Vacancy: School Communities Manager

Job title: School Communities Manager

Contract: Full time (35 hours), fixed term maternity cover (9 – 12 months)

Salary: Grade 5 £29,500 – £34,999

Closing date: Monday 15 August, 10am

Job summary

The School Communities team delivers a range of programmes that inspire schools, learning professionals, children and young people to engage with reading and writing. Key programmes include Reading Schools, Read, Write, Count, First Minister's Reading Challenge and Authors Live.

The role leads on the development and delivery of the outreach work carried out in schools which supports the impact and effectiveness of our School Communities programmes. The role leads on developing teaching resources and works closely with the School Communities Managers to ensure integrated delivery of the programmes.

The role line manages the Learning Content Manager, Co-ordinator and Regional Outreach Co-ordinators and ensures resources across the wider School Communities programme are complementary and effective.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and maintain strong working relationships across Scotland with relevant stakeholders, including schools, library services and other learning professionals
• Planning and managing the delivery of the outreach programme in schools
• Line management of the Learning Content Manager, Co-ordinator and Regional Outreach Co-ordinators
• Work closely with the School Communities Managers to develop programme resources for use in outreach work with a variety of professional delivery partners, and to support the effectiveness of the attainment programmes as a whole
• Remain informed of current education policy, learning theory and professional learning and teaching practice to feed into programme development and improvement
• Reporting to the Head of School Communities, manage the Outreach elements of the programme budgets, including creation of monitoring reports for the Scottish Government and other funders
• Support the Head of School Communities by liaising with and managing relations with partner organisations (including the Scottish Government and Education Scotland) to ensure efficient and effective administration and management of the collaborative relationships involved in delivering the programme
• Establish and manage external consultants and expert panels, as required
• Work closely with the Marketing Team to develop programme materials, including print resources and online content, managing internal communications and deadlines to ensure timely delivery
• Supports programme development and improvement by working with the Head of Research and Evaluation
• Carry out research and engagement to support programme development
• Represent and advocate for Scottish Book Trust and the School Communities Programme, as required, at conferences, network meetings and events

Knowledge, skills and experience

• Significant experience of project planning, co-ordination and management (including budgets) for national high-profile projects
• At least 3 years' experience working in an education or arts environment in a managerial role or professional equivalent
• Knowledge of and interest in current education policy, literacy and numeracy in Scotland, as well as a thorough understanding of local authority and schools context and operating environment
• Experience of managing and motivating staff, leading achievement of objectives and excellent team working, in line with Scottish Book Trust's values
• Exceptional organisational and time management skills with an ability to work with multiple priorities to achieve deadlines and outputs
• Ability to work across teams, promoting collaboration and taking responsibility for problem-solving and meeting deadlines and outcomes
• Excellent written and oral communication skills including experience of managing complex relationships with high profile external stakeholders and diverse partner organisations
• Negotiation, influencing and diplomacy skills
• Experience of developing and delivering online or in-person presentations and confidence speaking to external groups
• Ability to carry out desktop research, analyse and present findings
• Advocacy skills and ability to act as an ambassador for Scottish Book Trust
• Confident in the use of IT, including Microsoft Office applications, and familiarity with databases and information management

Other information

The post is based at Scottish Book Trust offices in Edinburgh and will be working remotely with designated access to the office.

A full, clean UK driving licence and confident, experienced driving skills are desirable.

The post-holder must be prepared to undertake travel across Scotland, from time to time travel elsewhere in the UK, including occasional overnight stays.

The post will involve working with young people, therefore appointment will be conditional upon securing Full Disclosure level clearance from Disclosure Scotland.

How to apply

Step 1: Download and complete our application forms

We do not accept CVs. To apply for this role, please complete our application form and equal opportunity form.

Download application form

Download equal opportunities form

Step 2: Upload your completed forms to our recruitment portal

Ready to submit your forms? You will need to complete the following steps once you click the button below.

1. Click 'next' when you are ready to upload your documents.
2. Add your title to the document page.
3. Upload (or drag and drop) the files and click 'Upload' after each document.
4. When both documents are uploaded, submit your application.

(this will open in a new window)Upload your application forms

If you have any difficulties applying or queries regarding this post, you can request support by emailing recruitment@scottishbooktrust.com(this will open in a new window).

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