School Effectiveness Adviser - Secondary

About the role

School Effectiveness Adviser - Secondary

Contract: Permanent (starting January or April)

Hours: Full time, 37 hours per week

Salary: £75,000 p.a. (FTE)

Location: Hertfordshire, with the flexibility to be able to work in schools and trusts within surrounding counties as required

Are you a senior leader or school improvement professional who is passionate about supporting and helping schools to develop? If you want to make a difference as a system leader, and are looking for a new opportunity, we would like to hear from you.

We are looking to recruit a School Effectiveness Adviser to work with secondary schools. This post will be high profile and focused on system leadership to improve outcomes for all students.

We are looking for an excellent leader, with a successful background within a school, local authority or multi-academy trust. The successful candidate will be hard working and dynamic, have a proven track record of success in raising achievement and the ability to lead and inspire others. For this very important role, excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively as part of and across teams are essential.

You will join an experienced team of secondary school advisers who work alongside headteachers and senior leaders to support their self-evaluation, quality assurance and continuous improvement planning. As part of our team, you will utilise your skills and experience to develop new products, services and training that meet the needs of the range of schools that we support. You will be self-motivated, flexible and be prepared to travel to schools throughout Hertfordshire and neighbouring areas (travel allowance paid).

This is a great opportunity to join a highly regarded and successful team and have a significant impact on large numbers of students across a range of settings.

Our ‘working from anywhere’ approach provides colleagues the opportunity to work flexibly in line with their role requirements. This consists of working on-site across various schools and settings, remote working and, if desired, up to 2 days per week in our Head Office in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The ability to reach different locations will be essential for this role. If you drive, then a full driving licence and appropriate car insurance will be required. As there is a permanent home working element to this role, you will need to ensure you are equipped for home working.

Benefits: a generous employer pension contribution, 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays (rising to 31 days after five-years) or the equivalent paid for Term Time employees, family-friendly policies, hybrid working, paid mileage, a cycle to work scheme, access to mental health and wellbeing support, professional development opportunities, benefit schemes for discounts and cashback offers, and more.

Would you like to know more information about this opportunity? If so, further information can be found in the job outline. You can also contact Liz Shapland (Director of Education Services) at [email protected] or Becky Cox (Head of Secondary Leadership) at [email protected].

To apply, please download and complete the HfL application form along with the supporting statement, explaining how you meet the requirements of the job outline and person specification. We would also love to hear why you are interested in becoming part of the HFL Education team.

As part of our move towards eradicating unconscious bias within the recruitment process, we ask that you follow the guidance stated in the application forms.

To submit your application or to discuss any recruitment queries please email our Central Recruitment Team on [email protected] or 01438 544439.

We would love to hear from you.

Closing Date: 25th September 2026

Microsoft Teams Interview Date: 2nd October 2026

Interview Date: 16th October 2026 in Stevenage

We are committed towards becoming an anti-racist organisation, and our recruitment statement is set out below in support of this.

HFL is committed to being an equal opportunities employer. We insist on the equal treatment of all current and prospective colleagues and will never condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.

HFL is also equally committed to becoming an anti-racist organisation and we encourage you to view our Anti-racist position statement which gives clarity on our anti-racist stance. In our relentless efforts to be an anti-racist organisation, we recognise the negative impacts of under representation and lack of diversity in our organisation, our education system and in all aspects of our society. Therefore, for recruitment into any HFL post, where we have 2 or more candidates of equal merit, candidates with protected characteristics will be given advantage over candidates without such characteristics. This is sometimes referred to as a ‘tie-breaker’ and is referred to as ‘positive action’ in the Equality Act 2010.

To help us meet our high standards and aspirations of a fully diverse and inclusive workplace, we strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply and to join us.

Please note that if you are invited to interview, we will expect you to be prepared to discuss unconscious bias with us; we find these conversations more than any others give us all a good idea of what working together will be like.

HFL is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and shortlisted candidates will be asked to share any relevant criminal history prior to interview.

The successful applicant will also be subject to enhanced DBS and barred list checks in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education.