Deputy Director of Primary Education

Deputy Director of Primary Education

Location: Wymondham (with travel to schools within the trust as the role needs)

Salary: Leadership Scale 18 - 23 £78,702 - £88,951

Vacancy Type: Permanent, Full Time

Closing Date: Monday 17th August 2026

Sapientia Education Trust is a successful and ambitious Multi-Academy Trust serving schools across Norfolk and Suffolk. Established in 2016, the Trust has grown to 22 schools, educating almost 9,000 pupils across primary, secondary and sixth form provision. With further schools expected to join the Trust in the coming years, we are entering an exciting new phase of growth, development and opportunity.

Our central teams provide expert support across education, finance, HR, ICT, health and safety, governance and estates. Together, we work in partnership with school leaders to remove barriers, drive improvement and ensure our schools have the resources they need to succeed.

THE ROLE

To help lead primary education across a growing Multi-Academy Trust and drive exceptional outcomes for children and young people.

This is an outstanding opportunity for an ambitious and highly effective primary school leader to join one of East Anglia's most successful and rapidly expanding Multi-Academy Trusts.

As Deputy Director of Primary Education, you will play a key role within the Trust's Central Education Team, supporting the Deputy CEO and Director of Education in delivering the Trust's vision for primary education. Working across a portfolio of primary schools, you will provide strategic leadership, support and challenge to headteachers, helping to secure strong standards, effective leadership and sustained school improvement.

Reporting directly to the Deputy CEO/Director of Education, you will oversee school performance, line manage headteachers and contribute to Trust-wide quality assurance, leadership development and improvement activity. You will work closely with school leaders to identify priorities, strengthen leadership capacity and ensure that all pupils benefit from a high-quality education, regardless of background or circumstance.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

The personal competencies expected of all Trust support staff are:

Knowledge and Understanding

• Strong understanding of primary school effectiveness, including the quality of education, leadership and management, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and safeguarding 
• Secure knowledge of Ofsted frameworks and the evidence base required to demonstrate school effectiveness and sustained improvement
• Strong understanding of school improvement, including diagnosis of need, prioritisation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of impact
• Ability to interpret attainment, progress, attendance and wider performance information to hold leaders to account and secure improvement
• Understanding of how to lead improvement in outcomes so that pupils achieve strongly, including outcomes above national benchmarks where appropriate
• Knowledge of effective leadership structures, accountability systems and governance reporting within a primary school or trust context
• Understanding of inclusion, SEND, disadvantage and safeguarding as core elements of whole-school effectiveness
• Awareness of current developments in primary education, accountability and system leadership

Skills and Personal Qualities

• Ability to evaluate practice and identify priorities for improvement
• Ability to translate strategy into practical actions in schools
• Strong communication and influencing skills
• Ability to build effective relationships and teams
• Strong organisational and time management skills
• Ability to manage change effectively
• Ability to prioritise and work across multiple schools
• Positive, resilient and solution-focused
• Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills
• Commitment to inclusion and high expectations for all pupils
• Strong sense of accountability

Please note: This is a brief description of the job role and specifications, for a list of further details click the link below.

Interviews

Week commencing 24th August

To Apply

If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for Sapientia Education Trust, please click apply to be redirected to their website to complete your application.