Head of Education and Early Years - Mid Essex

Head of Education and Early Years - Mid Essex

Permanent, Full Time

£78,438 to £92,279 per annum

Location: Chelmsford*

Working Style: Community-based worker

Closing Date: 22nd April 2026

Job start: August / September 2026

Interviews will be held in person at County Hall, Chelmsford on 18th and 22nd May 2026

*This role will cover the Mid Education Quadrant of Essex (Chelmsford & surrounding areas) and will involve going out to schools and home working as well as coming into the office for meetings at County Hall, Chelmsford.

ECC has transformed how it delivers education services across one of the largest counties in the country, in order to continue to improve and to ensure the best possible outcomes for every single child and young person. We are determined to build on our journey of improvement and drive a culture of inclusion across Essex, ensuring we meet the needs of all of our children and young people.

Key to our approach is a decision to bring together our services and group our expertise around schools in geographical quadrants – allowing us to focus on local detail whilst delivering a joined-up approach on a county-wide scale. As a result, there is an Assistant Director of Education for each of our four quadrants, who deliver locally but collaborate effectively to deliver our holistic Education agenda. The Head of Education and Early Years post reports into the Assistant Director.

This leader will be passionate about education and the opportunities it creates, with extensive experience as a Head teacher or Senior Leader leading inclusion,, as well as significant experience in developing quality improvement frameworks to enhance education standards.. A proven track record of leading change is key to the success of this role.

This is an outstanding opportunity for an experienced high-level Education professional to really make their mark, through driving innovation, commerciality, and strategic thinking, all whilst delivering the service that the children of our county deserve.

If you would like to have an informal conversation, please contact Catherine Hutley, Assistant Director of Education – Mid Essex on 07837 642095

Responsibilities include:

• Leading improvement in Early Years Childcare Settings (EYCS), schools and other educational providers, across the West Quadrant of Essex.
• Effective leadership of the Early Years and School Effectiveness teams, working collaboratively with EYCS, schools, Teaching School Hubs and other educational providers to identify areas for improvement, identify solutions and provide support to achieve these.
• Delivery of all educational strategy and overall performance of the quadrant.
• Leading the development and supporting the maturity of school partnerships as part of the School Partnership Strategy, to share expertise, enhance learning outcomes and broker support as required.
• Contributing to meeting income generation targets by maximising traded opportunities with schools.
• Collaborating with the SEND Quadrant Manager, and Assistant Director, to strategically influence inclusive educational practice in schools and school partnerships.
• Leading the quadrant attendance team to monitor the effectiveness of schools to manage attendance and reduce exclusions, offering advice and guidance and developing supportive plans to assist them.
• Managing the strategic development of intensive school improvement support to Essex schools identified as underperforming to make rapid improvement to ensure rapid progress to secure positive outcomes for children and young people.
• Ensuring innovative approaches are widely shared to improve quality of teaching, learning and effective partnerships.
• Delivery of a robust system of monitoring school performance and the outcomes of support and challenge, as a key driver in ensuring all Essex schools achieve a good or outstanding rating.
• Embedding safeguarding procedures across schools and settings within a specified geographical area to ensure the protection of vulnerable children from 0 to 25.

You will bring:

• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or equivalent with extensive experience preferably as a Head teacher or Senior Leader of Inclusion in education.
• Evidence of continuing professional development and expert knowledge of legislative framework in relevant professional area.
• Experience at senior leadership level within an education setting. Ofsted training is desirable.
• Deep understanding gained through significant experience in developing solutions to improve standards within Early Years, schools, and other educational providers.
• Exemplar leadership and behavioural skills with the ability to focus on results, forging a strong workforce team from diverse backgrounds to achieve strategic objectives.
• Experience, knowledge and understanding of school practice and management of provision for pupils with the full range of education needs.
• Proven track record of building effective partnership and inter agency working, which is collaborative and influential in supporting the achievement of strategic objectives.
• Proven ability of proactively influencing, leading and delivering major cultural and organisational change in a complex environment.

Please note that the job role requires you to be mobile throughout an operational area. Therefore, the post holder will need to have a driving licence and access to a vehicle,or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means.

To read more about us please visit: Education

What’s in it for you?

• Generous Time Off: Starting with 27 days of holiday, which increases with your length of service, plus 8 bank holidays and up to 4 paid volunteer days each year to give back to your community.
• Secure Your Future: Benefit from enrolment in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), ensuring your financial security for the future.
• Health and Wellbeing: Access to comprehensive medical insurance to keep you and your family healthy.
• Professional Growth: We cover the payment of professional fees for approved professions, supporting your career development.
• Work-Life Balance: Enjoy the flexibility of hybrid working arrangements, allowing you to balance work with your personal life.

To read more please visit our Pay & Reward page on our careers site.

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you. 

In February 2025, Greater Essex was accepted onto the Government’s devolution priority programme, which will see local authorities in Essex work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority by May 2026. You can read more about devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR)) on our careers site

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

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