Associate Director of Operations (Hampshire & Isle of Wight)

Join us on our journey to empower over a million people to change their behaviours and thrive.

At Thrive Tribe we deliver award-winning healthy lifestyle and wellbeing programmes that help people live healthier, happier lives. We are looking for a performance-focused, people-centred Associate Director of Operations to lead our Hampshire and Isle of Wight services and drive the next phase of impact and growth in the region.

Your Impact

You will be responsible for ensuring Thrive Tribe’s services across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight deliver measurable health outcomes for local communities. By leading high-performing teams, strengthening commissioner relationships, and driving operational excellence, you will play a critical part in improving population health and securing the long-term success of our regional services.

Scope

You will lead a team of Service Managers responsible for delivering 5 public health contracts across the region, supporting a wider multidisciplinary workforce delivering services in communities across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The contracts include services to help residents to stop smoking, lose weight and get active, covering a population of over 1.5 million people and a budget of over £4 million.

Role description

As a senior operational leader, you will be accountable for regional performance, ensuring services deliver strong outcomes, meet contractual KPIs, and provide an outstanding experience for both service users and staff.

You will play a key role in strengthening relationships with commissioners and partners, driving service innovation, and creating the conditions for sustainable contract growth and retention.

Like all roles at Thrive Tribe, you can expect your work to be varied, fast-paced, and rewarding. While roles evolve as we grow, the core responsibilities for this position include:

• Leading your region to maintain the ethos and success of Thrive Tribe, building strong relationships with teams, commissioners, stakeholders and partners in line with our values.
  

• Creating a high-performing and positive employee experience for your teams, ensuring Thrive Tribe remains a supportive, engaging and developmental place to work.
  

• Providing strategic leadership across regional contracts to ensure delivery of contractual KPIs while driving quality, innovation and continuous improvement.
  

• Developing the capability of your management team to deliver outstanding operational leadership and building a strong succession pipeline to support future growth.
  

• Implementing Thrive Tribe’s full portfolio of digital, remote and face-to-face services to ensure programmes remain responsive to client and community needs.
  

• Delivering regional financial performance, including P&L accountability and effective budget management across services.
  

• Leading the mobilisation of new contracts within your region to ensure services launch successfully and at pace.
  

• Working with Business Development colleagues to shape service design, pricing and the development of competitive national and regional tenders.
  

• Collaborating with other Assistant Directors to ensure a consistent, joined-up approach across regions and service areas.
  

• Representing Thrive Tribe at Public Health strategic groups and wider health system forums across the region.

Reporting Structure

· Reports to Chief Operating Officer

· Direct reports 3 FTE Heads of Service

Requirements

We are looking for someone with experience leading the delivery of public or private sector services, managing teams, and overseeing budgets. Building strong, lasting relationships with commissioners and stakeholders is also key to success in this role. We are seeking a natural leader who can develop people and drive performance.

Thrive Tribe is a values-led organisation and our core values guide how we work, support each other, and deliver services for our communities. As a senior leader at Thrive Tribe, you will role model our values and ensure they are embedded in how your teams deliver services and work together:

• Be The Change: we always try to walk the walk, because taking responsibility for our own wellbeing impacts upon our ability to inspire and influence others.
  
  

• Be Big-Hearted: being generous doesn’t just mean contributing our time to improve lives, it’s about giving honest feedback and taking the time to say thank you.
  
  

• Be Successful: we love hitting targets and appreciate that we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t keep our eyes on our KPI’s. We want to generate growth, for us and our clients too!
  
  

• Be Happy: recognising the power of a smile, we promote a fun, supportive working environment and relish the opportunity to engage in meaningful work.
  
  

• Be Effective: we encourage out of the box thinking and remain open at all times to new and improved ways of doing things.
  
  

At Thrive Tribe, we hire as much for attitude and potential as for formal experience. If you feel you are the right fit, we would love to hear from you.

Thrive Tribe is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive, fair, and respectful workplace. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences.

Contract & Benefits

This is a full-time role, on a permanent contract. Part time applications will be considered dependent on personal circumstances.

Salary: circa £60,000 per annum

Perks: Every person makes Thrive Tribe the incredible place it is to work and play, together we are unstoppable! Our talented people work hard but we ensure lots of fun is thrown in too! We offer:

• Regular team events and activities, including ThriveFest and our annual Challenge Weekend (for those who want to put their fitness to the test!)
  
  

• Flexible working – we’re serious about life/work balance
  
  

• Tailored health and wellbeing support such as access to life coaching
  
  

• Rewards portal offering discounts on shops, restaurants, and days out
  
  

• Enhanced parental leave
  
  

• 23 days holiday, increasing every year up to a maximum of 29 days (plus Bank Holidays and half an extra day at Christmas!)
  
  

• And last but not least, a day on us to live by our values!
  
  

Closing Date: The closing date for applications is Friday 10th April 2026 at 17.00pm. Please submit your application as soon as possible as we reserve the right to close applications when we have received enough suitable applicants.

To apply: attach your CV and a covering letter (no more than two A4 pages, outlining why you are right for the position) to TeamTailor (the platform you are using).

Applicants will be contacted to outline the next stages of the process. A recruitment / assessment day is likely is likely to take place week commencing 20th April 2025.

Location: our current services in this region are based in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. We operate a flexible, hybrid working policy. Working from home when not in face to face appointments is encouraged (though you would also be welcome to use one of our offices). There will be times when travel across your region (or to other regions) will be expected (car owner would be helpful). There will be periodic requirements to attend our Thrive Tribe HQ in Stratford, London.

We warmly welcome informal conversations about the role before application, please contact our Chief Operating Officer at Thrive Tribe, Andy Emerson on 07540 108893 to discuss the role.

Please note, the successful applicant will be required to have the right to work in the UK.

We believe that every person has the right to thrive at work, which is why we are committed to equal employment opportunity and will not discriminate. Should you require any specific accommodations in the recruitment process please let us know in your application .