Chief Education Officer (Secondary)

Chief Education Officer (Secondary)

Salary: Schools Leadership Pay Scale L38 L42 (£128,447 - £141-693)
Location: Rochdale-based with Trust-wide responsibilities
Contract: Full-time, Permanent (37 hours/week)
Start Date: 1^st September 2026

Altus Education Partnership is seeking an exceptional and principled leader to join our executive team as Chief Education Officer (Secondary).

Formed in 2017 with a clear moral purpose to raise educational standards and widen opportunity for young people across Rochdale, Altus has quickly established itself as a high-performing and values-driven trust. We currently serve around 5,000 pupils and students across a family of academies, including nationally recognised provision at Rochdale Sixth Form College.

As the Trust enters an ambitious phase of growth, this newly strengthened executive role will be pivotal in ensuring that expansion enhances rather than dilutes the quality of education we provide.

The role

The Chief Education Officer (Secondary) will provide strategic leadership across the Trust’s secondary phase including Kingsway Park High School and Edgar Wood Academy, ensuring consistently high standards of curriculum, teaching, inclusion and outcomes.

You will:

• Provide strategic oversight of educational performance across our secondary academies
• Line manage and support secondary headteachers
• Lead Trust-wide secondary improvement strategies
• Secure a coherent, knowledge-rich curriculum and high standards of teaching and learning
• Develop leadership capacity and succession planning across the Trust
• Ensure robust systems for quality assurance, self-evaluation and school improvement

This is both a strategic and operational leadership role, requiring the intellectual clarity to define educational excellence and the discipline to deliver improvement at scale.

About You:

We are looking for a leader who:

• Has significant successful experience as a headteacher or principal
• Has a strong track record of improving standards and outcomes
• Brings deep understanding of curriculum, teaching and school improvement
• Has experience of working across multiple institutions or within a trust
• Demonstrates integrity, judgement, emotional intelligence and strong moral purpose

You will combine high expectations with professional humility, and share our commitment to ethical leadership and community-rooted education.

Why join Altus?

At Altus, everything we do is focused on enabling young people to achieve their very best. Our Trust is built on collaboration, shared responsibility and an unwavering commitment to improving lives through education.

This role offers the opportunity to:

• Influence education across a growing and ambitious trust
• Work with a high-performing executive team
• Lead improvement across diverse secondary contexts
• Help shape the next stage of educational excellence across Rochdale

How to Apply:

Please use the following link to apply for this role through MyNewTerm. Chief Education Officer (Secondary) at Altus Education Partnership, Rochdale, Greater Manchester | MyNewTerm

More information about the role can be found in the application pack attached. For further information about the trust, please visit our website at - Welcome to The Altus Education Partnership.

For an informal discussion or to arrange a visit, please contact:

• Amanda Thomson (Executive Administrator at AEP) 01706 769824
• Raymond Kelly (Navigate NDC Recruitment Partner) 01625 800862

Application Deadline: 11.59pm, 31^st March 2026
Interviews: 22^nd & 23^rd April 2026

Altus Education Partnership is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. This position is subject to an Enhanced DBS check under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

In accordance with the recommendations set out in KCSIE the Trust carries out online searches on shortlisted candidates. It is also Trust policy to contact at least 1 reference prior to interview.

Applicants are informed that if appointed to this post their contract of employment will be with the school governing board who is the employer, and not Rochdale Council.

Location: Altus Education Partnership, Suite F4, No.2 The Esplanade, Rochdale, OL16 1AE