JOB TITLE: Director of Strategy & Operations

REPORTING TO: Chief Executive

RESPONSIBLE FOR: IT Manager, Finance Officer, PA to Chief Executive/HR Administrator
To be confirmed: Head of Education, Head of Engagement, Head of Cultural Development

BASED: British Science Association, Wellcome Wolfson Building, 165 Queen's Gate, London SW7 5HD.

TERMS: Full-time (35 hours per week), permanent
Requests for part-time or flexible working will be considered

SALARY: £50-60k+

Overall purpose of the job

The British Science Association’s vision is for science to be seen as a fundamental part of culture. We believe that both science and society will benefit if there is a wider group of people involved in science, whether as leaders, influencers and researchers or as members of the public who are supportive, critical, playful, etc.

Following a strategic review, organisation restructure and recent appointment of a new chief executive, we want to appoint a Director of Strategy & Operations to lead the development and delivery of our strategic plan. You will take the lead on improving our operational delivery, our performance and our financial sustainability.

You will also play a key role in the BSA’s small Senior Management Team (SMT), making a pro-active contribution to all areas of the organisation’s work and taking a lead on cross-cutting agendas like diversity, training, impact measurement and business development. You will directly manage staff and suppliers who provide core support services (IT, HR, Finance) and you will coach and support staff across the organisation.

You will oversee the successful delivery of our activities. This remit includes many of the BSA’s flagship activities, such as the British Science Festival, British Science Week, CREST Awards and CREST Star, Media Fellows, volunteer-led Branches and support for science communicators. It also includes new activities like the Huxley Summit, UK Science Festivals Network, Science Live, Future Debates, tailored activities for under-served audiences and public campaigns such as ‘not just for scientists: 100’. The vast majority of our activities are very effectively run by our current staff and volunteers, which gives you the opportunity to focus on developing new business models and income streams.

Key responsibilities for this role

The main responsibilities of this role are to:

• Take overall responsibility for operations at the BSA
• Lead the development of our strategy and empower colleagues & volunteers to embed the BSA’s strategy in their work
• Oversee the effective delivery of our programmes, building their reach, resilience, cost-effectiveness and income generation
• Lead our business planning process, including developing a brand new business plan for 2018-2020
• Support innovation: work with the Programme teams to develop new products and partnerships that deliver our vision and work with the Core support teams to introduce improved processes, suppliers and software
• Support the BSA’s strategic goal of diversifying our income by developing new income streams
• Continue the development of a new framework for measuring our impact
• Act as a champion for our strategic goal of reviewing and improving the diversity of our staff, volunteers and audiences
• Be responsible for budgeting and financial controls
• Manage Health and Safety
• Liaise with our landlord, the Science Museum, to ensure effective use of our office space
• Work with Senior Management Team colleagues to ensure the BSA’s governance, people management and internal resources & processes are fit for purpose
• Develop excellent relationships with funders, suppliers, Trustees and stakeholders who can help deliver our goals
• Inspire and support staff, volunteers and partners to align themselves to our new vision
• Oversee the efficient management of the Programmes budget and contribute to SMT’s management of the overall organisation’s finances

Full job description (pdf)

To apply for this role, please send your CV and a covering letter explaining how you meet the person specification to Katherine Mathieson c/o [email protected] by 9am on Monday 22 August 2016.

Please note that first round interviews are scheduled for Thursday 1 September in central London.

If you would like an informal conversation about the role, please contact Katherine Mathieson ([email protected]).

The British Science Association is an equal opportunities employer and a company committed to diversity. The British Science Association is committed to the fair and equal treatment of potential and existing employees irrespective of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, ex-offending background or any other potentially unlawfully discriminating factor. This is a description of the job as it is presently constituted. It is the practice of the Association to examine job descriptions from time to time and to update them to ensure they relate to the job as then being performed, or to incorporate whatever changes are reasonably required, in discussion with the postholder.