Service Manager for Education Quality and Strategy location_on Halifax 13/09/2026

Vision 34 is Calderdale’s overarching plan for the next ten years. It promotes the importance of hope and kindness in young people as well as unlocking their talent and opportunities. Across the partnership, we agree that the priority is for all children in Calderdale to grow up healthy, safe, resilient, and successful. We are highly aspirational for all our children and young people to achieve their potential and to live a larger life. Our Council Plan is committed to reducing inequalities and for our children the priorities of Starting Well and Developing Well.

This post is a key contributor towards meeting this aspiration and the postholder will play a pivotal role in relation to us realising this corporate priority. We are looking for a talented person to provide strong leadership for our school effectiveness service; where you will work with supportive and enthusiastic colleagues to shape the direction and strategy of services.

You will strive for excellence in delivering statutory duties with continuing successful provision of traded services and the effective brokering of system leadership and school to school support. We take great pride in our positive relationships with schools, academies, colleges and other educational settings. Calderdale is a place where you can make a personal and collective impact on the lives of children and young people.

You will lead, influence and shape the strategic development of services within the context of legislation with reference to national, regional and local policy, by delivering strategic leadership for quality assurance and improvement of children and young people’s outcomes in schools and settings across Calderdale.

You will collaborate with the Assistant Director: Education and Inclusion in developing and leading as well as ensuring that the Local Authority is an effective systems leader for all our children, fulfilling its statutory duties and maintaining effective relationships with headteachers, education leaders, the Regional Director and Ofsted.

We are looking for a person who is emotionally literate and resilient with great integrity and a determination to make a difference. The qualities of creativity and innovative thinking are also an asset in this key role.

You will have senior leadership experience in a school, trust or local authority, and a proven track record of delivering school improvement results which are child focused and will lead on the work to close inequality gaps for vulnerable children and young people. The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate strong organisational and communication skills and be familiar with budget monitoring and collaborative working.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expect all staff to share this commitment. Applicants to posts that are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act will require a DBS from the Disclosure and Barring Service before the appointment is confirmed.