Operational Hub Lead

Job introduction

You can also see our full list of employee benefits on our careers site here: Why you should work for us | West Northamptonshire Council.

About the role

We are seeking an enthusiastic and self motivated Operational Hub Lead for the South Midlands Careers Hub to lead the team in improving the careers outcomes for young people in the region.

Our role is to connect together local employers with careers leaders in schools, colleges and training providers to coordinate careers education and enhance each student's early experiences of the work place. The South Midlands Careers Hub supports around 150 schools, colleges and providers across Bedfordshire and Luton, Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire.

Hub supported programmes bring partners together, to act with the shared aims of inspiring young people, and giving students the knowledge and practical skills to make decisions about their next steps.

The South Midlands Careers Hub has a focus on tackling disadvantage, with three priority areas:

1. Continuous improvement of careers provision in schools and colleges against the Gatsby Benchmarks through support, training for the education workforce and quality assurance.

2. Increasing the number of high-quality work experience opportunities available for young people

3. Boosting apprenticeships and technical pathways, including supporting the implementation of the Provider Access Legislation (PAL)

Interviews for this role are expected to be on 17 or 20 October 2025.

Additional information

You will have excellent communication skills and experience of working collaboratively with partner organisations, developing strong links with internal colleagues and external partners.

You will be able to demonstrate specialist knowledge of a subject relevant to the role, such as a strong understanding of local and national policy relating to skills and economic development, issues and barriers to employment faced by young people, and understanding of post-16 landscape.

You’ll use your professional expertise and knowledge to support the delivery of the Careers Hub programme so that it is efficient and suitable to meet the needs of schools, partners, businesses and providers in line with the funding agreement requirements and strong project management skills.

You will need to have a solutions driven and adaptable approach to working, thrive in a busy environment and have a positive approach to challenges.

You will be able to smoothly manage processes whilst being able use your own initiative to 'think outside of the box’ whilst having strong leadership and line management skills to lead the team with a full complex workload.

Company information

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.

Hear more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what its like to work at West Northants Council.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential.  We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.