Programmes Associate

Application Deadline: 26 August 2025

Department: Targeted Programmes

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Manchester

Reporting To: Katie O'Kelly

Compensation: £25,155 / year

Description

• We train teachers and leaders at all levels to get better at the things that make the biggest difference: what you teach, how you teach it, and how you create the conditions for schools to thrive.
• We share what works. Everyone can benefit from evidence of how great teaching and leadership can improve schools and change lives, so we connect people to the latest research and best practice.
• We champion every teacher and school leader’s potential to develop, as the driving force for sustainable school improvement.

We would like you to:

• Support the delivery of stakeholder engagement and communications plans across multiple channels, e.g. drafting and issuing programme communications via bulk mail-merged emails on Salesforce, working on handbooks, updating the customer portal etc.
• Provide high-quality handling of in-bound stakeholder queries, escalating where appropriate in line with agreed escalation policies, to build a friendly, professional and warm relationship with stakeholders
• Liaise with colleagues in other teams as necessary to support the effective resolution of customer issues e.g. trouble accessing our learning management system or attendance at programme events.

• Updating and tracking tasks on programme workplans to support the Programme Operations team.
• Taking minutes and recording actions at matrix meetings, and maintaining up-to-date risk logs
• Create reports to provide key information to other teams to ensure a high-quality programme experience, e.g. events and faculty planning teams to allocate coaches effectively and support reasonable adjustments
• Attend online or face-to-face events in a supporting role as and when requested to provide a face for the organisation, to build relationships with stakeholders, and to ensure effective delivery of our programmes.

• Use systems to monitor and evaluate stakeholder engagement and progress and flag where additional support may be required, escalating where appropriate in line with agreed escalation policies
• Collect and analyse stakeholder feedback and follow up where appropriate in line with team ways of working, and contribute to continuous improvement across the team
• Maintain excellent records of all communications and stakeholder information on shared systems accessible to others

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• A good understanding of customer service delivery and best practice
• Good organisation, planning and prioritisation skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Good communication skills (written and oral)
• Ability to use own initiative
• Able to respond positively and flexibly to change and/or to challenging situations with a desire to seek solutions and make improvements
• Strong team player with the ability to work independently and seek advice where required
• Able to accurately record, monitor and analyse data
• Committed to equality and diversity
• Competent with IT using programmes and applications such as Microsoft 365

• Previous experience of using CRM systems, e.g. Salesforce
• Previous customer service work experience ideally within the education or charity sector
• Knowledge of or experience using project management tools/software such as Click Up or Asana

What’s in it for you….?

• Competitive annual salary
• Professional development for all staff
• 25 days’ annual leave, plus bank holidays and 'winter shut down’ at the end of December/beginning of January
• Employer pension contribution of 11%
• Agile, hybrid working culture, so you can manage when and where you work
• Staff affinity networks that help keep equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work
• Blind recruitment process to ensure equality and fairness in our hiring
• Enhanced maternity pay after a year’s service
• Shared parental leave package
• Access to free, confidential 24/7 wellbeing and support line
• Comfortable and collaborative workspaces in the city centres of Manchester, Birmingham and London
• Work-from-home technology package to support hybrid working
• Interest free season ticket / bike loans

• You care deeply about educational disadvantage and being part of an organisation that challenges inequality
• You have a good work ethic and strive to make a difference in the job you do
• You always give maximum effort to understand and meet the needs of our partners and participants
• You always have a great attitude so we “can do” for all our colleagues, partners and participants
• You are open to feedback and learning because we want to keep getting better
• You work with your initiative to bring new ideas and a fresh perspective
• You are well organised and can prioritise work that will have the greatest impact

• You want a career with a person-centred organisation with a cause at its heart.
• You have a collaborative work ethos, bring warmth and good humour to work and constructive outlook to every situation
• You enjoy working in a fast-moving workplace, with a great support structure around you
• You would like to grow with an ambitious organisation as it progresses over time
• Want flexibility in how you work – splitting your time between one of our offices and remote working and managing your own working patterns to get the job done.