School Improvement Partner

Esteem Multi Academy Trust, Nottingham, NG15 0DR

21 days remaining to apply

• Closing date

  14 September 2026 at 11:59pm

• Date listed

  24 August 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Other leadership role
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Working pattern: Full time
• Contract type: Permanent
• Full time equivalent salary: £76,772.00 - £84,699.00 Annually (FTE) Leadership Pay Scale L17 – L21 (£76,772 - £84,699 per annum)

School Improvement Partner job summary

Job Title: School Improvement Partner

Location: Esteem Multi-Academy Trust (Central Team). With regular travel to Academies across the Trust

Grade/Scale: Leadership Pay Scale L17 - L21 (£76,772 - £84,699 per annum)

Contract: 37 hours per week, all year round

About the role

This new post within the Central Education Team is an exciting opportunity to join our expanding team of School Improvement Partners as we continue to build our offering to our Academies and to organisations beyond Esteem MAT. This post will support our Trust growth strategy and support our commitments to ensure Every Child is Achieving and Thriving in line with the aspirations of the DfE RISE programme and Whitepaper.

This is a pivotal role within our Trust. As a School Improvement Partner, you will work closely with school and Trust leaders to drive forward excellence in leadership, teaching and learning, and effective resource management and pedagogy.

You’ll play a key role in shaping strategy and practice across Esteem MAT, ensuring that every classroom and every learner benefits from consistently high-quality provision. From supporting Headteachers and senior leaders to model outstanding leadership, pedagogy and effective teaching, to delivering impactful CPD and coaching across our schools, your expertise will directly influence the outcomes and experiences of some of the most vulnerable pupils in our region.

You will:

• Have the ability to work flexibly and adapt to working in different schools with a particular specialism and extensive first-hand experience of Special School environments.
• Support school leaders to deliver ambitious, inclusive, and evidence-informed classroom practice.
• Have a good track record of impactful professional development and improvement projects.
• Contribute to trust-wide research and innovation in pedagogy and curriculum design to meet the complex needs of students attending alternative provision.
• Help prepare and support schools with a specialism of SEND and Alternative Provision through OFSTED inspections and performance reviews.
• Play an active part in the Esteem Central Education Team, driving continuous improvement and collaboration across the Trust

This is an exciting opportunity to make a tangible difference at scale — working across a diverse and forward-thinking family of schools, where your ideas and leadership will have real impact.

About You

You are a credible, experienced, and passionate leader, with a proven track record of school improvement and expertise in SEND, with knowledge and experience of supporting pupils with complex learning difficulties and health needs. You have first-hand, extensive experience of what excellent leadership looks like within various special school settings and how to implement structures and systems strategically to ensure impact and consistency across different contexts.

You’ll bring:

• Substantial leadership experience (minimum 3 years) at Headship/ Head of School level in multiple Special School settings.
• Extensive expertise to support school improvement strategy for schools in challenging environments/ situations, supporting the most vulnerable children in society and those with complex health needs
• First-hand knowledge and experience of current educational legislation and initiatives, including SEND Code of Practice, and organisational arrangements/ procedures surrounding special school placement planning and commissioning.
• A successful track record of improving teaching and learning, curriculum design, pedagogy, assessment, and leading CPD in specialist provisions
• The ability to build trust, inspire confidence, and support others to grow.
• A flexible, collaborative approach and the resilience to thrive in a fast-paced, evolving Trust environment.
• The ability to problem solve and forecast using cause and effect analysis, and action solutions in collaboration with key stakeholders.

Why Join Esteem MAT?

At Esteem Multi Academy Trust, we are united by a shared purpose to ensure every child and young person, whatever their background or starting point, thrives and succeeds.  We drive this ambition through our values of: Working Together, Celebrating Difference, Enjoying Learning, and Being Brave.

We are a dynamic and growing Trust, bringing together a family of special schools, alternative provisions (APs), and a mainstream primary school with specialist provision across the East and West Midlands. Our schools support pupils with a wide range of additional needs including SEND and SEMH, offering high-quality, inclusive education that changes lives.

• We are a values-led Trust that places people and purpose at the heart of everything we do.
• The chance to shape and influence improvement across multiple schools and provisions.
• Supportive, forward-thinking colleagues within an ambitious Central Team.
• Ongoing professional development and leadership opportunities.
• The reward of knowing your work directly improves outcomes for children who need it most.

Please see the attached Application pack including a Welcome from The CEO and more information about Esteem Multi-Academy Trust.

Please review the attached Job Description to learn more about the role and what we are looking for in the successful candidate.

Benefits Include:

• Teacher's Pension Scheme / LGPS Pension Scheme (16.6% employer contributions)

• Generous holiday entitlement

• Access to Westfield Health membership scheme including cashback schemes for health and retail benefits, discounted gym memberships, and free confidential advice.

• Access to National College CPD platform.

For further information, please contact Sabrina Hobbs (Director of Education) on hr@esteemmat.co.uk

We reserve the right to interview suitable candidates upon application and may close the application process prior to this date. 

Esteem is open to Flexible working opportunities.

We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from all individuals, regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership status. 

Perfection is not required, if you are excited by the role and our organisation, but not sure if you meet 100% of the criteria, we would still love to hear from you!

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

Esteem Multi-Academy Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all its students. We expect all staff, volunteers and agency staff to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. The possession of a criminal record will not necessarily prevent an applicant from obtaining this post, as all cases are judged individually according to the nature of the role and information provided.

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.

About Esteem Multi Academy Trust

• Type: Multi-academy trust
• Website: Esteem Multi Academy Trust website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/esteem-multi-academy-trust

Esteem MAT was formed in 2018 and now consists of 14 academies from the East and West Midlands. Many of our pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities or are disadvantaged. Therefore, inclusion is our watchword, and our vision is for Esteem to be a learning community of excellence for SEND and alternative provision in the Midlands. However, we want more mainstream schools to join us too as they have many pupils with SEND or who are disadvantaged. We want all our pupils to achieve their full potential whatever type of school they attend.

Our vision is to be a Trust that:
• Leads and supports our academies to provide the highest standards of education and development for all our pupils
• Enables academies with a shared sense of purpose to benefit from alignment whilst maintaining individuality
• Provides a strong, collective voice for our academies at a local and national level
• Delivers support and SEND expertise to our academies and other schools and local authorities

Our vision will be delivered via our three core strategic aims. Everything we do should be ultimately focused on doing these three things well:
• We will provide an ambitious, inspirational, bespoke education, setting the foundation for the future and ensuring our young people are ready for the world.
• We will deliver high standards and value for money from our support services, resources, estate and technology.
• We will invest in and support our people, exploiting opportunities for collaborative, continual professional development, sharing of expertise and best practice
• Our people are our most valuable resource. We invest in them by providing high-quality specialist training, and opportunities to collaborate and develop their careers within Esteem.

We greatly value each school's unique identity, which reflects the diverse needs of the pupils. It is also important to us that our pupils feel they belong to their school community. This is why we believe that our schools need strong leaders and governors who understand their local context. Being part of a family of schools in a trust brings the added benefits of support and collaboration. We know that sharing ideas and working together are the best ways for our schools to continue to improve for the benefit of all our pupils.

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