This is a fixed term position for 6 months, it is being advertised as internal only to employees of Dorset Council and to employees of Dorset Schools. Working as part of a multi-disciplinary locality team, based in the Dorchester and West Locality, you will be responsible for the support and challenge of the schools and will benefit from the rich expertise in the team around you. You will join the Education Challenge Leads Team, learning from one another and looking for creative ways to achieve the best outcomes for the children of Dorset. What you can expect to be doing: You will be responsible for a group of schools, supporting school leaders to co-operatively identify strengths and work with them on areas for improvement. You will look within and beyond the locality and Dorset for the best research-based practice that can be shared and learned from. The role has a requirement for a high degree of specialist knowledge of the education landscape and the mechanisms required to facilitate collaboration across the system. You will champion inclusive values and will enable our children to have a sense of belonging, working with the team in the locality to achieve the best outcomes for all young people. You will be part of the locality leadership team, bringing education expertise to the whole locality approach, taking a lead on identified workstreams. You will be supported to develop within One Team Dorset. About you: You will be a school senior leader who understands best practice in education and can demonstrate the ways in which you have used evidence-based strategies to improve outcomes for children. You will have proven experience of building effective relationships in more than one team, including with partner organisations. About us: Now is a really exciting time to join an innovative local authority. Join us and be part of Children’s Services which have been judged as Good with Outstanding leadership by Ofsted. We passionately believe that ‘working with’, not ‘doing to’, is the key to unlocking potential. We have high aspirations for our young people and aim to use our combined and collaborative strengths to support them and each other to be successful. As a skilled communicator with excellent interpersonal skills, you will engage with credibility. The Dorset model in Children’s Services is based on restorative and strengths-based practice and you will be able to demonstrate your own experience of working in this way. Further Information This is a fixed term position for 6 months, it is being advertised as internal only to employees of Dorset Council and to employees of Dorset Schools. This post requires significant travel. You must have a vehicle (or transport we deem suitable) available for use as needed. This post involves working with children and/or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them. It will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders. See our policy on safeguarding children and young people. See our adult safeguarding policy. For an informal discussion regarding the position, please contact either Gaynor Howlett ( [email protected] ) or Lisa Gray ( [email protected] ) About Us At Dorset Council, we are working together to create a fairer, more prosperous, and more sustainable Dorset for everyone, now and in the future. We: provide essential services that support over 380,000 residents work in partnership to make a real difference value every role and the impact it has on our communities support our employees to grow, develop, and thrive You will: be part of a team that works together for a better Dorset have access to a range of benefits and support have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation where different skills, perspectives, and backgrounds strengthen both our council and the communities we serve. We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. If you declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role, we will offer you an interview. We also want our recruitment process to be accessible. If you need any reasonable adjustments, just let us know on your application. This role is UK-based, and we will need to confirm your Right to Work as part of the appointment process. We use generic job descriptions and person specifications, so the job title in any attachments may differ from the advert. If needed, we will provide additional details in a context statement. If you’re passionate about making a difference, we’d love you to join us. Find out more about how to apply.