Executive Business Manager

Location: The Hurlingham Academy

Salary: Highly Competitive (based on experience and with opportunity for performance related pay incentive)

The Hurlingham Academy is a mixed secondary academy based in Fulham, West London. It is located adjacent to South Park and within a stone’s throw of the River Thames. It is a small but growing academy that is improving year upon year under the new, young leadership team that was created in 2015. You will work with a diverse community who have high expectations and aspirations for their children, who expect the best and who want to succeed. You will therefore have the characteristics that will drive this appetite for success within our students and you will lead by example. The Academy has cultivated a friendly and welcoming environment for all of its staff, which is why we have one of the lowest absence rates in the whole of the group. The teachers feel empowered, the support staff feel recognised and we all want to be here!

Here is the opportunity for you to join one of the ever-increasing success stories of United Learning and to be part of the incredible journey that The Hurlingham Academy has set upon.

Key benefits of working with us include:

• Comprehensive wellbeing programme with extra meeting-free INSET days
• A contributory pension scheme, relevant to your role (including access to Teacher and Local Government Schemes)
• Occupational sick pay
• Shared curriculum and expert advice
• Remuneration packages and perks
• In-house educational and business support
• Supportive network of colleagues across the country
• Tailored Continuous Professional Development (CPD) through the United Learning Institute.

We always appoint on merit, and we are open to discussing flexible working options.

Job details:

• Salary: Highly Competitive (based on experience and with opportunity for performance related pay incentive)
• Location: South West London
• Working pattern: Full time with possible flexibility
• Closing Date: Sunday, 6 September, midnight
• Interviews: September 2026

The role:

Do you possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills? Do you have a track record of sound financial planning and budgetary control? Do you build strong and productive relationships with a wide range of people? Do you provide clear and effective management in a fast-paced environment? Do you want to shape an exceptional service for our schools, in an exciting and developing context where no two days are the same?

Are you ready for the next step in your career? If so, we would love to hear from you. The United Learning South West London Cluster is seeking an experienced, enthusiastic and highly motivated Executive Business Manager to lead our business functions across three schools that are all on a unique but exciting journey. As Executive Business Manager, you will lead on strategic operations across three South West London schools. You will be expected to offer trusted advice to each of our Principals as they seek to develop the unique strengths of each school. Your support will enable three of our secondary schools to deliver an excellent education to young people in South West London. You will work tirelessly in pursuit of excellence, managing a team of people covering a range of business functions such as Finance, HR, IT, Facilities, Marketing and Governance. In a fast-paced environment where no two days are the same you will work closely with leaders across the South West London Cluster and United Learning’s central teams, striving to ensure sustainability, efficiency and effective ways of working.

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate sound financial planning and budgetary control, adept management skills and be able to make sure that the cluster realises all the benefits of being a part of United Learning.

Your experience:

You will already have experience of leading and coordinating the delivery of executive support services and financial management in a number of schools or a similarly complex environment. In addition, you will be familiar with strategic planning and decision-making, professional relationship management, negotiating and influencing at Senior Leadership, Local Governing Body and Executive Board level and the effective and efficient management of all resources.

Leading people and managing relationships:

You will get the best out of a high performing and motivated team, with a focus on supporting education outcomes and the long-term strategic vision. You will actively promote and model the values of United Learning and our Framework for Excellence, whilst endorsing and celebrating the distinct culture and ethos of each school. You will be responsible for managing the relationship with United Learning central teams to ensure that these functions provide valued support and advice to the cluster in a timely and professional way. You will have the highest regard for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of staff, children and young people.

This is a challenging and diverse role offering the opportunity to shape the development of the business offer to our schools in South West London, leading and developing teams of skilled and qualified business support staff and making a tangible impact on the lives of young people. In return, you will receive first-class development, a dynamic working environment, a range of employee benefits and a competitive salary.

The Context:

United Learning is a group of schools which aims to provide excellent education to children and young people across the country. We seek to improve the life chances of all the children and young people we serve and make it our mission to bring out 'the best in everyone' – students, staff, parents and the wider community. Uniquely, our Group includes significant numbers of schools in both the public and the private sectors, working together for mutual benefit. The South West London cluster of United Learning comprises three secondary schools: The Hurlingham Academy, The Elms Academy and Ernest Bevin Academy. We work closely together to realise our goal of ensuring the best possible education for our students. The South West London cluster schools are at the heart of their communities, with a focus on knowing students well so that we can support them to great things. We would like to hear from people who can realise the potential of our schools and look ahead to new partnerships and activities. Each school is at a different stage in its journey and as such fresh priorities are forming under new leadership. The postholder will therefore need to develop a close working relationship with each school and its leadership, in order to tune the work of support services to meet key goals. Staff collaborate across the cluster to ensure the schools bring out the best in everyone. Many of our support staff are based at individual schools, offering a dedicated service. Other functions are part of a shared cluster team with a focus on delivering excellent services across the cluster schools. All support staff will be part of collaborative working and development projects under your leadership. Our staff tell us that they think our cluster provides a great community to work in and to develop their career - within the wider United Learning group we aim to offer you unrivalled professional development and the opportunity to work as part of a team where your contribution is really valued.

United Learning schools work as a team and achieve more by sharing than any single school could. Our subject specialists, our Group-wide intranet, our own curriculum and our online learning portal all help us share knowledge and resources, helping to simplify work processes and manage workloads for an improved work-life balance. Our community benefits from access to specialist facilities across the schools, while our combined extracurricular offer promotes our commitment to education with character. As a Group, we can reward our staff better: with good career opportunities, better pay, benefits, and ultimately, the satisfaction of helping children to succeed. We invest in our staff wellbeing. Our academies each have at least eight INSET days per year (with three of those solely dedicated to planning), and an ongoing group-wide wellbeing programme. It's an ethos we call ‘the best in everyone’. United Learning values diversity and inclusion and is committed to creating and sustaining a more ethnically diverse workforce. We welcome applications from professionals of minority ethnic origin and from majority ethnic professionals who share our commitment to inclusion and diversity.