Interim Strategic Manager - MCA/NHSGMand Sport England

Salary circa £70k to £90K

Temporary for 6 months (with possible extension). Secondments considered.

An exciting opportunity is now available to help drive the important role sport and physical can play across Greater Manchester to improve the overall health of the population and embed the benefits of being more active. We are looking for a dynamic interim strategic manager to help us make the recently signed MOU come to life and to establish an agreed work programme across Greater Manchester.

Interim Strategic Manager for the GMCA/NHSGM and Sport England MOU Delivery

Key Functions

  • To provide a strategic approach to tackling inactivity and promoting physical activity and sport within Greater Manchester in line with the MOU
  • To engage with commissioners, politicians, partners, organisations across GM in the public, private and voluntary sector to deliver the overall aim of the programme and to embed sport and PA into the structures within GM
  • To plan the development and delivery of the programme, reviewing and prioritising the Action plan and the identified work streams within it.
  • To provide recommendations to the Programme Management Board as to the staffing structure required to deliver the agreed ambition for the future

Background and Rationale

  • The overall population of GM is 2.8 million, there are ten local authorities plus the Combined Authority and 27 NHS organisations and a scale of operation across all sectors which involves tapping into and working with big, complex and potentially powerful networks.
  • The Commissioning Support Programme identified the scale of the ambition in GM and in Sport England to embark on radically different approaches to tackling inactivity, creating regular activity habits and helping those with a resilient habit to stay that way.
  • The commitment to using insight, to behaviour change and social movement require deeper consideration, research and understanding to envisage and create constructive change processes that transform previous ways of working.
  • The ambition is to achieve significant change to the health and wellbeing of residents at scale and through system change.
  • Whilst the focus is on what can be delivered at a GM level, there is also the locality dimension, testbeds at a local level and the challenges and opportunities of micro commissioning.
  • The MoU requires shared metrics, performance measures and a robust cost benefit analysis for all joint areas of work, which will specifically include decreasing the number of inactive people, increasing participation of underrepresented groups and increasing the number of people taking part in sport and physical activity more regularly.
  • In terms of Insight, it is proposed that there is an early round table session of all those involved with Insight work at GM and SE to assess the current position and what needs to be done, and decide whether this function is best supported by adding capacity elsewhere in the first instance, or whether it a separate post within the programme management team.

Interim Strategic Manager

The following arrangements are proposed:

  1. The post to be hosted via GreaterSport and located centrally within GM – possibly 3 Piccadilly Place.
  2. The post will be managed by a small management group made up of Sport England, Greater Manchester and Greatersport (clear roles for each partner will be confirmed) and GMHSCP
  3. The post to be initially offered for 6 months, subject to review at 6 months with the possibility of extension prior to the new team being appointed. A secondment will also be considered.

Responsible to: Management group and will report to the Programme Board

Responsible for:

  • Embedding the Governance structure outlined within the MOU
  • Developing and establishing the programme of work across GM as outlined in the Draft Action Plan.
  • Maintaining relationships within GMCA, NHS in Greater Manchester and Sport England and to work on behalf of the key stakeholders.
  • Ensuring the agreed work programme takes into account other MOU’s which are in place in Greater Manchester
  • Establishing insight and behaviour change is at the heart and understanding customer needs across Greater Manchester.
  • Establishing the shared metrics for the project in conjunction with partners
  • Connecting the role sport and physical activity can have to delivering the greatest improvement to health and well -being.

Person Specification:

  • An experienced senior manager with a track record of delivering a diverse programme of activities across a range of stakeholders and sectors
  • Experience of working with senior leaders and executives
  • Excellent organisational skills and ability to convene
  • Political acumen
  • Proactive and innovative
  • Understanding of the principles of insight led work, behaviour change and social movements
  • Strong communication skills
  • Experience of working to deliver better outcomes for underrepresented and excluded individuals and communities
  • An understanding of the public sector, reform, transformation and system change

Salary circa £70k to £90K

To Apply

Please send a current CV to Sport England C/O

Closing date Friday 25th November 5pm

For an informal discussion or any questions please call Judith Rasmussen on 07879 602 880or e-mail