Operations Manager

Our mission is to help some of the most disadvantaged children in London to transform their mental health via joy, adventure and the outdoors. By rebuilding the foundations of positive mental health - confidence, self-esteem, belief in one’s own potential - we help deeply vulnerable children change their stories about who they are, and who they can be.

Our main programme, Thrive Outside, takes particularly disadvantaged children on week-long countryside breaks, helping them to feel special, valued, brave and successful. For those most in need, we offer follow-on support through further small group residentials, one to one mentoring and our youth leadership programme. Over 2025 we provided approaching 350 therapeutic residential places for some of London’s most vulnerable children, and we have ambitious plans to expand towards 500 places over the next 5 years.

Role Description

Salary:

 £38,000 to £40,000pa dependent upon experience.

Hours:

Fulltime: 37.5 hours per week. Essential attendance on c.8-10 residential projects a year.

Leave:

25 days per year, plus bank holidays and up to 13 additional pre-set discretionary reward days in September and during the Christmas period.

Start Date:

Ideally 25th January 2027

Contract Length:

Permanent

Reports to:

CEO

Direct reports:

 1 – Our Operations & Support Coordinator. Occasionally additional interns/office volunteers.

We’re looking for someone a little bit special - someone who believes in the deep potential of children who are not thriving elsewhere in life and who has the experience, passion, energy and the drive to go the extra mile on these young people’s behalf.

The position is an exciting dual role:

1. Operations Manager (70% of workload)

You’ll become a key cog at the heart of Free to Be’s management team, taking lead responsibility for the systems, logistics, and operational infrastructure that make our residential projects and daily work tick. Holding lead operational oversight across health and safety, site venues, transport, data systems, and compliance, you’ll ensure everything runs safely, seamlessly, and effectively for the children we support. With one direct report - the Operations & Support Coordinator - you’ll lead on day-to-day execution, streamline processes as we grow, and act as chief ‘doer’ and problem-solver for ‘all things operations’. Alongside our Services, Volunteering & People, and Fundraising & Communications Managers, you’ll be a core management team member holding shared responsibility for the day-to-day running of an impactful and growing children’s mental health and adventure charity, working closely with our inspiring and supportive CEO to build robust foundations for Free to Be’s future growth and development.

1. Residential Project Lead Coordinator (30% of role)

Our residentials are fun, immersive, tiring (in all the right ways), impactful and inspiring. A core aspect of all Free to Be Kids staff’s roles is leading circa 8-10 of our residential projects across each year - working on the ground with the children, leading the volunteers & staff team on project, and helping make the projects special, safe, and transformative for vulnerable young people, many of whom have damaged confidence, low self-worth, or other social-emotional needs.

Attendance at approximately 8-10 five-six night residential projects per year outside London is a core component of this role. As a manager, you’d likely attend 8-10 residentials in year 1 to build familiarity with both the projects and our volunteer base, with this dropping to c.8 per year thereafter.

On offer to the right candidate:

Salary: Circa £38,000 - £40,000, dependent on experience.

Hours: Fulltime: 37.5 hours per week.

Leave: 25 days per year, plus bank holidays and up to 13 additional pre-set discretionary reward days in September and during the Christmas period. A substantial perk of the role is potential to take up to 4 consecutive weeks off to travel each September.

Other benefits: 4% employer pension contribution paid on full base salary, rising by 1% per year of service, up to a maximum of 7%; hybrid working; office with great transport links; flexible working (outside core hours); employee reward scheme; tight-knit, fun, vibrant, cohesive staff team with great morale.

Based: Hybrid – our small office in Waterloo, London. Hybrid working is well established with the majority of the team splitting…