Education Leadership Specialist

Education and Inclusion

An exciting opportunity has arisen through this innovative post to not only help support school leaders in the current period of significant educational reform, uncertainty and challenge but also to help build a network of exceptional school leaders at all levels in order to transform the lives of young people.

The University of Worcester is well placed to build the professional capital of education leadership and bring local coherence to an increasingly complex education system. The University has a proven record of accomplishment for supporting leadership development over recent years where unprecedented change has created new opportunities and challenges within the system.

UW holds a unique position to support the mobilisation of system leadership in education; the University is a trusted brand bringing what leaders describe as ‘refreshing’ neutrality through high quality facilitation that allows for the development of the central tenets of highly effective collaboration. Over the last ten years, the University has secured highly effective collaborations in clusters of schools locally, regionally and nationally and more recently we have successfully grown our leadership facilitation, coaching and mentoring for both individuals and teams within schools and Multi Academy Trusts. An outcome of this work has enabled leaders to grow in their role, to become more resilient and to work together to achieve strategic alignment resulting in the achievement of organisational goals.

The successful applicant will further strengthen the high-quality work of the University by engaging with leaders across a range of education settings. The overarching aim is to sustain and increase University activity in this area of work, ultimately raising performance levels and outcomes for young people. The successful applicant will be able to command the respect of a wide range of stakeholders at national, regional and local level by being able to demonstrate outstanding skills in delivering high quality leadership development activities. You will be a strong team player, with excellent relationship management skills and be able to work effectively with a range of external and internal stakeholders.

It is essential, through programme delivery, networking and collaborative working, that the appointed person stay at the forefront of thinking, is mindful of ‘next practice’, creating and profiling a sense of being a member of a high quality ‘neutral’ organisation that is at the forefront of leadership development and coaching. You will have an awareness of the international landscape and the findings from leading think tanks such as OECD. This post will require research-informed practice and enquiry as being high priority and the successful candidate should have a good understanding of the skills needed for actively seeking new projects and work streams including contributing to tenders and bid writing processes. You will also be able to design a programme of leadership development using a range of strategies to support the learning and development of a range of leaders and leadership teams.

For further details please contact Catriona Robinson, Head of School of Education at catriona.robinson@worc.ac.uk