Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence team adviser - London

at  Department for Education

JOB SUMMARY

This is an exciting opportunity to work as an expert adviser at the heart of the Government’s mission to deliver high and rising standards in education. You will advise senior civil servants on the best strategies for raising standards in schools, including schools that are most in need of support. You will help create a culture of sector-led improvement in your region, working directly with senior leaders in schools, trusts, dioceses and local authorities as well as centres of excellence like curriculum hubs, attendance and behaviour hubs and teaching school hubs.
Education is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every young person the best start in life, no matter their background. That means high and rising standards in education for all children across the country. We want to ensure that all children and young people have access to excellent inclusive schools, to provide them with the knowledge, skills and support to achieve and thrive.
Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence teams (RISE teams) are a critical part of this mission. Comprising civil servants and expert advisers with a track record of school improvement and executive leadership, they will help create a sector-led improvement system in their region, working directly with schools to help them improve. Advisers will report to Regional Directors who, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, have a clear set of responsibilities underpinned by our overall mission to ensure every child has the opportunity to achieve and thrive.

RISE teams will raise standards in education in two ways:

• Universal support: promoting and creating a culture of sector-led improvement, where all trusts and schools use the new school report cards to self-identify the support they need, engage in peer review, networking, mentoring and learning from, and sharing, best practice.
• Targeted support: for a set of schools, RISE teams will work collaboratively with schools to agree bespoke packages of support, making sure that a lead supporting organisation works with the school to jointly diagnose problems and create and deliver an ambitious plan for improvement.

In addition to working directly with schools and responsible bodies, advisers will help shape and oversee an improvement strategy for each region. This will set out the distinctive challenges each region faces, as well as the actions that RISE teams will take and the support they will give.

JOB DESCRIPTION

We are recruiting a small number of advisers in each of our nine regions to be a key part of the RISE teams, working collaboratively to provide an exceptional service to the schools they support. Advisers will have flexible and varied roles, matched to their expertise and capacity. The role of the adviser includes but is not limited to:

• Developing strong professional relationships with schools, trusts, dioceses and local authorities to bring about improvements in schools, drawing on experience of delivering complex change or service transformation
• Working with local authorities, dioceses, schools and trusts across their region, to contribute to the strategic priorities for the region.
• Facilitating and leading dissemination of good practice and networking.
• Commissioning bespoke packages of support from high quality trusts, schools, local authorities or partnerships to work with and improve schools in need of support.
• Working closely with schools, local authorities, dioceses and trusts to actively monitor school improvement to ensure it is rapid, embedded and sustained across the school.

We will select advisers who, collectively, can deliver the above functions in an area. Specific roles will be allocated based on individuals’ specialisms as well as their time commitment.
Advisers will be allocated to work with schools primarily in one region, although we may require advisers to support schools outside their main region based on demand and specialisms. If you are able to work across more than one region, you only need to apply once. Please specify in your statement of suitability whether you are interested in working across regions.
We will provide training and induction for all advisers allowing them to settle into their new roles and understand how the process will work. Across our team of advisers, we want to draw on skills and expertise from across the sector and we want to create a team with backgrounds across early years, primary, secondary, special and alternative provisions settings.

DESIRABLE CRITERIA

You should also demonstrate:
5. Experience of delivering complex change or service transformation within a large group of schools, a trust or local authority.
6. Strong evidence of system leadership, working as part of networks and collaborative groups across a number of schools to support improvement across a wider area.
You must not have been previously barred from being a proprietor or head teacher of a school under section 128 of the Education and Skills Act 2008.
If you would like more information about who we are looking for, please follow this link for an introduction to the role by Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, Secretary of State for Education.

NATIONALITY REQUIREMENTS

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

FOR THIS ROLE WE WILL ASK FOR THE DETAILS OF TWO REFERENCES, THESE MAY BE CONTACTED PRE-INTERVIEW. THE DEPARTMENT MAY ALSO TAKE FURTHER REFERENCES FROM OTHER PUBLIC BODIES (SUCH AS OFSTED, LOCAL AUTHORITIES ETC).

If there are a high number of applicants, we will perform an initial sift on the first essential criteria.
Applicants will be informed if they have been successfully shortlisted for interview from the week starting the 2nd December.
Only applications from individuals will be accepted.
Please email scs.recruitment@education.gov.uk if you have any questions or require further information about these roles.

We are recruiting a small number of advisers in each of our nine regions to be a key part of the RISE teams, working collaboratively to provide an exceptional service to the schools they support. Advisers will have flexible and varied roles, matched to their expertise and capacity. The role of the adviser includes but is not limited to:

• Developing strong professional relationships with schools, trusts, dioceses and local authorities to bring about improvements in schools, drawing on experience of delivering complex change or service transformation
• Working with local authorities, dioceses, schools and trusts across their region, to contribute to the strategic priorities for the region.
• Facilitating and leading dissemination of good practice and networking.
• Commissioning bespoke packages of support from high quality trusts, schools, local authorities or partnerships to work with and improve schools in need of support.
• Working closely with schools, local authorities, dioceses and trusts to actively monitor school improvement to ensure it is rapid, embedded and sustained across the school