Trust Governance Support Manager
Acer Trust, Oxford, OX2 9JE24 days remaining to apply
Start date details
As soon as possible
Closing date
12 January 2026 at 10am
Date listed
19 December 2025
Job details
Job role
- Administration, HR, data and finance
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern
- Part time
Contract type
- Permanent
Full-time equivalent salary
- £38,220.00 - £40,777.00 Annually (FTE) Actual salary is £27,204 - £29,025
Trust Governance Support Manager job summary
Job title: Trust Governance Support Manager
Team: Central Leadership Team
Reporting to: Chief Operations and Finance Officer
Contract: 39 weeks per annum / 52 weeks
Grade: 10-11
Hours/week: 30 / 25
Location: Based at one of the schools in the Trust, with occasional travel to other school sites
Main purpose of the role
Acer Trust is seeking a skilled and forward-thinking Governance Support Manager to play a central role in developing and strengthening governance across our family of schools. Governance is fundamental to ensuring that our children receive the highest quality education, and the Governance Support Manager plays a key role in helping us to build consistent, modern and effective governance practices across the Trust.
Working closely with the Trust Board, School Governing Bodies, our Governance Team and the Central Leadership Team, you will lead the coordination and development of governance activity and ensure that our Trustees and Governors are well supported to carry out their statutory responsibilities. You will act as Clerk and Company Secretary to the Trust Board, provide guidance on governance best practice, and help shape the systems and processes that underpin strong accountability and effective decision-making.
A key focus of the role will be to further develop and embed our governance processes, utilising available and emerging technologies to enable more efficient administration, clearer communication, and more accessible governance information for all stakeholders. As the Trust continues to mature, this role will support the evolution of our governance frameworks and help ensure that new approaches are both scalable and sustainable.
We are looking for someone who brings experience in governance or clerking, whether within education, charity or corporate settings, and who is confident providing clear, well-reasoned advice to senior leaders. You will be highly organised, an excellent communicator, and someone who enjoys improving systems, aligning practices, and supporting others to work effectively. A collaborative mindset, strong digital capability and a commitment to the Trust’s values are essential.
This is a flexible role, based at one of our schools with regular travel across the Trust and opportunities for hybrid working. The post is offered at Grade 10, with the potential to progress to Grade 11. The salary range for Grade 10 is £38,220 - £40,777 (FTE). The role may be worked on a term-time or year-round basis, with flexibility to agree an appropriate working pattern. As a guide, the position is typically 30 hours per week for term-time working or 25 hours per week for a full-year contract, with proportional adjustments possible depending on the agreed number of working weeks. Due to the pattern of governance meetings, some evening working is required.
The post includes a generous pension scheme and opportunities for continued professional development. We would welcome applications from candidates interested in undertaking an apprenticeship in governance.
If you are passionate about excellent governance and excited by the opportunity to modernise and elevate governance practice across a highly collaborative Trust, we would be delighted to hear from you. For an informal conversation about the role, please contact hr@acertrust.org.uk to arrange an informal conversation with the COFO. To apply, please apply through My New Term.
The closing date for this role is 10am on Monday 12 January 2026 and interviews will be held that week.
Why join us?
Join a collaborative Trust committed to high‑quality governance, professional development and making a positive difference for children and young people.
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and associated legislation places responsibilities for health and safety on the Trust, as your employer and on you as an employee. In addition to the employer’s overall duties, the post holder has personal responsibility for their own health and safety and that of other employees; additional and more specific responsibilities are identified in the Trust’s Health and Safety policy.
Safeguarding Children and Young People
Acer Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. We expect all staff to share this commitment and to undergo appropriate checks, including an enhanced DBS check.
Further information about the job
Commitment to safeguarding
The Acer Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and preventing extremism. All staff are expected to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to an enhanced DBS check and may be subject to online searches for publicly available information.
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 Acer Trust
- Type
- Multi-academy trust
- Website
- Acer Trust website
The Acer Trust was formed in early 2017 having previously been a single school Multi Academy Trust (West Oxford Schools Trust). We are now a multi academy trust of seven Oxfordshire schools; currently we have four primary schools and three secondary schools in our Trust.
Our core aim is to work in collaborative partnership as a family of schools, united through the Acer Trust, to improve outcomes for all the learners across those schools.
Our plan is drive for constant improvement in the quality of educational experience for every learner in our family of schools. The founding partner schools in the formation of the Acer Trust were Icknield Community College, Watlington; Wood Green School, Witney; Chalgrove Community Primary School and Matthew Arnold School, Oxford. Stadhampton Primary School joined the Acer Trust in February 2019. Watlington Primary School joined in August 2019 and Botley Primary School joined in March 2020. Glory Farm Primary School and The Cooper School joined in January 2024
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