Head of Communications and Engagement

About Challenge Partners

Who we are: Challenge Partners is a practitioner-led education charity that enables collaboration 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 services 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 schools, leaders, and pupils in the partnership.

Our team: There are currently just under 20 people 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.

Challenge Partners are seeking a:

Head of Communications and Engagement

Job purpose

Reporting to the CEO, the Head of Communications and Engagement will play a key role in the next phase of our growth and development. They will take particular responsibility for:

The development and delivery of a communications, marketing and engagement strategy which supports our mission, enables growth, and enhances our presence and influence in the sector and beyond
Leading proactive and reactive communications and marketing
Ensuring we have a systematic, successful and sustained approach to stakeholder engagement
Delivering national events which showcase our work

Reporting to the CEO, the Head of Communications and Engagement will have the following key areas of responsibility and will be expected to undertake other responsibilities as requested, which are commensurate with the role:

Strategic leadership and management

Work with the senior team and trustees to support strategic leadership of Challenge Partners in its next phase of growth and development
Act as an ambassador for Challenge Partners
Develop and maintain effective relationships with key stakeholders in the sector and beyond

Communications, marketing and engagement strategy

Develop a communications, marketing and engagement strategy to build trust and awareness of the Challenge Partners brand, providing a strong platform for growth in our network, and influence in the sector and beyond
Develop a costed implementation plan, providing clarity on the role colleagues in the central team and across the partnership will play in realising the strategy
Develop performance indicators and quality assurance measures to monitor the impact of the strategy and drive continuous improvement

Communications and marketing delivery

Lead implementation of the communications, marketing and engagement strategy, taking personal responsibility for delivering key aspects of it - including website development, social media, e-communications, marketing and media
Refine our core narrative, so that we are able to describe crisply who we are, what we do and the impact it has
Produce high quality content, publications and materials, including presentations, reports and other documents
Draft and publish our annual report, drawing input from across the central team and partnership as needed
Develop the Challenge Partners website so that it serves our needs as an organisation, helping those viewing it for the first time understand what we offer, and supporting our existing partners to get best use of the resources on offer
Maintain a consistent identity and high standards of graphic design and editorial copy for all materials produced for Challenge Partners
Act as a spokesperson for Challenge Partners when necessary

Engagement

Map our stakeholders and devise a plan for developing and maintaining positive relationships with them, considering the role to be played by Trustees, the central team, Senior Partners and others in our partnership
Support teams across Challenge Partners with stakeholder and partner engagement strategies through a range of channels including direct mail, email campaigns, social media, events and newsletters

Conferences and events

Oversee, develop and deliver high quality events for Challenge Partners at key points during the year, including lead responsibility for our annual conference
Set the marketing and PR strategy for events and conferences and ensure that these events are widely known, well-attended and attract appropriate PR and publicity from relevant sources

Person Specification

Specific skills and experience: We are looking for an ambitious and driven individual able to play a leading role in the next stage of Challenge Partners’ development and growth. You will have:

Commitment to our vision, mission and values
Proven expertise in all aspects of communications, marketing and engagement
Creative flair and strong communication skills, both oral and written, including the ability to draft high quality documents for a range of audiences
A sound understanding of the English education system, its challenges and opportunities
A track record of successful people and strategic leadership, with the ability to contribute to organisational leadership as part of a team
The ability to move between seamlessly between strategic thinking and operational delivery and contribute to both
Strong interpersonal and influencing skills, with the ability to form positive relationships with colleagues and school leaders from a range of backgrounds

Salary: £36,770-43,259 dependent on experience

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 healthcare
Flexible working hours
A supportive and friendly team
A chance to make a real difference to educational outcomes

How to apply and our recruitment process

Challenge Partners is an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age. Applications are welcomed from individuals who would like to work part-time, job-share, flexibly or on secondment.

If you would like to be a part of our team, then please submit the following no later than noon on Wednesday 7 November using the "Apply Now" button included below:

A CV of no more than two pages which includes your current salary
A statement of no more than two pages demonstrating how you meet the requirements of the role and the person specification

Please note that CVs without a covering letter specifically addressing the role and person specification will not be considered. Please state in your covering email whether you wish to apply full-time, part-time, job-share, flexible working or on secondment.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a telephone interviews w/c 12 November. Successful candidates will then be invited to final interviews w/c 19 November. Please state when applying if you have any issues with these dates. Appointment will be dependent on receipt of satisfactory references and completing a DBS check.

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Development Education Inclusion Inequality Youth Challenge Partners: Head of Communications and Engagement Challenge Partners is an education charity that enables collaboration between schools to enhance the life chances of all children, especially the most disadvantaged. English Challenge Partners https://www.challengepartners.org/