Vacancy: Programme Officer – Researchers in Schools

Salary: £28,537 – £33,368 base salary + £2000 London weighting
Contract: Permanent
Hours: 37.5 hours per week Monday to Friday, flexible working with 10am – 4pm core hours, some evenings and weekends required
Based: London, Leeds or Birmingham (currently remote working until office reopens)  Normally, the role involves significant travel to London and around the country.
Benefits: 36 days’ holiday (inclusive of bank holidays) increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 41 days, employer contribution to pension, interest-free season ticket loan, professional development day allowance + budget, health cover cash plan
Start Date:  September 2020 (flexible)
Line Manager: School Programme Director

The Organisation

The Brilliant Club is an award-winning and independently-evaluated charity that exists to widen access to highly-selective universities for pupils from under-represented groups. We do this by mobilising the PhD community to share its expertise with state schools. We recruit, train and place PhD researchers to work with state schools: either part-time as tutors through The Scholars Programme or full-time as classroom teachers through Researchers in Schools (RIS). In 2018/2019, The Brilliant Club worked with over 800 state schools and nearly 14,000 pupils across the country, making it the largest university access programme for 10-18 year olds.

RIS is a unique teacher training programme designed exclusively for PhD graduates. The programme aims to increase subject expertise, promote educational research and champion university access in state schools. It supports PhD graduates to become highly-effective classroom teachers and champions for university access through an initial teacher training programme and ongoing training. Researchers in Schools has expanded over the last four years to place over 150 PhD graduates to train as teachers across the country.

The Opportunity

We are excited to be recruiting a Programme Officer for Researchers in Schools to support our work. As a member of the RIS Team, this role will play an important part in delivering this strategy.  You will support and monitor the delivery of the initial teacher training programmes in schools across the country with a number of ITE Partners.  You will ensure that the support participants need to qualify for QTS and complete their NQT year are in place.  You will support a portfolio of participants to develop as excellent classroom teachers, transitioning from academics and industry professionals, through to taking on leadership roles in schools. To do this, you will manage a cluster of relationships, working with ITE providers and placement schools, including regular visits to participants in their schools.  In addition, the you will support in the design and delivery of RIS training both at summer training and at development days during the year.

The role requires a driven and dynamic team player, with demonstrable success in school teaching and some experience of teacher development. The successful candidate will champion the charity’s values and embody them in interactions with colleagues and partners. You will be comfortable in building relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and managing relationships. You will co-ordinate programme activities, track progress and deliver results. You will be positive and pro-active, with a commitment to delivering excellent standards.

The Brilliant Club exists to increase the number of pupils from underrepresented backgrounds progressing to highly selective universities. We think it is important that our charity reflects the lived experience of our beneficiaries, and we want to be an organisation where employees from any background can thrive. We particularly welcome applications from disabled, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME), Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans including non-binary (LGBTQ+) candidates, and candidates from low income families. These groups are currently underrepresented at The Brilliant Club and we are committed to increasing representation and diversity at the charity.

View the full Job Description here.