Head of Apprenticeships (Hiring Immediately)

About La Fosse

At La Fosse, our mission is to make careers, and the lives they transform, more accessible to all. For over 18 years, we’ve partnered with some of the UK’s most innovative and ambitious organisations to build and scale high-performing technology and digital teams.

La Fosse Academy sits at the centre of this mission. We equip individuals with the skills and confidence to thrive in digital careers, while helping organisations unlock long-term value through upskilling, reskilling, and early-career talent programmes.

Our new apprenticeship provision is a critical next step. It expands our impact to support people already in work to progress into new roles, while enabling employers to deliver real business outcomes through high-quality, compliant, and scalable talent development built to last.

About the Role

The Head of Apprenticeships is accountable for the end-to-end setup, launch, operation, and scalable growth of La Fosse’s apprenticeship offering.

This role will lead La Fosse through provider readiness and accreditation, establish robust quality, compliance, and data foundations, and then run apprenticeships as a core growth pillar of the Academy.

You’ll build a commercially viable, quality-led, and operationally excellent apprenticeship model that integrates seamlessly with La Fosse’s wider Academy propositions (Associates, Reskilling, Upskilling), while remaining compliant, auditable, and scalable.

This is a senior leadership role working closely with Training, Engagement, Sales, Finance, Legal, and People teams to ensure apprenticeships are delivered successfully, safely, and sustainably.

Key Accountabilities

Apprenticeship Setup & Provider Readiness

• Lead La Fosse through full apprenticeship provider setup and readiness, including requirements across ESFA, DfE, and Ofsted.
• Own governance frameworks, policies, operating models, and decisions around direct delivery vs subcontracted provision.
• Build and deliver a clear mobilisation roadmap, ensuring readiness is achieved before scale.
• Act as the senior internal authority on apprenticeship regulation, funding rules, and compliance obligations.

Running the Apprenticeship Operation

• Own day-to-day operational performance of the apprenticeship provision once live.
• Ensure all programmes are compliant, well-governed, accurately funded, and delivered with high learner and employer satisfaction.
• Oversee learner onboarding, lifecycle management, ILR processes, and funding flows through Data and Compliance leadership.

Scaling & Growth Enablement

• Design and implement a scalable operating model that supports growth without increasing risk.
• Lead capacity planning, team structure design, and systems maturity as volumes increase.
• Identify and resolve scale blockers early across people, process, systems, and compliance.
• Enable multi-cohort, multi-client growth while maintaining delivery quality and regulatory confidence.

Quality, Compliance & Data Oversight

• Line-manage the Quality & Compliance Manager and Data Manager.
• Ensure continuous inspection readiness, strong audit outcomes, and funding integrity.
• Embed a quality-first culture focused on continuous improvement, not reactive compliance.
• Provide clear dashboards and reporting to senior leadership.

Commercial Enablement

• Partner closely with Sales and Client Partners to shape propositions that can be sold safely and credibly.
• Work with the Head of Training to ensure curriculum alignment, delivery feasibility, and quality outcomes.
• Input into pricing models, delivery assumptions, margins, and commercials.
• Ensure apprenticeship propositions are clear, viable, and aligned to La Fosse Academy’s broader offer.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Act as the internal apprenticeship SME across La Fosse.
• Contribute to Academy strategy, long-range planning, and risk management.
• Build strong cross-functional relationships with Finance, Legal, People, IT, and Delivery.
• Set clear direction, expectations, and standards for specialist teams.

Requirements

You’ll bring senior, hands-on experience leading apprenticeship provision, with a track record of accountability across setup, delivery, compliance, and scale.

• Proven leadership experience within an apprenticeship provider environment.
• Deep, working knowledge of ESFA funding rules, Ofsted frameworks, and ILR/data compliance.
• Demonstrable experience setting up apprenticeship provision from the ground up, including governance, policies, and inspection readiness.
• Strong operational mindset, with experience runn]]>