Our aim is for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong, and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.

The Church of England Foundation for Educational Leadership was set up in 2017 with the mission to ‘develop inspirational leaders who are called, connected, committed to deliver the Church of England vision for education’. Since then, it has operated a wide range of leadership development programmes, networks, research, conference and events, and published a range of key leadership resources to equip school leaders at every level to put their vision into practice.

A core priority for our mission is to radically increase the number of leaders (senior leaders, Headteachers, MAT Executive leads) from a UKME background. In addition, our vision for transformational racial justice work includes training and development, curriculum design, theological reflection all contributing to a radical culture change across our system. As a result of a significant investment in this long term work, we are delighted to bring this new post to our Education team.

This is complex, brave work requiring innovation, wisdom, contrition, passion, integrity and highly developed interpersonal skills.

We cannot tolerate the current structural inequalities in the system, and recognise our part in reinforcing institutional racism for generations. This role is to take a national lead on changing this picture, creating a different story and working with our whole senior team, and every Diocese, to make a lasting change to an education system focused on the flourishing of all.

We are seeking an experienced educational leader with a passion for racial justice, belonging and inclusion work who would like to extend their local or regional impact onto the national stage, and work closely with our Head of Partnerships & Inclusion to implement our 5-year strategic plan and to incorporate the work of the Education Leadership team in this area into the vision and strategy of the Racial Justice Unit.

As National Education Lead for Racial Justice, you will strategically lead the delivery of the Church of England Education Office’s Strategy on racial justice, working with the Racial Justice Unit, senior stakeholders, school leaders, MAT leaders and Dioceses to implement this on a national scale.

We would like to hear from you if you have an outstanding track record of impact of professional development in Racial Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and successful senior leadership experience within the education sector, together with the skills and abilities required below.

We are taking a flexible approach to work, with many colleagues opting for a hybrid approach to their working week, with a mixture of home and office-based working. Further details will be discussed at interview.

We are willing to consider both part-time and flexible working arrangements.

The Church of England is for everyone and we want to reflect the diversity of the community the Church serves across the whole country. Therefore, while of course we welcome all applications from interested and suitably experienced people, we would particularly welcome applicants from UK Minority Ethnic Backgrounds.

Please contact Andy Wolfe, Executive Director of Education at andy.wolfe@churchofengland.org for an informal conversation.

Interviews will be held w/c 25 April 2022.

In return we offer a unique environment with opportunities for continuous learning, generous annual leave for work life balance, season ticket loans and a range of benefits including discounted entry to attractions and what we feel is a market leading package when it comes to our pension scheme.

The Role

Professional Responsibilities

• Leading the design and delivery of a range of transformational racial justice, belonging and inclusion programmes for school leaders, MAT leaders and Diocese Education Teams across the country.
• Equipping, training and coaching leaders to facilitate these programmes through a ‘Train the Trainer’ capacity development model.
• Implementing a strategic talent management programme for UKME leaders in schools working towards a target of 10% representation (470 leaders) at Headteacher level by 2027.
• Writing and developing curriculum design resources for schools and MATs.
• Working with the Church of England Racial Justice Unit to ensure the national strategy of the unit is mediated and incorporated into the work of the Education Office as appropriate.
• Working with the wider Church of England racial justice/inclusion staff/governance groups to co-ordinate Education work, and develop compelling theological underpinning for the programmes.
• Embedding international diversity networks with a range of countries, including developing further links with leaders across the Anglican Communion.
• Using your leadership credibility to support opportunities to attract school leaders to take part in future programmes, e.g., sharing practical and/ or research- based leadership expertise in blogs, videos, or speaking at external events.

Staff Management/Supervision

• Working closely with the wide network of school leaders, MAT leaders, Diocese Education Teams and school-based Delivery Partners (Teaching School Hubs, MATs, High Performing Schools) to ensure effective delivery of the programme(s).
• Collaborating effectively with the wider programmes/networks team of other Programme Leads, Head of Networks, Coaching Lead and Research Lead to implement excellent learning experiences for participants.
• Supporting the Head of Partnerships & Inclusion in developing long-term strategic partnerships to delivery lasting system change.

Quality and Standards

• Ensuring the implementation of robust quality assurance processes at all stages of the programmes, and acting swiftly on feedback to implement quality improvement opportunities.
• Reviewing feedback on a regular basis and ensuring that areas for improvement are addressed through design or facilitator knowledge and skills.

Research and Development

• Collaborating with and reporting to our Accountability Board to ensure that programme content is fully underpinned by the research base, and responding to emerging research themes.
• Working closely with school leaders of high performing schools to ensure that evidence-led leadership development thinking/practice is brought to life in the programmes.

The Requirements

Essential

Skills/Aptitudes:

• Outstanding track record of impact of professional development in Racial Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion with particular reference to educational contexts.
• Ability to design effective research-led approaches to leadership development.
• Engaging presentation and facilitation skills with large and small groups, both virtually and face to face.
• Ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders – including written reports, high-profile events, and online presentations.

Knowledge/Experience:

• Successful senior leadership experience within the education sector.
• Track record in leading change in racial justice and diversity work in a local context.
• Experience of designing and delivering effective professional development course content.
• Leadership of a wider team of professional development facilitators/coaches.
• Clear understanding of educational landscape, including the wide policy and educational context of EDI development across the sector.
• Secure understanding of the Church of England Vision for Education and its outworking in schools.
• Awareness of and connections to EDI networks and service providers.

Personal Attributes:

• Innovative, creative and responsive to feedback.
• Commitment to excellence and a pride in assuring quality and consistency across a wide team of facilitators.
• Systematic and strong evidence of successful project implementation.

Education:

• Degree level qualifications or equivalent experience or learning.
• Qualified Teacher Status.

Desirable

Education:

• Postgraduate qualifications in a related field.
• Specialist educational leadership and/or coaching qualifications.

Skills/Aptitudes:

• Effective delivery of online/blended learning experiences using a range of technology.
• Coaching skills and training.

Knowledge/Experience:

• Experience of embedding the Church of England Vision of Education within a school or systems leadership context.
• Experience managing regional/national level projects with significant numbers of stakeholders.
• Recent and varied experience of leadership coaching within own school or systems leadership context.

We in the National Church Institutions support the mission and ministries of the Church all over England. We work with parishes, dioceses (regional offices), schools, other ministries and our partners at a national and international level.

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As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively look to attract, recruit and retain those of you who are disabled.

As a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, we welcome applications from those of you who have served in our Armed Forces and their families.

We are committed to being an equal opportunities employer and to ensuring that everyone, job applicants, customers and other people with whom we deal, are treated fairly and not subject to discrimination. We will do whatever is necessary to provide genuine equality of opportunity. We continuously review our policies and processes to support our aim to create a workforce as diverse as the nation the Church of England serves.