Chelsea Football Club
Senior Manager - Admin & Operations
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Senior Manager, Admin & Operations
Department: Football Schools
Direct Reports: Admin & Operations Officer - Executive Administrators (3)
Location: Cobham and Stamford Bridge
Contract Type: Permanent Full Time
Closing date: 6th November
We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the position may be filled before the listed closing date. To avoid missing out, please submit your application at your earliest convenience.
Purpose of the Role
Football Schools is Chelsea's global player and coach development business, delivering a diverse portfolio of services and licensed partnerships in the UK and international markets.
This role is the operational backbone of the department. It owns the systems, data, reporting and administration the whole business runs on, from the customer record and billing through to budgeting, procurement and the management information leadership relies on. It leads the selection of the department's operating platform and builds the reporting that makes performance visible across domestic and international activity. Reporting to the Director, the role is central to the Club's priorities of driving profitable growth in revenue and investing in our future, giving the department the insight it needs to grow with confidence.
Main Responsibilities
- Data, reporting and management information. Own the operational and transactional data behind the department's performance, ensuring it is complete, accurate and delivered on time. Produce the monthly performance reporting for the Director and the Club, and build the reporting that measures customer lifetime value, retention and partner performance.
- Financial planning and performance. Build the volume, activity and cost-driver inputs to the annual budget, track performance against plan and surface variance before it lands. Align systems, data and cost-centre structures so the department reports as a single profit and loss, working with the Club's central Finance team who own the ledger and statutory reporting.
- Systems and platform selection. Lead the selection of the department's registration, consent and operating platform with Technology and Procurement. Define requirements that serve both a domestic subscription business and international licensed operations, then make the recommendation.
- Customer and commercial administration. Own collection, billing and the customer record for the department's programmes, so families are enrolled correctly and invoiced accurately. Set up billing at the point of signature so every new partnership is collectable from day one, and supply payment history to Commercial ahead of every renewal.
- Procurement, inventory and central resources. Own purchasing, purchase orders and central resources across the department, working within the Club's procurement and financial authorisation processes. Manage kit and equipment inventory for UK delivery, including stock records, ordering, allocation to programmes and regular stock checks, so delivery teams have what they need and losses are controlled.
- Insight and forward planning. Source the data and analysis the Director uses to set strategy and plan. Develop a forward view of what the department needs to prepare for over the next six, twelve and twenty-four months.
- Team leadership and capability building. Lead, develop and performance-manage the administration team. Hold a high standard in detailed, essential work and build the capability the department needs as it grows.
- Data protection and safeguarding compliance. Ensure customer data and consent are captured, held and shared in line with data protection law and Club policy, across a customer base that is largely children. Apply the same standard to every partner that handles Chelsea customer data.
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Measures of Performance
- Reporting accuracy, with operational data complete, reconciled to source and no unexplained variance to the Club ledger
- Reporting timeliness, with monthly reporting delivered on schedule every month
- Budget and forecast inputs improving in accuracy through the year
- Operating platform selected and implemented against defined requirements, on time and within budget
- Data quality, measured by the proportion of the customer base held as a single, consented and usable record
- Administrative reliability, with enrolment, invoicing, collection, supplier payment and stock control running without escalation
- Team performance and development, evidenced through individual objectives and progression
Skills/Knowledge & Experience
Essential
- Proven track record of owning management reporting and data in a multi-site or multi-product business, delivering accurate information on a fixed cycle
- Budgeting and forecasting: building volume, activity and cost-driver assumptions, tracking performance and surfacing variance early
- Financial literacy: reading a P&L, working alongside a central finance function and challenging a number that does not reflect the business
- Systems specification and selection: defining requirements, evaluating options and recommending a platform against them
- Turning transactional records into management information that people use to make decisions
- Customer administration at volume, ideally in a subscription or recurring-revenue business
- Procurement, purchasing and stock control within a large organisation's financial authorisation framework
- Experience leading, developing and performance-managing an administration or operations team
- Working knowledge of data protection and consent requirements under UK GDPR
- Ability to operate across a complex organisation, working with Finance, Technology, Procurement and Legal without direct authority
- High attention to detail and the discipline to hold a standard in repetitive, essential work
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Desirable
- Experience in sport, leisure, education or membership organisations
- Experience working in or around professional football
- Experience leading a CRM, registration or ERP implementation
- Advanced Excel and experience with business intelligence tools such as Power BI or Tableau
- Advanced AI knowledge and implementation
- Experience supporting a profit and loss consolidation or cost-centre restructure
- Experience handling data and consent where the customer base includes children
- Understanding of international licensing or partner-based business models
- A finance, business or data qualification
Our Expectations
- To embody the club’s BLUE behaviours (Brave, Lead, Unity, Edge) in the approach to work and interaction with others
- To adhere to the club’s policies and procedures, including Health & Safety, Financial Authorisation, Confidentiality and GDPR.
- To act as an ambassador for diversity, equality, and inclusion, and demonstrate a positive commitment by treating others fairly in line with our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy and reporting any acts of discrimination through appropriate channels
- To create a safe environment and act to protect all young people and vulnerable adults that are either in your care or attending club premises, and report any concerns to the Safeguarding Lead
- To report any misconduct or suspected misconduct to the HR Department.
Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
At Chelsea we recognise that the diversity of our people is one of our greatest strengths and we are taking positive action to ensure our existing colleagues and job applicants can fully be themselves and bring their own unique experiences and perspectives to Chelsea FC. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.
If you need reasonable adjustments made to the recruitment process, please reach out to your recruiter, who will be able to advise and support you.
Chelsea FC is fully committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all children, young people and adults at risk (vulnerable groups). We therefore require all successful applicants to complete a DBS Check prior to starting employment. Depending on the role, successful applicants may also be required to undergo other child protection screening where appropriate.
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