Chief Executive Officer, The Jewish Community Academy Trust (JCAT)

Our Vision:

The Jewish Community Academy Trust (JCAT) is being established to provide an immersive Jewish experience and education for all of its students, tailored to the specific needs of each of its academies.

As JCAT approaches its formal establishment, we are now looking to appoint a Chief Executive Officer who will take on the challenge of leading our efforts to create a nurturing cohort of schools that develop and challenge their students to learn and grow academically and religiously.

Modern, centrist Orthodox in outlook and under the religious authority of the Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth, JCAT will become a centre of educational excellence, developing well-rounded students committed to a life of Torah, Jewish values and the State of Israel, as well as a strong commitment to Britain and British values. JCAT’s vision is to nurture students who will make a meaningful contribution to the Jewish community, Israel and wider society.

The MAT will prioritise strengthening the triangular relationship of school-home-community which is at the centre of a successful and transformative integrated educational and Jewish environment.

Main Purpose of the Role:

• To provide the overall leadership and direction to the Trust and to its established academies within the vision and strategy agreed by the Trust Board
• To oversee and support the successful delivery of any academies in development or in the process of conversion
• To ensure that both JCAT as a whole and its individual schools consistently achieve outstanding outcomes for all their pupils
• To ensure that JCAT’s financial viability is secure, firmly based on accurate analysis, the optimum use of resources and the generation of sufficient surplus funding to meet development needs
• To act as the lead education professional for academies in JCAT, managing its day-to-day operations and ensuring that it has an effective strategy for building educational and leadership capacity ahead of need, to enable it to continue to achieve its goals

Person Specification:

Essential:

• Proven track record of outstanding educational leadership of comparable scale and complexity, ideally in a Headship or Principal role
• Demonstrable success in achieving sustained school improvement, ideally across a range of school sizes and types
• Evidence of strategic planning and budget management which has brought about significant organisational change

Desirable:

• Successful senior management experience in an organisation of similar size and complexity, either in education or a relevant organisation
• A clear understanding of the current educational landscape, including issues specifically relating to academies
• Good understanding of all aspects relating to school finance, including managing the interaction with donors
• Knowledge of Jewish schools, Anglo-Jewish demographics, religion and culture

Qualifications:

Essential: Degree, Diploma or other qualification
Desirable: Postgraduate qualification in education, or its equivalent in a relevant discipline

Other Factors:

Safeguarding: The appointment will be subject to an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references
Flexibility: The nature of this role requires considerable flexibility in responding to rapid and unpredictable educational change
Mobility: The successful candidate will need to have a valid driving licence and access to a vehicle that can be used for work purposes

Outline Terms and Conditions:

Salary: Leadership group 8, scale point 42, subject to the skills, experience, qualifications and current salary level of the successful candidate. Teachers terms and conditions
Hours: 37 hours per week. The postholder may be required to work additional hours as to meet the reasonable requirements of the role
Pension: Teachers terms and conditions
Annual leave: Teachers terms and conditions
Probationary Period: 6 months
Notice period: 3 months

The post-holder must have the right to reside and work in the UK

How to Apply

Your supporting statement, which should be no more than four sides of A4, should set out your reasons for your interest in the post and how you meet the person specification criteria, with verifiable evidence of impact from your career track record. It should include your views and vision on what you consider to be the main challenges and opportunities of running and developing a Jewish multi-academy trust in the present and future educational contexts.

Completed application forms on the specific application form should be completed electronically and be returned by email to: recruit.ceo.jcat@gmail.com by no later than Friday 16th November 2018.

Please include the term CEO application in the email subject header.  All applications will be acknowledged within 24 hours. Should you fail to receive a confirmation, please call 07725 144 124. The planned interviews for this role will begin from 19th November 2018.