Senior Manager for Delivery (Geography)

Reports to: Lead Senior Delivery Manager

Location: Mix of home working, school visits across the UK, and London office (Shepherd’s Bush). The balance may change from time to time, and the successful applicant does not need to be based near London

Contract: Permanent

Pattern: Full Time (standard hours 9am – 5.30pm)

Closing date: 19/04/2024 at 10am

Interviews: Interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised

Salary: £47,000 to £52,000 (depending on experience)

Start Date: July 2024

Purpose of role:

Reporting to the Lead Senior Delivery Manager, the role holder will manage delivery for the secondary Geography programme. They will be the go-to person in the organisation for information and decision making for delivery of the secondary Geography programme.

The Senior Manager for Delivery will manage detailed logistics such as setting delivery dates and approving the release of additional training dates. They will also work with the systems and partnerships teams to manage comms with our partner schools and ensure a smooth customer experience.

The Senior Manager for Delivery will work in line with pan-programme delivery decisions, the Head of Secondary Geography’s vision for the programme, and what we know about schools’ experience in order to design high impact training, PD and school development support in line with the commercial packages we offer.

In addition, they will have usual Development Lead responsibilities, including leading school visits and remote development sessions, being responsible for ensuring that schools allocated to them have a good experience and get the support they need to implement the programmes successfully, and always maintaining high professionalism as a representative of Ark Curriculum Plus.

Key Responsibilities:

• As part of the cross-functional team leading the Geography programme, contribute to the development of a programme strategy that supports excellence in the context of Geography, and furthers the overall organisational mission, strategy and sustainability
• Be a champion of customer voice, ensuring customer insights from the Geography programme are heard and inform programme development as a whole, and working with available Ark forums to further develop our understanding of programme implementation at a school and classroom level
• Implement pan-programme delivery decisions in the context of the Geography programme, staying faithful to the programme while maintaining alignment with the school development team as a whole
• Take responsibility for the end-to-end user experience of schools on all packages of the programme, liaising closely with the systems and partnerships team to drive ease of use, and preparing communications that keep customers well briefed in what they need to know to get the most from the programme
• Engage with ongoing PD and sector thinking, keeping up to date with sector developments, legislative changes, and innovative practice in your subject and in curriculum development and PD delivery, and sharing valuable insights with the broader team
• Maintain a strong understanding of the Geography programme in order to offer high quality training, PD and support in the programme
• Deliver training and PD where required to an excellent standard in line with internal guidelines
• Contribute to the development of the overall programme strategy and structure through cross-functional working and collaboration, especially by feeding back relevant insights gathered from schools to the design and partnerships teams
• Make any spare capacity known as far as in advance as possible, offering this to the Head of Secondary Geography to reduce freelancer design spend where possible/practical
• Keep the partnerships team briefed on delivery for the Geography programme

Key Requirements:

• Educated to degree level
• Qualified to teach in the UK and qualified to degree level
• Understanding of the education landscape and issues affecting education
• A proven record in delivering outstanding achievement in Geography, particularly for pupils with low prior attainment in challenging urban schools
• Up-to-date knowledge and use of the current curriculum and assessment requirements and best practice in implementation and delivery of professional development
• Track record of providing professional development to teachers, including coaching, mentoring and training
• Confidence in PowerPoint and Excel
• A strong and proactive communicator with a collaborative working style
• Structured approach, working to clearly defined aims/intentions
• Ability to probe, challenge and question appropriately and strive for continual improvement
• High attention to detail and diligence in achieving smooth logistical delivery

View the full job description and person specification here

About Ark Curriculum Plus

Ark Curriculum Plus is a not-for-profit education venture. Our mission is to empower teachers to give every young person, regardless of their background, the subject knowledge and skills that will allow them to succeed. 

Grown out of Ark Schools Multi Academy Trust, Ark Curriculum Plus (AC+) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting teachers in providing consistent, high-quality education, that raises attainment across the school.

We are a team of highly skilled education professionals who have worked with our schools to design and trial curriculum, lesson design and training in the development of our AC+ subject excellence programmes. 

We know that to achieve powerful teaching that changes lives, teachers need to have strong subject knowledge, the best evidence-based subject pedagogies, rigorous assessment and effective planning, all working together.

That’s why we developed the AC+ Subject Excellence Programmes that follow a 5-Step Improvement Process, based on over a decade’s experience of transforming subject results in one of the most respected MATs. Our programmes are now used by over 1000 schools in the UK, including the 39 schools in the Ark network. 

We are proud of the impact we have had and are having in the schools we partner with. The Education Endowment Foundation found students using Mathematics Mastery Primary made 2 months additional progress.

Benefits

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, rising with each year of service up to 30 days after 3-years’ service. This entitlement is pro rata for part time employees. This entitlement excludes bank holidays
• Full office closure between Christmas and New Year
• Hybrid working, with currently one day a week in our state-of-the-art office in West London working alongside colleagues
• Regular social events, monthly free breakfast, and daily fruit
• A flexible approach to working with understanding and consideration for work life balance and personal commitments
• As an Ark employee, you will have the opportunity to be part of the TPT (The Pension Trust) scheme, our workplace pension scheme where we make an 11% contribution; you are not required to contribute towards this scheme unless you choose to
• Access to high-quality professional learning throughout your career, offering both face-to-face sessions and a bespoke online learning platform
• Access to Ark Rewards scheme offering savings from over 3,000 major retailers, interest-free loans available for season tickets or a bike, gym discounts offering up to 40% off your local gym and free eye tests

How to Apply:

Apply with a CV and cover letter on our online recruitment portal. Applications to be submitted by Friday 19^th April 2024 at 10am but please note: we will be reviewing applications on an on-going basis and this advert may close earlier than advertised depending on the level of response.

This ATS application form should take no longer 20 minutes to complete. At any time, you can pause, save, and log back in. If you have any difficulty with meeting the deadline for application, please contact recruitment@arkonline.org

Interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised.

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants.  

Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non-disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment - this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred. To read more about Ark’s safer recruitment process, please click this link. 

We aim to build a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone – staff and students – can do their best work and achieve their full potential. We want to reflect and represent diverse perspectives across our organisation because we know that doing so will make us stronger and more effective. To know more about Ark’s diversity and inclusion commitments, please click on this link.