Join us

The Head of Operations plays a central role in the success of Public Practice, ensuring the effective and efficient running of our internal operations. As a key member of the team, you’ll work closely with the CEO to support delivery, financial planning and reporting, people operations, and compliance.

You will lead the development and oversight of systems and processes that enable the team to work well and deliver on our mission. This includes overseeing grant reporting, internal resource planning, and performance reporting. You’ll line-manage the Operations Manager and work collaboratively across the team to embed operational excellence.

This is a new role within the organisation, created following the departure of our current Chief Operating Officer. It represents an opportunity to shape how we work as a growing and ambitious not-for-profit.

Operations & Data Management - (30%)

• Oversee delivery planning and internal coordination mechanisms
• Lead organisational use of planning, reporting, IT and CRM systems
• Manage grant tracking, milestone delivery and impact reporting
• Lead data collection and analysis for business planning and Board reporting

Finance - (25%)

• Lead on budgeting, forecasting and financial planning
• Oversee cashflow management and financial reporting
• Work with the Operations Manager and external accountants on payroll, VAT, bookkeeping and audit prep
• Ensure timely production of management accounts and financial KPIs

HR - (20%)

• Support the CEO on creating a highly inclusive culture ensuring team members thrive and organisation goals are met
• Lead workforce planning and structure reviews
• Oversee recruitment, induction and retention
• Review and implement HR and EDI policies
• Support line managers on staff development and performance management processes

Legal & Compliance - (10%)

• Work with external legal advisers as needed
• Maintain and review operational policies (e.g. H&S, safeguarding, data protection)
• Support risk management across the organisation
• Ensure compliance with Companies House and HMRC requirements

Team Contribution - (10%)

• Participate in and support team-wide activities, workshops, and your own professional development
• Support delivery of broader organisational priorities such as fundraising, company events, business development, and Board reporting, as needed

You are a highly organised and proactive operations executive who thrives in a collaborative, mission-driven environment. You bring strong analytical skills, excellent judgement, and a commitment to supporting effective, inclusive working practices across an organisation.

We care about what you can do now and how quickly you can learn. It doesn’t matter how you got here (which is why we don’t ask for CVs, degrees or educational background). For this role, we are specifically looking to see the following skills and attributes and will be assessing all candidates based on the following six core skills.

Alongside these six core attributes, we would also value:

• A commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion – you understand the value of inclusive practices and have experience supporting equitable cultures within teams or organisations.
  
• An interest in the built environment and public sector – while you may not have a background in the sector, you're motivated by the impact that great places and public service can have on communities.

Please note that Public Practice, as a micro-organisation, cannot offer visa sponsorship. Applicants must have the unrestricted right to work in the United Kingdom at the time of application. Candidates requiring visa sponsorship are not eligible for this role.

Currently, we provide all employees with the following:

• We operate under a 9-Day-Fortnight working policy for ten of the twelve months of the year.
• 2 days of office access per week at the co-working office Better Space, London, of which we require a minimum of one day in the office per week for those working part-time, two days for those working full-time.
• Quarterly team away trips and team lunches.
• 27 days of holiday per year (excluding bank holidays).
• A flexible and remote working policy that allows employees to work from abroad for two months of the year (in August and December).
• Provide a 5% employer’s pension contribution.
• Enhanced sick, maternity, paternity and adoption leave.
• £600 annual training budget and up to four professional development days a year.
• Employee perks budget provided by With Juno monthly.

Our hiring process assesses a candidate's ability to meet the attributes we think are necessary for someone to do well in the role, you will see these listed at the beginning of each job advert. We are also interested in a candidate's motivation and interest in working at Public Practice and in a small company team. We do not review CVs or a candidate's educational background when making hiring decisions. To us, it doesn’t matter how you built your skills and knowledge, just that you have the right ones for the role we want to hire for.

We remove as much bias as possible during our hiring process, and candidates remain anonymous to all assessors until Stage Two and are all marked against pre-set criteria. We also aim to collect and provide as much feedback as possible to all applicants at each stage of the process.

If you would like to speak to the CEO (who will be line managing you) about this role and whether it could be the right fit for you, or if you have any specific access adjustment needs we haven’t addressed:

There are several 10-minute call slots available during the advert period on a first-come-first-serve basis.

We try to make our hiring process as inclusive and accessible as we can; this includes providing everyone with:

• The themes of each interview question will be provided in advance to everyone
• Closed captions are always on for online interviews
• We deliver all questions in written as well as verbal format
• Offer as many different interview times as possible to work around work, caring and religious commitments you may have
• If attending the in-person interview, the venue is fully wheelchair accessible and we offer a space before and after in a quiet area

When completing your application, you will be asked if you would like any additional access adjustments we offer or would like something not listed that you would value.

The first stage of the application process asks candidates to answer four questions, which will then be scored anonymously by Public Practice colleagues. The online form also asks for some additional information to be submitted. This data will not be shared with those assessing your application. The four questions are:

1. Why do you want to work for Public Practice?
2. What motivates you to apply for the role of Head of Operations at this point in your career?
3. Please give an example of how you’ve managed multiple operational tasks and project workstreams across a team with competing deadlines. How did you plan, prioritise and keep both yourself and others on track?
4. Please give an example of when you’ve worked with budgets, financial information or forecasting to support business planning or decision-making. What was your role and how did you approach it?

Whilst we are looking for a candidate who can utilise the latest tools and software to create high-quality work and content, when it comes to our hiring process, it is important for us to be able to get to know candidates and assess their skills and motivations.

We strongly recommend that candidates who may use software to help check the grammar and structure of their answers also ensure that AI software and support does not inadvertently turn answers into generic responses or remove your tone and authenticity.

Be aware that when assessors review applications, they will compare them to examples produced by AI.