Service Director Education and Partnerships

West Northamptonshire Council; Northampton; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

West Northamptonshire Council is seeking an exceptional leader to shape the future of education across the area. As Service Director for Education and Partnerships, you will provide strategic leadership across education, inclusion, partnerships and sufficiency planning, delivering improved outcomes for children and families.

You will oversee school improvement, education place planning and system-wide partnerships, ensuring services are responsive, sustainable and focused on raising aspirations.

Qualifications

• Significant senior leadership experience within education or children's services.
• Strong understanding of education systems, statutory responsibilities, school improvement and governance.
• Experience of leading large-scale change, managing complex budgets and delivering sustainable service improvements.
• Excellent partnership-building and communication skills with schools, elected members and regulators.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and delivery of the Council's education strategy, coordinating partners to drive improvement.
• Provide strong organisational leadership using data and insight to inform decisions and drive performance.
• Represent the Council at local, regional and national levels to promote education priorities.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Education policy

Change management

Budget management

Stakeholder engagement

Data-driven decisions

Education

Degree in a relevant field

Postgraduate management qualification

Job description

At West Northamptonshire Council, we're committed to making West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive. We're looking for an exceptional leader to shape the future of education across the area, ensuring every child and young person has access to the opportunities they need to succeed. As part of our Senior Management Team, you will play a pivotal role in delivering our ambitions for children, families and communities across West Northamptonshire.

As Service Director for Education and Partnerships, you will provide visible and influential strategic leadership across education, inclusion, partnerships, and sufficiency planning, ensuring that services are responsive, sustainable, and deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and families.

Working closely with schools, academy trusts, early years providers, health partners and wider stakeholders, you will strengthen the local education system and ensure that children and young people receive high-quality support throughout their educational journey.

This is a highly influential role with responsibility for developing long-term strategies, leading significant transformation programmes and ensuring statutory education functions are delivered effectively. You will help shape the future of education across West Northamptonshire, ensuring services are innovative, financially sustainable and focused on improving outcomes for children and young people.

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore subject to an enhanced DBS certificate. It is also a regulated activity and will be subject to a Children's Barred List check. West Northamptonshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Our Benefits

You can also see our full list of employee benefits on our careers site here: Why you should work for us | West Northamptonshire Council

What will you be doing?

You will lead the development and delivery of the Council's education strategy, bringing together partners from across the education sector to drive continuous improvement and raise aspirations for all children and young people. You'll oversee school improvement, education place planning, statutory education services and system-wide partnerships, ensuring services are responsive to local need and deliver positive outcomes.

As a member of the Senior Management Team, you will provide strong organisational leadership, using data, insight and evidence to inform decision-making, drive performance and ensure value for money. You will also lead and inspire high-performing teams, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability and collaboration while representing West Northamptonshire Council at a local, regional and national level.

About You

You will be an experienced and inspirational leader with a strong track record of delivering improvement within education, children's services or a comparable system leadership environment. You'll be comfortable operating in complex and politically sensitive settings, with the ability to build trusted relationships, influence senior stakeholders and drive meaningful change.

To Be Successful, You Will Bring

• Significant senior leadership experience within education, children's services or a related sector.
• A strong understanding of education systems, statutory education responsibilities, school improvement and governance.
• Experience of leading large-scale change, managing complex budgets and delivering sustainable service improvements.
• Excellent partnership-building and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with schools, academy trusts, elected members, regulators and wider partners.
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, using data and evidence to inform decisions and improve outcomes.
• Experience of commissioning, performance management and delivering services through collaborative partnerships.
• A degree, or equivalent qualification, in a relevant field and a postgraduate management qualification.

If you're an ambitious and collaborative leader who is passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people, we'd love to hear from you. Join us and help create the very best education opportunities for current and future generations across West Northamptonshire.

Please note, provisional interview dates are 9th and 10th November 2026.

About Us

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email [e-mail] for support.

Please note we reserve the right to close the advert early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications, so we recommend applying as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.