Job Title: Senior Quality Manager
Organisation: Natspec
Salary: competitive, from £60,000
Hours: Full time, with flexible and part time requests considered. 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays
Location: Home based, with frequent travel across the country
Closing date: 6pm Wednesday 25 June 2025
About the organisation
Natspec represents, supports and trains Further Education colleges and organisations that offer specialist education and training for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. We are the voice of specialist FE. We work with government in England and Wales to influence policy, we help FE organisations raise the quality of provision through events, resources and guidance, and we manage a diverse programme of training, projects, partnerships and inter-college activities, such as Natspec Games and Student Parliament.
We are seeking an experienced, dynamic professional, with a strong track record in quality improvement, to join our senior leadership team, lead and develop Natspec’s quality and training services, and work flexibly to support colleges across the country.
About the role
This is a new post within the senior management team. It has been created due to the expansion of our quality support services for specialist colleges and other providers across the FE sector, and the need for an experienced senior leader to re-shape and take these services to the next level of development.
The postholder will have oversight of all quality support services, evaluating and developing them to ensure they are relevant and responsive to the needs of Natspec members, affiliates and the wider FE and skills sector. They will be responsible for ensuring the services are sustainable through effective income generation and budget management, bidding for external contracts where appropriate.
They will lead the quality support team and have overall responsibility for our associates and consultants, along with external contracts such as the DfE funded Centre for Excellence work.
The postholder will work across Natspec as part of the senior management team, developing and maintaining Natspec’s position as the authoritative voice of specialist further education.
The main duties of the role are to:
- Develop the Transform, TechAbility and Centre for Excellence services to create a unified and coordinated quality improvement offer and manage the team to deliver it.
- Evaluate and develop the quality improvement services, expanding services where required to reach a wider cross section of FE organisations
- Ensure the services are sustainable, generating income to support further development, managing the budget effectively and bidding for external contracts
- Develop a comprehensive understanding of the curriculum offer and type and quality of provision across member and affiliate organisations, and shape and develop QI services accordingly.
- Facilitate relevant Natspec networks and lead on the organisation of national events, meetings and webinars to provide quality support and advice to member colleges.
- Liaise with Ofsted, Estyn, CQC and CIW to support improved understanding between Natspec, its members and the regulators, and to influence regulatory policy for the benefit of learners with high needs
- Represent Natspec through speaking at events, writing reports and blogs, and responding to requests for comments relating to the quality of provision.
- Work with the chief executive and senior policy manager to develop and maintain Natspec’s position as the authoritative voice of specialist further education. Contribute to organisational vision and strategy, board meetings and organisational work programmes, and ensure that the policy, quality improvement and training elements of Natspec’s work are linked.
We are looking for a self-motivated, experienced, innovative, dynamic and enthusiastic individual with a strong commitment to and track record of improving the quality of provision for learners with learning difficulties and disabilities. You must be a qualified teacher, and have recent and proven senior leadership experience in further education and skills provision for high needs students. You should have knowledge, understanding and expertise in curriculum design and implementation and experience of developing, implementing and monitoring ambitious quality improvement plans.
We want someone who can inspire and motivate a team, with experience of performance management. Your written and verbal communication skills should be excellent, including speaking at large events, using social media and writing high quality reports.
You will need to be able to work flexibly and independently, managing a varied workload and meeting deadlines. The post is based at home but you need to be able to travel across the country frequently.
Download the full job description and person specification.
How to apply
Apply for this position by sending a CV and covering letter, setting out how you meet the person specification, examples of your experience, and your suitability for the role, to emma.goddard@natspec.org.uk by 6pm on Wednesday 25 June 2025.
We encourage people of all backgrounds to apply for this role. If you think our organisation and values would work for you, please apply and talk about this in your cover letter.
An assessment day and interview will take place on 18 July for successful applicants, in the north west. Further details will be confirmed in interview offer emails.
Shortlisted candidates will be notified by Friday 11 July and interviews will take place on Friday 18 July.
If you would like an informal chat about this job, please email clare.howard@natspec.org.uk