Transport Solutions Manager

Salary: £45,000 to £50,000 per annum, DOE.

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Reports to: Programme Director

Location: Harlow, Essex. Easily commutable from London Liverpool Street or Tottenham Hale Station. We offer a free minibus service to/from Harlow Town Train Station as well as free parking and EV charging on site.

Extra Information: We offer blended working within this role, with 3 days a week on site.

About the role:

At the Motability Foundation, we fund, support, research and innovate so that all disabled people can make the journeys they choose.

We’re building a Transport Solutions Team that works flexibly across all the tools in our delivery kit – from grants and innovation pilots to research, partnerships, and commercial interventions. Our growing portfolio includes flagship projects tackling challenges such as inclusive EV charging infrastructure, complex community transport needs, and large-scale research and systems change activity through the National Centre for Accessible Transport (NCAT).

We are now recruiting a Transport Solutions Manager to play a leading part in the management of NCAT, which will make up around half of the role, while also contributing to the design and delivery of other high-impact transport solutions activity across the Foundation’s portfolio. This is a pivotal role that combines programme leadership, stakeholder management, governance, and delivery, and is designed to work flexibly across our matrix structure.

The successful candidate will act as a key point of coordination for NCAT, supporting its effective mobilisation, delivery, governance and partner relationships, while also working across other Transport Solutions priorities in line with the expectations of broader internal Transport Solutions Manager roles.

This is an opportunity to join a collaborative, purpose-led team driving change in the transport system for disabled people, and to work on some of the most complex and impactful projects in the sector.

What you will be doing:

• Act as a key point of coordination for NCAT within the Foundation, bringing together cross-functional input across areas such as delivery, innovation, governance, operations, insight and evaluation.
• Lead the ongoing management activity for NCAT, including the development and implementation of systems, processes and governance structures to enable effective delivery.
• Coordinate programme reporting for NCAT, including the preparation of regular updates for senior leadership and governance committees, ensuring accuracy, insight and alignment with organisational goals.
• Monitor progress against plans, budgets and timelines, identifying and resolving risks such as under or overspend, ineligible costs or delivery delays.
• Escalate risks and issues proactively, supporting the development of mitigation strategies to manage impact and maintain programme integrity.
• Support governance structures, including advisory boards or steering groups, ensuring they are effectively convened, briefed and engaged in programme direction.
• Build and maintain strong funder and delivery partner relationships, acting as a key link between the Foundation and external partners to support trust, alignment and shared learning.
• Ensure monitoring, evaluation and learning approaches are embedded, working with internal and external stakeholders to drive continuous improvement and strategic alignment.
• Contribute to knowledge sharing and insight generation, supporting the dissemination of findings, progress and outcomes from NCAT and related work to maximise external impact.
• Lead and/or contribute to other projects, programmes or funding activity across the Transport Solutions portfolio, working flexibly in line with team priorities and the expectations of other internal Transport Solutions Manager roles.
• Collaborate across the Foundation, including with Finance, Legal, Communications, Insight and Evaluation, HR and Data Protection, to ensure high-quality delivery and strong organisational alignment.

Your experience:

Must haves:

• Significant experience in programme or project management roles, ideally within complex or multi-stakeholder environments and as a funder.
• Strong understanding of programme delivery, governance and reporting, with the ability to coordinate multiple workstreams and stakeholders effectively.
• Excellent organisational and record-keeping skills, with the ability to maintain accurate information for monitoring, reporting and decision-making.
• Financial literacy, with experience in analysing budgets, monitoring spend and managing financial risks.
• Experience managing contracts, legal agreements or delivery arrangements with external partners, suppliers or grantees.
• Strong interpersonal and listening skills, with a relationship-first approach that builds trust and enables collaboration across internal teams and external stakeholders.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, agile, matrix-working environment, adapting to shifting priorities and timelines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce high-quality reports, papers and presentations for senior audiences.

Nice to haves:

• Understanding of managing cross-disciplinary research or systems change activity involving technical, social and user-centred disciplines.
• Experience managing large-scale grants, programmes or partnerships and holding a primary relationship with external delivery partners.
• Track record in delivering or supporting innovation pilots, research programmes, grant programmes or cross-sector partnerships.
• Experience working in or in collaboration with government, industry, academia or the non-profit sector.
• Knowledge of disability and transport issues, including relevant policy, legislation, barriers to access and the social model of disability.

If you’re interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience, we'd still encourage you to apply.