Head of Aquatics Competency
| Posting date: | 15 December 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £60,000 to £70,000 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 14 January 2026 |
| Location: | Swim England SportPark Pavilion 3 3 Oakwood Drive Loughborough University LE11 3QF |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 3 days per week |
| Company: | The Amateur Swimming Association (Swim England) Limited |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: |
Summary
About Us
Swim England is the national governing body for swimming in England.
We help people learn how to swim, enjoy the water safely, and compete in all our sports.
Our vision is of a nation swimming and we strive to inspire everyone to enjoy the water in the way that suits them. We work with our partners to create engaging programmes that enable everyone to be active, have fun and stay healthy through swimming.
About the Role
We are seeking a strategic and collaborative Head of Aquatics Competency to lead one of the core work strands within the One Swim England strategy. This senior leadership role is central to our ambition that every person can enjoy swimming and aquatics confidently and competently.
You will provide strategic direction and operational leadership across Learn to Swim, School Swimming and Water Safety, overseeing delivery, budgets and impact. Working closely with internal teams, national partners, academics and government stakeholders, you will influence policy, investment and practice across the aquatics system to drive meaningful and sustainable change.
Key Responsibilities
In this role you will:
- Strategically lead the aquatics competency work strand, including objectives, delivery plans, day-to-day operations and budgets.
- Oversee Swim England’s Learn to Swim Framework and Programme to grow participation and increase diversity across England.
- Lead Swim England’s contribution to national water safety and drowning prevention agendas.
- Design, develop and oversee Swim England’s strategy and approach to School Swimming.
- Collaborate with government departments, national partners and agencies across education, school sport, physical activity, leisure and water safety to influence policy and investment.
- Engage with academic partners to inform best practice across physical literacy, pedagogy, motor learning and outdoor education.
- Work collaboratively across Swim England directorates to connect delivery across clubs, leisure operators, health systems, swim schools and local authorities.
- Provide strong leadership and functional line management across the aquatics competency team.
- Share collective accountability with the Director of Community Participation and Health and other strand leaders for directorate-wide outcomes.
- Provide collaborative leadership to National Development Managers to ensure joined-up development and delivery.
Skills and Experience
Essential
- Knowledge of government strategy and priorities across school sport, physical education and water safety.
- Experience leading a strategic work strand and associated programmes in a development context.
- Experience measuring the impact of sport and physical activity initiatives using quantitative and qualitative methods.
- Excellent written, verbal and presentation communication skills.
- A collaborative leadership style, able to work laterally and vertically.
- Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise effectively.
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to provide confident, consistent leadership across complex stakeholder systems.
Our Values
- We include
- We are ambitious
- We collaborate
- We do what’s right
Please be advised that we cannot offer visa sponsorship and that you must have right to work in the UK to apply or be considered for this role. If you are a non-UK/EU National, you must have an appropriate working Visa to undertake employment. You must also be working within the UK to apply or be considered for this role, due to the public liability insurance Swim England holds.
Swim England is committed to inclusion and embracing the spirit of all equalities legislation. As a Disability Confident Employer, we actively encourage applications from disabled people. We recognise that the diversity of our workforce is not reflective of today’s society and we are currently operating a pilot scheme whereby applicants from ethnically diverse backgrounds can opt into our guaranteed interview scheme. Candidates that have opted into the scheme will be guaranteed an interview provided that they have demonstrated, within their application, that they meet the essential criteria for the role. When emailing the CV and cover letter, applicants from ethnically diverse backgrounds are encouraged to state they wish to ‘Opt In’ to the scheme.
Where possible, Swim England will always make reasonable adjustments for accessibility to anyone who requires it.
If you would like any of the documentation in a different format or would like to apply in a different way please get in touch. All appointments will be made on merit, following a fair and transparent process, in line with the Equality Act 2010. However, the organisation may employ positive action where candidates from underrepresented groups can demonstrate their ability to perform the role equally well.
Swim England is also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.
This job is SportPark based (minimum of 2 days in the office) with regular national travel, and occasional international travel.
Swim England is the national governing body for swimming in England.
We help people learn how to swim, enjoy the water safely, and compete in all our sports.
Our vision is of a nation swimming and we strive to inspire everyone to enjoy the water in the way that suits them. We work with our partners to create engaging programmes that enable everyone to be active, have fun and stay healthy through swimming.
About the Role
We are seeking a strategic and collaborative Head of Aquatics Competency to lead one of the core work strands within the One Swim England strategy. This senior leadership role is central to our ambition that every person can enjoy swimming and aquatics confidently and competently.
You will provide strategic direction and operational leadership across Learn to Swim, School Swimming and Water Safety, overseeing delivery, budgets and impact. Working closely with internal teams, national partners, academics and government stakeholders, you will influence policy, investment and practice across the aquatics system to drive meaningful and sustainable change.
Key Responsibilities
In this role you will:
- Strategically lead the aquatics competency work strand, including objectives, delivery plans, day-to-day operations and budgets.
- Oversee Swim England’s Learn to Swim Framework and Programme to grow participation and increase diversity across England.
- Lead Swim England’s contribution to national water safety and drowning prevention agendas.
- Design, develop and oversee Swim England’s strategy and approach to School Swimming.
- Collaborate with government departments, national partners and agencies across education, school sport, physical activity, leisure and water safety to influence policy and investment.
- Engage with academic partners to inform best practice across physical literacy, pedagogy, motor learning and outdoor education.
- Work collaboratively across Swim England directorates to connect delivery across clubs, leisure operators, health systems, swim schools and local authorities.
- Provide strong leadership and functional line management across the aquatics competency team.
- Share collective accountability with the Director of Community Participation and Health and other strand leaders for directorate-wide outcomes.
- Provide collaborative leadership to National Development Managers to ensure joined-up development and delivery.
Skills and Experience
Essential
- Knowledge of government strategy and priorities across school sport, physical education and water safety.
- Experience leading a strategic work strand and associated programmes in a development context.
- Experience measuring the impact of sport and physical activity initiatives using quantitative and qualitative methods.
- Excellent written, verbal and presentation communication skills.
- A collaborative leadership style, able to work laterally and vertically.
- Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise effectively.
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to provide confident, consistent leadership across complex stakeholder systems.
Our Values
- We include
- We are ambitious
- We collaborate
- We do what’s right
Please be advised that we cannot offer visa sponsorship and that you must have right to work in the UK to apply or be considered for this role. If you are a non-UK/EU National, you must have an appropriate working Visa to undertake employment. You must also be working within the UK to apply or be considered for this role, due to the public liability insurance Swim England holds.
Swim England is committed to inclusion and embracing the spirit of all equalities legislation. As a Disability Confident Employer, we actively encourage applications from disabled people. We recognise that the diversity of our workforce is not reflective of today’s society and we are currently operating a pilot scheme whereby applicants from ethnically diverse backgrounds can opt into our guaranteed interview scheme. Candidates that have opted into the scheme will be guaranteed an interview provided that they have demonstrated, within their application, that they meet the essential criteria for the role. When emailing the CV and cover letter, applicants from ethnically diverse backgrounds are encouraged to state they wish to ‘Opt In’ to the scheme.
Where possible, Swim England will always make reasonable adjustments for accessibility to anyone who requires it.
If you would like any of the documentation in a different format or would like to apply in a different way please get in touch. All appointments will be made on merit, following a fair and transparent process, in line with the Equality Act 2010. However, the organisation may employ positive action where candidates from underrepresented groups can demonstrate their ability to perform the role equally well.
Swim England is also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.
This job is SportPark based (minimum of 2 days in the office) with regular national travel, and occasional international travel.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.