Location: Bournemouth and Poole
Salary: circa £60k - £70k
Closing Date: midnight on Sunday 12th March 2023
Schools in the cluster: Avonwood Primary School, Avonbourne Boys’ and Girls’ Academies, Glenmoor and Winton Academies and The Cornerstone Academy.
Interviews: TBC
The role
-
Do you have exceptional communication and interpersonal skills?
-
Do you enjoy coming up with solutions to often complex issues?
-
Do you have the leadership adaptability to work with and influence a wide range of people?
-
Do you want to shape an exceptional service for our schools, in an exciting and developing context where no two days are the same?
-
Are you ready for the next step in your career?
If so, we would love to hear from you.
United Learning is seeking an experienced, enthusiastic and highly motivated Executive Business Manager to lead our business functions across six schools that are all on a unique but exciting journey. You will be expected to offer trusted strategic advice to each of our Principals as they seek to develop the unique strengths of each school, therefore depth of understanding around strategy management and effective continuous improvement is an absolute must for this role.
Enthusiastic to see our schools become increasingly popular and successful in terms of progress and outcomes for our young people, you will work tirelessly in pursuit of excellence from the business provision and sustain an ongoing collaborative sharing of best practice. Equally, you will be excited by the fast pace of working in our schools. Working closely with leadership across the Cluster and United Learning’s central teams, you will strive to ensure sustainability, efficiency and effective ways of working.
The successful candidate will need to demonstrate sound financial planning and budgetary control, adept leadership skills and be able to make sure that the cluster realises all the benefits of being a part of United Learning.
Your experience
You will already have experience of leading and coordinating the delivery of executive support services in a number of schools or a similarly complex environment. In addition, you will be familiar with strategic planning and decision-making, professional relationship management, negotiating and influencing at Senior Leadership, Local Governing Body and Executive Board level and the effective and efficient management of all resources.
Remuneration packages and perks
At United Learning we are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued and appreciated. Because we are a group, we can reward you better than any school could alone, and this includes your employee benefits. We have a number of core benefits which include competitive rates of pay when compared to the maintained sector; access to a contributory pension scheme relevant to your role; enhanced parental leave policies to support parents and carers; independent school fee reduction scheme for your children and tailored Continuous Professional Development (CPD).
We’ve partnered with Perkbox to offer every United Learning employee over 250 exclusive benefits, all through an easy-to-access platform and app. featuring a range of perks including free access to online wellness and workout classes, a free monthly coffee and film download and money off your weekly shop, high street purchases and meals out. Many schools have implemented their own staff recognition schemes including breakfasts and thank you cards to show appreciation.
Our annual staff survey helps school leaders to understand their teams, their motivations and how to ensure that all employees feel valued. We encourage and support schools to deliver their own rewards schemes on top of those provided by United Learning.
Leading people and managing relationships
You will get the best out of a high performing and motivated team, with a focus on supporting education outcomes and the long-term strategic vision. You will actively promote and model the values of United Learning and our Framework for Excellence, whilst endorsing and celebrating the distinct culture and ethos of each school.
You will be responsible for managing the relationship with United Learning central teams to ensure that these functions provide valued support and advice to the cluster in a timely and professional way. You will have the highest regard for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of staff, children and young people.
This is a challenging and diverse role offering the opportunity to shape the development of the business offer to our schools in Bournemouth and Poole, leading and developing teams of skilled and qualified business support staff and making a tangible impact on the lives of young people. In return, you will receive first-class development, a dynamic working environment, a range of employee benefits and a competitive salary.
The Context
United Learning is a group of schools which aims to provide excellent education to children and young people across the country. We seek to improve the life chances of all the children and young people we serve and make it our mission to bring out 'the best in everyone' – students, staff, parents and the wider community. Uniquely, our Group includes significant numbers of schools in both the public and the private sectors, working together for mutual benefit.
The Bournemouth and Poole Cluster of United Learning comprises of five secondary schools and one primary school (Avonwood). Each of these schools are highly successful with Avonwood and Glenmoor and Winton consistently being oversubscribed; Glenmoor and Winton are ‘outstanding schools’; Cornerstone receiving an excellent Ofsted report following their inspection in October 2022; and Avonbourne’s schools achieving fantastic summer exam results. We work closely together to realise our goal of ensuring the best possible education for our students.
The schools transferred to become part of United Learning at differing times over the past 10 years. The schools are at the heart of their communities and there is a focus on knowing students well, to support them to great things. We would like to hear from people who can realise the potential of our schools and look ahead to new partnerships and activities.
Each school is at a different stage in its journey and as such fresh priorities are forming under new leadership. The postholder will therefore need to develop a close working relationship with each school and its leadership, to tune the work of support services to meet key goals.
Staff collaborate across the cluster to ensure the schools bring out the best in everyone. Many of our support staff are based at individual schools, offering a dedicated service. Other functions are part of a shared cluster team with a focus on delivering excellent services across the cluster schools. All support staff will be part of collaborative working and development projects under your leadership.
Our staff tell us that they think our cluster provides a great community to work in and to develop their career - within the wider United Learning group we aim to offer you unrivalled professional development and the opportunity to work as part of a team where your contribution is really valued.
United Learning schools work as a team and achieve more by sharing than any single school could. Our subject specialists, our Group-wide intranet, our own curriculum and our online learning portal all help us share knowledge and resources, helping to simplify work processes and manage workloads for an improved work-life balance. Our community benefits from access to specialist facilities across the schools, while our combined extracurricular offer promotes our commitment to education with character.
As a Group, we can reward our staff better: with good career opportunities, better pay, benefits, and ultimately, the satisfaction of helping children to succeed. We invest in our staff wellbeing. Our academies each have at least eight INSET days per year (with three of those solely dedicated to planning), and an ongoing group-wide wellbeing programme. It's an ethos we call ‘the best in everyone’.
Your application
Your application should explain your suitability for the role described above and in the job description and should be tailored to meet the Person Specification in terms of your knowledge, experience, skills, qualities and qualifications.
To apply, please complete the online application form.
For more information about this role please contact:
United Learning values diversity and inclusion and is committed to creating and sustaining a more ethnically diverse workforce. We welcome applications from professionals of minority ethnic origin and from majority ethnic professionals who share our commitment to inclusion and diversity.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all staff to share this commitment. An enhanced DBS check is required for all successful applicants.