Main areas of responsibility of a Place & Communities Lead: 

Place – work in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, initially Newark and Sherwood and North East Derbyshire, in communities and neighbourhoods experiencing the greatest inequalities. This is to facilitate an understanding of the people who live there, the organisations that work there, and how being active does or doesn’t fit in.

Use this insight and learning to work with organisations and residents to develop new, or support existing activities and behaviours to encourage people in these communities to move more. This will include working out how, with residents and community partners, national and local programmes can support the needs in the place.

Theme – support a key area of work across the whole organisation, working with colleagues and partners to agree approaches, plans and make new relationships. Examples of themed work areas include environment, health, Children & young people, inequalities, and investment etc. 

Place & Communities Leads need to understand our communities and neighbourhoods, connect with people, and enable change.

 What you will do:

 Grow our understanding of people and communities

• Build and maintain relationships with community and public sector organisations working in the places where people experiencing the greatest inequalities live, and find and attend the relevant networks and groups to do this. Through these relationships, deepen our understanding about what supports or stops people from moving more. Listen to their lived experience, motivations, and barriers.

• Capture and share what you are seeing and hearing. This might be through regular internal reports, through conversations with your colleagues, and with other organisations, had locally, regionally, and nationally.

• Identify stories about people and communities’ lived experience of everyday movement. Work with our marketing team to creatively capture and share this.

• Support community organisations and partners to understand and follow an insight-led approach that uses learning to make future decisions in their work.  For example, this could be using community insight to inform the design and planning of services and activities.

Support and develop people and organisations

• Identify and support the leaders within communities who can influence others to move more. Identify what support/training would help them to do more and help them access this. Share this insight with local partners to inform decision making and practice.

• Encourage and enable people and community organisations to be involved in designing opportunities and services that are right for them. Open doors for them to join in or share their insight and voice in the meetings you attend.

• Bring people and community organisations together to discuss how they could collaborate to encourage people in their neighbourhood to move more. Support them to work out what role they can play and what help they may need.

• Create opportunities for community organisations to share and evaluate their experiences and learn together. Support them to capture this to help improve and/or adapt their services and activities. 

• Support the Strategic Lead working in your places (initially Newark and Sherwood and North East Derbyshire but this could be anywhere across Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire as our work progresses) to deliver the Sport England-funded place work and other ongoing work with partners in the districts.

 Target and align investment

• Support new and existing community organisations to use their resources where insight shows the need is greatest.

• Support new and existing community organisations to apply for new funding (from Sport England and other funders) to meet the identified needs in our places, working alongside APT’s Funding Lead.

• Reduce duplication, help join up local health and physical activity work, and initiatives in communities experiencing the greatest inequalities.

Other responsibilities

• Budgets: variable, depending on work area and funding received.

• Safeguarding, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: provide vision, leadership, and commitment through all work internally and externally.

• Be accountable for the achievement of your actions in the annual action plan, regularly capturing and reflecting on your work.

We are looking for someone to join us who:

Essential

• Believes in the value of physical activity and is committed to reducing inequalities, understanding that some communities need more support.

• Believes in our values and behaviours.

• Is a good listener and good at asking questions.

• Is an excellent communicator, confident in writing, speaking, and presenting.

• Has experience of developing positive relationships with people from different backgrounds and/or working in different organisations.

• Has experience of setting up and planning group conversations.

• Understands the value of reflection, capture, and learning within your work.

• Is able and willing to challenge, in a positive way.

• Can influence to gain commitment. 

• Is motivated, can plan, organise, and prioritise their own workload to meet internal and external deadlines.

• Can travel to meetings across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

• Has the IT skills to work efficiently using Microsoft 365 programmes.

  Desirable:

• Is self-reflective, self-aware, and adapts own behaviour.

• Is comfortable working organically, sometimes without plans to follow. 

• Has an understanding and commitment to addressing societal inequality.

• Voluntary/community or public sector experience.

• Can effectively facilitate group-based conversations so that everyone has a voice.

Please note that these are the skills we want you to tell us about in your application as we’ll be assessing candidates against them.

Your main place of work will be the closest APT office to your home, with some travel required across both counties in order to work with local partners. You will have the flexibility to work at home on occasion. APT’s offices are in Nottingham and Chesterfield and you can work from both.

Your places will be Newark and Sherwood and North East Derbyshire initially but may change subject to the needs of the role.

If you’re passionate about physical activity and addressing inequalities, we welcome your application. We encourage people to join our organisation from all walks of life; you don’t need experience in the sport and physical activity sector to work for us. Disabled people and those from ethnically or culturally diverse communities are underrepresented in our workforce are particularly encouraged to apply.

Please note that we are unable to support employees with Visa costs. Proof of Right to Work in the UK is essential and will be requested during the application process.

If you want to find out more about the role to help you decide whether to apply, you are welcome to contact Will Hughes at recruitment@activepartnerstrust.org.uk for a brief chat.

How to Apply

• Complete the anonymised work-related questions by 22nd February 2026 11:59pm.

• Submit your CV whilst completing your application – please note your personal details will remain anonymous whilst shortlisting decisions are made.

• Stage 1 interviews (online): Monday 2nd March pm or Thursday 5nd March am (for 30 mins).

• Stage 2 interviews (in person): Friday 13th March 2026 in Chesterfield.

This post is funded by Sport England Lottery Fund.