Chief Programmes Officer

The Organisation

The Brilliant Club is an award-winning and independently evaluated charity that exists to increase the number of pupils from under-represented backgrounds who progress to highly-selective universities. We do this by mobilising the PhD community to share its expertise with state schools. We recruit, train and place PhD researchers to work with state schools: either part-time as tutors through The Scholars Programme or full-time as classroom teachers through Researchers in Schools (RIS). In 2016/17, The Brilliant Club worked with 500 state schools and 10,000 pupils across the UK, making it the largest university access initiative for 11-18 year olds.

The Opportunity

We are excited to be recruiting for the new role of Chief Programmes Officer, who will join The Brilliant Club’s Executive Team. The charity has recently launched its new strategy, The Path to Outcomes, in which we have committed to delivering consistent and reliable outcomes for our pupils. This includes a pledge to support 6,500 pupils from under-represented backgrounds to progress to highly-selective universities by 2021. 

As a member of the Executive Team, this role will play a key part in delivering on this strategy. The CPO will have overall responsibility for the charity’s Programmes Division, including both the charity’s programmes, The Scholars Programme and Researchers in Schools, as well as its sector-leading Monitoring and Evaluation Department. The CPO will lead on the development and delivery of the charity’s programmes and impact management, with broad areas of oversight for partnerships, innovation and business development. The CPO will play a key part in charity-wide decision-making and governance, shaping the development of the organisation’s strategy.

The role requires an exceptional leader, with experience of success in senior roles across the education sector. They will manage the two programme directors, each of whom manages a national team. They will also have significant responsibility for the charity’s impact strategy for pupils, managing the Monitoring and Evaluation Director, who also manages a small team. Working alongside the charity’s Co-CEOs and Board of Trustees, this role offers a unique opportunity to develop in one of the sector’s most dynamic charities. 

The successful candidate will be an adept project manager, able to manage budgets and risk, capable of making important decisions for two developing programmes. They will be comfortable working with a range of high-profile stakeholders, including system-level leaders in schools, universities and across the education sector They will have excellent communication, inter-personal and relationship management skills. Importantly, they will show humility, openness and positivity as a leader, and a commitment to delivering excellent standards. 

To view a full person specification please click here.

To apply please email a CV and a one-page covering letter to
recruitment@thebrilliantclub.org.

We will not consider applications that do not refer specifically to this post.

For more information please visit www.thebrilliantclub.org or call Maddy Maloney on 0207 939 1961