About the job

Summary

The Department for Education is responsible for education, children’s services, higher and further education policy, apprenticeships and wider skills in England, and equalities. We work to achieve a highly educated society in which opportunity is equal for all, no matter what their background or family circumstances.

Commercial Directorate

The commercial function within the Department for Education ensures that all commercial and procurement activity supports the Department’s priorities and delivers outstanding value for money. It exists to proactively develop commercial solutions for the wider education sector that reduce waste in procurement and release funds for the front line. The function manages many high profile and complex contracts and grants as well as running a highly successful Risk Protection Arrangement for academies and the delivery of an innovative Schools Buying Strategy. Commercial Directorate is currently engaged in an exciting growth and transformation programme, with the aim of becoming the best commercial team in Government.

The SCT Engagement & Outreach Team is now recruiting for a Stakeholder & Engagement Lead. We are looking for a strong leader who can give clear direction and motivating support to a team of experienced engagement professionals working across the South of England to deliver the Get help buying for schools service. The role will often be outward-facing as the team works with Schools Business Professionals, sector leaders, networks and a wide range of other groups and organisations operating in the school system, right across the country.

Job description

In this role, the post holder will be responsible for:

• Working with the Head of Engagement & Outreach, another Stakeholder & Engagement Lead and a Marketing Lead.

• Line managing and mentoring a team of Engagement professionals, providing clear strategic direction and targets.

• Helping to shape and build a Stakeholder and Engagement Strategy to deliver the Get help buying for schools Service

• Using their experience as a School Business Professional and/or Procurement Professional to help direct the work and focus of the team.

• Developing new and building upon existing external relationships across the education sector through effective networking, engagement and outreach activities.

• Building strong links with School Business Professionals groups and networks as well as intermediary organisations such as ISBL, ASCL, NAHT, CST, NGA and other regional groups.

• Improving and developing our user and insight groups e.g. networks, forums and virtual groups who contribute to our activities and research in the sector.

• Reviewing available data to identify trends, themes, strengths and weaknesses of schools and local authorities in terms of their spending habits and financial situation.

• Engaging with Local Authorities (LAs), building up knowledge of the traded service offerings they have in their localities and developing an LA Strategy.

• Working with the Category Leads to ensure you and your team fully understand current and upcoming DfE approved frameworks and can confidently promote them to the sector, recommending and setting up training sessions internally and externally where relevant.

• Overseeing, managing the planning of, and attending events and conferences on a local, regional and national level as required.

• Working with the Excellent School Resource Management (SRM) Programme and wider Departmental teams to ensure coherency and consistency with wider communications and engagement plans and to help connect our Schools Buying Strategy into other Department initiatives.

• Excellent written communication skills and attention to detail are needed: able to write effectively for different audiences and channels; articulating ideas clearly and ensuring communication and written materials are easy to understand;

• Keeping up-to-date with DfE policy initiatives and commercial arrangements e.g. frameworks, contracts, deals that SBMs can access.

• Collaborating with Schools Commercial Team colleagues to support other strands of the Schools’ Buying Strategy, be a subject matter expert and operate flexibly as part of an MDT culture.

• Developing and reporting against agreed success metrics.

• Overseeing and managing a budget.

• Deputising for the Head of Engagement & Outreach as appropriate.

Travel to events and meetings at DfE sites across England will be required (dependant on the covid-19 pandemic and relevant restrictions).

The Team Objectives

• To increase engagement levels across the entire English schools system with The Schools Buying Programme.

• To ensure 'unengaged' schools are reached and become 'engaged'.

• To leverage Local Authorities to reach all schools.

• To support the delivery of the Get help buying for schools service

• To manage branding, marketing campaigns and external comms.

• To capture schools feedback.

• To leverage and strategize schools ‘influencers’.

Responsibilities

Person Specification:

The Stakeholder & Engagement Lead will become a member of a very supportive and well-established team in Schools Commercial. This particular role will lead a team of engagement professionals who will focus on the south of England but will be involved in supporting national activity conducted by the wider team. The ideal candidate will:

1. Have experience of managing and leading a varied team.

2. Be a team player and leader who is motivating, can champion a collaborative team ethos and be a facilitator who builds trust.

3. Have experience as a School Business Professional (SBP) in the English school’s system, with responsibility for effective and compliant procurement / buying practices.

4. Have a strong understanding of SBP networking.

5. Be experienced in developing evidence-based delivery proposals and plans, based on a sound understanding of the SBP environment and culture in the sector.

6. Have the ability to think and act strategically.

7. Have willingness to continually develop and update knowledge of SCT products and services.

8. Have well established stakeholder and/or account management experience with the ability to develop robust and effective relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders, both externally and internally.

9. Be experienced in developing and using innovative methods to promote your work e.g. content marketing, video, webinars, blogging, social media etc.

10. Have experience of gathering insight, feedback and comments from your team and stakeholders and using this to identify patterns, trends and themes.

11. Be an ambassador for our work and challenge our customers to think and learn in order to support positive behaviour change.

12. Have experience of writing and delivering presentations and training at events.

13. Have excellent written communication skills and attention to detail: able to write effectively for different audiences and channels; articulating ideas clearly and ensuring communication and written materials are easy to understand.

14. Have strong IT skills with ability to write presentations using PowerPoint, knowledge of Teams and/or Zoom, confident user of MS Office.

15. Have the ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English.

Travel to events and meetings at DfE sites across England will be required (dependant on the covid-19 pandemic and relevant restrictions).

Please ensure your application reflects the responsibilities of this role.

Essential Criteria:

1. Experience of managing a team and being a motivating and supportive leader who has championed a collaborative team ethos.

2. Has experience of being a School Business Professional with a strong understanding of buying practices and behaviours in the English schools system in addition to understanding SBP networks.

3. Proven ability to develop robust and effective relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders, both externally and internally.

4. Ability to think and act strategically i.e. can carry out research, analyse data and develop evidence-based proposals and plans, based on a sound understanding of the education sector and SBP environment.

5. Excellent verbal and written communication skills with strong attention to detail i.e. can write, develop and deliver communications for a variety of channels and audiences.

6. Strong IT skills with ability to write presentations and training using PowerPoint, knowledge of Teams and/or Zoom, confident user of MS Office.