Operations Manager – Thanet, Dover & Folkestone/Hythe

Location: East Kent

Salary:  From £40,000

Vacancy Type: Permanent

About The Role

Are you a skilled manager with a passion for employability?

We’re looking for a Full Time (35 Hours) Operations Manager to lead our Connect to Work contract across Thanet, Dover, and Folkestone/Hythe. If you have at least 3 years’ managerial experience and a background in employability services, this is your chance to make a real difference in people’s lives.

What You’ll Do:

• Lead operational delivery across IAG, pre-employability, employability, and wider employment services.
• Mobilise and manage the contract, ensuring performance, compliance, and quality targets are exceeded.
• Drive IPS fidelity and quality assurance through supervision, coaching, audits, and reflective practice.
• Own performance management: monitor KPIs, review dashboards, and maintain contract excellence.
• Collaborate with employers, community partners, prisons, probation services, NHS trusts, and local authorities to create pathways into work.
• Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performance team, fostering resilience, confidence, and professional growth.
• Support business growth: contribute to tenders, proposals, and strategic planning.
• Ensure compliance, safeguarding, and governance are embedded across all activities.

About You:

• Proven leadership experience in employability, skills, IPS, or community services.
• At least 3 years’ managerial experience.
• Strong contract, performance, and quality management skills.
• Highly organised, analytical, and able to manage multiple priorities.
• Skilled at building positive relationships with employers, partners, and stakeholders.
• Committed to empowering individuals and delivering high-impact services.
• Knowledge of IAG, apprenticeships, employability commissioning, and relevant compliance frameworks (ESFA, MOJ, DWP).

Desirable: experience in social enterprise, and understanding of mental health, disabilities, offender, or substance recovery services.

If you’re ready to lead a service that transforms lives and drives real social impact, we want to hear from you!

About Us

We are The Forward Trust, the social enterprise with charitable status that empowers people to break the often interlinked cycles of crime and addiction to move forward with their lives. For more than 25 years we have been working with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past. We believe that anyone is capable of lasting change. Our services have supported thousands of people to make positive changes and build productive lives with a job, family, friends and a sense of community.

We are committed to our cause and the work we carry out as a charity. Equally the wellbeing and the employees who work for us are also important. Joining us an employee, we will offer you the following benefits:

• Flexible working
• Training and development opportunities
• Simply Health Cashback Scheme (optional)
• Season Ticket Loan Scheme 
• Cycle to work scheme
• Crisis Loan Scheme
• Electric Car Scheme
• 3 x Wellbeing Days (pro rata'd for part time employees)
• Access to Blue Light Card
• 25 days (rising to 30 with length of service) Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays 
• Contributory Pension Scheme – Employer matched contributions of up to 6% in the first two years’ service and up to 9% thereafter 
• Death in Service Payment (2x annual salary) 
• Critical Illness Insurance (subject to qualifying criteria)

Please note that we may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. 

Diversity at Forward Trust

The Forward Trust commits to providing opportunities to everyone. We want to ensure we have a diverse team with a range of lived and professional experiences. This includes those with ‘Lived Experience’ of addiction, offending, or homelessness.

When we recruit, we welcome applications from everyone. This is inclusive of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and/or belief, marriage and civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity and socio-economic background. Where operationally possible, we will consider flexible working requests and make reasonable adjustments for all roles.

We want our recruitment process to be accessible to everyone. If you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage, please let us know. 

Employee Screening and Eligibility to Work

Dependent on role you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service Check, details of which will be shared with you at interview.

If successful in your application, you will be required to provide eligibility to work evidence in line with the ‘Eligibility to Work in the UK’ requirements.

Our Commitment to Safeguarding
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and adults at risk. Forward Trust follow safer recruitment practices and support a culture of openness and accountability.

To Apply

If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for Forward Trust, please proceed through the following link to be redirected to our website to complete your application.

https://careers.forwardtrust.org.uk/vacancies/557/operations-manager--thanet-dover--folkestone-hythe.html

Contact information

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