Project Manager – Safer Spaces to Move

ukactive is the membership organisation representing the fitness, leisure, and wider physical activity sector. It exists to provide expert support to its members on issues of reputational concern, to promote growth and champion the sector through campaigns to provide business intelligence on sector trends, and to lobby Government to improve members’ operating landscape, ensuring the impact the sector can have on major societal issues is acknowledged and maximised.

General Duties

The primary responsibility of the Project Manager is to support the work of the Head of Consumer

Engagement in delivering projects and initiatives across the strategic partnership with Sport England’s This Girl Can Campaign. This is a role dedicated to a new project ‘Safer Spaces to Move’ that plans to support and drive the reduction of feelings of intimidation and personal safety concerns and experiences by women within gyms, fitness, and leisure facilities (including pools), thereby looking to remove a key barrier to being active in the gym, fitness and leisure environment for women and girls.

The role will coordinate and manage the key deliverables set out in the ‘Safer Spaces to Move’ project, including – day to day task management, tracking and identifying risks and issues, project budget management including procurement of third parties and stakeholder/partner management. To ensure the project is successfully delivered in line with all key requirements and objectives.

Reporting to the Head of Consumer Engagement – the Project Manager for Safer Spaces to Move has responsibility for adhering to good project practices and tools, ensuring compliance with the organisational business plan, Sport England Partnership, and wider commercial strategy.

Specific tasks and responsibilities

(these include, but are not limited to:) 

• Support the Head of Consumer Engagement in the delivery of the Safer Spaces to Move project and its deliverables.
• Support on wider areas within the ukactive and This Girl Can strategic partnership.
• Manage and coordinate with staff across departments within the organisation for the effective delivery of project deliverables.
• Manage and coordinate with external stakeholders, partners and ukactive members for the effective delivery of the project and its engagement across the sector.
• Support in the management of ukactives member and partner base through engagement with the developing projects and initiatives – to ensure effective buy-in and maximum impact.

Person specification

Skill, knowledge, and experience needed Essential

• Previous experience of supporting stakeholder relationships, working with management in the efficient operation of partnerships and programmes
• Project delivery experience in a similar sized organisation
• A proven track record of developing project plans and leading on complex projects with multiple stakeholders
• Excellent written communication skills, with the ability to present information in a clear and concise manner, both internally and externally on a regular basis
• A positive “can do” attitude with the willingness to support others, and the ability to support  positive changes within the organisation
• High attention to detail, and ability to self-review and critique own work
• Strong time management skills, with the ability to prioritise workload to ensure personal and organisational deadlines are met
• Real team player attitude, demonstrating the ability to build and maintain effective relationships across all internal teams
• Positive and proactive approach to problem solving, and applying solutions to identified problems
• A self-starter who can work independently, be assertive, show initiative, and be proactive in their work approach
• Ability to exercise discretion in dealing with confidential or sensitive matters
• Excellent IT skills, with working knowledge of Microsoft Office

Desirable 

• Previous project management/partnership working experience in the not for profit/ fitness sector
• Understanding of business metrics and KPI’s
• A genuine interest in the physical activity and fitness sector and desire to make a difference to women’s experiences
• Experience with project management software