Coaching and Sports Development

Sportandrecreation; East Midlands; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading national governing body for aquatics seeks a Head of Aquatics Participation and Social Impact to lead the strategy for growing and diversifying participation in swimming. This role demands strong leadership and collaboration with government departments and community partners to maximize social impact. Key responsibilities include overseeing national programs, driving transformation strategies, and ensuring inclusive participation across England. Candidates should have strategic experience and excellent communication skills.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of government strategy and priorities across physical activity, health and social policy.
• Experience measuring impact using quantitative and qualitative methods.
• Ability to provide confident, consistent leadership across complex stakeholder systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead aquatics participation and social impact work strand including objectives and delivery plans.
• Develop and deliver new approaches to participation for diverse audiences.
• Influence policy and investment through collaboration with national partners.

Skills

Knowledge of government strategy

Experience leading a strategic work strand

Excellent communication skills

Collaborative leadership style

Strong organisational skills

Interpersonal skills

Job description

Head of Aquatics Participation and Social Impact

Swim Englandis the national governing body for swimming in England.

We help people learn how to swim, enjoy the water safely, and compete in all our sports.

Our vision is of a nation swimming and we strive to inspire everyone to enjoy the water in the way that suits them. We work with our partners to create engaging programmes that enable everyone to be active, have fun and stay healthy through swimming.

About Us

Swim England is the recognised national governing body for swimming, artistic swimming, diving and water polo in England. We help people learn how to swim, enjoy the water safely, and maximise their potential in aquatic sport at every level — from community participation to world-class performance.

Through our Community Participation and Health directorate, we work with partners across health, physical activity, regeneration and community development to grow and diversify participation, tackle inequalities and improve wellbeing through aquatics.

About The Role

About the Role

We are seeking a strategic and values-ledHead of Aquatics Participation and Social Impactto lead one of the most significant strands of the One Swim England strategy. This senior leadership role focuses on growing and diversifying participation in aquatics and using the power of swimming to deliver meaningful social impact in communities across England.

You will lead transformation within Swim England and across the wider aquatic sector, shaping inclusive participation pathways and national programmes that engage new and underrepresented audiences. Working collaboratively with government departments, national partners, local agencies and internal teams, you will influence policy, investment and delivery models to maximise impact at scale.

Key Responsibilities

In this role you will:

• Strategically lead the aquatics participation and social impact work strand, including objectives, delivery plans, operations and budgets.
• Drive transformation through the development and delivery of new approaches to participation for diverse audiences.
• Oversee the design, development and delivery of national programmes, projects and initiatives that grow and diversify aquatic participation.
• Collaborate with government departments, national partners and agencies across health, regeneration, community development and sport for social good to influence policy and investment.
• Apply systems leadership approaches, theories of change and place-based models to participation and social impact.
• Provide strong leadership and functional line management across the aquatics participation and social impact team.
• Share collective accountability with the Director of Community Participation and Health and other strand leaders for directorate-wide outcomes.
• Work collaboratively with other strand leaders to deliver the One Swim England strategy.
• Provide collaborative leadership to National Development Managers to ensure connected development and delivery.

Skills and Experience

• Knowledge of government strategy and priorities across physical activity, health and social policy.
• Understanding of national structures and partners across health, sport, regeneration, community development and the third sector.
• Experience leading a strategic work strand and associated programmes in a development context.
• Experience measuring impact using quantitative and qualitative methods.
• Excellent written, verbal and presentation communication skills.
• A collaborative leadership style, able to work laterally and vertically.
• Strong organisational and prioritisation skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to provide confident, consistent leadership across complex stakeholder systems.

Further Information

Please Note:This job is SportPark based (minimum of 2 days a week in the office) and also includes regular national travel