London, UK
Head of operations
at Public Practice
Public Practice is hiring a head of operations to join its team in London, UK.
About Public Practice
We are a small social enterprise that supports the public sector in building and developing its placemaking teams. We do this by helping built environment professionals transition into careers in the public sector and celebrating and supporting the work of those already there.
About you
You are a highly organised and proactive operational leader who thrives in a collaborative, mission-driven environment. You bring strong analytical skills, excellent judgement, and a commitment to supporting effective, inclusive working practices across an organisation.
We’re looking for someone who can demonstrate:
- strong analytical and financial skills – you’re confident working with budgets, forecasts and data, and can interpret financial information to support strategic decisions
- effective team management – you bring a collaborative mindset, and are able to lead internal delivery, support others to manage their time and workload, and keep operations running smoothly across multiple priorities
- creative problem-solving – you enjoy finding pragmatic solutions to complex or ambiguous challenges, and are comfortable navigating trade-offs while keeping our values at the front of mind
- excellent attention to detail – whether reviewing a policy, coordinating a grant milestone or finalising a report, you care about getting the detail right
- confident technical skills – you’re comfortable working with digital tools such as spreadsheets, CRM systems, and cloud-based file-sharing (we use platforms like Airtable, Google Workspace and Slack)
- sound judgement – you can assess risk, respond to unexpected developments, and make decisions based on context and values, not just process
Alongside these six core attributes, we would also value:
- a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion – you understand the value of inclusive practices and have experience supporting equitable cultures within teams or organisations
- an interest in the built environment and public sector – while you may not have a background in the sector, you’re motivated by the impact that great places and public service can have on communities
Please note only applicants who have the right to work in the UK can be considered for this role. As a micro business, we cannot support visa sponsorship at this time.
The role
The core responsibilities of this role will be
Finance (25 to 30 per cent):
- lead on budgeting, forecasting and financial planning
- oversee cashflow management and financial reporting
- work with the operations manager and external accountants on payroll, VAT, bookkeeping and audit prep
- ensure timely production of management accounts and financial KPIs
Operations and data management (25 to 30 per cent):
- oversee delivery planning and internal coordination mechanisms
- lead organisational use of planning, reporting, IT and CRM systems
- manage grant tracking, milestone delivery and impact reporting
- lead data collection and analysis for business planning and Board reporting
People (20 to 25 per cent):
- support the CEO on creating a highly inclusive culture ensuring team members thrive and organisation goals are met
- lead workforce planning and structure reviews
- oversee recruitment, induction and retention
- review and implement HR and EDI policies
- support line managers on staff development and performance management processes
Legal and compliance (10 to 15 per cent):
- work with external legal advisers as needed
- maintain and review operational policies (e.g. H&S, safeguarding, data protection)
- support risk management across the organisation
- ensure compliance with Companies House and HMRC requirements
Working at Public Practice
We are a small company but work hard to ensure we provide and continue to develop inclusive and progressive policies and benefits.
Currently, we provide all employees with the following:
- we operate under a 9-Day-Fortnight working policy for ten of the twelve months of the year
- two days of office access per week at the co-working office Better Space, Farringdon, of which we currently require a minimum of two days in the office per week (on Mondays and Wednesdays)
- quarterly team away trips and team lunches
- 27 days of holiday per year (excluding bank holidays)
- a flexible and remote working policy that allows employees to work from abroad for two months of the year (in August and December)
- provide a 5 per cent employer’s pension contribution
- enhanced sick, maternity, paternity and adoption leav
- £600 annual training budget and up to four professional development days a year
- employee perks budget provided by With Juno monthly
The hiring process
Our hiring process assesses a candidate’s ability to meet the attributes we think are necessary for someone to do well in the role, you will see these listed at the beginning of each job advert. We are also interested in a candidate’s motivation and interest in working at Public Practice and in a small company team. We do not review CVs or a candidate’s educational background when making hiring decisions. To us, it doesn’t matter how you built your skills and knowledge, just that you have the right ones for the role we want to hire for.
We remove as much bias as possible during our hiring process, and candidates remain anonymous to all assessors until Stage Two and are all marked against pre-set criteria. We also aim to collect and provide as much feedback as possible to all applicants at each stage of the process.