School Organisation Strategy Manager

Hackney Borough Council; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Job summary

Hackney Council is seeking an experienced School Organisation Strategy Manager to lead the long-term strategy for school provision in Hackney, delivering high-quality, sustainable school places.

You will drive planning, consultation, and delivery of complex change programmes in a public sector setting, coordinating with schools, colleagues and external partners.

This role requires political acumen, strong governance, and the ability to manage a team to achieve ambitious targets.

Qualifications

• Significant senior-level experience delivering complex programmes in public sector settings.
• Strong knowledge of public consultation, equalities legislation and governance.
• Extensive experience in school organisation and pupil place planning.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to present data and advise on strategic trends.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and implementation of Hackney's long-term school provision strategy.
• Oversee delivery of school place planning and reorganisations, including possible closures/mergers.
• Manage 1 team member and ensure governance and partnerships.

Skills

Senior-level leadership

Public sector programme delivery

Strategic planning

Stakeholder engagement

Data-driven analysis

Education

Degree or equivalent professional qualification

Job description

Hackney Council is recognised as one of the UK’s highest-performing local authorities, serving a vibrant and dynamic community in one of London’s most desirable locations. Over the past twenty years, we have built a reputation for excellence, innovation, and ambition.

Hackney Education is committed to being the UK’s most forward-looking education system. We aim to enhance the life chances of every learner by creating an inspiring environment that guarantees inclusion and success for everyone. We are leading the way in our fight for equity, with a specific focus on becoming an actively anti-racist borough. As we rank among the 10% most deprived areas in England, our key priority is providing strong support for underserved families and communities.

The School Organisation and Place Planning Team is crucial to Hackney’s overarching education strategy. This strategy aims to provide high-quality education for every child by developing an agile and sustainable school system. This system will build on existing collaborative models while addressing challenges such as fluctuating pupil numbers, limited resources, and the growing needs of children requiring significant support.

Are you a strategic leader passionate about educational excellence and organisational efficiency? Do you have a proven track record in planning, consultation, and delivering large-scale strategic change within a complex public sector environment, ideally in education?

We are seeking an ambitious and experienced School Organisation Strategy Manager to lead the development and implementation of our long-term vision for school provision. The School Organisation Strategy Manager is responsible for the strategic planning and delivery of school places, ensuring there are enough high-quality sustainable school places. This involves supporting the work that leads to proposals on school organisation changes and working with stakeholders to implement decisions.

This role provides strategic leadership on the school organisation and place planning strategy, with direct accountability for delivering complex and politically sensitive change programmes, including school closures, mergers, and asset optimisation. The post holder manages 1 team member, ensuring operational excellence, effective governance, and partnership working.

Education: Educated to degree level, equivalent professional qualification or relevant experience

DBS: This post is not subject to a DBS requirement.

Flexibility: All workers are expected to operate flexibly to support the delivery of services and from time to time will be required to undertake responsibilities outside the normal remit of role description as required,

• – Experience: Significant senior-level experience in delivering complex programmes in a public sector setting, ideally involving school reorganisation or public consultation
• – Knowledge: Strong understanding of public consultation, equalities legislation and governance
• – Strategic Ability: Extensive experience in school organisation and pupil place planning, strategic planning, and managing school re-organisation projects.
• – Communication: Strong communication skills, excellent rapport building and ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with staff, managers and stakeholders.
• – Analytical Skills: Confidence in presenting highly accurate and relevant quality data in a variety of formats and to use strategic trends, issues and insight to provide advice and recommendations.

As a Council, our most outstanding asset is our staff, who are highly dedicated to serving our residents and committed to our goals as an organisation.

We operate a fair and open anonymous selection process. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CV’s.

Closing date for applications: 05 October 2026 (22.59)

Interview date: TBC

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud; a place that celebrates diversity and where everyone can feel valued, included and involved. In order to achieve this, we look for people who are: Proud; Ambitious; Pioneering; Open; Proactive; Inclusive.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender reassign ment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.

The Council has a dedicated employment support service (Hackney Works), which offers Hackney residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you are thinking about applying for a job, please contact the Hackney Works team to find out what support is available: [e-mail]