Vacancy -- Appointment of Chair - National Academy for Educational Leadership

The NAEL will be responsible for the strategic oversight and direction of leadership provision to meet the needs of the education system within Wales.

One of its key features will be its role in ensuring equity of access to high-quality leadership development. This will be achieved through endorsing a range of leadership provision for all levels of educational leadership, and commissioning provision where gaps are identified.

The NAEL will also be charged with developing and delivering a quality assurance model for leadership provision, developing system leadership across education, feeding into strategic workforce planning for leadership and acting as a conduit and focus for policy thinking, evidence gathering and research dissemination in regard to educational leadership.

 The NAEL will be a Company Limited by Guarantee. It will ensure a real sense of ownership by the sector and include a Stakeholder representative group.

 The Academy’s core functions will include:
 securing a good supply of programmes and provision to develop the skills and capabilities of leaders;
 commissioning provision to fill gaps and secure comprehensive access to provision that supports the development of current and potential leaders including mentoring and coaching;
 assuring quality in the provision via a process of endorsement;
 commissioning, using and sharing the products of research to ensure national and international best practice is being disseminated;
 offering support and advice on leadership career pathways; and
 being available online to create a community of peers and offer information and advice.

As Chair and board member you will lead the board in providing constructive strategic challenge, support and direction to the newly established NAEL.

This includes:

Providing vision and strategic leadership

Chairing Meetings and supporting the development of the Board, ensuring expertise is brought   
in as appropriate

Ensuring that the Board as a whole is effective in developing a strategy and corporate business
plans that are properly scrutinised and monitored

Ensuring appropriate governance arrangements are established and implemented in line with
best practice and the requirements of a public body, in accordance with company law

Working with the Chief Executive to develop an organisational culture and strategy

Supporting the role of the Stakeholder representative group, to ensure the effective input of this
group into the work of the NAEL Board, thereby enabling strong stakeholder input and voice. 

Overseeing the work of the Chief Executive, providing appropriate support as necessary, including
managing their performance 

Representing the Body externally and fostering close working relationships with key stakeholders

The Chair will be responsible for ensuring that they and the Board collectively and individually
adhere to the Nolan seven principles of public life.

The Chair will ensure that the NAEL champions diversity

The Welsh Government acknowledges the importance of developing and growing bilingual capabilities in public appointments in Wales, and welcomes applications from candidates who demonstrate their capability to work in both English and Welsh.  The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the recruiting body of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.

To be considered, you must be able to demonstrate that you have the qualities, skills and experience to meet all the essential criteria for appointment. 

Skills and Experience - essential

• Strong leadership ability, including leading a board and supporting, inspiring and enthusing staff and stakeholders, demonstrating an inclusive and collaborative approach.
• An exceptional ability to communicate, including handling the media and wider public audiences, and building relationships at all levels. Strong interpersonal skills are required, including the ability to negotiate, persuade and influence
• Experience of managing complex and challenging relationships at a senior level in a multi-stakeholder environment, including within the public sector
• Ability to ensure that the organisation's governance arrangements are effective and that financial dealings are prudently and systematically accounted for, audited and publicly available showing a commitment to transparency and openness
• A demonstrable interest in, and understanding of education

Skills and Experience - desirable

• Understanding of the culture and heritage of Wales and a commitment to ensuring that, along with its language, the Welsh context is reflected in the working of the Body
• Welsh Language Skills are desirable

Eligibility

You are not eligible for this post if you are: 

1) Disqualified from being a company director
2) Bankrupt

A check will be made with Companies house before any appointments are confirmed to ensure you are eligible, and you will be required to undergo vetting to Security Clearance level.

Conflict of Interests

You will be asked to declare any private interests which may, or may be perceived to, conflict with the role and responsibilities as Chair of the NAEL including any business interests and positions of authority outside of the role in NAEL.

Any conflicts of interest will be explored at interview.  If appointed, you will also be required to declare these interests on a register which is available to the public.

Standards in public life 

You will be expected to demonstrate high standards of corporate and personal conduct. All successful candidates will be asked to subscribe to the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, you can access this document at:

http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/governance/blboard/Board%20Code%20of%20Practice%202011.pdf

11/02/2018, 16:00

To apply for this role, click on the ‘Apply’ button below. The first time you apply for a post, you will need to complete a registration form for the Welsh Government’s online application system.  You will only need to register once, and you will be able to keep yourself updated on the progress of your application, and any other applications you make, via your registered account.

Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to access the application form.  To apply you will need to submit two supporting documents. The first, a document outlining how your knowledge, skills and experiences meet the criteria for the role as outlined in the information for candidates.  This document should be no more than 2 sides of A4.  Your application may be rejected if you exceed this limit.  The second document is a full, up to date CV.  The two documents should be uploaded to the ‘Reasons for applying’ section of the online application form.

In your application, you will also be asked to provide details of any activities which have helped you to develop skills that would be useful in a public appointment role, and list the organisations for which you undertook these activities.  We also need to know about any political activity that you’ve undertaken over the last 5 years. 

It is recommended that you register for an account and access the application form as soon as possible so that you see how the application form is structured, before starting to prepare your evidence.  You don’t have to complete the application form all in one go.  You can save your responses, and log in and out as required, until you’re ready to submit – just follow the guidance in the application form.

If you’d like to apply for this opportunity 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.

If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Welsh Government’s Corporate Shared Service Centre Helpdesk on 03000 255454 or SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales.

For further information about Public Appointments in Wales, please visit www.gov.wales/publicappointments