Senior Programme Lead

Bloomsbury Football Foundation; Leicester; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Co-working space

Staff socials

Event attendance at matches and events

Cycle to work scheme

Salary pension scheme

24 days holiday (plus increases)

Training & study leave

Job summary

Bloomsbury Football Foundation is launching a Community in Leicester to bring inclusive football sessions to local schools, community groups and holiday camps. You will lead the new programme with support from the London team, establishing relationships and operational foundations to ensure high-quality delivery and adherence to safeguarding standards.

The role is entry level, with potential for growth as the programme scales.

Qualifications

• Essential: Strong alignment with BFF’s values and a passion for football as a tool for social impact.
• Essential: Experience coordinating youth programmes within Leicester, and deep knowledge of the local community.
• Essential: Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to manage schedules, resources, and multiple tasks across more than one location.
• Essential: Track record taking ownership of defined tasks and sees them through to a high standard with limited need for rework.
• Essential: Clear, professional communication skills, adapting tone for different audiences including participants, parents, coaches, and colleagues.
• Essential: A proactive, problem-solving approach — spots issues and suggests improvements rather than simply accepting the status quo.
• Essential: Reliable and detail-oriented, with the ability to maintain accurate records and consistently meet deadlines.
• Essential: Experience using data and insights to drive operational improvement.
• Essential: Comfortable making routine decisions independently and knowing when to elevate.
• Essential: Good grasp of technology and digital tools, including Microsoft 365.
• Essential: A collaborative team player, curious about how the wider organisation works and keen to learn and grow.
• Essential: Eligibility to live and work in the UK.

Responsibilities

• Launch the Communities programme in Leicester, working closely with the BFF London team to get the first sessions off the ground.
• Coordinate the day-to-day delivery of the Communities programme across schools, community training sessions, and holiday camps, ensuring all sessions run smoothly.
• Manage schedules and resources across a range of facilities, coaches, and community partners, working to ensure all sessions deliver against BFF quality standards.
• Maintain accurate performance data and documentation for the programme to support strong safeguarding and guide continuous improvement of the programme.
• Work collaboratively across teams to support a community programme that amplifies impact and contributes to BFF’s broader goals and mission.

Skills

Organisational skills

Programme coordination

Stakeholder management

Communication

Relationship building

Problem solving

Data management

Attention to detail

UK work eligibility

Leicester knowledge

Tools

Microsoft 365

Job description

About Bloomsbury Football Foundation

In 2018, Bloomsbury Football Foundation started with four kids and a bag of footballs on a housing estate in Camden. Today, we reach over 6,500 children and young people every week across London — and we're just getting started.

Department: Programmes

Location: Leicester

Compensation: £30,000 - £40,000 / year

Description

About Bloomsbury Football Foundation

In 2018, Bloomsbury Football Foundation started with four kids and a bag of footballs on a housing estate in Camden. Today, we reach over 6,500 children and young people every week across London — and we're just getting started.

We exist because not every child grows up with the same opportunities to play, belong, and progress. Too many young people are locked out of the game by cost, circumstance, or geography. We're changing that — using football, the world's most popular sport, as a powerful vehicle for health, wellbeing, and social change. It's not about producing stars. It's about shaping better futures.

In just a few years, our income has grown from £1m to over £5m. We're now expanding beyond London into areas of deprivation across the country, with ambitions to reach over 40,000 young people every week by 2031. No other sport-for-good charity in the UK has achieved scale at this level. We intend to be the first.

To get there, we need people who believe what we believe — that football has the unique power to change lives. Forward, together.

About the role

Bloomsbury Football Foundation is on a mission to transform the lives of young people through the magic of football, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to play regardless of ability to pay, and delivering programmes that support young people’s development on and off the pitch. Our programmes reach over 6,500 young people in London each week – and in the next few months, we’re starting a new Community in Leicester.

Our Communities programme takes a place-based approach to football, delivering high-quality, inclusive sessions that create connection and foster community. The programme delivers across schools, community training sessions, and holiday camps within localised Bloomsbury Football Foundation communities.

As our first hire in Leicester, you will play a central role in making BFF a real and recognised presence supporting young people in the city. Working within BFF’s established programme frameworks and with close support from the London team, your focus in the early stages of the role will be on building the relationships, partnerships, and day-to-day operational foundations that drive the success of our new Leicester Community. You will oversee the day-to-day delivery of the programme, coordinate scheduling, resources, records, and communications with participants, and ensure that every session runs smoothly and to a consistently high standard.

To succeed in this role, you’ll be passionate about young people’s development and breaking down barriers to accessing sport. You will bring excellent organisational skills, reliability and attention to detail, confidence juggling multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment, clear communication, and a willingness to take initiative and learn.

The role is banded at the Entry level, but we welcome applications from people with more experience who are drawn to the challenge of starting something up in a new city. The role has strong potential to grow alongside the programme, and the person who takes it will have a real influence over our future programming in Leicester.

Our commitment to inclusion

At Bloomsbury, belonging isn't just something we create for the young people we serve — it's something we live as an organisation and is embedded into core values. We are committed to building a team that reflects the communities we work in, and we actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, ethnicities, and identities.

We particularly welcome applications from women and people from underrepresented groups, who remain underrepresented in both the sport and charity sectors. We know that the best idea wins regardless of who it comes from, and we are proud to be building an organisation where everyone has a place to play, belong, and progress.

Please note: This role is subject to safer recruitment measures, including a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and a public-domain social media/online background check in compliance with current data protection guidelines.

Key Responsibilities

Programme Operations & Coordinations

• Launch the Communities programme in Leicester, working closely with the BFF London team to get the first sessions off the ground
• Coordinate the day-to-day delivery of the Communities programme across schools, community training sessions, and holiday camps, ensuring all sessions run smoothly
• Manage schedules and resources across a range of facilities, coaches, and community partners, working to ensure all sessions deliver against BFF quality standards
• Maintain accurate performance data and documentation for the programme to support strong safeguarding and guide continuous improvement of the programme
• Work collaboratively across teams to support a community programme that amplifies impact and contributes to BFF’s broader goals and mission

Communication & Stakeholder Management

• Act as the first point of contact for inbound communications from parents, schools and community partners, handling enquiries, resolving issues, and ensuring a seamless experience for everyone involved in the programme
• Manage outbound programme communications, ensuring our messages are intentional, relevant, and reflective of BFF's values
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with schools, local authorities, community organisations, and other delivery partners, with the aim of expanding reach and deepening impact
• Represent Bloomsbury Football Foundation at relevant events and forums, as needed, championing the role of community football in driving social change

Systems, Data & Continuous Improvement

• Develop and maintain efficient operational systems and processes that enable the programme to scale while maintaining quality
• Use data and participant feedback to continuously improve the player, school, and partner experience, ensuring insight drives decision-making
• Support the collection, analysis, and presentation of programme data related to participation, quality, and financial performance to inform delivery and reporting
• Support the strategic growth of the programme by contributing ideas and identifying opportunities to increase participation and remove barriers
• Uphold BFF’s safeguarding policies and values at all times across everything you do

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

Essential:

• Strong alignment with BFF’s values and a passion for football as a tool for social impact
• Experience coordinating youth programmes within Leicester, and deep knowledge of the local community
• Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to manage schedules, resources, and multiple tasks across more than one location
• Track record taking ownership of defined tasks and sees them through to a high standard with limited need for rework
• Clear, professional communication skills, adapting tone for different audiences including participants, parents, coaches, and colleagues
• A proactive, problem-solving approach — spots issues and suggests improvements rather than simply accepting the status quo
• Reliable and detail-oriented, with the ability to maintain accurate records and consistently meet deadlines
• Experience using data and insights to drive operational improvement
• Comfortable making routine decisions independently and knowing when to elevate
• Good grasp of technology and digital tools, including Microsoft 365
• A collaborative team player, curious about how the wider organisation works and keen to learn and grow
• Eligibility to live and work in the UK

Desirable Criteria

• Experience working in the not-for-profit or social impact sector
• Experience coordinating sports, education, or youth programmes
• Understanding of the grassroots football landscape and/or youth sports provision

Benefits

• Access to co-working space
• Regular staff socials & monthly ‘Team Talk’ in London with pop-up catering
• Opportunities to attend Premier League, WSL, FA Cup, League Cup, and Champions League football matches
• Cycle to work scheme
• Salary sacrifice workplace pension scheme
• 24 days holiday allowance, increasing by one day per year after two years’ service
• Funding toward training and five days of fully paid study leave
• The chance to grow within a mission-driven organisation doing work that genuinely matters

At Bloomsbury Football Foundation, we believe that the best teams reflect the communities they serve. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace where people of all backgrounds, identities and experiences feel welcome, valued and able to do their best work. We particularly encourage applications from women and people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, who are currently underrepresented in our team. We assess every candidate on their ability, potential and values, nothing else. If you care about what we do and believe you have something to contribute, we want to hear from you.

Bloomsbury Football Foundation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people in our programmes. Recruitment for all roles adheres to our Safer Recruitment Policy, which includes the requirement for an Enhanced DBS check with Children’s Barred List for all staff members. Online and social media checks will be carried out on candidates who are offered a role, in line with our Safer Recruitment. Coaching staff will be required to hold an in-date FA Safeguarding Children Qualification and undergo safeguarding onboarding training.; for safeguarding questions, contact [e-mail].