Operations Manager - Admissions (Contract)

Role title: Operations Manager

Contract: 12-month Fixed Term Contract, with potential to be extended to a permanent contract

Salary: €38,210

Closing Date: Tuesday, 5th May, 9 am

Working hours: 40 hours per week; Full-time;

Standard working hours are 9 am - 6 pm (with 1 hour unpaid lunch break)
With the option to flex-start and end time with agreement of line manager.
We offer flexibility to employees to balance their commitments, including medical appointments, parental or caregiving responsibilities, and personal goals.

Location: Hybrid working - remote and in office

We have an office in Charlemont, Dublin. It is desirable that the candidate for this role lives within the greater Dublin region.

We ask that colleagues living within one hour of a regional base attend the office a minimum of once per week.
Colleagues living further away are asked to attend a minimum of once per month.

Candidate must be a resident and have the right to work in Ireland.

ABOUT GENERATION

Generation is on a mission to transform lives through meaningful careers that would otherwise be out of reach.

Launched globally in 2015 by McKinsey & Company, Generation is now the world’s largest demand-led employment initiative. We’ve supported over 120,000 people into career-starting roles across 17 countries and 26 professions, partnering with more than 4,000 employers worldwide. Our work in Ireland is backed by transformative public funds such the National Training Fund, SOLAS, and Rethink Ireland, as well as corporate funding from Microsoft, the JP Morgan Charitable Foundation, LinkedIn, and others.

Generation Ireland’s vision is a meaningful career and sustained wellbeing for every person, and our mission is to find and nurture diverse un/ under-employed people facing barriers to enter sustained, life changing careers. We do this by profession-specific bootcamps which include extensive and ongoing wraparound support and by partnering with leading employers to provide inclusive employment opportunities.

Day-to-day, Generation Ireland works closely with its sister charity, Generation UK. The admissions operations department consists of staff in both countries, though this role will primarily be focussed on Irish projects. By joining, you will become part of an organisation committed to social impact, changing the education and skills landscape, and changing people’s lives. The work is fast-paced, exciting, and innovative.

In the UK, Generation is an Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ training provider that designs and delivers profession-specific training programmes focused on in-demand sectors. Our unique approach combines hands-on technical training with extensive pastoral support and direct connections to employers, ensuring learners are job-ready from day one.

Since Generation UK & Ireland’s launch in 2019, over 3,500 people have completed a bootcamp, with a strong focus on supporting those from underrepresented backgrounds facing barriers to sustainable employment. Our learners achieve an industry-leading job placement rate, and have gone on to build careers with over 1,000 employer partners. In Ireland we have trained over 800 people in the past 5 years.

At Generation, we are driven by a deep commitment to tackling unemployment and breaking down barriers to opportunity. Too many people in Ireland remain locked out of meaningful work, not because they lack potential, but because they lack access and equality of opportunity. We believe in the power of effective, evidence-based solutions to create lasting change - helping individuals realise their potential while addressing systemic inequality. This mindset is embedded in everything we do.

Join us and be part of a movement that’s opening doors to life-changing opportunities!

Find out more at www.generation.org. You can also learn more about our culture, directly from our people - What is it like to work at Generation?

You can find out more about our work and impact in Ireland from our most recent social mobility report: https://ireland.generation.org/news/report-2025-bridging-irelands-tech-skills-gap-through-social-mobility/

Generation acknowledges the duty of care to safeguard, protect, and promote the welfare of staff and learners and is committed to ensuring safeguarding practice reflects statutory responsibilities, and government guidance and complies with best practice. We carry out employment and right-to-work checks, and request a declaration of any criminal convictions from all staff as part of our recruitment process.

ROLE PURPOSE

Do you care deeply about delivering a brilliant experience for applicants to our programmes and making a real impact? At Generation, our Admissions Operations Managers play a vital role in driving learner recruitment by leading the end-to-end admissions journey – from moment of application right through to enrolment onto our life-changing skills bootcamps.

You’ll provide a smooth, supportive, and engaging admissions process – guiding applicants every step of the way and helping them take that exciting first leap into a new career. You’ll also play a key role in shaping the future of our admissions operations, and implementing the Generation Ireland 3-year strategy, working alongside the Head of Admissions Operations to improve efficiency, innovate processes, and ensure every applicant feels seen, supported, and set up for success.

Role responsibilities:

Admissions and selection

Support applicants through the application and selection process through effective communication, nurture opportunities and pastoral support, ensuring an excellent experience for applicants.
Manage the selection process for people applying to your assigned programmes; including planning and implementing conversion communications, and running group and individual applicant interviews - with the ultimate aim of recruiting 25 learners to each programme.
Provide a supporting and caring service to applicants, sensitively dealing with their individual circumstances and nurturing them through the application process via a range of communication channels.
Ensure participants in our programmes meet eligibility requirements set by funding partners and collect required documentation and supporting information.
Work with our Learning and Partnerships teams to select candidates for each cohort from the pool of successful applicants; understanding the need for a well-balanced classroom of learners.

Operations

Input into quarterly and annual operational planning; led by the Head of Admissions Operations and Director of Admissions.
Proactively identify and resolve weaknesses in our admissions process, taking the initiative and problem solving effectively, using data to make decisions.
Build and troubleshoot application portals.

Leadership and management

Deputise for the Head of Admissions Operations from time to time - this could include: leading team meetings; attending status meetings; acting as a point of contact for the Operations team.

Reporting and evaluation

Work closely with the Head of Admissions Operations, Director of Admissions and Data team to report data required by funding partners and the wider organisation.
Act on feedback from learners, employers and other delivery partners to ensure we are improving the quality of our processes, programmes, and learner experience wherever possible.
Contribute to the ongoing development of programmes; finding ways to make them more sustainable, scalable and replicable across the UK & Ireland.
Help develop Generation’s understanding of the barriers to employment faced by diverse groups in Ireland, and continually adapt our delivery model to better address these barriers.

You may also help contribute to other functional and organisational activities, such as supporting with direct outreach and promotion, attending funder meetings, and supporting the strategy implementation.

KPIs FOR THE ROLE

Overall conversion rate through the application process
Conversion rate of target groups through the application process (eg. women; young adults)

Highly organised, able to meet deadlines and motivated by meeting targets
Comfortable with problem-solving; able to use initiative to identify and resolve challenges independently
Process-driven with excellent attention to detail.
Comfortable with a range of communication methods (eg. email, phone) and the ability to connect with a range of audiences
Ability to build rapport with potential learners, to show empathy and a supportive attitude
Able to interpret and utilise data to inform decision-making
Demonstrable energy and enthusiasm for our mission and work
Demonstrable interest in supporting people from under-represented backgrounds
Sound judgement and the ability to react logically when faced with issues

EXPERIENCE

You have delivered or significantly contributed to end-to-end admissions, recruitment, or sales processes in an education or training setting.
Ideally, you have experience in managing admissions, recruitment, or sales processes in an education, training, or third sector setting.
You have experience in process improvement and driving innovation.
You have experience supporting groups facing barriers to employment
You have experience learning new software and systems.
You have experience working to strict deadlines and targets in a fast-paced environment, and are comfortable working independently.

We strongly encourage individuals from marginalised groups to apply, even if you don't meet 100% of the listed requirements. We value diverse experiences and perspectives and believe they contribute to a stronger, more inclusive team.

At Generation, we're changing the lives of many individuals, and that in itself gets us out of bed! Here are a few other benefits you'll experience working with the Ireland team:

Purpose and social impact in the heart of your work
Opportunity to make your mark - you'll have a lot of autonomy to bring the Generation blueprint to life in a way that makes sense for your region
Opportunity to get involved with a range of activities and varied projects - we're a small team, so there are lots of opportunities to get involved in projects across the whole organisation
We offer flexible and remote working to accommodate preferred working pattern/preferences and unique needs
WFH set up support of 300 euro to help you make your working-from-home setup comfortable and efficient
Professional Development is a priority for Generation and employees and you can access up to 500 Euros (increasing to 1,000 euro after 12 months employment) towards your learning & development per year. This support is accompanied by up to 5 days of training days/ study leave per year to enable your development activities

A FAIR CHANCE

Every role at Generation is open to applications from all sections of society. We believe in the potential of everyone; regardless of race, religion or belief, ethnic origin, different physical ability, family structure, socio-economics, age, nationality or citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other aspect that makes you, well, you.
We believe that the more diverse we are the better we become. More than just encouraging your application, we're committed to conscious inclusion that (we hope) cultivates an ethos of belonging, connection and shared purpose. We go further together. It’s this philosophy that drives us towards our mission. We open our doors to those who share this mindset.
We are particularly interested in hearing from candidates from marginalised groups. We will assess applications on a rolling basis and close this posting as soon as we have found the right candidate.

Admissions Operations Manager

Benefits

Job Description