Deputy Director – Education Leadership and Improvement

at  Welsh Assembly Government Communication Centre Home

ID 1887
The Welsh Government operates name-free recruitment. The recruiting panel will not see personal information such as a candidate’s name and address during the sifting process. This policy is in line with our commitment to end bias and promote equality and diversity.

EXPERIENCE

The role is diverse and involves working with a range of stakeholders within Welsh Government and across Wales, and beyond. This requires a very specific set of high-level skills to enable co-development and engagement at a strategic level.
Applicants must either hold qualified teacher status and the National Professional Qualification for Headship or have academic qualifications to Masters or Doctorate level in education.

Applicants will be required to demonstrate the following:

• A breadth of school leadership experience that demonstrates effective planning, management and prioritisation skills.
• Recent successful experience of working with Estyn or other middle tier organisations to implement or inform Welsh Government policy. Roles undertaken must have been at a senior level and have involved influencing, negotiating, and collaboration skills to successfully drive forward significant and high-profile education policy work.
• Track record of developing effective working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders such as practitioners, leaders in schools and settings, including headteachers, and organisations across the middle tier e.g. regional consortia and partnerships, local authorities, Estyn, the National Academy for Educational Leadership and universities.
• Understanding of Welsh Government education policies, such as Additional Learning Needs, Curriculum for Wales, the Schools as Learning Organisation model, school improvement will be required to provide advice on any key considerations for the Welsh-medium sector emerging from these policies.

• Being accountable for the oversight and strategic direction of all leadership provision for school leaders in Wales. The Deputy Director will work with a high level of autonomy, demonstrating an ability to make decisions whilst balancing the impact/risk associated with those decisions.
• Acting as a champion for school leaders in Wales and their interests and involve them in developing professional learning and support programmes.
• Building effective relationships with a range of partners and experts in Wales and internationally to deliver high quality provision.
• Developing and leading a programme that supports participants to build expertise and confidence though active engagement to become future headteachers in Wales. The programme will need to ensure that participants acquire and develop leadership capabilities to ensure a positive impact on learners.
• Ensuring all participants are suitably supported throughout the programme, the Deputy Director will be responsible for ensuring that the programme is coordinated in such a way to offer a coherent and robust experience for each participant, in line with the expectations and aims of the programme.
• Management of a team of leadership coaches to ensure they are fully supported to undertake their role to support our future school leaders.
• Working with local authorities to develop a strategic planning mechanism to ensure that there are a sufficient number of qualified headteachers for schools in Wales.
• Working with Welsh Government and local authorities to develop and deliver a programme of professional learning and accreditation for school improvement advisers