We’re excited to announce a vacancy on our Grapevine team! Based in Coventry, the Senior Operations Officer helps enable our staff to deliver excellent services and community transformation.
This key operational role combines facilities management, administrative co-ordination, HR support, Board support, compliance oversight and some front-line customer service.
But much more than that, you will be the operational heartbeat of an award-winning charity enabling community-led change across Coventry and Warwickshire.
Click this link to read the job pack, including detailed information about the role and the specific skills, abilities, experience and knowledge we are looking for in the person we hire.
Click here to complete the Jotform application form.
Read on for details of the role in more depth!
Job description
You’ve mastered the art of making things work smoothly – maybe in charity operations, facilities management or business support. You know that every compliance checkbox ticked, every system optimised and every pound saved directly translates into changed lives.
You’re ready to step into a role where your attention to detail genuinely matters.
We’re looking for a Senior Operations Officer who can keep everything running while keeping people at the centre. You’ll be the person who opens our buildings each morning, welcomes distressed callers seeking help, negotiates charity discounts with suppliers, coordinates staff onboarding, manages compliance and ensures our Board can focus on strategy.
It’s operational excellence meets genuine compassion.
Job details
- Part-time 18.5 hours per week
- £32,354 per year (pro rata for part-time)
- Permanent contract
- Based at our offices in Spon End, Coventry
- Reporting to the CEO
- Closing date: Wednesday 18 November at 9am
- Expected interview date: Wednesday 25 November.
What you’ll be doing
- Keeping our operations safe and compliant – conduct risk assessments, manage health and safety, coordinate facilities maintenance and ensure we meet all legal requirements
- Enabling brilliant people to do brilliant work – support HR processes from onboarding to exits, manage DBS checks, coordinate team events and be the go-to person who solves problems
- Being the first point of contact for people seeking help – answer calls with empathy, direct clients to appropriate support using your knowledge of local services and ensure no one leaves Grapevine without assistance
- Supporting recruitment and governance – process applications through our system, coordinate Board meetings and provide key liaison support for trustees
- Driving continuous improvement – review and enhance internal processes, explore AI and automation opportunities and negotiate contracts that stretch our resources further
- Managing the everyday essentials – coordinate post, emails, building access, waste collection, vehicle checks and the hundred other details that keep a charity functioning.
What we’re looking for
This isn’t just about ticking boxes on a checklist. We need someone who combines operational excellence with warmth, resourcefulness with reliability and efficiency with empathy.
You’ll need:
- Experience in operations, facilities management, HR administration, or business support – ideally in the charity or public sector
- Genuine compassion and the ability to warmly welcome people in distress while maintaining professional boundaries
- Proactive problem-solving skills – you spot issues before they escalate and find creative solutions within tight budgets
- Excellent organisational abilities and meticulous attention to detail, especially around compliance and safety
- Confidence working independently while knowing when to escalate or collaborate
- Strong IT skills and willingness to explore tools that improve efficiency
- Knowledge of (or eagerness to learn about) local support services and community resources.
It helps if you have:
- Understanding of health and safety regulations and risk assessment processes
- Experience with HR systems, DBS processes or recruitment support
- Familiarity with charity governance and Board support
- Knowledge of facilities management, including building safety and maintenance coordination.
Why work for Grapevine?
At Grapevine, we believe people in communities are the answer to the challenges they face – and we work alongside them to build power and create lasting change. Read our story of three decades of deep social change here.
You’ll join a values-driven team that trusts you to make decisions, celebrates your initiative and recognises that behind every operational task is a person we’re enabling to change lives.
We’re high-trust, human-centred and built on shared accountability. We repay out-of-hours effort with TOIL, cherish diverse lived experience and never lose sight of the people behind the work.
We offer:
- 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays (pro rata for part-time)
- Eight per cent non-contributory pension
- Flexible working arrangements
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Supportive culture with continuous learning baked in
- Real autonomy with genuine support
- A management team role where your voice shapes how we operate.
Ready to make a difference?
If you’re excited by purpose-led work, comfortable with honest reflection and believe that systems should serve people (not the other way round), we’d love to hear from you.
Apply if you can see yourself as the person who keeps our award-winning work running smoothly while treating every caller, colleague and compliance requirement with equal care.
How to apply
Click this link to read the job pack, including detailed information about the role and the specific skills, abilities, experience and knowledge we are looking for in the person we hire.
Click here to complete the Jotform application form.
You can send audio or video files for some or all of your application to jobs@grapevinecovandwarks.org.
If you need help with your application, if you want to discuss reasonable adjustments or want to speak with someone before submitting your application, please contact us on jobs@grapevinecovandwarks.org or call 024 7663 1040.
We look forward to hearing from you! Visit our Careers page to learn more about working for us.