School Relations Manager, South Job Description About Teaching Leaders Teaching Leaders is an innovative not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to address educational disadvantage by growing a movement of outstanding middle leaders (heads of department, year or similar) in schools working in challenging contexts. The programme was developed in partnership with four of the UK s most forward thinking organisations: Absolute Return for Kids (ARK), the National College for Teaching and Leadership, Teach First and Future Leaders. We realise our mission by delivering two specific training and development experiences for middle leaders in challenging secondary schools: the Fellows Programme, which is focused on retaining and stretching high potential individuals, and Teaching Leaders Teams, which is focused on building capacity across groups of middle leaders in one school. The Fellows Programme was launched in London in 2008 with an inaugural cohort of 30 Fellows and has grown to work with over 800 Fellows and Alumni across 300+ schools in the North, South and Midlands regions. We will be opening a fourth office in Newcastle in January 2014. Our Fellows programme will be growing substantially year on year, with a target intake of 420 middle leaders for 2014. Between 160 and 180 of these will be based in the South region. The Teaching Leaders Teams programmes are active in 130+ schools nationally, and offer a either the professionally recognised NPQML programme or a bespoke modular development programme. Both are for groups of up to 15 middle leaders in one or more schools in a particular area, academy chain or alliance. This year, we are piloting a Teams Aspire programme, targeted at talented teachers aspiring to middle leadership. As the organisation grows, there will be a key focus on ensuring we grow our impact and mission. This will be done by maintaining programme quality and innovation, building an outstanding team who deliver according to the Teaching Leaders values, and building lasting relationships with schools, making Teaching Leaders a rite of passage for all middle leaders working in schools in challenging contexts, and thereby influencing national policy. More information can be found at www.teachingleaders.org.uk
The Role We are looking for a School Relations Manager (SRM) to help Teaching Leaders deepen and grow its presence with schools to impact on students in the South. The successful candidate will join one of Teaching Leaders largest regional teams, working with over 200 Fellows and 30 Teams programmes across more than 160 schools. Teaching Leaders launched in the South region in 2008 and was initially focused schools within London. However, the organisation s strategy over the last two years has been to broaden the geographic focus to reach areas of highest need in coastal and rural areas. We have established Fellows delivery partners in Eastbourne, Canterbury and Southampton, allowing us to work with middle leaders through the Fellows programme across the south from Poole to East Kent in addition to London. In 2014, we aim to secure more than 230 applications for our south Fellows 2014 cohort and work with more than 40 schools via our various Teams programmes.the role will involve working with the School Relations Associate Director and wider team to meet ambitious recruitment targets for all our programmes in all these areas. The post holder will work closely with, and report to, the School Relations Associate Director in the South. They will collaborate with the national External Relations Team and School Relations Managers in the North and Midlands. They will lead and manage the School Relations and Team Assistant, and for 6 months of the year, a new team of Programme Experience Managers (PEMs) supporting the recruitment, selection and induction of the new south Fellows. In managing the Programme Experience Managers, the post holder will work closely with the Fellows Programme Manager, who will line manage the PEMs after their first six months in role. The role involves managing relationships with head teachers and senior leaders at schools we are already working with, to embed our relationships with them. In addition, the post holder will provide support to the Schools Relations Associate Director in building relationships with new schools. The post holder will lead communications with middle leaders recommended for the programme by their head teacher. These responsibilities will involve relationship management, team management, school leader engagement activities and events, marketing campaigns and data management and analysis. We have been successfully building our reputation as a thought-leader in the area of middle and school leadership across the region, through a wide range of social and new media, events and press as well as through collaboration with our partners, including Teach First, Future Leaders, Achieve Together and the National College. The successful candidate will be well supported and will have significant input into the development of the regional and national marketing, communication and relationship building. The role will be based in the South regional office in London, with travel to schools required throughout the recruitment season and travel to other TL offices required occasionally.
Key Responsibilities Marketing and School Relationships Develop and implement marketing, communications and PR campaigns, in line with the strategy. Implement strategy to promote Teaching Leaders as thought-leader in school leadership and a trusted advisor to schools. Support regional team with recruitment and selection of Fellows each year, including marking application forms, assessing at Assessment Centres and leading the PEM team through recruitment the process. Plan and deliver Teaching Leaders events in collaboration with external partners and wider members of the Teaching Leaders Team. These events will be for head teachers, senior school leaders and middle leaders, with the objective to establish and deepen relationships to support with meeting recruitment targets. Develop regional relationships with key partners, including Teach First and Future Leaders, to help achieve regional recruitment targets. Attend meetings with head teachers and senior leaders at schools to promote Teaching Leaders and our programmes. Present to groups of middle leaders in schools on our programmes. Ensure regional data and relationship management information, including on our Salesforce database, are maintained and deployed effectively and can be used to create accurate reports on the progress of our strategies, providing support and training to colleagues using Salesforce as needed. Track and evaluate the success of different approaches to schools and refine plans accordingly. Develop middle leader strategy and processes to encourage applications to the Fellows programme to ensure we meet our recruitment targets. Branding and Materials Ensure brand consistency and integration throughout all Teaching Leaders communications within the region. Work with the External Relations Team and other SRMs to build regional marketing materials (e.g. newsletters, flyers, web content, videos) to support regional and national operations. Support the development of the Teaching Leaders website, including making changes and adding updates where needed. PR and Communications Work with the Communications Manager and SRMs to identify regional and national PR opportunities (online and offline) and write the relevant press releases to sell in to media. Deliver exciting and robust regional communications, which deliver consistent and effective messaging across the region and are in line with the national communications strategy. Identify regional speaker slots and public platforms, including support on writing speeches/presentations. Monitoring, analysis and evaluation Complete an annual marketing analysis to identify and inform future marketing planning and strategy.
Complete ongoing evaluation of marketing channels to identify success and if plans need to be adapted. Use of Customer Relationship Management system (Salesforce) to track and monitor relationships with schools and leads. Monitoring and evaluating the progress and success of communications to potential Fellows candidates. Team Management To line manage the new intake of Programme Experience Managers (PEMs) each year during the recruitment season (January June). Inducting, training, supporting and motivating the PEMs in delivering the middle leader recruitment strategy to encourage applications to the Fellows programme, likely via calls and other methods, and quality assuring the PEMs communications. Ensure staff feel motivated, perform in line with performance management and development targets, and live the Teaching Leaders values. Budget management for events and campaigns.
Personal Qualities and Experience Mission: a strong commitment to education, the non-profit sector and raising the aspirations, achievement and life chances of all children Essential: 4+ years of professional experience, ideally with some experience in the non-profit and/or education sectors Essential: Ability to build relationships internally across the team and take a leadership role within the team to meet targets Essential: Experience of, and ability to build effective relationships with external senior stakeholders Essential: Excellent writing and presentation skills, such as for communication materials, marketing campaigns and in developing/giving presentations Essential: Entrepreneurial, flexible and creative Essential: Experience of campaign management; using different approaches to develop and market a brand/product Essential: Experience of delivering high quality events Essential: Experience of monitoring, evaluation and analysis in a previous role Essential: Experience of managing or leading a team Essential: knowledge of or interest in the current educational landscape Desirable: Experience of meeting ambitious sales targets Desirable: Experience of PR and being in a customer facing role Qualifications Undergraduate degree required, ideally 2nd class or higher Direct Reports 3 Participant Experience Managers (Jan Jun only each year) & School Relations & Team Assistant. Reports to School Relations Associate Director, South. Location London, with travel across the South. Duration Full-time. Salary 28-32,000 per annum plus 2000 London weighting. Plus a 10% contribution to pension scheme. Application and selection process To apply, please email a cover letter outlining in detail your suitability for the role and reasons for applying with your CV to Karen Benge, School Relations Associate Director, South: karen.benge@teachingleaders.org.uk by 9am, 25 November 2013. We intend to interview shortlisted candidates on 26 November and invite candidates shortlisted after interview to an assessment centre on 4 December. Questions? Feel free to contact Karen Benge (0203 116 6313) to discuss the role before applying.