Job Description
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JOB TITLE: Area Manager, London & South East
REPORTS TO AND JOB
DESCRIPTION AGREED BY: National Director, England & Wales
NAME OF JOBHOLDER:
DATE:
PURPOSE OF JOB:
Through the work of the ISCO Careers Service, the Foundation has a lead position in the provision of
careers guidance services to independent schools in this geographic area. In the last academic year, the
Foundation supported over 100 schools in London and the South East and enrolled over 5000 students in its
Futurewise programme. Over the next three years, the Foundation aims to build on this strong market
position and, through innovative new services, increase its support of schools and young people.
In addition, a changing landscape in the state sector is providing significant opportunities for the Foundation.
With schools in this sector now required to secure impartial careers guidance services from September 2012,
IFF is well positioned to provide support. It has already started to leverage its track-record and expertise in
careers guidance to deliver ‘Inspire’ services targeted specifically at this sector. Service contracts have
already been confirmed in schools across England and on-going business development of Inspire and the
delivery of contracts will need to be planned and managed.
Also, IFF has secured Social Business Trust (SBT) support to assist it in future growth plans and this will
include the development of an Integrated Business Model that will encompass staff delivering services to
schools within both the independent and state sectors. Operational involvement in the development of this
model, incorporating the specific changes to operational practice as a result of new service developments
planned for launch in London and the South in 2012 will be required.
Part of the Foundation’s quality focus has been to explore and prepare the organisation for application to the
Matrix Quality Standard, with tentative plans to submit in Spring 2013
The Area Manager will provide expertise, leadership and support on these issues, working closely with the
National Director, England and Wales and the Chief Executive to develop systems and processes that will:
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Drive the growth of Inspire and lead on the management of new Inspire accounts
Strengthen the Foundation’s overall position in London and the South East
Support IFF’s work to secure the Matrix Quality Standard and
Lead the development of the integrated business model.
The Area Manager will sit on IFF’s Senior Management Team and play a key role in the future development
of the Foundation.
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ORGANISATIONAL POSITION
The Area Manager will report to the National Director. S/he will have management responsibility for Regional
Delivery Leads/Regional Directors, Account Managers/Associates and all related delivery staff. Additional
delivery resources may also require line management in support of the Inspire service delivery.
In the academic year 12/13, it is envisaged that the Area Manager, London and South East, will take the lead
role for Inspire across England and that from September 2013 would transition this work outside of the area
to other staff in the North, East and South West.
PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES
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Oversee the operation, business development and account management activities for the ISCO
Careers Service, Inspire and any other service/programme in the defined geographical area
Agree and sign-off of the delivery budget for planned service activity with existing accounts within an
academic year
Agree and sign-off of the delivery budget for newly acquired accounts within an academic year
Oversee the delivery of all contracted services to accounts to agreed timescales and budgets
(Inspire in England & Wales for 12/13)
Ensure implementation and measurement of quality and impact with of service-delivery across all
accounts
Achieve account-penetration targets through up-sell of IFF products and services into account base
Support the completion of IFF’s application for MATRIX-accreditation for service quality (lead by
National Director)
Ensure the services are delivered within the agreed financial budgets and that impact is measured
and achieved
Manage and develop the staff in the area in line with the Foundation’s policies and practices
PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Financial
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Full Profit & Loss (P&L) accountability for area
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Agreement of Area budget for existing accounts through review and sign-off of regional delivery
budgets with Associates
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Sign-off of financial resource requirements in relation to the set-up of new accounts
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Contribute to effective P&L management of the delivery budget through effective cost-control
across national regions. This will be achieved through direct line-management of delivery staff
and includes ensuring the relevant controls are put in place to support measurement/monitoring
of financial data
Sales/Business Development
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Manage the Associates and other sales-oriented professionals as the organisation develops
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Support new account acquisition by notifying the Associate/Account Manager of possible new
accounts targets gained through leveraging existing account relationships
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New lead generation and New business conversion to ensure budget is achieved
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Maintain existing client base by ensuring client renewal and up selling where possible
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Define requirements and engage with the sales support/admin functions managed by the
Marketing & Impact Director
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Operational Delivery
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Ensure that operational processes to guide and support service delivery within assigned
accounts are adhered to. These should include at a minimum: Account Set-Up, Operational
Reporting, Service Change Requests, Annual Service Reviews, and Account Planning
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Refine relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to aid measurement of quality and impact of
IFF services
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Ensure the efficient set-up of new accounts through development and delivery of the standard IF
‘Launch-Plan’ that involves all relevant stakeholders e.g. HR, Finance, and Marketing
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Manage a team of delivery staff to ensure that accounts are serviced with the correct levels of
staff and resource (In conjunction with the HR team where applicable)
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Support Area growth through sharing of service-penetration opportunities with the Associates
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Work collaboratively with the Associates to anticipate and build contingency plans in relation to
‘at risk’ accounts where IFF service delivery may be vulnerable
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Effective issue resolution through regular monitoring of account performance
Manage and Develop Staff
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Manage the recruitment of delivery staff that are adequately skilled to deliver on targets for
service delivery and business development (account penetration), with the support of HR
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Performance Manage delivery staff to include (but not restricted to) appraisals, target setting,
and identification of relevant training to support their roles.
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Training: with HR, ensure delivery staff receive relevant training in relation to the following key
areas: Induction, IFF Products and Services, Impact Evaluation, Service-Change Requests
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Training: with HR ensure delivery staff receive relevant additional training – not identified above
– and that are required to support delivery
Quality and Best-Practice
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Support IFF’s application for MATRIX-accreditation for service quality
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Champion adherence to service quality standards through ensuring that staff are fully trained on
all aspects of IFF quality standards
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Champion continuous improvement by proposing adjustments to service delivery in line with
customer feedback/recommendation
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Champion innovation within IF products and services through on-going feedback to internal
product and marketing teams – based on feedback from account reviews and delivery feedback
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Ensure effective staff CPD by establishing regular methods by which best-practice can be
shared and issue resolution discussed. This should incorporate the use of both physical and
virtual resources (e.g. Video-Conference/Webinar), in conjunction with the Training Manager and
HR
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Other Senior Manager Duties
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Act as an Ambassador for Inspiring Futures, undertaking regional and national press and
marketing activity including national conferences and events
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Provide local intelligence, where possible, of competitor activity – particularly where this may
impact on IF service delivery
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Manage other projects as they arise as requested by the National Director, England and Wales
or Chief Executive
DIMENSIONS
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Full Time; Home based with regular travel to Head Office and within England and Wales
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Direct reports include Regional Directors, Associates/Account Managers and other delivery staff
as appointed
CONTACTS
Internal
 National Director
 Regional Coordinators
 Associate/Account Manager
 Finance and IT Director
 HR team
 Marketing team
 Delivery team
 InterActives Lead Trainer
 Courses and Events Manager
External
 Schools
 Local Authorities
 Other partners and stakeholders
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