Regional Education Director

Lift Schools; Keynsham; On-site; GBP 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary and bonus

LGPS (Local Government Pension Scheme)

Development account for growth

Executive coaching

Networking opportunities

National organisation resources

Influence trust-wide decisions

Job summary

Lift Schools is seeking an exceptional Regional Education Director to lead the South West region, overseeing 15 schools from Cheltenham to Andover and Ryde. You will drive improvement, foster collaboration, and empower principals to deliver excellent education across the region.

You will shape the trust-wide direction, build leadership capacity, and connect schools with the wider network. The role offers a £100,000 Individual Development Account and access to executive coaching and development

Responsibilities

• Lead performance and improvement across 15 schools in the South West region.
• Develop and support principals to deliver sustained school improvement.
• Translate priorities into meaningful action and shape the region's direction.

Job description

Are you ready to make an even bigger difference? We're looking for an exceptional leader, who truly understands excellence, to join us as our regional education director for the South West. We are a national network of local schools, and you will lead the South West region, helping shape its identity, drawing on all the resources that a national network brings. With fifteen schools from Cheltenham and Chepstow down to Andover, Torquay, and Ryde, this is a brilliant opportunity to step up and help shape the education of 7,067 of children within the region. At Lift, we believe in an excellent education for every child, in every classroom, every day. And your role will be to help develop our principals in the South West so that vision becomes a reality. We also believe that talent drives performance, and we're serious about investing in our leaders' growth. As a regional education director, you will benefit from a £100,000 Individual Development Account to support your own growth and development with us.

The opportunity: As Regional Education Director, you will be accountable for the performance and improvement of fifteen schools in our south-west region. You will deliver impact through effective leadership that fosters collaboration, develops exceptional principals and contributes to the strategic direction of our trust. You'll create the conditions in which principals can thrive, setting clear expectations, developing leadership capacity and providing the right balance of professional autonomy, support, challenge and intervention. You'll also be a vital connection between our schools and the wider trust, translating our shared priorities into meaningful action while ensuring that the experiences and insights of schools contribute meaningfully to shape our future direction. Success in this role isn't about being involved in everything; it's about judgement and knowing where your leadership will make the greatest difference. You'll bring the strategic judgement to identify what matters most, the confidence to make difficult decisions and the determination to secure sustained improvement.

We're seeking a highly credible education leader with a proven track record of school improvement, exceptional judgement and the ability to inspire and develop others. You'll bring:

• Educational credibility: A deep understanding of what drives sustained school improvement.
• Strategic judgement: The ability to identify priorities, make sound decisions and focus on impact.
• Leadership through others: The confidence to empower principals while holding them accountable.
• Collaborative leadership: The ability to unite and inspire a team of principals, fostering shared responsibility, collective learning and improvement across schools.
• Support and challenge: The ability to build trusted relationships and intervene decisively when needed.
• Organisational influence: The ability to shape thinking, challenge assumptions and contribute to wider decisions.

Why Lift Schools?

We're a growing national network of 62 primary, secondary and special schools, united by an ambition to transform the lives of children through education. As a RED, you'll have the opportunity to lead at a significant scale while remaining closely connected to schools, their leaders and communities.

• A highly competitive salary, bonus and Local Government Pension Scheme.
• £100k investment in your professional development through our Individual Development Account offer.
• Executive coaching, professional development and networking opportunities.
• The expertise and resources of an established national organisation.
• The opportunity to influence trust-wide decisions and make a lasting difference to thousands of children.

This is a leadership opportunity with genuine scale, influence and purpose. Whether you're looking to broaden your system leadership experience or make your next significant contribution to education, we'd love to hear from you. Discover more in our candidate information brochure.

Closing date: 9:00am, Wednesday 25th November 2026. Assessment and interview dates: Wednesday 2nd December 2026 and Friday 4th December 2026. Start date: As soon as possible. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive an overwhelming response.

Lift Schools embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity.

Job share, part-time and flexible working opportunities will be considered.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and there is a guaranteed interview scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Lift Schools are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our pupils, and we expect all our people and volunteers to share this commitment. We adopt a fair and consistent recruitment process which is in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. This includes online checks for shortlisted candidates. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, references and, where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check.