Trust Leader of Inclusion

Greater Manchester Academies Trust, Manchester, M40 8NT

10 days remaining to apply

• Start date details

  January 2027

• Closing date

  12 October 2026 at 8am

• Date listed

  2 October 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: Leadership Scale

Trust Leader of Inclusion job summary

Trust Leader of Inclusion

Thank you for your interest in becoming our Trust Leader of Inclusion at Greater Manchester Academies Trust.

This is an important appointment for our Trust and, for the right person, an exceptional opportunity to shape something that really matters. Our vision is to cultivate thriving schools at the heart of thriving communities—where every young person is empowered to succeed, and where education drives real, lasting social change. Inclusion is fundamental to achieving that vision.

At GMAT, we do not see inclusion as a separate strand of school improvement, nor simply as the responsibility of SEND teams. It is about whether every child—whatever their starting point, circumstance or barrier—can access great teaching, participate fully in school life, feel that they belong and achieve outcomes which open doors to their future.

Our schools serve communities where education has an extraordinarily important role to play in creating opportunity and social change.

We recognise the challenges some of our children face, but we refuse to allow those challenges to become ceilings on their ambition.

• That requires Heart: understanding children, families and communities, and leading with compassion and humanity.
• It requires Hope: maintaining the highest expectations and an unwavering belief in what every young person can become.
• And it requires Happiness: creating schools in which children and adults belong, participate, develop their talents and flourish.

That is why we are creating this role. We are looking for an outstanding inclusion leader who can help us develop the next stage of our Trust-wide approach. Someone who understands SEND deeply, but whose conception of inclusion reaches much further—to disadvantage, attendance, behaviour, adaptive teaching, curriculum access, enrichment, vulnerability, belonging, family partnership and the many other factors that can determine whether a young person thrives.

You will work directly with me, our Headteachers, SENDCOs and senior leaders. You will have genuine influence over strategy, professional development, practice and quality assurance across our Trust. But this is not principally a role about systems. It is a role about people. We want someone who can build the capacity of others, develop excellent leaders, ask difficult questions when necessary and bring colleagues together around a shared ambition for children. Above all, you must share our belief that high expectations and inclusion belong together. We do not want inclusion to mean lowering expectations for children. We want it to mean removing the barriers that prevent children from reaching them. If you combine expertise with humanity, evidence with professional curiosity, and ambition with a strong moral purpose,

I would be delighted to receive your application.

Closing date for applications is Monday 12th October 2026 at 8am

Interviews will take place Wednesday 14th October 2026.

John Rowlands

Executive Principal

Greater Manchester Academies Trust

Who Are We Looking For?

We are looking for an exceptional inclusion leader with expertise, credibility and a strong moral purpose. You may already work across several schools or within a Trust. You may be an experienced SENDCO or senior leader ready to take the next step. You may have led significant SEND, inclusion or school-improvement work and now want the opportunity to influence practice at greater scale.

Your current job title matters less to us than the quality of your thinking, your track record and your potential to make a difference.

You will need to understand SEND deeply while being able to think much more broadly about inclusion.

You will be able to move comfortably between strategy and implementation: discussing Trust priorities with senior leaders one moment and exploring the experience of an individual child in a classroom the next.

You will be evidence-informed without losing sight of the human beings behind the evidence.

• You will ask good questions.
• You will listen.
• You will build trust.
• You will challenge constructively.
• And you will bring people with you.
• We particularly want someone who combines compassion with professional rigour.

Because great inclusion requires both.

Come and Meet Us

We strongly encourage prospective candidates to visit our schools and have an informal conversation with our Executive Principal before applying.

Recruitment should work both ways.

We want you to understand our children, communities, schools and ambitions.

We also want to hear about you: your experience, your thinking about inclusion and the contribution you believe you could make.

We particularly welcome people who are excited by the opportunity to build something with us rather than simply inherit something from us.

To arrange an informal conversation or visit, please contact 0161 202 0161 and ask for a meeting with the Executive Principal of GMAT, John Rowlands.

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

Greater Manchester Academies Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure for a Regulated Activity via the Disclosure and Barring Service.

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 Greater Manchester Academies Trust

• Type: Multi-academy trust
• Website: Greater Manchester Academies Trust website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/greater-manchester-academies-trust

 Manchester Communication Academy was first established in 2010 and has gone from strength to strength each academic year. The Academy has approximately 1250 students on roll in Years 7-11 and we boast a wonderfully rich and diverse school community. MCA is at the heart of the community and is committed to improving educational outcomes for all of our students. MCA is proud to be a community hub and our outward facing work is outstanding. In September 2026, we will open a new purpose built Transition Centre, a school in its own grounds just for Year 7.


This demonstrates our commitment to the transition process and ensuring every child has the best possible start to secondary school. In addition to this, we will also open a Science and STEM facility, with 11 state of the art Science labs to support increased student numbers over the next 5 years (from 1250-1500). It is a really exciting time to join us.


MCA was recognised by OFSTED in 2024 as a Good school with Outstanding Personal Development and we strive for excellence in everything we do. Implementing an ambitious, text-rich curriculum is a key priority and driving force in our ambition for excellence. We believe in the transformative power of knowledge in ensuring equitable opportunities for success. Our aspirational, bespoke curriculum ensures that all of our students gain the necessary experiences to compete academically, practically, socially and morally in the wider world. In order to achieve this, we invest deliberately in professional development. Drawing upon our EEF Research School, we are able to provide all staff with the most up-to-date and high quality evidence to develop their expertise. During department time, allocated during the academy day, and during weekly subject-specific CPD time, teams explore the ‘best bets’ of evidence-informed practice and work collaboratively to embed this practice within their daily habits. These sessions are engaging, impactful and ambitious, including deliberate practice, instructional coaching and an emphasis on building effective habits.
At MCA, we proactively promote staff wellbeing through our management of workload and additional benefits for staff, such as flexi days and the Employee Assist programme. As a result, our staff are highly skilled and knowledgeable professionals who embrace new opportunities to learn more and keep getting better – a culture that permeates the academy amongst staff and students.


Our students appreciate and relish the opportunity to learn and we support their effective learning behaviours through high expectations with emphasis on metacognition and our work with parents, families and the community. Having the highest expectations of our students means that our teachers can focus on teaching and our students can focus on learning.


We are looking for teachers who are aligned with our values and who have the talent and potential to accelerate the school’s journey to excellence. The position is a great opportunity for someone who shares our passion for delivering educational excellence. If you are aligned to our mission and values and could flourish with this opportunity, we very much look forward to hearing from you. 

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