Head of Department - Computing

Post: Head of Department - Computing
Contract Type: Permanent
Salary Range: MPS1 UPS3 (£32,916 - £51,048 FTE) + TLR2a (£3,527)

Working Type: Full Time
Base: Buile Hill Academy, Eccles Old Road, Salford, M6 8RD

Please note: the post holder will be engaging in regulated activity, working mainly or wholly with children. This position is exempt from the rehabilitation of offender’s act 1974. It is an offence to apply for this role if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.

Northern Education Trust (NET) is a charitable education Trust with a good track record for school improvement. The Trust sponsors 30 academies; 17 secondary and 13 primaries across the North of England in fourteen Local Authority regions.

Shape young futures: lead a Computing department with momentum

Are you a passionate computing specialist who wants to see your subject change young people’s lives? Do you want to lead a department backed by a high-quality, trust-wide curriculum and a trust with a proven record of rapid improvement? If so, we would love to hear from you.

The role

As Head of Computing, you will lead Computer Science and Creative iMedia across Key Stages 3 and 4. Computing is the subject behind almost every career our students will go on to, and you will make sure every Buile Hill student leaves with the digital skills, problem-solving and creativity they need whether they go on to study GCSE Computer Science or produce work for real client briefs in Creative iMedia.

This is a school on the rise, and it is the right moment for Computing to rise with it. You will make sure the trust curriculum is taught consistently well in every lesson, grow the number of students choosing the subject, and make Computing one of the most popular and successful subjects in the school.

What you will do:

• Lead teaching and learning bring the trust’s knowledge-rich curriculum to life and set high expectations in every classroom.
• Grow your team coach, develop and inspire the colleagues you lead.
• Raise the profile of Computing build enrichment such as coding clubs, competitions and links with local employers, so students see where the subject can take them.
• Drive outcomes use assessment well to make sure every student, whatever their starting point, makes excellent progress.

Why join us?

• You won’t start from scratch a shared, carefully sequenced curriculum with lesson booklets for KS3, OCR GCSE Computer Science (J277) and OCR Creative iMedia (R093/R094), written by computing specialists in the trust.
• Specialist support subject-specific guidance and coaching from the trust’s Director of Computer Science.
• A network of colleagues collaborate with computing teachers across NET’s 17 secondary academies.
• Trust-wide events for students give your students the chance to compete, create and shine beyond the classroom at trust events such as Cyber North and the NET Game Dev Jam.
• A career, not just a job routes into trust-wide subject roles and senior leadership, supported by the NET Staff College.

About you

You are an ambitious, forward-thinking computing teacher with excellent subject knowledge and high expectations? You may already lead a department, or be ready to take your first step into leadership. Above all, you believe every young person deserves to understand and shape the technology around them.

We warmly welcome visits and informal conversations before you apply please get in touch using the contact details below.

Northern Education Trust offers:

• The opportunity to work and progress across the family of schools, should you wish in the future;
• The chance to apply for leadership roles in the Deeps structure taking on a whole school leadership project;
• The support and expertise of Director of Subjects.
• A full and detailed programme of support and development for all;
• A further comprehensive programme of professional development, including leadership, provided through the NET Staff College.

Employee benefits

• Free flu vaccinations
• Free onsite parking

In accordance with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025, an online search will be completed on all shortlisted applicants prior to interview. Any relevant information will be discussed further with the applicant during the interview process.

The Trust is committed to considering flexible working requests.

The Trust is committed to safer recruitment practice and pre-employment checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed. All posts are subject to enhanced disclosure and barring service checks. We expect all adults to share our commitment to safeguarding and the health and wellbeing of our pupils.

In order to apply for this position, please visit: https://northerneducation.octo-firstclass.co.uk/candidates/account/login/203712?aisId=12&rmId=3361

For more information, please contact Rebecca Howarth, Business Manager at r.howarth@northerneducationtrust.org

Closing date: 12 noon Friday 27^th November 2026

Interviews to take place: W/C 30 November 2026