Operations Manager

GoodWork is a youth employment and social mobility charity, creating fairer opportunities for young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. This is an exciting opportunity to join GoodWork at a pivotal moment in our growth. Founded in 2022, we're a fast-growing organisation with real impact and big ambitions to drive systemic change for the community we serve.

About the role

This is a key strategic hire for GoodWork. As our Operations Manager, you'll play a central role in how the organisation runs, grows and delivers impact. Reporting directly to our CEO and joining our Leadership Team, you'll bring structure, pace and clarity across GoodWork, helping turn our strategy into effective day-to-day delivery.

You'll be the only person at GoodWork dedicated full-time to operations - plugged in to what's happening across every team, helping the CEO, trustees and staff connect the dots and making sure GoodWork runs coherently and efficiently. This is a broad, stretching role, but as we're a small organisation, a lot of the job is rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck into the work yourself, and we're looking for someone who finds real satisfaction in both the bigger picture and the detail.

You'll have real ownership and influence across the organisation, including:

• Keeping GoodWork running brilliantly day to day, creating the conditions for our team, volunteers and young people to do their best work
• Leading core business operations across finance, planning, reporting and controls, working closely with our CEO, Treasurer and external accountants
• Helping shape how we work as a growing organisation, from people processes and onboarding to policies, culture and staff wellbeing
• Strengthening governance, risk and compliance - including Charity Commission and data protection requirements - and supporting the CEO and Chair to ensure the Board has the information, structure and assurance it needs
• Improving the systems, tools and ways of working that help GoodWork operate efficiently and professionally as we scale
• Driving cross-organisational projects and priorities, helping unblock issues, connect teams and make sure important work moves forward
• Contributing as a member of the Leadership Team to organisational strategy, annual planning and key decisions about GoodWork's next stage of growth
• Growing, over time, into a guardian of GoodWork's team culture as well as our operations - going beyond process and systems to help shape how it feels to work here

We're a small team, which means we need everyone to pick up some admin. For this role, this will include managing our Shared Mailbox, processing DBS checks and keeping the office well stocked and organised. As GoodWork grows, we expect this role - and the wider operations function - to grow and evolve too, including the potential to build a small team around you in time.

As our first Operations Manager, you'll be building this function from the ground up. We'll work with you to prioritise what matters most, but we'll also expect you to bring initiative, judgement and high standards from the start.

What we're looking for

We're looking for someone who's excited by the chance to help build the operational engine of a growing, ambitious charity - someone who enjoys making organisations work better, brings structure, judgement and pace, holds a high bar for quality and follow-through, and is willing to roll up their sleeves to get things done.

You'll need to be a self-starter with a proactive, hands-on attitude who wants to get stuck in and solve problems as they arise. You don't need to have experience solving every issue that comes up, but you should be a generalist at heart, comfortable with uncertainty and learning as you go. A growth mindset is essential.

• Significant, hands-on operations experience in a small or growing organisation, ideally with exposure across finance, people, governance, systems and organisational planning
• The ability to take ownership of a broad brief, bring order to complexity and turn ideas into clear priorities, strong processes and tangible progress
• Good commercial and financial judgement, comfortable working with budgets, reporting, data and digital tools
• Excellent organisational and communication skills, including the tact, discretion and attention to detail needed to work with sensitive information, senior stakeholders and Board-level engagement
• A proactive, resilient and resourceful approach, with the maturity to be the operations lead in a small, fast-moving team
• A fast learner, able to build knowledge quickly, solve problems and move easily between strategic priorities and practical delivery

Just as important as your experience will be how you work. We're looking for someone who's motivated by mission, energised by growth and comfortable playing a visible, trusted role at the heart of the organisation. You won't need experience in the early careers, youth or education sector, but you will need to connect with GoodWork's purpose and show real commitment to helping us increase opportunity for young people from underserved communities.

We work with a diverse group of young people from underserved communities. We particularly encourage applications from minoritised ethnic candidates and those who have lived experience relevant to our programme, particularly non-graduates and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Key Info

• Full time (37.5 hours per week).
• Permanent contract, ideally starting by mid to late October 2026.
• Salary: £39,520 annually with 4% employer pension contribution.
• Hybrid (London), 3 days a week in-person with the team at GoodWork HQ, Warren Street.
• 25 days holiday per year, plus Bank Holidays and additional leave during our annual Winter Break between Christmas and New Year.
• Appointment is subject to Enhanced DBS Check. GoodWork operates in line with safe recruitment practices and adherence to our Safeguarding Policy is essential.
• We are unable to sponsor visas, applicants must have the right to work in the UK.

Life at GoodWork:

Making GoodWork a great place to work is hugely important to us, and as a small charity we're continuously working to improve our offer. For now, our team benefits from:

• Personal training budget to invest as you'd like, as well as access to more in-person and online training through our membership of London Youth and the Charity Learning Consortium
• Access to individual coaching to support professional development with qualified coaches, through our corporate partners
• Quarterly official team socials and ad hoc team social activities, recent highlights have included a team Iftar, pottery painting, a Monopoly Deal and Pizza Night and team crafting lunchtime
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme with Health Assured
• Enhanced Maternity and Shared Parental Leave, after a year's service
• A dog-friendly office
• The option to work up to two weeks a year 'super remote' (from anywhere)
• A values and mission driven team (find out more about our values here) and the opportunity to be part of shaping a rapidly growing organisation

Please apply via our website no later than 9am on 19 August 2026.