Teach First Director

Local Directors play a pivotal role in leading our contribution to the achievement of ambitious Fair Education Impact Goals that aim to close gaps in educational inequality. As Local Director for the North East you will ensure that the programme and activity we deliver is relevant, high quality and significantly improves educational outcomes for children across the local area. The North East has operated as a local area since 2011, operating across Northumberland, Tyneside, County Durham and Teesside.

You’ll join an established and strong team and will oversee the delivery of Teach First’s two year Leadership Development Programme and wider progress towards our Fair Education Impact Goals. This impact is delivered through our partnerships with schools, Initial Teacher Development training providers, Teach First supporters, Innovation Partners and other partner charities and the communities our teachers work in.

You will report to the Head of Local Areas (Line Manager), Executive Director of Delivery and the CEO as appropriate regarding the strategic direction and plans for Teach First in the North East.

Key accountabilities

Lead on implementing the vision for the impact and local area influence that is needed, in order to benefit children and young people across the North East facing educational disadvantage:

• Develop a strategic plan covering 1, 3 and 5 year timeline which directly address closing the gap in educational disadvantage.
• Develop and implement an operational plan which delivers;
• a cost effective and high quality infrastructure for the delivery of operations (maximising funding, employees, facilities, organisational support and external partnerships)
• the effective consultation with and subsequent engagement of the local area team, partnerships team and other organisational functions
• an understanding of the educational landscape in the local area, learning from and supporting those working to end educational disadvantage across the North East to refine and deliver the vision and plans
• Develop a culture of operational excellence delivering growing levels of impact maximising the resources at your disposal
• Build and manage a budget which delivers impact, managed to with 5% of target
• Ensure that the programme and all partners in its delivery, maximise the participants’ efficacy and enable them to achieve positive impact in the classroom and beyond
• Ensure effective management of relationships with leading stakeholders and influencers in the North East by;
• identifying, cultivating and managing stakeholder relations with organisations in the commercial, public and voluntary sectors to secure influence and gain support for elements of the programme and funding for Teach First.
• working with our External Relations division to support fundraising from these sectors

As a key member of the organisational Leadership Team and a senior member of the Delivery Leadership Team you will contribute towards:

• Planning and achieving organisational and divisional priorities and goals
• Divisional budgets and resource planning
• Continuous improvement and development of overarching programme design and content
• Supporting other departments and the delivery of Teach First national objectives
• Representing Teach First North East and Teach First at national and international events

Technical competencies

• Strong commitment to the Teach First vision and mission; and a strong belief in your capacity to make a positive impact towards them
• Direct experience of working in the education and/or social sector in leadership roles (qualified teacher with classroom experience would be advantageous but is not essential)
• Current contextual knowledge of primary or secondary school systems in England strongly preferred
• Experience of effective operational management through others; empowering managers within a large team to own specific goals and priorities, but ensuring that these are coherent with organisational priorities and that teams collaborate and share effectively in delivery
• Experience of strategy development and implementation/business planning in a complex environment, including preparing and managing complex budgets
• Experience and confidence in presenting information and delivering key messages to a wide variety of audiences both internal and external, including senior leadership, school and/or business leaders, in both board room and large auditorium settings
• Demonstrated skill and effectiveness in relationship building and negotiation with multiple internal and external stakeholders, especially in resolving complex challenges and issues
• Ability to learn quickly about and operate in line with complex policies, systems and processes of a range of stakeholders
• Proven ability to deliver impact, making course corrections to plans and strategies, making key priority decisions.
• Ability to lead and performance a geographical dispersed team, building common team purpose.

Location

Based in Newcastle with travel across the North East and nationally.
Salary band Up to £55,000, including benefits

Next steps

We aim to provide feedback to all applications within 10 working days from the closing date. First stage interviews will take place on 15 December 2016.

Closing date: 04 December 2016