Description
The Regional Director - South East role is a wide-ranging, exciting, and challenging position within the Department for Education's Regions Group. The Regions Group brings together regulation, improvement, intervention, reform, stewardship, and capacity building work with schools, trusts, and local authorities to ensure high-quality education, care, and support for all children and young people.
This appointment comes at a pivotal time with a new Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Education emphasising the importance of an effective place-based approach to the education system. The South East region is extensive, covering a wide range of communities and varying levels of effectiveness and performance among academy trusts and local authorities. The Regional Director will work collaboratively with local partners to enable children and young people in the region to succeed.
Job Description:
The Regional Director will lead the South East team to deliver on the vision set out in Government policy, aligned to Regions Group strategic priorities and informed by local context. Key responsibilities include:
- Providing local leadership for programmes and activities in support of the Government's Opportunity Mission
- Leading the new regional approach to school improvement, ensuring targeted intervention in schools where standards are weak
- Working in partnership with local authorities and academy trusts to promote knowledge of and access to wider school improvement support
- Leading improvement and intervention in children's social care functions in local authorities
- Taking decisions relating to oversight of the academy trust system, including trust growth, academy transfer, and compliance with the Academies Trust Handbook
- Working with local authorities to ensure sufficient places for pupils
- Providing advice, briefing, and support to Ministers
- Leading on a cross-cutting priority area on behalf of Regions Group
- Leading a strong, inclusive, and effective culture of delivery across a diverse team
Person Specification:
Essential criteria include:
- Excellent system leadership skills gained within the education or care sector, local or national government
- Ability to galvanise influential stakeholder relationships that can deliver impact
- Proven ability to make decisions based on evidence and analysis
- Effective communication skills to advocate for delivery and policy development
- Demonstrable experience of leading and delivering change inclusively with a team
Benefits:
- Salary: £105,000 - £150,000 per year
- Membership of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme, with a contribution of £30,418 from the Department for Education
- 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years' service
- King's Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days' bank and public holidays
- Flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time, and compressed hours
- Opportunities for professional development