Post-16 and Skills Specialist

Post-16 and Skills Specialist  

Home-based  

Starting salary from £66,091  

Full time or Part time 

Permanent. 

Due to the retirement of a long-standing member of staff, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) is seeking to appoint a Post-16 and Skills Specialist. This role will work within ASCL’s policy team, reporting to the Deputy Director of Policy. 

This is a fantastic opportunity to join one of the most respected and influential organisations in UK education, to lead on a core policy area, to help support post-16 and FE leaders, and to shape future policy in this area. 

ASCL is a trade union and professional association which supports and represents around 25,000 school and college leaders. We work closely with ministers, advisers, civil servants and other organisations to ensure the voices of our members are front and central in policymaking, and to co-construct policy which enhances the lives and life chances of the children, young people and staff in schools and colleges across the UK. 

This role will support the Deputy Director of Policy, leading on policy across the post-16 landscape, including sixth forms and FE colleges, qualification and employment pathways, and the government’s skills agenda, as well as the implications of this for ASCL’s wider curriculum and assessment policies. 

You will also support members who have questions or concerns that relate specifically to post-16 and skills, both through ASCL’s hotline, and by providing ongoing updates and information. You will fully understand the post-16 qualifications landscape, especially in relation to the rapid review of the defunding of level three qualifications. 

The Specialist will facilitate the post-16 and sixth form advisory group, which offers deep insight into the needs of these leaders, and feed this understanding into ASCL’s wider policy work. 

You will join a team of highly experienced and effective policy specialists, working closely with the policy leads for curriculum, assessment, inspection, accountability and data, SEND, primary, and independent schools. 

The successful candidate will be skilled at gathering, synthesizing and effectively representing the views of ASCL’s diverse membership. You will have a strong knowledge and understanding both of the school and college landscape and of how education policy is made. You will be a clear communicator, a persuasive influencer and an effective and collegiate colleague. 

This is a home-based role, with significant travel required to London, ASCL HQ in Leicester, and across the UK. The role is paid on a five point incremental range from £66,091 to £73,051 (or pro rata FTE) per annum. Equipment is provided. 

We are advertising this as either a full-time or a part-time role; we are open to applicants stating their preferred hours, and how they would manage the workload set out in the job description based on this. N.B. Some ASCL events, such as our termly Council meetings and annual conference (which take place on a Wednesday to Friday) are mandatory for this role, regardless of normal working days. 

ASCL is an equal opportunities employer and offers a very generous package of benefits, including 33 (pro rata FTE) days holiday plus bank holidays and a pension scheme to which the association contributes 9%. Reasonable travel and out-of-pocket expenses are also covered, including a working from home allowance. We encourage applications regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. 

INTERESTED?  

The closing date for applications is 5pm on Wednesday 26 February.  

Interviews will be held in Leicester on Wednesday 2 April.  

Start date: As soon as possible but dependent on individual circumstances.