Curriculum Performance Lead - Animal Care & Horticulture

Curriculum Performance Lead – Animal Care and Plant Sciences/Horticulture

Hours; Full time (37 hours each week, all year-round)

Duration; Permanent

Salary; £43,672 a year + benefits

Location; Dearne Valley College, Rotherham

About the Role

Are you an experienced, high-performing lecturer or course leader ready to take your first step into operational leadership? Do you have a passion for driving academic excellence and inspiring both staff and students to reach their full potential?

RNN Group is seeking a dynamic, passionate, and proactive Curriculum Performance Lead (CPL) to join our team. As a first-line leader, you will play a pivotal role in shaping our inclusive curriculum, ensuring our provision aligns with local, regional, and national skills needs for a sustainable future.

The Curriculum Performance Lead is a dual-element role combining operational leadership with a small teaching commitment (approximately 12 hours per week). You will lead a dedicated team of lecturers, assessors, and technicians across a variety of provisions—including Study Programmes (EPYP), Adult Learners, Higher Level Skills, Commercial, and Apprenticeships.

This position is ideal for someone with a robust understanding of quality assurance and curriculum planning who is eager to improve performance through coaching, clear accountability, and collaborative practice.

Operational & Team Leadership

• Line Management: Provide clear direction, support, and professional challenge to lecturers, assessors, and technicians to drive high standards of performance and conduct.
• Performance & Development: Lead the Performance Development Review (PDR) process for your team, setting clear targets and identifying continuing professional development (CPD) needs.
• Staff Induction & Support: Provide personalised, structured induction and mentoring for new and developing staff to build team capability and confidence.
• Resource Planning: Efficiently manage staffing allocation, contribute to timetable development, and oversee delegated physical resources and budgets.

Quality Assurance & Curriculum Excellence

• Academic Rigour: Lead the local self-assessment process (SAR), manage Internal Quality Assessment/Moderation (IQA/EQA), and ensure absolute compliance with external awarding bodies.
• Quality Improvement: Conduct learning walks in collaboration with the Quality Team to continuously improve the classroom and training experience.
• Data Integrity: Manage student data tightly—ensuring highly accurate and timely registers, tracking enrolment, and monitoring exam claims alongside the MIS team.

Student Success & Inclusive Practice

• Teaching & Tutoring: Deliver high-quality teaching, planning, and assessment across a range of programmes tailored to your qualifications, while acting as a group tutor.
• Early Intervention: Constantly track student attendance, punctuality, and progress, implementing early intervention strategies to tackle underperformance.
• Inclusive Curriculum: Work collaboratively to eliminate barriers to education, ensuring students with Educational Health and Care Plans (EHCP) or those facing social exclusion receive preventative, tailored support.
• Employability & Recruitment: Engage with employers, schools, and parents to secure real-world projects, placements, and guest speakers, while recruiting the "Right Students to the Right Course."

Key Role Objectives

• Foster a department-wide culture of high expectations, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Use empowering coaching techniques to support the mental health, well-being, life skills, and self-reliance of both staff and students.
• Ensure full institutional compliance with regulatory bodies, with a strong focus on Keeping Children Safe in Education and the Prevent Duty.
• Meet or exceed departmental KPIs, regularly reporting progress to the Curriculum Manager regarding student recruitment, retention, and achievement.

The Challenges You'll Thrive On

• Being a Role Model: Remaining positive and solution-focused at all times, helping teaching and support staff overcome daily obstacles.
• Supporting Every Learner: Helping students achieve their absolute best, regardless of the personal or educational challenges they face.
• Navigating Change: Embracing and adapting to changing awarding body specifications and curriculum shifts with agility and support from your Curriculum Manager.

You will…

You will be an experienced lecturer, or course leader within the area of Animal Care and Land Based provision, with a proven track record of excellent educational outcomes with strong knowledge of curriculum intent, quality assurance processes, and data tracking within Further Education, Adult and Apprentices.

You will be an empathetic, coaching-focused leader capable of motivating staff and building confident, independent learners.

A collaborative professional ready to work cross-campus and participate in cross-college project working groups.

You will hold a Level 2 (or equivalent) qualification in English and Maths (or be willing to undertake), hold a recognised teaching qualification at Level 5 or higher, and a professionally relevant qualification within animal care, veterinary sciences or animal welfare or plant sciences. An assessor’s award (A1/CAVA) will be advantageous.

We understand that no candidate will perfectly match every qualification or criterion listed. If your experience differs from what we've outlined but you believe you can contribute to this role, we encourage you to apply!

Department Info

Reporting to the Curriculum Manager, you will work alongside colleagues within the curriculum area and wider college departments. You will provide supervisory/first line management for lecturers, assessors and teaching assistants as directed by the Curriculum Manager.

Our excellent benefits and rewards package:

-       Access to teachers pensions scheme (with employer contributions to 23.68%)

-       Up to 50 days annual leave per year including closure during Christmas period

-       Access to our gyms, restaurants and salons

-       Staff health & wellbeing and benefits schemes including in-house Occupational Health service

-       Extensive wellbeing support through a digital Wellbeing Hub that offers a broad range of support for physical, mental, and financial wellbeing.

-       Full, part time and flexible working hours available in many roles

-       Free Parking available at all of our sites

-       Fantastic career development opportunities including funding for teacher training, apprenticeships and various other industry recognised qualifications

-       New FE teachers can also apply for grants of up to £6,000 in STEM subjects (conditions apply) through the teacher retention initiative

-       Recruitment Referral Scheme for all employees, worth £200 per referral made

What is the RNN Group?

RNN Group’s main goal is to be an ‘outstanding’ education and training provider and this is at the heart of everything that we do. To help us achieve this we are looking to recruit highly motivated, innovative and dynamic individuals to join our existing teams. To be a part of the team at RNN Group we will expect you to be committed to our values too;

• We are Inclusive,
• We have Integrity,
• We Deliver,
• We are One Team.

We are OFSTED ‘Good’ (November 2022)

We celebrate diversity and are proud to be recognised as Investors in Diversity for our commitment to the FREDIE (Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement) model, fostering a supportive environment for all. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of background, proudly participating in the Disability Confident Scheme, and provide reasonable adjustments.

The RNN Group is proud to be part of the South Yorkshire Institute of Technology (SYIoT).

As a newly designated Defence Technical Excellence College, RNN Group is proud to support the UK’s defence sector by developing the next generation of highly skilled technical talent.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, vulnerable adults and young people. All new employees will be required undertake a DBS check and other associated checks in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education Guidance.

The Group’s core operating hours are 8.30am-5.00pm (9pm on a Tuesday and Thursday during term time). You may be expected to work at any time during these hours to ensure business needs are met.

All candidates must have the legal right to work in the UK.

Closing date: Monday 15 June 2026 – if you are shortlisted for this post, you will be contacted within a week of the closing date.