RISE Adviser - North West - Secondary adviser

In this round of adviser recruitment, we are looking for advisers with an exceptional track record of leading school improvement in the secondary sector.

This is an exciting opportunity to work as an expert adviser at the heart of the Governments 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, reception network lead schools and teaching school hubs.

Education is at the heart of the Governments 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, providing them with the foundations for the best start in life, and enabling them to achieve and thrive.

Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence teams (RISE teams) are a critical part of this mission. Comprising of 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:

• through Universal RISE, empowering all schools to grow and share great practice.
• providing bespoke Targeted RISE interventions with schools that face the greatest barriers to improvement.

For the Universal RISE service, RISE teams will work across all schools to:

• signpost effective practice
• encourage peer-to-peer support
• bring schools together to share knowledge and innovation

The RISE universal service will deliver 4 national priorities focused on driving higher standards and will be guided by regional plans. The national priorities are:

• attainment, with a focus on English and maths
• inclusive mainstream
• reception-year quality
• attendance

For Targeted RISE intervention, RISE advisers will engage with the eligible school and its responsible body to consider the schools specific improvement needs. Where appropriate, RISE teams will arrange for a high-quality organisation to work with a school to support improvement. RISE teams will be able to draw on funds to support this activity. RISE teams are regularly reviewing progress and engagement with the targeted intervention.

We expect most RISE advisers to perform a mixture of targeted and universal RISE work. There will be some advisers that may only carry out one, depending on capacity and expertise.

We are looking for RISE advisers with expertise in secondary school settings. You will 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 primarily in one region, although we may require advisers to support 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 and which regions these would be.

We will provide training and induction for all new 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.

We welcome applications from individuals with an exceptional track record of school improvement and executive leadership. This may include people who are, or who have recently been, headteachers, senior local authority officers, or trust leaders.

Applicants will be assessed against the following criteria. They will need to demonstrate that they meet all the essential criteria.

Essential Criteria

You will need to demonstrate evidence of:

• An exceptional track record of supporting multiple schools to make rapid and sustained improvements across one or more of our national priority areas: reception year quality, mainstream inclusion, attainment and attendance.
• Proven experience of successful system leadership of school improvement including a deep understanding of inclusive school improvement practice that is grounded in robust evidence. This may include early years settings and broader school improvement work across trusts, regions and local authorities.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to foster strong professional relationships to deliver change through others, ensuring colleagues feel valued and empowered.  
• A deep understanding of the education sector in your region and the specific challenges and opportunities. 
• An exceptional track record of leading school improvement in the secondary school sector.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of delivering complex change or service transformation within a large group of schools, a trust or local authority.
• 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.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation, to make an informed decision.