School Relationships Officer

School Relationships Officer - North East of England

About Voice 21

Voice 21 is the national oracy education charity. We exist to empower every child to use their voice for success in school and life. Our work transforms learning and life chances through talk by increasing access to a high-quality oracy education for those that need it most. Follow the links to find out more about why oracy is so vital and the impact Voice 21 has.

Your opportunity

Tackle a vital challenge, with great people.  Voice 21 exists to transform childrens’ learning and life chances through talk and we are aiming to be working with 2,000 schools a year by 2025. To reach this goal we recruit great people and give them real responsibility, training and support.

Output focused culture, with flexible working opportunities. We have an agile and flexible approach – our team can work when and wherever works best to deliver the requirements of their role. For staff working at home, we support them to create a workspace and provide technology that enables them to work effectively.

Real development opportunities. We believe in supporting people to develop the skills they need to be excellent – whether this means funding external training, finding a mentor to support them or giving them the time to learn from others in the organisations through our regular CPD sessions. We also offer paid study leave for team members taking part in formal studies outside of work.

Great benefits. 33 days holiday (inclusive of bank holidays) and additional Christmas closure period. Holiday entitlement increases linked to length of service, 5% employer contribution to pension, interest-free season ticket, cycle and technology loans, employee assistance scheme.

Remuneration. Our pay is a band and spine point approach where there is up to 7 years progression available (depending on starting point) 

Your purpose

To deliver a high quality experience to schools in your region through expert relationship management and delivery of specific project outcomes: driving high levels of engagement, retention and renewal and enabling Voice 21 to have the greatest impact in each Voice 21 Oracy School.

Your responsibilities

Relationship management and Group Project delivery

• Build and manage strong relationships with member schools and key stakeholders at all levels, across your region in order to add value to their membership, driving engagement, long term loyalty and ultimately impact in our schools.

• Use your understanding of member schools in your region to create ‘wow moments’ across the membership journey (e.g. dropping in to meet with key stakeholders or setting up virtual networking opportunities).

• Manage and deliver projects in your region, specifically our large and highly successful Voice North East group project. This includes working as a leading member of the project team, effectively managing project risks and progress toward milestones, sending communications, and reporting to group commissioners or funders on progress. 

• Represent Voice 21 effectively to external audiences in meetings and events. Develop our regional network through events. Arrange & attend open mornings with current member schools and support with additional event organisation and delivery as required with support from product and events leads.

School journey and experience

• Provide an excellent customer experience for member schools and key stakeholders (e.g. Local Authorities and Multi-Academy Trusts) from sign up through to renewal, acting as the first point of contact for your Voice 21 Oracy Schools.

• Own the membership journey and school experience for your region, including the underlying processes, activities and comms that support membership.

• Gain frontline insights from listening to member schools in your region - collect, track and analyse data about their patterns of behaviour and use these insights to improve their experience.

• Use your understanding of our membership offer to support and guide schools in your region to access member benefits that best meet their needs, are most impactful for their students and steward them towards accreditation (e.g. use diagnostic tools to set action plans for the membership year and signpost to Voice 21 products, resources and events).

• Bring together data (from our CRM system, our Programme team and impact and engagement monitoring) to understand and own the ‘complete picture’ of each school’s member journey in your region - use insights to manage and increase engagement; proactively share insights gained, internally (e.g. with the Programme team about attendance or school feedback) and externally (reporting to a group project commissioner or funder). 

• Own membership renewals in your region, helping the Engagement team to deliver our annual school renewal targets (70%+).

Your progression

Within 1 month, you’ll have:

• Got to know all of the different elements which go into our membership offer through experiencing them first hand. 

• Gained insight into the impact of our membership offer on children and young people’s learning and life chances, by visiting Voice 21 Oracy Schools. 

• Began to get to know the key stakeholders and member schools in your region.

• Have a good grasp of our Voice North East Project objectives

• Built relationships with your closest colleagues in our Experience, Project and Programmes teams. 

Within 3 months, you’ll have: 

• Built relationships with the key stakeholders and member schools in your region.

• Supported member schools in your region to get started on their membership journey and to access membership benefits.

• Become confident using our CRM (Salesforce) to provide key data you need for success in your role.

Within 6 months, you’ll have: 

• Begun to monitor experience and engagement of member schools in your region and identify strategies to help schools get the most out of their membership.

• Delivered & supported regional network events and reflected on how these went with the team.

• Lead a cycle of renewal in your region and use this to identify areas of strength/development.

From 6 months onwards, we expect for you to be:

• Taking ownership of the member journey and school experience of schools in your region.

• Proactively sharing insights from the frontline with the team to improve experience and engagement.

• Developing strategic relationships with key stakeholders and identifying opportunities to grow our school network in your region.

This job is for you if...

• You take pride in the strength of the relationships you build, you enjoy making connections with a range of stakeholders (both internal and external) and delivering an excellent relationship management experience.

• You have a strong understanding of the educational landscape in the North East of England, and know how to navigate the pressures faced by teachers and school leaders. 

• You have experience working with a Customer Relationship Management database and understand the importance of accurate data to inform decision making.

• You can apply  project management skills (e.g. working towards milestones) and have experience in supporting and organising regional events.

• You care about the little details which make all the difference and get satisfaction from seeing things through.

• You enjoy working as part of a fast-paced, fast-growing team with big ambitions and are excited to use your initiative to help us achieve these.

• You’re passionate about Voice 21’s mission, the education sector and making a change to young people’s learning and life changes.

Who you’ll work with: 

• Our Engagement team: made up of our Head of Member Success, your fellow School Relationships Officers, a School Membership Officer, Schools Coordinator, and your line manager - one of our two School Relationships Leads.

• Our Programmes team who lead and deliver our work with teachers on programmes.

• Our Project Lead and our Events Lead

Location: Remote with a focus on the North East of England.

This role requires regular travel within the North East and occasional travel nationally. This includes visiting schools, attending development days, meetings, and industry events. Some overnight stays will be required.

Ideal Candidate: We are seeking a candidate specifically based in the North East of England and with a strong understanding and experience of the educational landscape and the challenges facing schools in this area.

Contract: Permanent, subject to successful probation review at 3 months.

Terms: Full Time 

Application details 

To apply: 

Please send your most recent CV and a document answering the questions below

• Tell us why you want to work at Voice 21. What is it about us and our mission that excites you? (Max. 400 words)

• Making direct reference to the job description, please tell us the three main reasons why you would make an excellent School Relationships & Project officer in the North East of England (Max. 600 words).

We are ideally seeking to appoint  someone based in the North East of England. 

Please do not apply for this position if you are not based in this area of the UK

Closing date: Midnight, Monday 10th February

Interview date: Provisional dates for initial phone interviews Week Commencing 17th February with second round interviews on Zoom w/c 3rd March TBC

Start date: 1st April 2025 (we can be somewhat flexible for the right candidate).

Questions: If you have any questions about the role, or would like to discuss it before submitting an application, please contact Gill Cameron, Head of Member Success  

Valuing every voice

Voice 21 believes that every voice should be heard and valued. We are committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and do not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.

We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join Voice 21.