Person Specification
Applications are invited from educationalists who can demonstrate that they have progressed in people and strategic leadership to build on Jason Slack’s leadership to shape the next ten years and beyond for The King’s School in Macclesfield.
This is a wide-ranging role, blending educational leadership of a large and growing pupil and staff population, with commercial leadership of fundraising, bursary outreach and partnerships. Candidates must be able to demonstrate significant experience across all essential criteria in an all through environment, and ideally from more than one school.
Essential qualifications
- Degree educated
- Evidence of continuous professional development
Essential experience and knowledge
- Experience in leading the development of strategy with a senior leadership team (either whole organisation or one area); and a proven ability to partner with a Board and senior finance and operations professionals
- Experience in translating agreed strategy into clear, timebound objectives; and a proven ability to hold senior and middle leaders to account on their delivery
- Experience in developing strategic capability in direct reports, and a proven ability to develop a leadership team culture that is ambitious, curious and innovative
- Experience in training senior leaders to develop middle leaders in their roles
- Knowledge of the opportunities and challenges for the independent education sector
- Knowledge of safeguarding, mental health and wellbeing best practice for pupils and staff
- Knowledge of governance excellence in independent schools
Essential skills
- People leadership skills, with proven experience in inspiring educators and professional services colleagues to take an already strong school to the next level of excellence
- Commercial skills, with a proven ability to anticipate change and ambiguity, and turn these into opportunities for King’s
- Financial skills, and a demonstrable ability to partner with professional services experts and wider senior leadership to ensure a continued strong and sustainable operating model
- Fundraising and marketing skills, and the willingness to personally raise funds for and market the School while developing other leaders to drive forward excellence in admissions, marketing and development
- Communication and engagement skills – with proven experience of being a public figure in a community and successfully building and maintaining community relationships
Personal qualities
- A clear vision for holistic independent co-education, and the ability to inspire our entire community
- A clear vision for outstanding professional development for both teaching and support staff
- A demonstrable commitment to creating opportunity for young people of all backgrounds, and a total commitment to safeguarding, equity, diversity and inclusion
- A resilient pace-setter and decision-maker, blended with warmth and empathy
- Confident, curious and consistent
- A visible, honest and open leadership style, grounded in sound judgement, discretion and integrity
