Conduct; Anti-Doping, Anti-Betting, Anti-Corruption and Confidentiality).

ED&I: Commitment to championing representation and inclusion at every level of the organisation with a proven ability to work with people from a wide range of backgrounds

Other duties: Any other duties as required by the line manager that are commensurate with the grade.

RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

Internal Team: Build relationships with teams across Basketball England in order to effectively support the operational delivery of all participation programmes and wider initiatives.

External Stakeholders: Build strong relationships with external delivery partners, facility providers, national, regional and local basketball organisations to strengthen their relationships with Basketball England and to build a network of delivery partners.

ROLE REQUIREMENTS

Qualifications:

A degree in a relevant subject or compensating work experience in a relevant, related field.

Experience:

Project Development/Organisation: Experience developing or supporting the development of participation initiatives, preferably for an NGB or third-sector organisation.
Relationship Management: Building trust and strong relationships internally and externally, ability to anticipate risks and manage stakeholder expectations.
Monitoring and evaluation: Experience of tracking and evaluating targets in a sports environment.

Personal Skills

Confident & Motivated: Confident with a high degree of self- motivation and initiative. Ability to motivate others.
Mental Agility & Initiative: Excellent mental agility with the ability to use own initiative to self-organise, plan and work effectively, taking account of daily changing and competing priorities.
Quality Work at Speed: A proven ability to produce high quality work and meet deadlines at speed and under pressure.
Teamwork: Ability to work as a member of a team, with an understanding of what behaviours contribute to effective teamwork. Appreciation of the significance of confidentiality.
Communications: Excellent interpersonal and communication skills demonstrating an ability to communicate upwards to a senior level and relate to a wide range of people and organisations in the right appropriate format (written and verbal).
Solution Development: Ability to anticipate issues, problem solve, manage ambiguity and make sound judgements on sensitive matters.
Time Management: Ability to multi-task and prioritise work.

Technical Skills

Attention to Detail & Personal Organisation: High level of demonstrable attention to detail and personal organisation to ensure prioritisation, time management and all outputs of work are of the highest standards.
Advanced ICT: Significant advanced expertise in the use of Microsoft packages (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and other related ICT software.
Numeracy & Literacy: Excellent numeracy, literacy, spelling and presentation in typewritten and other work.

Other

Shared goal/winning team mindset.
Understanding of how to get and keep people playing basketball (desirable, not essential).
Commitment to Basketball England’s values, including safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and the highest standards of governance and conduct.
A flexible attitude to working, willing to work evenings and weekends as a result of the nature of the role and event timings.
Full Driving Licence (desirable, not essential).
Job offers will be subject to completion of a satisfactory, current Basketball England DBS check and completed every three years.

We’re working to build a team that reflects the rich diversity of the basketball community in England, where everyone feels valued, respected, and able to be their full, authentic selves at work. We value diversity and are committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment. We make all employment decisions regardless of age, national origin, race, ethnicity, religion, belief, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. Basketball England is an equal opportunities employer.

Research shows that some people don’t apply for a role if they feel they do not meet 100% of the person specification. We encourage you to apply, even if you feel you don’t meet every requirement in the job description. We are a supportive and inclusive organisation, and we want to break down barriers to people joining us. We encourage you to highlight what you can bring to the role and if this role excites you, we look forward to receiving your application.
How to apply: Please upload a covering letter and CV to the application form linked on our website: https://basketballengland.co.uk/about/careers