Director Of Strategy (Maternity Cover)

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Head of Consultancy to join our team in Birmingham, with hybrid working (two days a week in our Birmingham office and three days working from home). In return, you will receive a competitive salary of £39,000 - £49,500 per annum depending on experience.

NGA is an independent, not-for-profit national membership organisation for state school governors, trustees and governance professionals in England. Our work aims to improve the educational standards and wellbeing of young people by increasing the effectiveness of governing boards and promoting high standards. As expert leaders in school and academy governance, we provide information, advice, guidance, professional development and e-learning.

About the role:

The role of Head of Consultancy would suit candidates who are visionary leaders, passionate about transforming education and governance across England. NGA are looking for a candidate who will be able to innovate and enhance our current consultancy offering and create new revenue streams for the organisation.

The ideal candidate will have considerable experience of managing a consultancy service as well as a thorough understanding of school governance. They will have had experience governing in a multi-academy trust, ideally as chair, or previous/current work experience as a governance professional in a multi academy trust setting. Excellent project management and communications skills and the ability to work to strict deadlines are essential, as is the ability to manage teams and attention to detail.

Benefits of working for NGA:

• Annual leave entitlement of 25 days increasing to 27 with continuous service, 8 days bank holiday and 3 days Christmas closure, with the ability to buy and sell annual leave
• Employer contribution pension scheme at 7%
• Hybrid working (between our Birmingham office and home working) and other flexible working arrangements on request
• Wellbeing support through our employee assistance programme
• A healthy training and development budget (CPD) with a wide range of learning and development opportunities
• A commitment to environmental sustainability includes a cycle to work scheme and encouragement to use public transport

Key responsibilities of our Head of Consultancy will include:

• Develop a clear and comprehensive consultancy strategy that aligns with NGA’s vision and strategy, market conditions and client needs
• Conduct thorough market research to identify trends, competitive landscape, emerging opportunities, and potential risks that could impact NGA’s consultancy offer 
• Define the ideal client profile and identify target Trusts, local authorities and maintained schools where consultancy services can provide the most value
• Collaborate with the marketing and governance development team to create a client engagement plan, including targeting, lead generation, client acquisition and maintaining strong relationships with existing clients
• Develop and update NGA’s approach to all external reviews of governance and other consultancy frameworks and materials, including establishing costings and fees with support of the Director, COO and Head of Finance
• Develop and implement quality assurance processes and make evidence-based assessments and recommendations regarding consultant outputs and impact.
• Ensure all freelancer’s first reports are reviewed and continue to monitor and quality assure: those about whom there are concerns, new consultants, complex assignments, boards which have scored below 3 on the competency grid, trusts with more than five schools
• Conduct a minimum of four external reviews of governance in the multi-academy trust sector annually, ensuring live experiences contribute to consultancy best practice

What we’re looking for in our ideal Head of Consultancy:

• Understanding of fair recruitment processes and principles of unconscious bias and equality and diversity legislation
• An understanding of the consultancy market in the education sector 
• Delivering successful recruitment campaigns 
• Developing and delivering training face to face and virtually including the production of materials
• Developing effective assessment systems and processes and making challenging recommendations
• Experience of transforming governance practice

Closing Date: Monday 4 March at 9am

If you feel that you are the right candidate for the role as our Head of Consultancy or would like to find out more information about the role, then please click ‘apply’ now.  We’d love to hear from you.