Location
London Borough of Hackney

Hours
Full Time

Salary
£67,260 per annum

About the Role
Hackney Council is recognised as one of the UK’s highest-performing local authorities, serving a vibrant and dynamic community in one of London’s most desirable locations. Over the past twenty years, we have built a reputation for excellence, innovation, and ambition.

Hackney Education is committed to being the UK’s most forward-looking education system. We aim to enhance the life chances of every learner by creating an inspiring environment that guarantees inclusion and success for everyone. We are leading the way in our fight for equity, with a specific focus on becoming an actively anti-racist borough. As we rank among the 10% most deprived areas in England, our key priority is providing strong support for underserved families and communities.

The School Organisation and Place Planning Team is crucial to Hackney’s overarching education strategy. This strategy aims to provide high-quality education for every child by developing an agile and sustainable school system. This system will build on existing collaborative models while addressing challenges such as fluctuating pupil numbers, limited resources, and the growing needs of children requiring significant support.

We are seeking an ambitious and experienced School Organisation Strategic Manager to lead the development and implementation of our long-term vision for school provision. The role is responsible for the strategic planning and delivery of school places, ensuring there are enough high-quality sustainable school places. This involves supporting proposals on school organisation changes and working with stakeholders to implement decisions.

This role provides strategic leadership on school organisation and place planning strategy, with direct accountability for delivering complex and politically sensitive change programmes, including school closures, mergers, and asset optimisation. The post holder manages one team member, ensuring operational excellence, effective governance, and partnership working.

Educated to degree level, equivalent professional qualification or relevant experience. This post is not subject to a DBS requirement.

All workers are expected to operate flexibly to support the delivery of services and may be required to undertake responsibilities outside the normal remit of the role as required.

Hackney Council values its staff as its most outstanding asset, dedicated to serving residents and committed to organisational goals. We are working towards a vision to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud, celebrate diversity, and feel valued, included and involved.

We operate a fair and open anonymous selection process and do not accept supporting statements or CVs. Applicants will complete competency-based questions to demonstrate suitability for the role.

Closing date for applications: 05 October 2026 (22:59). Interview date: To be confirmed.

Experience
Significant senior-level experience in delivering complex programmes in a public sector setting, ideally involving school reorganisation or public consultation.

About you
- Strategic leader passionate about educational excellence and organisational efficiency.
- Strong understanding of public consultation, equalities legislation, and governance.
- Extensive experience in school organisation and pupil place planning, strategic planning, and managing school re-organisation projects.
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to build rapport and maintain positive working relationships with staff, managers, and stakeholders.
- Confident in presenting accurate and relevant data in various formats and using strategic trends and insights to provide advice and recommendations.

Qualifications
Educated to degree level, equivalent professional qualification or relevant experience.