Director of People
St Francis Catholic Multi Academy Trust, Rotherham, S60 2EN17 days remaining to apply
Job start date
1 September 2026
Closing date
13 July 2026 at 9am
Date listed
26 June 2026
Job details
Job role
- Other leadership roles
- Other support roles
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern
- Full time: Full time although Term-Time plus 3 Weeks would be considered
Contract type
- Permanent
Full-time equivalent salary
- £66,285 - £70,785
What skills and experience we're looking for
The Director of People will provide strategic direction and operational oversight for all human resources, talent development, and workforce planning across the CMAT. You will ensure the workforce is agile, engaged, and structurally aligned to deliver the highest standards of Catholic education.
Key Responsibilities
1. Strategic Workforce Leadership & Culture
- Vision & Strategy: Lead the development of an overarching workforce strategy that reflects the values of the Gospel, the Trust vision and values, and contemporary best practices in Human Resources.
- Ethos Alignment: Ensure that all people policies, recruitment frameworks, and employee relations emphasise dignity, equity, fairness, and the pastoral care of our workforce.
- Trust Centralisation: Drive the ongoing harmonisation and centralisation of HR processes across all academies, ensuring consistency while respecting individual school contexts.
- Executive Advisory: Act as the chief expert to the Trust Board of Directors, the Executive Team and our schools leaders on complex matters including employment law, structural reorganisations, and executive succession planning.
2. Talent Acquisition, Retention & Workforce Planning
- Employer Value Proposition: Shape a compelling brand identity for St Francis CMAT to successfully attract high-calibre teaching and support staff in a competitive labor market.
- Recruitment Pipelines: Standardise and modernise recruitment and onboarding systems across the CMAT to minimise vacancy rates and significantly reduce reliance on expensive supply/agency staff.
- Succession & Development: Partner with the School Improvement Team and school leaders to map out clear professional growth pathways, ensuring robust internal talent pipelines for future school leaders.
3. Employee Relations, Policy & Compliance
- Union Consultation: Build and maintain mature, highly collaborative relationships with local and national trade unions and professional associations through our Joint Consultative and Negotiating Committee (JCNC) frameworks.
- Policy Harmonisation: Consolidate and update employment policies across all schools, ensuring strict compliance with UK employment legislation, the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD), the Burgundy Book, and local government Green Books.
- Complex Case Management: Oversee the resolution of high-risk or complex employee relations cases, including tribunal claims, severe grievances, disciplinaries, and capability procedures.
4. Wellbeing, Engagement & Performance
- Workforce Wellbeing: Establish a holistic employee wellbeing and mental health strategy that addresses workload issues, boosts morale, and measurably reduces staff absence rates.
- Performance Development: Evolve traditional appraisal processes into a growth-oriented performance development framework that motivates staff and drives up educational outcomes.
- Data-Driven Insights: Implement trust-wide HR metrics and analytics (covering turnover, absence, diversity, and engagement surveys) to provide actionable insights directly to the Executive Team and Trust Board.
5. Financial Management & Governance
- Budget Oversight: Manage the central HR department budget effectively, ensuring maximum value from external legal advisors, occupational health providers, and payroll systems.
- Due Diligence: Lead the HR due diligence, TUPE processes, and workforce integration for any new schools expanding into the Trust.
What the school offers its staff
At St Francis, we are passionate about being the Employer of Choice for our staff. We are committed to identifying and nurturing talent, succession planning for the future and implementing outstanding training and development so that our staff progress in their careers from the earliest starting point of ITT and apprenticeship through to executive leadership.
We are also dedicated to providing the highest level of support for wellbeing and personal growth. We want our staff to genuinely love coming to work and we will work tirelessly to create a working environment to ensure that this is the case.
Growth and Vocation
- Trust wide CPD
- Leader Development Programme
Wellbeing & Health
A comprehensive wellbeing Package providing:
- 24/7 Digital GP
- Counselling & Mental Health Support
- Physiotherapy Access
Community and Ethos
- Warm and Welcoming Environment
- Collaborative and Supportive Community across all schools and staff groups
- Supportive and Inclusive
Lifestyle Perks
- Terms and Conditions aligned to the Burgandy and Green Book along with LGPS and Teachers Pension Schemes
- Staff Salary Sacrifice Scheme
- Access to national schemes with exclusive retail discounts
Further information about the job
Commitment to safeguarding
Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment.
Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance.
Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant):
childcare disqualification
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
medical
online and social media
prohibition from teaching
right to work
satisfactory references
suitability to work with children
You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.
Applying for the job
Please complete the online application.
CVs will not be accepted for this application.
Apply for this jobAdditional documents
If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.
About St Francis Catholic Multi Academy Trust
- Type
- Multi-academy trust
- Email address
- recruitment@stfranciscmat.com
St Francis Catholic Multi Academy Trust was established in September 2022 as part of the Bishop of Hallam’s vision for education. Today the St Francis family embraces 14 schools, 12 Primary Schools and 2 High School across the Local Authorities of Doncaster, Nottinghamshire and Rotherham.
We are set to grow to 24 schools at capacity. We are so proud of each and every school in our Trust and are passionate about protecting our schools’ individuality, character and unique communities.
Rooted in our Gospel Teachings, our ethos is one of sharing excellence and providing platforms for schools to come together, learn from each other and develop to be as good as the best. In this way, we believe that our staff get the most inspiring professional development, our children get the highest standard of provision and our community thrives.
Head office location
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