17 days remaining to apply

  • Start date details

    ASAP

  • Closing date

    14 September 2025 at 11:59pm

  • Date listed

    7 August 2025

Job details

Job role

  • Other leadership roles

Visa sponsorship

Visas cannot be sponsored

Working pattern

Full time

Contract type

Permanent

Full-time equivalent salary

37 hours per week - All Year Round Salary: Highly Competitive and Experience Dependent

Director of King's Adventure (Trust-Wide Personal Development Programme) job summary

Director of King’s Adventure - Lead a Legacy. Inspire Generations.

  • Hybrid - Regular North West England travel required (Liverpool, Warrington and Bolton) | Full-Time, Year-Round
  • Salary: Highly Competitive | Start: Autumn Term 2025

At Great Schools Trust, we don’t outsource character; we build it deliberately and systematically. The King’s Adventure is our unique, trust-wide programme that equips every student from EYFS to Year 11 with the life skills, leadership attributes, and ethical compass needed to thrive in school and beyond.

We are seeking an exceptional and visionary Director of King’s Adventure to take this nationally recognised programme to the next level. As Director, you will shape, scale, and lead a system-wide programme of personal development grounded in experiential learning, ethical leadership, and adventurous challenge. Reporting to the Chief Operating & Strategic Officer, you’ll lead a dedicated team and oversee partnerships, qualifications, analytics, and staff development across the Trust.

Key Priorities:

  • Deliver a sequenced, quality-assured character curriculum across all GST academies
  • Ensure full inclusion and engagement from FSM and SEND learners
  • Embed the King’s CV and Skills Rucksack into school systems
  • Lead CPD for expedition staff, cadet instructors, and enrichment leads
  • Establish national partnerships and a licensable traded services model
  • Oversee compliance, safeguarding, and risk across outdoor and residential programming
  • More details can be found in the attached recruitment brochures

Who We’re Looking For

We’re seeking a strategic, values-driven leader with a unique blend of educational, operational, and outdoor leadership experience. Whether you’ve led Duke of Edinburgh programmes, commanded within the Combined Cadet Force, or developed impactful residential and enrichment initiatives, what matters most is your passion for building young people’s character, confidence, and leadership capacity.

You’ll need to bring proven leadership in character education, personal development, or enrichment, along with experience in teaching and curriculum design. A strong track record of inclusive practice, especially in closing participation gaps and using data to drive equity and impact, will be key. As this role spans multiple academies, you should be confident operating across diverse school contexts and able to uphold the highest standards of safeguarding and risk management, including EVC or equivalent accreditation.

We would also love to hear from applicants with expedition leadership qualifications (such as ML, BEL or Forest School), or those with Cadet instruction experience (e.g. DCCT, CCFT, Skill-at-Arms). First Aid, Mental Health First Aid, or IQA/Assessor status are highly advantageous, as is any experience generating income through commercial partnerships or grant funding.

What We Offer

  • Weekly protected CPD through our Institute of People, Character & Leadership (IPCL)
  • CredimusAI tools to reduce admin and enhance planning
  • Flexible working and cycle-to-work scheme
  • BUPA EAP wellbeing support for all staff
  • A values-driven culture that nurtures leadership, not management

Meet our Team

Join us at King’s Leadership Academy Warrington on Wednesday, 10th September at 1:00 PM for an exclusive group tour and discover why our Trust is such an inspiring place to work. This is a fantastic opportunity to explore our outstanding facilities, meet our passionate staff and leadership team, and see first-hand the values and culture that make us unique. We’d love to welcome you and share how joining our team could be the next exciting step in your career. To secure your place, email Hayley Fenlon at h.fenlon@greatschoolstrust.com

Alternatively, we are happy to schedule individual Q&A Video Calls throughout the summer. Again please reach out to Hayley Fenlon to arrange this.

How to Apply

Ready to lead something purposeful, human, and transformational? Apply via MyNewTerm.

Great Schools Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Further information about the job

The candidate will be required to undergo a full enhanced DBS check and must be eligible to work in the UK.
Visas cannot be sponsored.
If you're interested in teaching or training to teach in England as an international citizen, we can help you understand your next steps.

Commitment to safeguarding

All offers of employment are subject to a robust set of pre-employment checks, which may include (as applicable):

Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
Prohibition from teaching check
Childcare disqualification declaration
Verification of right to work in the UK
Medical fitness to work
Online and social media screening
Receipt of two satisfactory references
Suitability to work with children assessment

Applicants are required to declare any unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings as outlined under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.

Applying for the job

This school accepts applications through their own website, where you may also find more information about this job.

CVs will not be accepted for this application.

View advert on external website (opens in new tab)

About The Great Schools Trust

Type
Multi-academy trust
Website
The Great Schools Trust website
See more jobs
teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/the-great-schools-trust

At Great Schools Trust, we don’t just build schools, we forge futures. We are a high-performing, values-driven multi-academy trust committed to delivering transformational education for over 4,000 students across our academies in the North West of England. Our vision is simple yet bold: to develop a family of Great Schools where every student, regardless of background or starting point, flourishes, is happy, and achieves their full potential.

GST academies combine the rigour and ambition of independent education with the inclusivity and moral purpose of the state sector. Each school in our trust instils our core ASPIRE values; Aspiration, Self-awareness, Professionalism, Integrity, Respect, and Endeavour into everything we do. These are not just words; they’re the foundations of a culture where excellence becomes a habit.

As a National Behaviour Hub and leader in educational technology, we are proud pioneers in innovation and character education. Our King’s Adventure Programme develops young leaders of tomorrow through robust character-building, leadership experiences and a "King’s CV" that evidences every student’s growth journey. From AI-powered learning platforms to industry-leading CPD, we ensure our staff and students thrive in environments that champion curiosity, resilience and progress.

Our track record speaks volumes. From transforming schools in special measures into oversubscribed centres of excellence to closing the Progress 8 gap for disadvantaged students, GST is a beacon of social mobility and community transformation.

We are not just a trust, we are a movement. A movement powered by belief. *Credo-Credimus.* I believe, we believe.

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