Programme Director

Who we are looking for

This is an exciting, high profile and demanding role that will allow the post–holder to have system–wide impact through the successful delivery of national professional development programmes and qualifications for teachers and school leaders. It is a senior leadership team post at Ambition Institute, based within our Programmes Division.

We are looking for someone to join us to lead a number of high profile professional development programmes for school leaders, which will be mobilised throughout 2021. You will be responsible for ensuring the effective development and delivery of our programmes, so that we have the greatest possible impact on developing the expertise of school leaders across the country.

Working with others across the organisation, you will develop and set a clear vision for their purpose and impact. You will need to ensure the programmes are of the highest quality, as well as being financially sustainable and contractually compliant.

In order to excel in this role, you will need to understand the principles of high quality professional development and be able to work strategically to translate these into successful development programmes at scale. You will need to be customer– and participant–focused, with the ability to respond effectively to trends and shifts in participants' feedback and needs, and be able to communicate clearly and effectively with a wide range of stakeholders.

You will have experience of programme/ project management and leading professional development programmes at scale. This will include bringing experience of managing a large and complex team and its budget, and working with partners to deliver effectively.

As a director within the Programmes team you will manage a team of Associate Directors, act as an external voice for the organisation when required, deputise for your Executive Director when required, and take on wider leadership responsibilities across the organisation. The successful candidate will champion our values and embody them in interactions with colleagues and partners.

Who are Ambition Institute?

Ambition Institute has one purpose: to help educators serving children from disadvantaged backgrounds to keep getting better. With our new organisation, and more than ten years of collective experience in working with educators at all levels, we believe that exciting opportunities lie ahead. We are a graduate school for educators, and we apply academic rigour to our learning design, drawing on frontline insights from schools into what works in practice. Our programmes leverage the latest evidence from international experts, which means we think carefully about what is taught, how, and in what sequence. We work collaboratively to enable school improvement for the benefit of pupils, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Our offer

We are happy to announce that we will be able to offer you:

• Flexibility on how you work – agreed between you and your line manager
• A competitive annual leave entitlement of 25 days, plus bank holidays
• 2 additional annual leave days for 1 day booked during December over the festive period
• A generous employer pension contribution of 11% (10% pension plus 1% NI rebate)
• Competitive salary rates
• Access to an interest free season ticket and bike loans, as well as eyecare vouchers
• An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) which provides confidential support for employees on personal or work–related matters.
• A robust learning and development offer that ensures your continuous professional development

How to apply

All applications must be received by the closing date, 9am on 7 th December. Interviews are expected to take place later that week.

To apply for this role, or any of our other vacancies or for any questions or queries please visit our website.

Equality and diversity matters to us. If you think you'd be suited to one of our roles we'd love to hear from you regardless of age, disability status, ethnicity, gender, religion or sexuality.