Department: Nofio Ysgol Programme
Reports to: CEO
Salary: Up to £50k
Location: Hybrid - Office-based at Wales National Pool Swansea with remote homeworking and National Travel as required
Type: Full-Time role, 37 Hours per week
Note: Occasional work outside of core hours to support events and other organisational commitments
About Us
Swim Wales is the National Governing Body for aquatics in Wales, leading the development of swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming, and open water swimming. Guided by our vision of “Aquatics for Everyone, for Life,” we are committed to creating inclusive, safe, and sustainable environments where individuals, clubs, and communities can thrive.
Role Purpose
Nofio Ysgol has been developed by Swim Wales as a structured, evidence-led programme to improve school swimming and water safety outcomes across Wales.
Current provision is inconsistent, with significant variation in access, quality, transport arrangements, delivery models and pupil attainment. Swim Wales data collected over the last four years highlights a concerning decline in national outcomes, with the Nofio Ysgol Gold pass rate recorded at 41% in 2022/23, 35% in 2023/24 and 39% in 2024/25. This programme responds directly to that challenge by proposing a coordinated national model that strengthens water competence, safety, confidence, physical literacy, wellbeing and lifelong participation.
An implementation plan for a new national School Swimming and Water Safety Programme was published on 24 July in line with Welsh Government's First 100 Days commitment. Backed by a four-year Welsh Government investment, the programme will ensure that all Year 4 and Year 5 pupils are offered a minimum school swimming and water safety experience of 20 hours of swimming and water safety education.
Nofio Ysgol aligns key priorities for a healthier and more active Wales, improved public safety and drowning prevention, equitable access for all children, increased sport participation, and essential life-skill attainment. The programme also supports schools to deliver the Curriculum for Wales expectation that pupils have an experience in, on and around water.
The Nofio Ysgol Programme Manager will lead the national planning, coordination, delivery and evaluation of this four-year, Welsh Government-funded programme, working in partnership with the Welsh Government, local authorities, schools, leisure operators and wider aquatics partners.
The postholder will ensure that the programme is inclusive, evidence-led and outcomes-focused, removing barriers to participation and connecting school swimming provision into the wider Swim Wales aquatics pathway and vision of Aquatics for Everyone, for Life.
Key Responsibilities
Lead the day-to-day management and national delivery of the Nofio Ysgol programme, ensuring that activity is delivered in line with Welsh Government expectations, Swim Wales priorities, agreed funding requirements, implementation milestones, monitoring arrangements and quality standards.
Manage programme planning, governance, risk, budgets, reporting and stakeholder engagement, ensuring that delivery partners have clear expectations, timely communication and the support required to provide a consistent and inclusive school swimming and water safety offer across Wales.
The successful candidate will work collaboratively across Swim Wales and with external partners to build a sustainable, accessible model that reduces barriers such as transport, facility availability, local delivery variation and additional access needs, while supporting progression from school swimming into wider aquatic opportunities, across our affiliated clubs, learn-to-swim pathways and lifelong participation.
Programme Leadership and Delivery
- Develop, maintain and deliver a national programme plan for Nofio Ysgol, including annual delivery plans, key deliverables, timelines, risk registers, partner actions, performance measures and reporting cycles.
- Lead the coordination and management of relationships with Welsh Government, local authorities, schools, facility operators, delivery partners and internal Swim Wales teams to ensure effective national implementation and sustainable local delivery.
- Lead the delivery of a national minimum school swimming and water safety offer for eligible pupils, ensuring consistency, quality and accessibility in swimming lessons, water confidence development, swimming competence, self-rescue skills and classroom-based water safety education.
- Manage programme budgets, funding allocations, procurement and commissioning activity, and financial monitoring processes, ensuring compliance with Swim Wales financial and procurement policies and funder requirements.
- Develop and oversee monitoring, evaluation and reporting processes, using data and insight to measure participation, outcomes, equality of access, learner achievement and programme impact. Produce clear and accessible reports, dashboards and insights to support Programme Board oversight, decision-making and continuous improvement.
- Identify, assess and mitigate programme risks and barriers to delivery, including transport, facility access, workforce capacity, regional variation, inclusion, Welsh-medium provision and support for disabled learners and those with Additional Learning Needs (ALN).
- Lead the development and continuous improvement of workforce training, resources, guidance and quality assurance processes to support safe, inclusive and high-quality programme delivery.
- Prepare and present reports, performance updates, briefings and recommendations for Swim Wales leadership, Welsh Government, partners and governance groups, ensuring clear communication of programme progress, risks and impact.
- Line manage, support and develop the Nofio Ysgol Project Manager/Coordinator, ensuring effective programme administration, partner engagement and delivery support.
- Champion and embed safeguarding, health and safety, equality, diversity and inclusion, accessibility and the Welsh language across all aspects of programme planning, decision-making and delivery.
- Lead continuous improvement and collaborative working across the programme, identifying opportunities to enhance delivery, maximise impact and support long-term sustainability.
General Responsibilities
- Promote Swim Wales and its activities, both within and outside the work environment.
- Uphold and deliver Swim Wales’ customer care standards in all interactions.
- Maintain awareness of, and comply with, all Swim Wales policies as outlined in the Staff Handbook.
The responsibilities above are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to undertake appropriate work outside of this job description from time to time.
This job description is subject to annual review to reflect the evolving needs of Swim Wales and the strategic direction set out in the Swim Wales and Sport Wales corporate plans.
Person Specification
Essential Criteria
- Significant experience of managing complex programmes, projects or initiatives, ideally within sport, education, public health, local government, leisure, aquatics or a related sector.
- Strong programme and project management skills, including planning, implementation, governance, risk management, financial oversight, monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
- Proven ability to build and manage effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, influencing decision-making and coordinating delivery across multiple organisations and partners.
- Experience of managing budgets and resources, ensuring effective financial planning, monitoring and compliance with organisational and funder requirements.
- Experience of developing and implementing monitoring, evaluation and reporting frameworks, with the ability to collect, analyse and interpret data and insight to measure outcomes, demonstrate impact and drive continuous improvement.
- Experience of presenting complex data, evidence and performance information in a clear, accessible and actionable format to support decisionmaking by boards, funders and senior stakeholders.
- Knowledge and understanding of school swimming, water safety, drowning prevention, inclusive sport, education, public health or community participation programmes.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce high-quality reports, briefings, business cases, programme plans and stakeholder communications.
- Strong organisational and prioritisation skills, with the ability to manage competing demands, meet deadlines and maintain attention to detail within a complex national programme.
- A commitment to safeguarding, equality, diversity, inclusion and removing barriers to participation for children and young people.
- Experience of managing, supporting or developing staff, volunteers or delivery partners to achieve agreed objectives and outcomes.
- Proficient IT skills, including Microsoft 365 applications, online collaboration platforms, data management systems and reporting tools.
- Ability to travel throughout Wales and work occasional evenings or weekends to support programme delivery, events and stakeholder engagement.
Desirable Criteria
- Knowledge of the Curriculum for Wales, Welsh Government education priorities, Welsh-medium education or local authority school swimming delivery models.
- Understanding of workforce development, quality assurance and training within sport, education or aquatic environments.
- Experience of impact measurement methodologies, including Social Return on Investment (SROI) or other approaches used to demonstrate social, educational and health outcomes.
- Knowledge of disability inclusion, Additional Learning Needs (ALN) provision and accessible programme design.
- Welsh language skills, or a willingness to develop Welsh language confidence in support of Swim Wales' commitment to bilingual delivery.
Qualifications and Experience
Essential
- Degree-level qualification or equivalent experience in programme management, project management, business management, education, sport development, or equivalent.
- Demonstrable experience of successfully managing and delivering complex projects, programmes or initiatives involving multiple stakeholders, budgets and competing priorities.
- Experience of programme planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting, with a track record of achieving agreed outcomes and objectives.
Desirable
- A recognised project or programme management qualification, such as PRINCE2, AgilePM, MSP, APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ) or equivalent.
- Professional qualifications or training relevant to sport, education, public health, community development or the aquatic sector.
- Welsh language skills or a willingness to develop Welsh language confidence in support of Swim Wales' commitment to bilingual delivery.
Swim Wales is committed to inclusion and diversity and welcomes applications from all individuals with the relevant qualifications and/or experience. If you have specific requirements regarding the recruitment or interview process, please mention this in your covering letter.
To Apply
Please send a completed diversity monitoring form, application form and covering letter.
Closing date: Midnight Sunday 18th October 2026.
Interview date: To be confirmed. Applicants will be contacted after the closing date to confirm whether they have been shortlisted for interview.
