Head of Leisure & Physical Activity

The Role

In Tameside over 73,000 people who live in the borough are not currently active enough. In order to improve their health and wellbeing, we want to change this.

This is an exciting opportunity to join our Public Health team within Tameside MBC in a new role which will be leading on a major priority across the council. This role will provide strategic leadership both within Public Health and across the council for the public leisure offer in Tameside and the wider physical activity agenda.

The Head of Leisure & Physical Activity will be the lead for leisure within the organisation, alongside the Director of Public Health. This will include being the client lead for the operator of the public leisure service in Tameside.

The service is currently run by an independent trust, which the council commissions, and the facilities it operates out of are owned by the council. The service is shifting into a new phase, with leadership for this agenda only recently moving to Public Health in the council.

There is a renewed focus on recognising the inequalities and barriers that some residents face in being active, and for the service to support more people to move on a regular basis.

It is also important that our leisure facilities are managed and maintained in the best way possible, between the operator and the council, to facilitate good access for residents.

This role will be responsible for the client management of this function, including supporting the Director of Public Health in leading the service through substantial review and transformation in the short to medium term.

Aligned to the work around the leisure offer, this role will also lead strategically on the wider physical activity agenda and deliver on the Tameside Moving strategy as part of the broader public health and wellbeing agenda.

This aspect of the role will support existing work in the Public Health team to enable more movement across our communities and maximise opportunities around physical activity across the council and wider partnerships.

The role will have a strong focus on partnership working across a range of services within the council, particularly relating to the wider Public Health Team, Finance and Estates. There will be partnership work with external agencies, particularly the leisure operator, and across the NHS, other statutory partners and the voluntary, community, faith & social enterprise sector.

This role will report to the Director of Public Health and be part of the Public Health Senior Team as well as the Extended Leadership Team of the council, positioning the role well to influence work to improve physical activity across all parts of the council.

About You

We are seeking an appropriately qualified professional with proven experience and knowledge of the leisure sector, who wants to have a real impact to effect change. Alongside this, they will have excellent problem‑solving, communication, political and technical skills and the energy and drive to make a major contribution to improving health and reducing inequalities in Tameside, through increased movement.

You will have excellent relationship and partnership skills to build a mutually supportive way of working with the leisure operator, to foster a culture of collaboration, system leadership and continuous improvement to deliver the best outcomes for the residents of Tameside.

Experience of leisure service operations and managing close strategic client‑side relationships will be important. Candidates will have a high level of intellectual rigour, political awareness, negotiation and motivation skills. Flexibility, tact and diplomacy are required as well as the ability to communicate effectively within diverse settings.

You will have experience of leadership and an ability to understand other cultures, advise, challenge and advocate to enable effective working across organisational boundaries and influencing without direct authority.

We are looking for someone with a passion for enabling movement and tackling the unfair barriers that many residents face, to live active, happy, healthy lives.

This position is subject to Basic Disclosure Procedures. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This is a politically restricted post.