What skills and experience we're looking for
We are looking for Careers Strategy Lead to join the Harris Federation central team.
In this pivotal role, you will provides essential leadership and strategic direction for careers education across all Secondary and Sixth Form academies. Your responsibilities will encompass the development and implementation of a proactive careers strategy that yields measurable outcomes, with a consistent emphasis on placing students at the forefront of all initiatives.
You will be responsible for establishing employer engagement programs, assisting academies in preparing for Ofsted inspections, and enhancing the apprenticeship programme.
We would like to hear form you if you have:
• A degree level qualification or equivalent professional experience in Careers Guidance or directly relevant field
• Proven experience in a leadership role within education, careers services, or employer engagement
• In-depth understanding of the Gatsby Benchmarks, Provider Access Legislation, and the CDI framework
• Experience in managing large-scale careers programmes and delivering measurable improvements
• A track record of successful partnership building with employers, training providers, and external stakeholders
• Experience of leading, developing, and managing a team
• Strong leadership and strategic planning abilities
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence and collaborate at all levels
• Analytical thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to evaluate programme impact and adapt strategies
• Project management skills to deliver large-scale events and initiatives
• Budget management experience, ensuring effective use of resources
For a full person specification, please download the Job Pack.
What the school offers its staff
The Harris Federation is a leading education charity with 55 Harris primary and secondary academies across London and Essex. The founder, Chairman and sponsor of the Harris Federation, Lord Harris of Peckham, opened our first school in 1990. We now educate some 38,000 young people and closing the gap between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers has always been a core mission.
The Harris Federation has a track record of accomplishment in achieving success through rapid school improvement and has built an unrivalled reputation for running outstanding academies in London.
Our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level to senior leadership.We look for talented individuals who share our vision for creating exceptional places of learning, and are committed to ensuring that every child in London has access to the best possible education.In addition to the opportunities for career progression, training and development, we also offer a competitive rewards and benefits package which includes our Harris Allowance, a Performance and Loyalty Bonus, Pension Scheme, a Wellbeing Cash Plan and many other benefits.
Further details about the role
Your responsibilities will include:
• Leadership of careers education and partnerships at the Federation, advising and supporting all Secondary and Sixth Form academies
• Development and implementation of an effective vision and careers strategy
• Building an employer engagement access programme
• Developing and implementing a careers programme which addresses the new Gatsby Criteria and meets Provider Access Legislation
• Supporting academies with Ofsted inspections
• Line managing and leading the Careers Advisory team
• Establishing and embedding an evaluation methodology to demonstrate the impact and highlight the team's achievements
• Developing and advising academies on the delivery of a comprehensive and effective careers curriculum.
• Reviewing careers resourcing across the Federation
• Centralising and standardising key documentation and review cycles
• Delivering training at academies, providing opportunities to ensure we are leading the way with the most up to date careers approaches
• Enhancing the Harris Federation apprenticeship programme
• Overseeing the development and management of workplace experiences, industry placement and employer engagement schemes
• Creating a network of links with national and local employers so that Harris students are given fantastic opportunities outside of regular programmes
• Forging opportunities to promote Harris Careers
• Updating and maintaining the Harris Careers Education website, ensuring it remains informative, user-friendly, and up to date
• Creating a termly calendar of tailored, high profile careers events
• Conducting careers audit reviews across academies
A full list of responsibilities can be found in the Job Pack.
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Commitment to safeguarding
The Harris Federation and all our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share in this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, references, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed for all applicants. Before applying, please review our Policy Statement on the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders.