Head of ECT Faculty

Ambition Institute; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 61,000 - 68,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days’ annual leave

Employer pension contribution 11%

Hybrid working culture

Wellbeing support line

City-centre offices access

Job summary

Ambition Institute in London is seeking a Head of ECT Faculty to lead the national delivery of the Early Career Teacher and mentor programmes. You will oversee delivery partners, ensure contracts with the Department for Education are expertly managed, and maintain robust, compliant and financially sustainable operations.

You will build and develop a high‑performing team, drive continuous improvement, and foster strong relationships with partners and stakeholders to ensure every participant has

Qualifications

• Understanding of the Early Career Teacher Programme and how it is delivered in schools or trusts
• Experience of managing a large team and budget
• Ability to deliver national programmes at scale to contractual requirements
• Understanding of the education and school system and ability to interact credibly with senior officials
• Ability to delegate and develop leaders within the faculty
• Managing strong relationships across teams
• Champion of values and collaboration across partners

Responsibilities

• Lead national delivery of the Early Career Teacher and mentor programmes through delivery partners with accountability for quality, recruitment, retention, participant experience and risk management
• Oversee faculty operations end to end, including planning, resourcing, budgets, income, profitability, payment processes, MI, reporting and continuous improvement
• Work with internal and external partners to align delivery, curriculum, systems and priorities
• Provide leadership across operations and delivery through line management and development, deputising for the director

Job description

Head of ECT Faculty

Application Deadline: 4 October 2026

Department: Early Careers Teaching

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: London

Reporting To: Director of ECT

Compensation: £62,100 / year

Description

Are you ready to shape the future of teacher development at Ambition Institute?

As Head of ECT Faculty, you will play a pivotal role in sustaining and enhancing the success of our Early Career Teacher (ECT) and mentor programmes. Working closely with colleagues across the organisation and alongside the Director of ECT, you will ensure our programmes are delivered to the highest standard through our Delivery Partner network. You will oversee both delivery and operations, making sure our partners have a seamless experience, our contract with the Department for Education (DfE) is expertly managed, and our internal systems are robust, compliant and financially sustainable.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who thrives on operational excellence and strategic leadership. You will lead and develop a high-performing team, drive continuous improvement, and build strong relationships with partners and stakeholders. Your ability to respond to feedback, communicate clearly and champion our mission will be key to ensuring every participant has an impactful experience. If you are passionate about making a difference and ready to take the next step in your career, we would love to hear from you.

Please note: As part of the application process, you’ll be asked to confirm that you meet the key requirements for the role, including experience of managing a team, and a working understanding of the Early Career Teacher Programme and how it is delivered in schools or trusts.

Who are Ambition Institute?

A great teacher changes the future every day. Especially for children who have had a tough start in life, a teacher can be the critical factor in their success.

At Ambition Institute we help schools tackling educational disadvantage to keep getting better and help their teachers and school leaders to become more expert over time.

That’s how we’ll make sure every child gets a great education and the best possible start in life.

• We train teachers and leaders at all levels to get better at the things that make the biggest difference: what you teach, how you teach it, and how you create the conditions for schools to thrive.
• We share what works. Everyone can benefit from evidence of how great teaching and leadership can improve schools and change lives, so we connect people to the latest research and best practice.
• We champion every teacher and school leader’s potential to develop, as the driving force for sustainable school improvement.

We would like you to:

• Lead national delivery of the Early Career Teacher and mentor programmes through delivery partners, with accountability for quality, recruitment, retention, participant experience and risk management.
• Oversee faculty operations end to end, including action planning, resourcing, budgets, income, profitability, payment processes, management information, reporting and continuous improvement.
• Work closely with internal and external partners, including the Department for Education, Learning Design, Technology and Steplab, to align delivery, curriculum, systems and strategic priorities.
• Provide strong leadership across operations and delivery through line management, performance management, professional development, annual planning, deputising for the director and contributing to wider organisational leadership.

Working in a hybrid way, you’ll be attached to either our Birmingham, London or Manchester office and will report to Director of ECT. In line with our current ways of working, you’ll be expected to be in the office at least 1 day a month, in addition to team days and this may be reviewed by Ambition.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

You will, of course, demonstrate your commitment to our mission to improve the education and outcomes of children from disadvantaged backgrounds through high quality professional development. You will champion Ambition’s mission and values and embody them in all interactions with colleagues and partners. You will also be able to demonstrate the following:

• A working understanding of the Early Career Teacher Programme and how it is delivered in schools or trusts
• Experience of managing a large team and budget.
• An understanding of the challenges of delivering national programmes, at scale, to contractual requirements, and the translation of this into a highly effective delivery model supported by efficient and smooth operational processes.
• An understanding of the education and school system and the ability to interact credibly with senior officials from schools, school trusts and sector bodies/organisations.
• An ability to delegate and prioritise work, empowering and developing leaders within the faculty.
• Managing strong, productive relationships across different teams.
• Champion of our values and embody them in interactions with colleagues and partners.
• Skills and willingness to negotiate and influence, internally and externally.

What’s in it for you…?

• Competitive annual salary
• Professional development for all staff
• 25 days’ annual leave, plus bank holidays and 'winter shut down’ at the end of December/beginning of January
• Employer pension contribution of 11%
• Agile, hybrid working culture, so you can manage when and where you work
• Staff affinity networks that help keep equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work
• Blind recruitment process to ensure equality and fairness in our hiring
• Enhanced maternity pay after a year’s service
• Shared parental leave package
• Access to free, confidential 24/7 wellbeing and support line
• Comfortable and collaborative workspaces in the city centres of Manchester, Birmingham and London
• Work-from-home technology package to support hybrid working
• Interest free season ticket / bike loans

We don’t expect the person we hire to have all of the following, but this should give you a sense of what would enable you to thrive in this role and in our organisation:

• You care deeply about educational disadvantage and being part of an organisation that challenges inequality
• You have a good work ethic and strive to make a difference in the job you do
• You always give maximum effort to understand and meet the needs of our partners and participants
• You always have a great attitude so we “can do” for all our colleagues, partners and participants
• You are open to feedback and learning because we want to keep getting better
• You work with your initiative to bring new ideas and a fresh perspective
• You are well organised and can prioritise work that will have the greatest impact

• You want a career with a person-centred organisation with a cause at its heart.
• You have a collaborative work ethos, bring warmth and good humour to work and constructive outlook to every situation
• You enjoy working in a fast-moving workplace, with a great support structure around you
• You would like to grow with an ambitious organisation as it progresses over time
• Want flexibility in how you work – splitting your time between one of our offices and remote working and managing your own working patterns to get the job done.

Applications will be accepted for all office locations.

All applications must be received by the closing date 11:59pm on 4 October 2026. Interviews are expected to take place 12 and 13 October 2026.

We recognise that AI function tools (such as ChatGPT or other generative AI tools) are here to stay and can be helpful for applications including to assist in researching for application responses and to shorten your first draft. However, we are observing a growing trend in the use of AI, and we would caution applicants against relying too heavily on such tools when drafting responses.

The pitfall of such tools is that they produce generic responses that don’t showcase individuality, specific experiences or real-life examples. This usually results in applications being unsuccessful. We want to evaluate your response, and we will be looking for answers that use examples and experiences that are clearly specific to you. You are more likely to successfully demonstrate your soft skills like communication and teamwork when preparing answers to application questions yourself and this helps mitigate the unintended consequences of AI-generated responses.

If we suspect you have used AI inappropriately, the panel reviewing your application may adjust how your response is rated. For more details of what we consider to be acceptable use of AI function tools in our application process, please review our FAQs on our careers page.

We are committed to the safeguarding of children and the most vulnerable in our society and, as such, we are unable to employ individuals with relevant convictions, including the following: a conviction for an offence involving violence or dishonesty, of a sexual nature or against minors, or for any other offence that is relevant to the nature of the services provided by our organisation.

For any questions or queries please review our FAQs | Ambition Institute Careers (pinpointhq.com) in the first instance. If we've not addressed your question in this section, please email us at [e-mail]

As an employer, we have a responsibility to prevent illegal working in the UK by ensuring that our employees have the right to work in the UK. Therefore, as part of the recruitment process to verify your eligibility you will be required to produce relevant documentation.