Sport & Physical Activity Partnership Lead

Initial contract up until March 2028

Hours Per Week: 22.5-37.5 (negotiable)

Job Purpose:

Support the development, coordination, and delivery of sport and physical activity programmes that strengthen community-based provision and essentially, build capacity across the Coventry Youth Partnership (CYP) network.

The role ensures organisations, particularly those supporting young people furthest from opportunity within our priority neighbourhoods have access to practical support that increases operational efficiency, improves impact measurement and enhances future fundraising capability.

You will work directly with community organisations, young people, and strategic partners to co-design and deliver high-quality sport and physical activity opportunities. The role focuses on building capacity across the sector, supporting organisations to grow sustainable provision, strengthen their evidence base, and secure investment.

This includes embedding inclusive practice, supporting workforce development, and ensuring sport is used as a vehicle for positive community development and improved wellbeing.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Support community organisations to increase, improve, and sustain sport and physical activity provision across Coventry.
2. Deliver and co-design sport and physical activity programmes, ensuring they are engaging, inclusive, and responsive to local needs.
3. Provide hands-on support to organisations to strengthen impact measurement, monitoring systems, and evaluation processes.
4. Support fundraising efforts, including bid writing, identifying funding opportunities, and helping organisations articulate need, impact and outcomes.
5. Develop strong relationships with partners, commissioners, clubs, schools and community organisations to strengthen collaborative working.
6. Motivate and enable young people to participate in sport and physical activity, supporting positive progression pathways.
7. Ensure robust monitoring and evaluation, capturing clear evidence of participation, outcomes, and impact across CYP programmes.
8. Manage programme budgets and resources, ensuring efficient and effective use of funding.
9. Maintain high standards of health, safety, and safeguarding across all sport and physical activity delivery.
10. Understand risks affecting young people, particularly those in challenging circumstances, and respond appropriately to incidents.
11. Coordinate and facilitate selected sessions and events, including localised provision, community festivals, training workshops, and regional activities.
12. Promote inclusion, ensuring underrepresented groups have equitable access to sport and physical activity opportunities.
13. Influence partners and CYP members to embed sport and physical activity within their structures, strategies, and youth engagement practice.
14. Support organisations to develop participatory evaluation methods, enabling young people to assess impact and shape future provision.
15. Contribute to communications, including social media, campaigns, case studies, and storytelling that highlight the value of sport in youth development.
16. Champion young people as leaders, supporting them to become advocates for sport, wellbeing, and community engagement.

Additional Responsibilities

1. Adhere to safeguarding policies and procedures for young people and staff at all times.
2. Ensure participation is safe, accessible, and meaningful, including safe travel arrangements where required.
3. Use knowledge of local partnerships to strengthen programme reach, collaboration, and delivery.
4. Report regularly to the CYP Programme Manager, providing updates on delivery, impact, and partnership development.
5. Recruit eligible and suitable young people to select programmes and activities.
6. Collect and securely store eligibility evidence, ensuring compliance with programme requirements.
7. Coordinate delivery partners, ensuring consistent data collection, shared learning, and high-quality delivery.

All duties must be carried out with due regard to the Positive Youth Foundation Health & Safety Policy and Equal Opportunities Policy. Any duties involving personal data must follow corporate data protection guidelines.

Post holders will be accountable for carrying out all duties and responsibilities with due regard to the Positive Youth Foundation Equal Opportunities Policy.

Duties which include processing of any personal data must be undertaken within the corporate data protection guidelines.

Person Specification

Knowledge

• Understanding of the challenges faced by young people and how sport and physical activity can be used as a tool for positive social change.
• Strong knowledge of safeguarding issues affecting children and young people, particularly within community sport settings.
• Understanding of how to deliver safe, engaging sport and physical activity programmes for young people who may be disengaged from services, and how to support others to achieve this.
• Knowledge of credible sport, physical activity, and wellbeing programmes that align with youth development outcomes.
• Awareness of local and regional partnerships, networks, and structures influencing sport, youth work, and community development.
• Understanding of monitoring, evaluation, and impact measurement within community sport settings.
• Knowledge of fundraising processes, including grant funding, community investment, and partnership development
• Knowledge of sport development and sport/physical activity infrastructure.
• Knowledge of workforce development in a community setting.
• Experience of embedding progression routes within projects.

Skills and Abilities

• Ability to accurately record, analyse, and present information relating to outcomes achieved through sport and physical activity interventions.
• Strong verbal communication and listening skills, particularly when working with vulnerable young people and community organisations.
• Ability to engage effectively with diverse groups, including young people, partner agencies, volunteers, and sector colleagues.
• Ability to plan and coordinate activities, motivating staff and volunteers to deliver high-quality provision.
• Ability to support organisations to design and deliver progression pathways, focusing on progression and long-term impact.
• Ability to gather feedback from young people and partners, ensuring they are genuinely involved in shaping provision.
• Strong organisational and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Ability to support organisations to strengthen fundraising bids, impact narratives, and monitoring systems.

Experience

• At least three years’ paid experience of co-ordinating and delivering high-quality sport and physical activity provision, including capacity building of organisations.

Educational

• Relevant standard of professional training relating to community sport and or physical activity.

Safeguarding

• PYF puts safeguarding at the forefront of all its activities. The successful applicant will demonstrate their firm commitment to effective safeguarding practises and high professional standards around all safeguarding issues. An enhanced DBS check is required for this role.

Equal Opportunities

• PYF are fully committed to the fair treatment of its staff, potential staff or users of its services, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, responsibilities for dependants, age, physical/mental disability or offending background. We actively promote equality of opportunity for all with the right mix of talent, skills and potential and welcome applications from a wide range of candidates, including those with criminal records.