Partnership Lead

Partnership Lead

Job Purpose

The Partnership Lead will play a key role in operationalising and overseeing the support for approximately 34 school hubs across England, contributing to local school improvement. They will also take the lead in operationalising the renewal of all schools across the Challenge Partners network.

Schools within Challenge Partners subscribe annually and join forces in local hubs,  spanning England from Cornwall to County Durham. The hub works together over the course of the academic year pulling together a Hub Action Plan, which aims to tackle collectively agreed priorities using funding from Challenge Partners. Challenge Partners hubs provide the local element of our collaborative partnership. 

The Partnership Lead will build and manage relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and hold responsibility for ensuring all hubs have everything they need to provide an excellent experience to schools. They will also support the renewal of all schools, through leading excellent Customer Care practices and operationalising the annual retention campaign, working with the Partnership Development Manager. They will work closely with the Partnership Experience Manager and the team of Partnership Coordinators to ensure excellent delivery.

Established in 2011, Challenge Partners is a well-respected nationwide network of practitioners who engage in hard-edged collaboration and mutual accountability to ensure every school community can benefit from the combined wisdom of the education system. 

Key Responsibilities

Reporting to the Partnership Experience Manager, the Partnership Lead will have the following key areas of responsibility and will be expected to undertake other responsibilities commensurate with the role as requested:

Partnership Delivery and Development

Individual Partnership Delivery and Development responsibilities: 

• Implement the annual cycle of hub work, including planning and implementing key partnership correspondence, activities and events.

• Support up to five hubs of their own, working closely with internal teams to ensure a high-quality experience for schools across all selected Challenge Partners activities.

• Lead the renewals campaign for all schools across the partnership, proactively escalating any renewal concerns, and monitoring and reporting renewals data.

• Oversee the monitoring of the Partnership inbox, ensuring all queries are dealt with by a member of the team promptly and effectively. 

• Manage the Partnership budget; monitoring spending and signing off invoices within agreed budgets, including hub funding. 

• Lead on ensuring an excellent experience for schools in Challenge Partners. This includes, but is not limited to, monitoring risks and mitigating/escalating as appropriate, and leading on Customer Care and Pricing Governance issues. 

• Support the Partnership Experience Manager to deliver improvements to the quality of our hubs, ensuring all schools are getting excellent value. This includes, but is not limited to the engagement of new technologies, processes and ways of working. 

• Lead on the implementation of new strategies for delivery in your areas of responsibility with Partnership Coordinator support.

Support all hub owners through matrix working to: 

• Embed excellent account management, delivering outstanding support for our partner schools, multi-academy trusts and hubs.

• Maintain highly effective stakeholder relationships with Headteachers, trust CEOs, Senior Partners and Hub Managers.

• Induct new schools and hubs, making sure that all are appropriately onboarded to Challenge Partners. 

• Implement Customer Care work, ensuring that all members of the team are able to monitor Customer Care cases and identify solutions.

• Deliver growth and renewals work, enabling schools and trusts to renew their subscription with Challenge Partners.

Data Management and Systems 

• Ensure school data is accurately recorded on Salesforce (our CRM system) and work closely with the Data and Systems Lead to improve systems and processes.

• Monitor and report renewals data to inform renewals progress, predictions and strategy.

• Implementation of annual partnership evaluation work with the support of the Partnership Experience Manager.

Event Planning, Organisation and Monitoring

• Lead on the planning, logistics and delivery of an annual National Induction event for all new and rejoining schools, working with the Partnership Experience Manager and Leadership Team to agree event design.

• Liaise with speakers, venues and suppliers to ensure high quality delivery of the National Induction.

• Coordinate the team effectively to ensure excellent event delivery.

• Work closely with the marketing team to create a social media plan to showcase the National Induction.

• Monitor event quality and delivery, including dealing with and escalating issues to ensure positive solutions are reached.

Line Management

• Provide high-quality and consistent line management for up to two Partnership Coordinators, including regular one-to-one meetings and performance reviews.

• Identify opportunities for personal and professional development for direct reports.

• Provide accountability and support to direct reports to ensure excellent delivery across all Challenge Partners’ activities and meet key organisational priorities.

Matrix Management

At Challenge Partners, we work in a matrix structure which means that individuals collaborate across different work streams and are, at times, task managed by colleagues who are not their direct line manager

• Provide consistent and high quality task management to all Partnership Coordinators supporting activities related to hubs and cultivating relationships with all hub owners.

• Provide consistent and high quality task management to all colleagues involved in school renewals. This includes upwards management of Managers and Leadership Team.

• Collaborate effectively with other line managers and teams to support Partnership Coordinators to provide excellent delivery across all Challenge Partners activities and meet key organisational priorities.

• Provide training to all Partnership Coordinators in Customer Care and hub support. 

Person Specification

Specific skills and attitudes we are looking for in an applicant are as follows:

• As one of our cadre of Leads, you will be a role model for our values at all times and a cultural lead within the team.

• Strong project management and organisational skills (a ‘completer-finisher’).

• Ability to prioritise effectively to meet competing demands and work under pressure, through excellent organisation and time management.

• Outstanding attention to detail, and pride in your work.

• Strong sense of proactivity, ensuring any issues are recognised and dealt with before they escalate.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to deal with people diplomatically and appropriately, building rapport with those at varying levels of seniority.

• Positivity, optimism and agility - we are a small organisation and all staff are expected to contribute across the organisation (and sometimes beyond their specific job role) to ensure our success and sustainability. 

• High computer literacy - confidence and competence in using Google Suite, Microsoft programmes and Salesforce (or a similar CRM system) would be an advantage

• A willingness to learn and give and receive feedback

• A passion for education, and a desire to make a difference

About Challenge Partners

Who we are: Challenge Partners is a practitioner-led education charity that enables collaboration and challenge between schools to enhance the life chances of all children, especially the most disadvantaged.

How we do it: The Challenge Partners central team works closely with school leaders and other education professionals to facilitate a variety of programmes and activities for schools in our partnership. We ensure the knowledge and skills of the best in our network are available to everyone, reducing the variability in education provision whilst improving the performance of all trusts, schools, leaders, and pupils in the partnership.

Our team: There are currently just over 25 in our growing team. We are dedicated to working hard for our schools whilst enjoying what we do and who we work with. You will be working in a friendly and dynamic group with backgrounds in education, the wider social enterprise and charity sector, and the corporate world. The majority of roles are school-facing, and team members work closely with leaders in our schools to generate and refine ideas and create maximum value for the network.

Our values

At Challenge Partners, how we go about our work is as important as the work we do. This is underpinned by our six values:

Excellence

We work hard and with urgency, striving for excellence in all that we do. We put the needs of our schools first.

Equity

We treat each other/everyone fairly, with care and respect. We value, encourage, and celebrate diversity in all its forms. We are one team.

Courageous leadership

Everyone is a leader, encouraged and empowered to take ownership and responsibility for their contribution to our mission.

Challenge

We expect the best of each other and support and challenge each other as critical friends.

Collaboration

We work purposefully together and in partnership with our schools to achieve more together than we could alone.

Innovation

We use and generate research and innovation intelligently to continually improve the work we do.

Benefits of working for Challenge Partners

• 25 days of paid holiday per year

• An employer contributed pension - matched up to 5% of your own contribution

• Private health insurance 

• London and hybrid working - we require all staff to attend our office in London or be present at an event at least two days per week, with remote working during school holidays

• A supportive and friendly team

• A chance to make a real difference to educational outcomes

• The opportunity to progress and develop skills in a young and fast-growing team

How to apply and our recruitment process

Interviews will take place on Monday 9th December and Tuesday 10th December, at our London office (Resource for London, 356 Holloway Rd, London N7 6PA)

Challenge Partners is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates.