Senior Manager - Admin & Operations

About the Role

This role is the operational backbone of the Football Schools department, owning the systems, data, reporting and administration on which the whole business runs, from the customer record and billing through to budgeting, procurement and the management information leadership relies on. It leads the selection of the department's operating platform and builds the reporting that makes performance visible across domestic and international activity. Reporting to the Director, the role is central to the Club's priorities of driving profitable growth in revenue and investing in the future, giving the department the insight it needs to grow with confidence. The role leads the administration team, comprising an Admin & Operations Officer and three Executive Administrators.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the department's operational and transactional data, ensuring it is complete, accurate and delivered on time, and produce monthly performance reporting for the Director and the Club, including reporting that measures customer lifetime value, retention and partner performance.
• Build the volume, activity and cost driver inputs to the annual budget, track performance against plan and surface variance before it lands, aligning systems, data and cost centre structures so the department reports as a single profit and loss alongside the Club's central Finance team.
• Lead the selection of the department's registration, consent and operating platform with Technology and Procurement, defining requirements that serve both a domestic subscription business and international licensed operations, and make the recommendation.
• Own collection, billing and the customer record for the department's programmes so families are enrolled correctly and invoiced accurately, set up billing at the point of signature so new partnerships are collectable from day one, and supply payment history to Commercial ahead of every renewal.
• Own purchasing, purchase orders and central resources across the department, working within the Club's procurement and financial authorisation processes.
• Manage kit and equipment inventory for UK delivery, including stock records, ordering, allocation to programmes and regular stock checks, so delivery teams have what they need and losses are controlled.
• Source the data and analysis the Director uses to set strategy and plan, and develop a forward view of what the department needs to prepare for over the next six, twelve and twenty four months.
• Lead, develop and performance manage the administration team, holding a high standard in detailed, essential work and building the capability the department needs as it grows.
• Ensure customer data and consent are captured, held and shared in line with data protection law and Club policy across a customer base that is largely children, applying the same standard to every partner that handles Chelsea customer data.

Required Experience & Qualifications

• Proven track record of owning management reporting and data in a multi site or multi product business, delivering accurate information on a fixed cycle.
• Budgeting and forecasting experience, including building volume, activity and cost driver assumptions, tracking performance and surfacing variance early.
• Financial literacy: able to read a P&L, work alongside a central finance function and challenge a number that does not reflect the business.
• Systems specification and selection experience: defining requirements, evaluating options and recommending a platform against them.
• Ability to turn transactional records into management information that people use to make decisions.
• Customer administration experience at volume, ideally in a subscription or recurring revenue business.
• Experience of procurement, purchasing and stock control within a large organisation's financial authorisation framework.
• Experience leading, developing and performance managing an administration or operations team.
• Working knowledge of data protection and consent requirements under UK GDPR.
• Ability to operate across a complex organisation, working with Finance, Technology, Procurement and Legal without direct authority.
• High attention to detail and the discipline to hold a standard in repetitive, essential work.
• Commitment to embodying the Club's BLUE behaviours (Brave, Lead, Unity, Edge) in the approach to work and interaction with others.
• Adherence to the Club's policies and procedures, including Health & Safety, Financial Authorisation, Confidentiality and GDPR.
• Acting as an ambassador for diversity, equality and inclusion, treating others fairly in line with the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy and reporting any acts of discrimination through appropriate channels.
• Creating a safe environment and acting to protect all young people and vulnerable adults in the role holder's care or attending Club premises, reporting any concerns to the Safeguarding Lead.

Preferred Skills

• Experience in sport, leisure, education or membership organisations.
• Experience working in or around professional football.
• Experience leading a CRM, registration or ERP implementation.
• Advanced Excel skills and experience with business intelligence tools such as Power BI or Tableau.
• Advanced AI knowledge and implementation.
• Experience supporting a profit and loss consolidation or cost centre restructure.
• Experience handling data and consent where the customer base includes children.
• Understanding of international licensing or partner based business models.
• A finance, business or data qualification.