Director of Programmes (Maternity Leave Cover)

We are looking for a self-motivated individual to lead our Programmes Team whilst our current Director of Programmes is on maternity leave. The role will be fixed term from December 2024 until January 2026, although there may be further opportunities beyond the length of the contract depending on organisational growth.

The Director of Programmes will be a key member of CoachBright’s Senior Management Team, and will have input on both operational and strategic decision making. Whilst we will expect your input on matters relating to programme delivery and impact, all members of SMT are expected to contribute to decision making across the organisation. As a result, the role is an excellent opportunity to get genuine leadership experience at an educational charity, with the opportunity to report directly to our board of trustees depending on growth in the role.

The primary responsibility for the Director of Programmes will be to recruit school partners for our EEF trial, with delivery beginning September 2025. This trial is to test the impact our Peer to Peer coaching programme (Y10s coaching Y7s) can have on the maths attainment of disadvantaged pupils. The trial will require us to recruit 100 participating schools, 50 of whom will receive the intervention, with another 50 allocated to a control group.

Working alongside the CEO and the Programmes Team Leader, you will create and execute a strategy to recruit new schools as participants to this trial. As a result, experience of managing sales or partnerships with schools, or existing connections with senior leaders at secondary schools and multi-academy trusts, would be beneficial.

Alongside this, you will line manage our current Programmes Team Leader, who directly line manages our team of Programme Managers. From Sept 2025, we are expecting our Programmes Team to grow, and you will play a key role in recruiting for that expanded team. At that point, we would expect you to begin line managing a small number of Programme Managers directly.

The role is an exciting and challenging opportunity to contribute to the growth of an ambitious charity, develop genuine leadership and strategic experience, and project manage a trial supported by the EEF - one of the most highly regarded and respected educational research organisations. 
 

EEF Trial

• Write and execute the strategy to deliver our EEF trial. This will primarily involve recruiting and onboarding 100 schools to participate from January 2025 through to July 2025, for programmes to begin in September 2025.

Leadership

• Be a key member of the Senior Management Team, working alongside the trustees, CEO, Director of People and Operations, and Director of Finance to drive high quality leadership and decision making.

• Work alongside the CEO to develop and define strategic priorities and targets for programmes.

• Align programmes team around organisational strategy and ensure buy in.

• Help create an organisational culture which is supportive, collaborative and embeds learning & continuous improvement across the programmes team.

People Management

• Line manage our Programmes Team Leader, who will directly line manage all of our Programme Managers. We expect the number of team members you directly manage to increase as our Programmes Team grows.

• Support the Programmes Team Leader with development and delivery of programme KPIs and ensure that Programme Managers are delivering effectively and developing in their roles. 

• Identify skills gaps and development needs for the Programmes Team and work with the Director of People and Operations to develop a training plan for the team to support with programme delivery. 

• Deliver yearly performance appraisals for direct reports.

Programme Delivery

• Overseeing the management of programme delivery in schools to meet KPIs, predominantly those related to our EEF trial.

• Leading the implementation of our primary and secondary programme delivery processes. This will include but is not limited to:

  • Staff guides and handbooks: codifying our ways of working.

  • Simplifying and automating tasks via our Monday platform. 

  • Joining up all strands of programme delivery (school induction, launch, training, impact measurement, sessions, graduation and review).

• Ensure that programmes team adhere to CoachBright’s safeguarding, health and safety and GDPR policies and procedures.

• Ensure systems and processes are working for the Programmes Team to effectively deliver programmes.

• Ensure programmes are delivered to a consistently high standard, including ensuring that our quality assurance and impact evaluation frameworks are being used consistently.

• Ensure school relationships are managed appropriately and that termly retention targets are met.

• Oversee the budget for programme delivery including printing cost, room bookings and programme events.

• Carry out other tasks that are within the scope and spirit of the role.

Volunteer recruitment and training

• Alongside the Team Leader, oversee and provide input on our volunteer recruitment plan, in order to deliver our Core programmes. (Distinct from our Peer to Peer programmes, our Core programmes feature undergraduate volunteers coaching, rather than senior pupils).

Programme Design and Impact

• Project manage the development of programme resources including workshops, session plans and launch and graduation materials, particularly those related to the EEF trial.

• Work with our Data & Impact Manager to capture programme impact via feedback forms, Impact Reports and Annual Reports.

Safeguarding

• Act as CoachBright’s National Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL).

• Support the National DSL in developing and establishing CoachBright’s organisation’s approach to safeguarding.

• Support the National DSL with the coordination of the distribution of policies, procedures and safeguarding resources throughout the organisation.

• Provide safeguarding advice and support to staff and volunteers.

• Manage safeguarding concerns, allegations or incidents escalated up. 

• Manage referrals to key safeguarding agencies e.g. social services or police of any incidents or allegations of abuse and harm.

Person specification

Essential characteristics

• Passion for social mobility, we have big aims and are looking for those who share our desire to make education fairer in the UK so a person’s background does not determine their future.

• Experience of selling, managing, and retaining partnerships with schools and multi-academy trusts.

• Programme management experience, including programme design and delivery, monitoring and evaluation.

• Experience of curriculum and training design, and delivery of training.

• Experience of managing remote and cross regional teams.

• Experience managing relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders, including school leaders, funders, corporate partners and charity sector organisations.

• Strong change management skills with experience of managing teams through change. Ability to work with ambiguity, lead through uncertainty and motivate people through change.

• Effective people management, including supervision, appraisals and performance management. 

• Proven experience in developing and implementing quality standards. 

• Experience of working in or within education settings and a good understanding of the educational landscape.

• Exceptional leadership and interpersonal skill with the ability to coach the team to proactively identify issues and opportunities.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

• A business acumen with strategic ability.

• An analytical mindset with great problem solving skills.

• Self reflective and stretches self, team members and colleagues to develop.

• Ability to encourage a culture of reflection and innovation.

Desirable characteristics

• Fundraising experience.

• Experience of writing papers and reporting to the board of trustees.

• Experience of working with and empowering people who have faced challenges in their lives.

Key details

Benefits:

• An opportunity to contribute to a young, exciting charity with scope to input widely and take on new responsibilities.

• The opportunity to lead, and be the project manager for, an Education Endowment Foundation trial, which we expect to leave a lasting impact on the sector.

• Starting salary of £42,057 plus £2,500 London weighting where applicable.

• 28 annual leave days (pro rata).

• Fridays off during non-term-time (pro rata).

• Access to a £100 individual annual CPD budget in addition to CoachBright’s standard training offer which includes safeguarding, health and safety and diversity, equity and inclusion training).

• Access to a 24-hour employee assisted helpline facilitated independently by Health Assured.

• Access to BrightHR perks which includes an array of discounts in various areas such as retail and technology. 

Key Information:

• Fixed term contract from 2nd December 2024 until 30th January 2026. We have some flexibility on these dates.

• Remote role, with access to a network of Regus coworking spaces across the country. Some travel across our key programme areas will be required (expected to be London, Birmingham and Manchester, but not exclusively).

• Full-Time position, 35 hours per week (with some weekend/evening hours required during volunteer recruitment and training periods which will be acknowledged in TOIL). 

• Reporting to the CEO.