Programme Officer - Sport and Physical Activity - Place-based Networks

Supporting the development, commissioning and evaluation of place-based sport and physical activity programmes. The role strengthens local governance and partner coordination so that investment and delivery widen participation, respond to school needs and contribute to health, wellbeing and inclusion outcomes. Working closely with schools, local partners and communities, the postholder will help identify gaps in provision, turn local insight into realistic action plans, and support activity that is responsive to the circumstances of different places and groups of children and young people.

Key responsibilities

• Coordinate local action plans and delivery activity across community, education, sport, and voluntary-sector partners.
• Support with capturing and sharing learning from grants including applications, milestones, expenditure checks, performance reviews.
• Maintain governance arrangements, risk logs, delivery trackers and reports for internal and external stakeholders.
• Use local data and insights to identify participation and provision gaps and shape targeted interventions.
• Support school funding bids, partnership proposals and business cases for programmes, facilities or workforce initiatives.
• Organise network and partner meetings, workshops and engagement activity and follow through on decisions and actions.
• Contribute to evaluation, assessments, learning reports and case studies that demonstrate outcomes and inform future delivery.

Skills, knowledge and experience

• Experience supporting projects or programmes in sport, physical activity, public health, community development or a related field.
• Highly organised, with proven experience coordinating multiple workstreams across places, ensuring plans, delivery activity and reporting remain aligned.
• Understanding of the UK sport and physical activity landscape and the role of national governing bodies, local authorities, schools, community groups and delivery partners.
• Practical experience of monitoring, evaluation, finance, grants or contracted delivery.
• Confident communication and partnership-working skills with diverse communities and organisations.
• Graduate-level qualification in a relevant discipline or equivalent substantial experience.

Personal qualities

• Inclusive and collaborative, with the confidence to build trust across schools, community organisations, public bodies and delivery partners.
• Organised and solutions-focused, able to manage competing priorities while maintaining quality and accurate records.
• Committed to widening participation and motivated to reducing barriers to sport and physical activity for underserved groups.
• Comfortable travelling and working flexibly when programme activity, events or partner engagement requires it.