Vacancy -- Specialist Adviser on Education

'Pan Wales' means that the location in which the vacancy can be based is flexible, subject to the needs of the business. Please note it may not always be possible to accommodate a preference for a specific office location, but requests will be taken into consideration.

Welsh Government, with the support of all key stakeholders, is planning a period of unprecedented change to the educational landscape. These changes encompass the key areas of curriculum design and development, assessment, teacher training, leadership and practitioner development, the digital infrastructure for education, redesigning student finance and higher education funding and reform of the post compulsory education and training. Furthermore we are increasingly looking at what other countries are doing in light of PISA and recently published OECD country reports, especially around the development of further and higher education as well as research and innovation.

Our education system has been working within a new operating framework led by the Welsh Government in collaboration with its education partners. The National Model for Regional Working, published in 2014 effected two significant changes to the school improvement landscape.

Firstly, the model defined school improvement more clearly, and placed clear responsibilities on local authorities to work through formally established regional services to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom and the quality of school leadership.

Secondly, underpinning this structural change was a fundamental change in school improvement methodology for Wales. Since 2014 all stakeholders have been working towards creating a “self-improving system”. This is often defined as a model where the key players in the education system take shared responsibility for their own improvement and for the improvement of others. It is sometimes referred to as a “school to school improvement system”.

In Education in wales: Our National Mission and the National Model, Welsh Government identified this as its ambition for the education system in Wales. The move to challenge advisers and the school categorisation model were introduced to add further momentum, ensuring that schools are identified by practitioners in terms of their need for support and their ability to provide support to other schools.

The landscape in terms of regional services and the extent of school-to-school collaborations varies across Wales, but there is a significant momentum building up in support of this new model, and that has been largely achieved in the last two years. The Cabinet Secretary for Education has indicated that she wants to build upon this momentum in the system to improve pupil outcomes which are both sustainable and embedded. She has indicated that she requires a specialist to focus on a number of key priorities around workforce development and leadership, federation of schools and a National Strategy for Small and Rural Schools, Welsh language, increasing the number of Higher Level Teaching Assistants, well-being and ALN.

Due to nature of the post the individual should have significant school, FE and or HE expertise and experience coupled with a sound background in international research ad innovation. We do not have anyone in Welsh Government with this background.

The post holder will work with the current Cabinet Secretary for Education on a fixed term appointment reporting to the Director of the Education Directorate. In addition to the inward facing role of working with teams across the directorate to ensure well-informed practice, the post holder will be expected to provide the Department and the Education Secretary with a strong practitioner-influenced external facing function, who is able to engage effectively with practitioners, local authority and regional leads.

The success of the post should be seen in terms of the ability of the Departments over the period to:

• deploy more consistent approaches to policy development, within structures that routinely engage key partners and ensure expert contributions.

• maintain productive relationships with its key partners in education - school practitioners and leaders, local authorities, regional bodies and partners in Further and Higher Education and others - who are able to provide expert infrastructure support to deliver key WG policies.

Main duties will include:

• providing expert advice on education policy, school improvement, teacher education, curriculum development, school building and resources, leadership, governor development, higher education and student finance and the post compulsory education and training.

• working with officials to prepare policy papers, information, data and answers to written and oral assembly questions as well as to the preparation of briefs for formal committee enquiries and reviews..

• contributing to policy planning & development, including ideas which extend the range of options available to the Minister;

• liaising with outside interest groups to assist the Cabinet Secretary in her role;

• providing expert advice on international education matters, especially the development of international further and higher education as well as research and innovation..

• providing expert advice on other ad-hoc matters to the First Minister.

This is an excellent opportunity for an individual to influence and contribute to a range of national policies which will impact directly on Universities, Colleges and schools. It is a challenging but rewarding opportunity working directly with Educational leaders, unions and Ministers.

06/06/2018, 16:00

Posts recruited to as part of this recruitment campaign are broadly open to UK nationals, those with right to remain and work in the UK and those that meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules only. Check your eligibility here:

• UK Visas and Immigration - GOV.UK

• Nationality rules – GOV.UK

Prior to appointment, all successful applicants will be required to produce original, acceptable documents as part of the pre-employment checks. If it becomes apparent at a later stage in the process that you aren’t eligible to apply, your application will be withdrawn, or offer retracted.

The Welsh Government is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and which promote equality of opportunity. This is underpinned by the Equality Act 2010 and will be adhered to at each stage of the recruitment process. Our goal is to ensure that these commitments are also embedded in our day-to-day working practices with all our customers, colleagues and partners.

We are committed to being an anti-racist organisation and increasing diversity in the Welsh Government by removing barriers and supporting all our staff to reach their potential. We are committed to recruiting Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people and disabled people who are currently under-represented in Welsh Government.

We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, marriage and civil partnership (both same sex and opposite sex), impairment or health condition, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, gender identity or gender expression.

We are a Stonewall Diversity Champion and a Disability Confident Level 3 (Leader) organisation. Key to supporting this work and providing peer support are five Board sponsored Staff Networks (Disability Awareness and Support (DAAS); Minority Ethnic Support Network (MESN); Mind Matters (Mental health and well-being); PRISM (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex +) and Women Together.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

The Welsh Government is a bilingual organisation and Welsh language skills are considered an asset to the organisation. We encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills in the workplace. 

The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the line manager on behalf of the Welsh Government of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.

In Welsh Government, the relationship between the employer and trade unions is based on social partnership. We believe our goals can best be achieved by management and trade unions working together.

Our 3 recognised trade unions are:
•         PCS
•         Prospect
•         FDA

This relationship is underpinned by a partnership agreement. This sets out how our unions work with Welsh Government on issues such as:
•         pay
•         terms and conditions
•         policies and procedures
•         organisational change.

Our Welsh Government trade union colleagues work together to give their members a real say in the workplace. They make sure that the interests of their members are promoted and protected. They also help reduce inequalities and improve terms and conditions.

The Welsh Government has an excellent track record of working in partnership with its trade unions. We encourage staff to get involved. We support you to join a recognised trade union, to ensure your voice is heard in the workplace. and to learn more about trade unions and partnership working.

• Unless stated otherwise in ‘actual starting salary’, all candidates will start at the minimum of the pay scale being appointed to (this includes existing civil servants).This is not negotiable.
• Unless stated otherwise in ‘type of opportunity’, this recruitment advert is not open on a Loan or Secondment basis.
• For more information on the eligibility criteria and terms and conditions for Loan and Secondment positions in Welsh Government, please see external recruitment candidate guidance.
• Unless stated otherwise in ‘Location of Post’ the role/s recruited to via this campaign can only be worked in the UK, not overseas.

All applications for this vacancy should be made online via the Welsh Government's online application system.  If you have a disability which would prevent you from applying on-line, please e-mail SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales to request an application pack in an alternative format, or to request a reasonable adjustment related to a disability in order to submit your application.

To apply, you'll need to have an account on our online application system.  Click the 'Apply' button below, and you'll be asked to 'Log in' if you already have an account, or 'Register' if you don't yet have an account.  Registration takes just a few minutes to complete.  You'll need an e-mail address to be able to register.  Once you've registered for an account and logged in, you'll be taken to the online application form, which you'll need to fully complete and submit before the deadline on the closing date.  

If you’d like to apply for this vacancy in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.

For further information regarding the Welsh Government recruitment process, please see the Recruitment Guidance for External Candidates (link).

When evidencing your suitability for the post, it is recommended that you refer to the Civil Service Competency Framework (link)

Anyone who believes they have been treated unfairly, or has a grievance or complaint, about how the process was conducted should either write to the Head of Resourcing, Welsh Government, Cathays Park 2, Cardiff CF10 3NQ or email SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales.  If you are unhappy with the outcome of the complaint raised with the Welsh Government and feel that the principles of appointment on merit through fair and open competition have not been met you have the right to pursue your grievance with the Civil Service Commission.