JCA Sport Operations Coordinator - Shrewsbury, Shropshire

JCA Sport Operations Coordinator - Shrewsbury, Shropshire

JCA Sport sits within the Experience Education group which is one of the UK’s leading school travel groups, delivering educational and sporting tours, expeditions and residential programmes for thousands of young people every year.

Based at Condover Hall, a purpose-built residential venue in Shropshire, JCA Sport delivers residential sports weekends and tournaments for schools and clubs across the UK, with netball at the absolute core of the product alongside football and rugby. Our weekends combine competitive sport, excellent facilities and memorable experiences, giving young people the opportunity to develop their skills, compete against their peers and represent their school in a well-organised, professional environment.

We are at an exciting stage of growth. This newly created role represents a significant investment in bringing our operational model fully in-house, and places a dedicated, passionate netball professional at the heart of everything we deliver at Condover Hall.

The role

The JCA Sport Operations Coordinator is a pivotal new position combining front-of-house delivery with hands-on administration and operational coordination. This is a hybrid role - three days per week based at Condover Hall and two days working from home - operating on a 5-days-in-7 contract that reflects the weekend-intensive nature of the JCA Sport programme. A minimum commitment of 17 weekends per year is required, covering the full JCA Sport netball, football and rugby calendar.

This is as much a desk role as it is a delivery role. You will need strong administration skills to manage the detail - schedules, communications, bookings, supplier coordination, App content - and an equally strong ability to step out from behind that desk and be the professional, energetic face of JCA Sport when groups arrive at Condover Hall. Both are essential. The role demands someone who is equally at home in both environments.

Netball is at the core of this position. We are looking for someone with a strong netball background - a genuine passion for the sport, a deep understanding of how it works at school and club level, and ideally an umpiring qualification. You will take ownership of the JCA netball tournament product end to end, while also supporting the delivery of our football and rugby weekends. Beyond delivery, you carry a clear responsibility to help grow the JCA Sport brand, acting as the link between our sales, admin, marketing and operations teams.

What you’ll be doing

• Source, book and manage umpires, referees and officiating staff for all JCA Sport weekends, building a reliable pool of officials with appropriate cover in place for every fixture across the season
• Plan, build and distribute fixture schedules for all JCA Sport tournaments, ensuring scheduling is fair and competitive
• Manage changes, late entries and withdrawals promptly and accurately, maintaining scheduling records and templates that improve efficiency across each season
• Serve as the primary operational point of contact for schools and groups from booking confirmation through to post-trip follow-up, issuing clear pre-arrival information packs and ensuring all groups are fully prepared ahead of their visit
• Take full ownership of on-site delivery for all JCA Sport weekends, overseeing court safety checks and preparation, equipment set-up, venue readiness and day-to-day tournament management to ensure every element runs to schedule and to standard
• Coordinate with the Condover Hall site team on facilities, rooming, catering and logistics, and ensure all health and safety requirements are met and documented throughout each weekend
• Deliver a professional and engaging welcome to all arriving schools and clubs, setting the tone for their weekend and acting as the visible, approachable face of JCA Sport throughout every event at Condover Hall
• Actively contribute to the development and improvement of the JCA Sport product, identifying opportunities to enhance the customer experience
• Manage relationships with all on-site suppliers involved in delivering the JCA Sport weekend experience, including entertainment and activity providers
• Act as the operational link between the JCA Sport sales, admin and marketing teams, ensuring accurate information flows between functions and that all teams have what they need to communicate the product effectively
• Feed operational insight and on-site content back into the business to support continuous improvement, promotional activity and a consistent customer experience across all JCA Sport touchpoints
• Organise tournament extras such as medals, trophies, sport therapist, music etc.
• Work closely with sales on age / strength of teams to ensure tournament is viable
• Arrange off site courts and transfer if tournament size requires

What we are looking for

Essential

• A strong netball background with deep knowledge of the sport, its structures and its culture at school and club level — this role is built around netball, and we are looking for someone for whom it is a genuine passion
• Excellent administration and organisational skills, with the ability to manage complex schedules, multiple workstreams and detailed customer communications simultaneously and to a high standard
• A confident, professional and engaging front-of-house presence — equally comfortable delivering a welcome meeting to a group of schools as managing a spreadsheet of fixture schedules behind the scenes
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce clear, professional correspondence for schools, coaches, officials and internal stakeholders
• A proactive, solutions-focused mindset — someone who identifies problems and resolves them without being asked and takes genuine ownership of their responsibilities
• Comfortable working a 5-days-in-7 contract including a minimum of 17 weekends per year as a core and non-negotiable part of the role
• Full UK driving licence

Desirable

• A qualified netball umpire — this is strongly preferred and would be a significant advantage in the selection process
• Experience working in school sport, residential education or the school travel sector
• Familiarity with the Vamoos app or similar customer-facing travel or event platforms
• Experience managing suppliers or third-party service providers
• A working knowledge of football and/or rugby at school or club level to complement the netball focus of the role
• Familiarity creating tournament fixtures and utilising the Tournify App

Some of the benefits

• Hybrid working pattern 25 days of annual leave plus public holidays and a bonus day off for your birthday; we also have a tenure based annual leave benefit, up to a maximum of an additional 5 days depending on length of service
• Global recognition and reward programme
• Access to extensive online learning resources In-house training opportunities
• Regular social events
• Various employee discounts and offers, including discounted trips with our brands