Head of Scheme Operations (1853)

RSPCA Assured is celebrating 30 years of improving the lives of farmed animals.

In that time, we're proud to have worked with thousands of farmers - and all of the UK's biggest supermarkets - to help make the lives of millions of animals better.

Every year, we inspect almost 4,000 farms and other scheme members to ensure they meet strict RSPCA animal welfare standards - ensuring a better life for farm animals.

So when you see an RSPCA Assured label on meat, fish, eggs or milk products, it means the animal was cared for according to the RSPCA's standards from birth to slaughter.

Our vision is a world where all farmed animals are respected and treated with kindness and compassion - and that's what we work towards every day.

We are looking for a new Head of Scheme Operations to join our team. 

• Permanent
• Working hours: 35 hours per week; Monday to Friday
• Location: Hybrid Worker- Home and national travel as necessary. 

Are you ready to be part of our journey and make a difference? 

We offer a wide range of benefits to recognise your contributions at RSPCA.

• 35 hour week 
• Great Annual Leave benefits - 25 days annual leave on joining increasing each year to a maximum of 31 days (pro rata for part-time)
• Additional Society day around Christmas.
• Flexibility in hours - with the introduction of Core Hours staff can work their 35 hours flexibly across Monday to Friday. Core hours are 10.00am - 15.00 (please note this isn't available for our frontline animal care roles) 
• Generous pension scheme 
• Career development through our in-house Learning & Development training 
• Charity worker discounts: Access to hundreds of discounts across many retailers, travel, insurance & cinema tickets.
• Dog friendly offices at our London & South East Hub! (Subject to eligibility criteria) 
   

As Head of Scheme Operations, no two days will be the same; the role is varied and challenging and each day will bring something new and exciting. 

We've added a short summary of what the role entails, for a full insight please refer to the attached job description.

You will be:

• Responsible for investigations and red alert processes.
• Responsible for making key decisions on the assurance scheme deployment via workforce planning.
• Responsible for scheme compliance.

We will look to you to:

• Safeguard and enhance the scheme's integrity while enabling scalability in line with the species growth model.
• Lead and oversee strategic workforce planning in collaboration with the Workforce Planning Manager. 
• Ensure efficient resource allocation to maximise farm visit audit productivity, with a goal of increasing visits per member annually from one to up to three.
• Enhance scheme compliance, particularly through a risk-stratified approach to member assessments. 
• Utilise data-driven insights and predictive analytics to proactively manage compliance risks and target areas for improvement.  
• Oversee scheme compliance reporting and collaborating with Regional Assessment Managers and Investigation Managers to maintain high compliance standards.
• Optimise the use of technology to drive increase in visits, enable a risk stratified approach and improve productivity & efficiency.

To succeed within this role, it is essential that the post holder has proven strong leadership skills with the ability to inspire and motivate cross-functional teams. 

Our Head of Scheme Operations will work closely with certification bodies and big member groups, as well as the internal membership services team, so they must be able to collaborate effectively with a variety of working groups, whilst driving shared goals.

This role requires a strong relationship builder, with exceptional interpersonal skills and a proven ability to build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including key accounts, strategic partners, and industry influencers.

We are keen to receive applications from those who also have:

• Strong communication, negotiation and influencing skills
• Problem solving skills.
• The ability to adapt well to changing environments and a shift in priorities.
• Exceptional stakeholder management  skills.
• An understanding of the RSPCA Assured scheme and standards applications.
• CRM and database experience.
• Proven experience of developing and managing scheme level compliance. 
• An understanding of farm animal welfare. 

If you have the skills and experience we are looking for, we look forward to receiving your application.

Successful candidates for certain RSPCA roles will need to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK - We are unable to sponsor visas at RSPCA

Interviews will be held remotely on the 16th and 17th of December. 

Due to high interest in some of our roles, we review applications as they are received. This can occasionally result in positions closing earlier than advertised. Therefore, we strongly recommend submitting applications early. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept applications after the posted closing date.

We want to ensure we do all we can to give you a positive candidate experience through our recruitment. Whilst we do try to give feedback where we can, sometimes due to receiving high levels of applications, this may not always be possible

We recognise that a diverse and inclusive workforce is essential to achieving our core mission. For this reason we actively encourage a wide diversity of applications - in particular from members of minority ethnic groups, and people with disabilities - as these candidates are currently under-represented at the RSPCA.

Should you need any support with your application or interview process please contact resourcingteam@rspca.org.uk / 0300 123 0685.

Our mission is to ensure animals have a good life by rescuing and caring for those in need, by advocating on behalf of all animals and by inspiring everyone to treat them with compassion and respect