Head of Aquatics Competency

The Amateur Swimming Association (Swim England) Limited; Nanpantan; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading aquatic organization in the UK seeks a Head of Aquatics Competency to provide strategic direction across Learn to Swim and water safety initiatives. This role involves collaborating with government, partners, and academics to drive policy influence and sustainable change. Candidates should have experience leading strategic programs, excellent communication skills, and the ability to manage budgets and operations effectively. The position requires a collaborative leadership style and strong interpersonal skills. The role is based at SportPark with some remote work and travel.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of government strategy and priorities across school sport and water safety.
• Experience leading strategic programs in a development context.
• Ability to measure impact of sport programs using various methods.

Responsibilities

• Lead the aquatics competency work strand and oversee budgets.
• Manage Swim England's Learn to Swim Framework to increase participation.
• Collaborate with partners to influence policy and investment.

Skills

Knowledge of government strategy and priorities

Experience leading a strategic work strand

Experience measuring impact of initiatives

Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Collaborative leadership style

Strong organisational skills

Strong interpersonal skills

Job description

About Us

Swim England is the national governing body for swimming in England.

We help people learn how to swim, enjoy the water safely, and compete in all our sports.

Our vision is of a nation swimming and we strive to inspire everyone to enjoy the water in the way that suits them. We work with our partners to create engaging programmes that enable everyone to be active, have fun and stay healthy through swimming.

About the Role

We are seeking a strategic and collaborative Head of Aquatics Competency to lead one of the core work strands within the One Swim England strategy. This senior leadership role is central to our ambition that every person can enjoy swimming and aquatics confidently and competently.

You will provide strategic direction and operational leadership across Learn to Swim, School Swimming and Water Safety, overseeing delivery, budgets and impact. Working closely with internal teams, national partners, academics and government stakeholders, you will influence policy, investment and practice across the aquatics system to drive meaningful and sustainable change.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategically lead the aquatics competency work strand, including objectives, delivery plans, day-to-day operations and budgets.
• Oversee Swim England’s Learn to Swim Framework and Programme to grow participation and increase diversity across England.
• Lead Swim England’s contribution to national water safety and drowning prevention agendas.
• Design, develop and oversee Swim England’s strategy and approach to School Swimming.
• Collaborate with government departments, national partners and agencies across education, school sport, physical activity, leisure and water safety to influence policy and investment.
• Engage with academic partners to inform best practice across physical literacy, pedagogy, motor learning and outdoor education.
• Work collaboratively across Swim England directorates to connect delivery across clubs, leisure operators, health systems, swim schools and local authorities.
• Provide strong leadership and functional line management across the aquatics competency team.
• Share collective accountability with the Director of Community Participation and Health and other strand leaders for directorate-wide outcomes.
• Provide collaborative leadership to National Development Managers to ensure joined-up development and delivery.

Skills and Experience – Essential

• Knowledge of government strategy and priorities across school sport, physical education and water safety.
• Experience leading a strategic work strand and associated programmes in a development context.
• Experience measuring the impact of sport and physical activity initiatives using quantitative and qualitative methods.
• Excellent written, verbal and presentation communication skills.
• A collaborative leadership style, able to work laterally and vertically.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise effectively.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to provide confident, consistent leadership across complex stakeholder systems.

Our Values

• We include
• We are ambitious
• We collaborate
• We do what’s right

Please be advised that we cannot offer visa sponsorship and that you must have right to work in the UK to apply or be considered for this role. If you are a non-UK/EU National, you must have an appropriate working Visa to undertake employment. You must also be working within the UK to apply or be considered for this role, due to the public liability insurance Swim England holds.

Swim England is committed to inclusion and embracing the spirit of all equalities legislation. As a Disability Confident Employer, we actively encourage applications from disabled people. We recognise that the diversity of our workforce is not reflective of today’s society and we are currently operating a pilot scheme whereby applicants from ethnically diverse backgrounds can opt into our guaranteed interview scheme. Candidates that have opted into the scheme will be guaranteed an interview provided that they have demonstrated, within their application, that they meet the essential criteria for the role. When emailing the CV and cover letter, applicants from ethnically diverse backgrounds are encouraged to state they wish to ‘Opt In’ to the scheme.

Where possible, Swim England will always make reasonable adjustments for accessibility to anyone who requires it.

All appointments will be made on merit, following a fair and transparent process, in line with the Equality Act 2010. However, the organisation may employ positive action where candidates from underrepresented groups can demonstrate their ability to perform the role equally well.

Swim England is also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

This job is SportPark based (minimum of 2 days in the office) with regular national travel, and occasional international travel.