Organisation Access Sport CIO Salary £28,000–£35,000 FTE, with salary offered subject to location and experience (UK: £28,000–£33,000; London: £30,000–£35,000) Location London or Manchester Contract type Permanent (Full time) Closing date 3 July 2026 Interview date 13 July 2026 Job Description About Access Sport
Access Sport is a national charity with a vision that no one should be excluded from the transformational benefits of community sport. We are on a mission to make inclusion the norm in community sport by tackling the access barriers faced by disadvantaged and disabled young people.
We do this by training, equipping, and supporting community sports clubs, organisations, and volunteers to provide inclusive programmes, unleashing their potential to transform the lives of underserved young people in their local communities.
This work is either place based (Changing Places) or sport focussed (Changing Sports). All the clubs we support are invited to join our Inclusive Club Network.
In 2025/26 Access Sport engaged over 40,000 disadvantaged and disabled young people, with a strong representation from ethnically diverse communities, girls, and previously less active young people.
Read more about our impact in our Annual Review. A number of videos showcasing our work can be found on our YouTube channel. These include a recent film about our new cycling and basketball facilities in
Cadishead and a dedicated film about the Turnpike Lane court refurbishment.
Role purpose
Summary
Basketball has a unique power to engage underserved young people and drive meaningful change in their lives. Its accessibility, cultural relevance and low barriers to entry make it one of the most effective sports for bringing young people together, creating inclusive spaces and unlocking potential. However, many young people still face barriers to participation, including limited access to safe facilities, inclusive opportunities and sustainable local provision.
Building on proven success, Access Sport is entering an ambitious new phase of growth and development. We will expand our place-based model by combining facility development, club development, and targeted outreach to create sustainable, inclusive basketball ecosystems in underserved communities.
We are seeking a Basketball Development Manager to play a central role in delivering this vision. The role will contribute to:
• Activating and embedding inclusive programmes at newly refurbished basketball courts.
• Developing sustainable, community-led, inclusive clubs.
• Delivering targeted outreach to engage young people facing the greatest barriers.
• Scaling a national network of inclusive basketball provision.
Responsibilities
Delivery
• Lead the development and delivery of inclusive basketball provision across key locations, aligning facility activation, club development and outreach activity
• Contribute to the ongoing strategic development and scaling of Access Sport’s basketball programme.
• Support the activation of refurbished basketball courts, ensuring they become welcoming, inclusive and regularly used community hubs.
Club development
• Develop and support sustainable community basketball clubs based at Access Sport renovated facilities.
• Expand Hoopz Basketball, our disability inclusive basketball programme, supporting clubs to create new inclusive offers.
• Provide ongoing, tapered support to emerging clubs, helping them become independent and resilient.
• Contribute to the growth of, and engagement with, Access Sport’s Inclusive Club Network, enabling peer learning, collaboration and long-term sustainability.
• Support clubs with governance, volunteer development, marketing, and income generation.
Training and youth leadership
• Champion youth, disability and neurodivergence inclusion across all basketball workstreams, embedding inclusive practice into delivery.
• Deliver workshops, training and resources to upskill coaches, volunteers and young leaders.
• Support the development of a more diverse basketball workforce, including creating youth leadership opportunities.
Partnerships and place-based working
• Build strong relationships with local stakeholders, including schools, PRUs, SEN settings, youth organisations and community groups.
• Work collaboratively with national and local partners (e.g. governing bodies, local authorities and facility partners).
• Support place-based approaches by tailoring delivery to local community needs and priorities.
• Contribute to wider partnership opportunities linked to the London Marathon Foundation network and other strategic partners.
Monitoring and evaluation
• Lead on data collection and reporting across our basketball work, ensuring accurate and timely monitoring of reach and impact.
• Use systems such as Upshot to track participation, demographics and outcomes.
• Contribute to programme learning by identifying insights, challenges and opportunities for improvement.
• Support the development of case studies, impact stories and communications outputs.
Person specification
Skills/ experience
Essential
• Experience of developing and delivering community sport or youth programmes, ideally in a place-based context.
• A strong understanding of equity, diversity and inclusion in practice, particularly in relation to underserved young people.
• Experience of building and managing effective partnerships across organisations or sectors (e.g. schools, community groups, local authorities).
• An understanding of the barriers that affect participation in community sport, particularly for underserved communities.
• Experience of engaging, supporting or working with young people.
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams and priorities, with strong organisational skills.
• An understanding of safeguarding and its importance when working with children and young people (training will be provided).
Desirable
• Experience of developing or supporting community sports clubs, particularly within basketball.
• Experience of delivering training, workshops or workforce development for coaches, volunteers or young leaders.
• Lived experience of one or more of the underserved communities we support (e.g. D/deaf, disabled, neurodivergent, women and girls, ethnically diverse communities, low socio-economic backgrounds).
• Experience of monitoring and evaluation, including collecting and using data to demonstrate impact.
Personal attributes
• A passion for Access Sport’s cause and empowering underserved and disabled children and young people to reach their full potential through sport.
• A personal commitment to Access Sport’s vision and values
• Self-motivated, able to use initiative, and have a highly flexible approach to work.
• Proactive and adaptable - ability to think creatively and use initiative to achieve outcomes.
• Reliable and hardworking with the confidence to work independently.
• A team player with good interpersonal skills.
• Committed to continuing personal and professional development.
In addition:
• The post holder must have the right to work in the UK.
• The post holder must be able to travel regularly within the UK, particularly within London and Manchester.
• There will be some requirements to work on evenings or weekends, for which time off in lieu (TOIL) can be taken.
Equal opportunities
We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Access Sport is committed to creating an inclusive culture, through fostering a diverse workforce where everyone feels like they belong, differences are valued, and everyone can reach their potential.
We are actively seeking to diversify and create a workplace that is welcoming for all, ensuring that our workforce is representative of wider society and the communities we support. If you need any adjustments to the recruitment process, at either the application or interview stage, please contact us (details below).
We offer disabled applicants the option of requesting that their application is considered under the terms of our Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS). If you wish to apply under our GIS, please indicate this in your cover email. For more information, please visit our Join the Team page.
Background checks
As this role may, at times, involve working in a regulated environment with young people, any offer will be conditional to satisfactory background checks which includes a criminal record check with the Disclosure and Barring Service and two references.
Staff benefits
Access Sport is an exciting and dynamic place to work. We pride ourselves on being a close-knit and well-supported team with a clear sense of purpose, delivering real impact. Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do.
We are committed to supporting the development of our team members and, should you wish, there are opportunities for team members to get involved in different aspects of the charity, from the delivery of our programmes on the ground, to fundraising, events and advocacy.
Staff benefits include:
• Employee Assistance Programme - Access to a 24/7 confidential helpline, counselling services and online information.
• Annual leave - 28 days annual leave, including 3 days between Christmas and New Year, plus 1 extra day of leave per year of service for the first 5 years. This equates to 33 days of annual leave after 5 years of continuous service. Plus 8 days paid public holidays.
• Healthy living and wellbeing employer - We welcome staff to embed regular exercise into their daily work lives and have quarterly team away days.
• Volunteering/ personal development days - Two additional days of paid leave each year to volunteer for an Access Sport club or other charity, or to use as personal development days.
• Pension - 5% employer pension contribution.
• New Mums and Dads, including adoptive parents, can take enhanced maternity and paternity leave.
• Flexible working and family-friendly - Hybrid and flexible working arrangements which are family-friendly and provide flexibility around caring responsibilities.
• 24/7 GP service to provide employees with a phone or video appointment at a time and date that suits them.
• Cycle to Work scheme - saving up to 39% off a new bike and accessories.
• Group Life Assurance for all staff on payroll.