About this vacancy
Job Title
Senior People Development Officer
DEPARTMENT AND SALARY
Department – Sport System: Governance, People and Ethics
Salary – £40,071.33 - £42,925.41
Working Hours – 37 hours (consideration will be given to job sharing / reduced hours in line with our flexible working policy)
Minimum 12-month fixed term contract (secondments will be considered)
Location – Cardiff, Llanelli or Deeside
WHO WE ARE
Sport Wales is the national organisation responsible for developing and promoting sport and physical activity in Wales. We are the main adviser on sporting matters to the Welsh Government and are responsible for distributing National Lottery funds. We aim to not only improve the level of sports participation at grassroots level but also provide our aspiring athletes with the support required to compete successfully on the world stage.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do at Sport Wales. Further information on this can be found in our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Statement here.
We are a progressive employer that offers excellent employee benefits and promotes a healthy work life balance, offering a range of flexible approaches to support you.
Language skills (bilingualism & multilingualism) are desirable characteristics across all roles within Sport Wales. We are passionate about promoting the use of Welsh language and, as part of our development programme, give everyone the opportunity to learn Welsh if they wish to do so, offering learning programmes from beginner right through to fluent.
Sport Wales embraces a blended approach to work, where you will be able to split your time between the office and home to best suit your personal circumstances.
Sport Wales careers are funded by Welsh Government and the National Lottery. Find out more about Sport Wales’ relationship with the National Lottery.
HOW YOU’LL CONTRIBUTE
We are looking for an experienced individual who will play a key role in leading, developing and supporting our people development work in Wales. You will support and work directly with our People Development Lead, and our Sport System; Governance, People & Ethics Team.
The role will require an experienced individual who will be at the forefront of ensuring that we maximise the investment and support given to developing people (with a focus on boards and leaders) in Wales, through cross sport and sector partnerships, the sharing of resources, and through providing opportunities for the workforce to meet, connect, collaborate and learn together.
Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of everything we do at Sport Wales. You will provide leadership and support, ensuring that inclusion and equality are embedded within people development programmes, projects and opportunities, within partner organisations and across the sector.
You will be responsible for ensuring that as a sector we recognise our shared purpose and accountability for the effectiveness of people development in Wales. You will support and work with our partners to better understand the types of people development systems and opportunities that are needed to meet the needs of a much broader and diverse range of workforce.
WHO YOU'LL WORK WITH
You will be working with a broad network of organisations so together we can create innovative approaches to meet the future needs within people development - including Regional Sport Partnerships, National Governing Bodies, National Organisations, Further and Higher Education providers, Third Sector Organisations and many more.
Internally you will work within the Sport System, Governance, People & Ethics Team as well as working collaboratively with colleagues across Sport Wales to ensure matters relating to people development are fully supported. In addition, you will represent Wales at a UK level on matters relating to people development.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
We are looking for candidates who have experience, knowledge and understanding in either adult learning, coach development systems, people and leadership development, or in creating positive and inclusive cultures.
You will be able to identify emerging practice from within Wales and around the world, use insight and research to drive policy and strategy, and ensure that the workforce’s impact on the Vision for Sport and the Sport Wales Strategy is maximised.
Led by this evidence and insight, you will be dedicated to learning and supporting others to learn across our partner organisations. You will need to be keen to learn and discover more and to continuously improve in the role.
You will have knowledge and experience of a variety of learning, training and development opportunities sourced through Higher Education, Further Education, and other training providers, as well as knowledge of funding sources available to support access to learning.
You will have an ability to build highly effective relationships and challenge consensus in a constructive and honest way. You will need to be efficient at managing multiple areas of work and have the ability to create a positive working environment, deal effectively with issues and problems; motivating, encouraging and challenging your colleagues.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
You should read the full job description (please note we do not accept CV's).
You can apply for this role now.
If you need any support to apply for this role, then please email [javascript protected email address].
CLOSING DATE
20/08/2025 9am
PROVISIONAL INTERVIEW DATE
03/09/2025
FULL JOB DESCRIPTION
RESPONSIBLE TO
People Development Lead
JOB PURPOSE
This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in the Sport System Directorate. People play the biggest part in providing safe, accessible, and enjoyable sport across Wales. We want you to play a role in supporting the development of an inclusive and dynamic workforce across Welsh Sport.
You will provide guidance and support to partners (especially National Governing Bodies, National Partners and Regional Sports Partnerships) in all matters relating to People Development. In particular you will play a key role in addressing the inequalities that exist within the workforce, and supporting the development of positive and inclusive cultures through people.
MAIN DUTIES
To work at a senior level with partners to ensure that people development is at the heart of their thinking, planning and delivery.
Identify and promote people development opportunities from both within and outside the sport sector, ensuring partners know where to access appropriate learning, training and development, and where they can access funding to support this learning.
To identify and create opportunities to improve people development across Wales, which will include identifying world leading examples and liaising with bodies outside of Wales on these areas of development.
Work specifically with partners to address the inequalities within the workforce in Wales.
Lead and support the development of tools and resources that will impact on people development.
Embrace digital technology to share relevant information and ideas across business areas and to ensure knowledge and insight is shared as widely as possible across the sector.
Support the development of national initiatives such as the Young Ambassadors Programme to develop the leaders of the future.
Fulfil responsibilities which contribute to delivering an exemplary service for Sport Wales in respect of our statutory duties, including Well-being of Future Generations (Wales), Equality, Information Security, Risk Management, Safeguarding, Financial Regulation and Health, Safety & Environment.
Work flexibly, performing any other duties as required, where relevant to the post and appropriate to the grade, including supporting the wider work of the Governance, People and Ethics team
OUR VALUES
Our approach to enabling sport in Wales to thrive is evolving. We are committed to continually challenging ourselves to:
Learn Together - Constantly exploring, testing and reviewing
Deliver Together - Sharing outcomes, nurturing open and honest relationships, providing robust feedback, constantly improving performance
Celebrate Together - Recognising our shared successes through effective partners
By:
Acting with Integrity - Understanding and Respecting each other’s culture and values. Promoting equality and diversity
Adding Value - Ensuring the optimum mix of support, challenge, investment, skills, and expertise to achieve our shared outcomes.
Encouraging Innovation - Welcoming new ideas and approaches and supporting ambition and fresh thinking. Not being afraid to feel uncomfortable.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
| Area of focus | Essential Requirements | Desirable Requirements |
Education
| Appropriate qualification or experience within people development
| |
| Experience | Experience in an operational role supporting and leading work across a number of organisational priorities
Previous experience in influencing Senior Management, building credibility and excellent relationships
Operational and strategic planning experience in the development of innovative ideas and solutions
Proven track record of delivering and reviewing key areas of work, taking learning and amending work as necessary
Effective Management of budgets
Knowledge and experience of leading people development across a number of partners
Knowledge and experience of learning, training and development opportunities linked to inclusive cultures
| Experience in working with sport / National Governing Bodies
Experience of using technology to shape and deliver work
Experience of addressing inequalities through a people development approach
Experience of leading behaviour and culture change within organisations |
| Skills, Aptitudes & Abilities | Ability to build relationships with a range of different stakeholders.
Ability to manage a range of work objectives, some often with challenging and competing timescales.
An ability to see the big picture. Recognising how different areas of work across an organisation can fit together.
An ability to motivate, encourage and challenge your colleagues.
Ability to create a positive working environment and deal effectively with issues and problems.
Able to handle confidential data and information sensitively
Ability to develop and implement innovative ideas
Holds self and others accountable for standards of performance to successfully deal with a range of often complex situations; seeks support and guidance from others in the organisation when needed
Copes effectively with pace, setbacks and changes to priorities; adapts to highly pressured situations and executes good control | Ability to communicate in Welsh, both written and spoken
Able to initiate projects, based on translating strategic intent into operational delivery, set goals, define roles and track progress, review, evaluate and implement learnings for optimal impact
|
| Special Circumstances | Able to work flexibly including out of normal office hours
Able to travel as required
|
