Director of Estates and IT | The Education Village Academy Trust

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Director of Estates and IT The Education Village Academy Trust

Shape the future of estates and IT for a growing, inclusive academy trust, creating safe, sustainable spaces where every pupil can thrive.

• Location: Darlington

The Education Village Academy Trust (EVAT) is a growing, inclusive trust of seven mainstream and specialist schools in Darlington, providing education and support to over 2,000 children and young people.

We are seeking an experienced estates leader to shape the future of our diverse property portfolio, ensuring our schools provide safe, sustainable and inspiring environments for learning.

Reporting to the Executive Director of Shared Services, you will lead our estates strategy, capital investment, compliance and long-term planning, including preparations for a major PFI contract handback in 2030. You will also provide strategic oversight of IT, supported by specialist technical leadership.

We welcome applications from senior estates, property and facilities leaders across education and other sectors, including local government, healthcare and housing. You’ll bring strong commercial judgement, experience of complex estates and the ability to turn strategy into meaningful improvements.

Who we are

At The Education Village Academy Trust, we believe that learning has no limits. Our unique combination of mainstream and specialist provision means we support children and young people with a wide range of needs, abilities and aspirations, from early years through to adulthood.

Our values of excellence, values-driven, ambition and teamwork underpin everything we do. We are proud of our reputation for delivering high-quality education and creating an environment where every child and young person has the opportunity to achieve their potential.

Inclusion is at the heart of our approach. We recognise that every school and every pupil is different, and we work collaboratively across the trust to share expertise, support one another and provide the best possible education for the communities we serve.

About the role

As Director of Estates and IT, you will play a key role in shaping the future of our trust, ensuring our buildings, facilities and technology support the needs of our schools and the communities they serve.

Reporting to the Executive Director of Shared Services, your key responsibilities will include:

• Developing and delivering a long-term estates strategy across our diverse portfolio of mainstream and specialist schools.
• Leading capital investment, refurbishment and expansion projects to support the trust’s growth.
• Overseeing property compliance, health and safety, risk management and sustainability.
• Leading preparations for the hand back of our PFI estate in 2030.
• Providing strategic oversight of IT, working alongside our specialist Head of IT.
• Developing teams, strengthening supplier relationships and ensuring value for money.

This is an opportunity to make a lasting difference to the environments in which our children and young people learn.

Who we are looking for

We are looking for an experienced estates or property leader who can bring strategic thinking, commercial expertise and a practical approach to managing a complex and varied estate.

You may already be a Director of estates, property or facilities, or a Head of estates looking to take the next step in your career. We welcome applications from across education and other sectors, including the NHS, local government, housing and organisations managing large, multi-site property portfolios.

You will bring:

• Experience of leading estates, property or facilities services across multiple sites.
• A strong understanding of capital projects (including IT), compliance, budgets and managing external contractors.
• The commercial judgement to balance investment priorities, manage risk and deliver value for money.
• The ability to lead and develop teams, build relationships and influence senior stakeholders.

Above all, we’re looking for someone who can see the bigger picture, bring people with them and create a long-term vision for our estates. You don’t need to be an IT specialist, but you should be comfortable providing strategic oversight of a technical team.

Thank you for your interest in the role of Director of Estates and IT for the Education Village Academy Trust (EVAT). As we continue our journey of growth and development, this is an exciting opportunity to join a trust that is ambitious for its children and young people, committed to inclusion, and focused on building for the future.

At EVAT, we believe that learning has no limits. Our unique family of mainstream and specialist schools serves more than 2,000 children and young people across Darlington, and we are proud of the life-changing opportunities we create every day. As we look ahead to the next chapter of our development, our commitment to excellence, ambition, teamwork and truly inclusive education remains at the heart of everything we do.

We are entering a significant period of transformation. With new executive leadership, an ambitious strategic plan, planned growth across our family of schools, and major capital developments on the horizon, we are investing in both the people and infrastructure that will support our continued success.

The Director of Estates and IT will play a pivotal role in helping us realise these ambitions. Our estate is both diverse and complex, encompassing historic buildings, specialist facilities and modern educational environments. Alongside this, we continue to strengthen our digital infrastructure to ensure our schools benefit from resilient, secure and forward-thinking technology solutions. This role provides a unique opportunity to influence how our physical and digital environments evolve to meet the needs of future generations.

We are looking for a strategic and collaborative leader who can combine long-term vision with operational excellence. You will lead our estates function through a period of significant opportunity, including major capital investment programmes and preparations for the handback of the Education Village campus in 2030, while providing strategic oversight of IT services across the trust. Most importantly, we seek someone who shares our values, understands the importance of creating outstanding learning environments and recognises the role that excellent support services play in improving outcomes for children and young people.

This is an opportunity to make a lasting impact on our trust, our schools and the communities we serve. If you are inspired by the chance to shape the future of a growing and ambitious organisation, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Marie Roe
Chief Executive Officer
The Education Village Academy Trust

About The Education Village Academy Trust

The Education Village Academy Trust (EVAT) is entering an ambitious new phase of development. With new executive leadership, a clear strategic plan for 2025-2028 and plans for further growth, we are focused on building an organisation that is strong, sustainable and equipped for the future.

Our estate is as diverse as the children and young people we serve, ranging from Victorian and Edwardian buildings and a Grade II listed property to modern facilities, including a large PFI site and the newly refurbished Beaumont Hill Academy college for learners with special needs aged 16 to 19. Managing this varied portfolio brings both opportunities and challenges as we plan for growth, invest in our buildings and ensure our environments meet the needs of mainstream and specialist education.

Our strategic priorities

Our 2025-2028 strategic plan focuses on four key areas:

• Exceptional learning experiences: Strengthening educational outcomes, inclusive practice and opportunities for every child and young person.
• A stronger, more resilient trust: Developing our people, systems, governance and shared services to support our schools effectively.
• Sustainable growth: Expanding our family of schools, developing specialist provision and building partnerships that extend our reach and impact.
• Environmental responsibility: Reducing our environmental impact through more sustainable buildings, operations and procurement.

Looking ahead

We have ambitions to grow beyond our current seven schools, with plans that include the conversion and transfer of Red Hall Primary in January 2027, the construction of the new, special, Garden Village School in 2029