The postholder will provide strategic leadership across a broad policy portfolio, joining up policy and delivery and championing the Strategy across the Directorate and wider Department. They will work closely with Ministers, Private Office, senior leaders and central strategy and coordination teams, ensuring priorities are effectively developed, communicated and implemented and that intended outcomes and benefits are realised.

As a member of the Education Estates Senior Leadership Team, the postholder will also play an important role in the continued transformation of the Directorate, providing collaborative leadership and supporting an inclusive culture and evidence-based decision making.

The role requires someone who can see the bigger picture, bring clarity to complex issues and provide strong strategic direction, while building relationships and influencing effectively at senior levels.

The education estate is more than its buildings – it is a platform for opportunity, learning and community. With over 22,000 schools and colleges, the education estate supports the outcomes, health and wellbeing of over 10 million children, young people and adult learners.

The aim of this role is to ensure the implementation of the Education Estates Strategy published in February 2026. Through this, we are seeking to maximise the opportunity across the education estate and support Responsible Bodies to ensure schools and colleges are brilliant places to learn in.

The postholder should be a very experienced civil servant with experience of working with Ministers and at a senior level on policy development and implementation. They should have excellent communicating and drafting skills and be experienced in communications and working with press office.

Essential criteria:

• Experienced in setting direction and seeing the bigger picture, creating joined up strategies and plans that have positive impact and add value for stakeholders, citizens and communities.
• Able to demonstrate excellent leadership across a wide portfolio, with experience of changing and improving programmes and policies to ensure impact.
• A proven track record of leading and communicating, influencing senior colleagues, external partners, stakeholders and customers successfully – secure mutually beneficial outcomes.
• Evidence of delivering results, developing clear plans and working with teams to achieve outcomes.

Benefits: Alongside your salary of £86,000, Department for Education contributes £24,914 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours. Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting.

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Responsibilities:

Inbox and Diary Management:

• Serve as a key point of contact for the region
• Handle inquiries professionally
• Manage the directorate's inbox
• Provide diary management support
• Assist in managing the Conflict of Interest (CoI) register

Administrative Support:

• Deliver high-quality administrative support
• Prepare documents
• Take meeting notes
• Maintain accurate and organised records
• Ensure confidential information is handled with discretion

Recruitment Support:

• Support recruitment processes
• Manage administrative tasks
• Liaise with candidates and stakeholders

Stakeholder and Relationship Management:

• Build and maintain strong working relationships
• Ensure effective collaboration and communication

Apprenticeship:

• Complete the Business Administrator Apprenticeship (Level 3)

Requirements:

• Motivated and able to manage a varied workload
• Able to work at pace and respond flexibly
• Great communication skills
• Ability to establish good relationships

Benefits:

• Salary of £32,581 - £36,679 per year
• Contribution to the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme
• 25 days leave, increasing to 30 days after five years' service
• Flexible working arrangements
• Opportunities for professional development

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This appointment comes at a pivotal time with a new Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Education emphasising the importance of an effective place-based approach to the education system. The South East region is extensive, covering a wide range of communities and varying levels of effectiveness and performance among academy trusts and local authorities. The Regional Director will work collaboratively with local partners to enable children and young people in the region to succeed.

Job Description:

The Regional Director will lead the South East team to deliver on the vision set out in Government policy, aligned to Regions Group strategic priorities and informed by local context. Key responsibilities include:

• Providing local leadership for programmes and activities in support of the Government's Opportunity Mission
• Leading the new regional approach to school improvement, ensuring targeted intervention in schools where standards are weak
• Working in partnership with local authorities and academy trusts to promote knowledge of and access to wider school improvement support
• Leading improvement and intervention in children's social care functions in local authorities
• Taking decisions relating to oversight of the academy trust system, including trust growth, academy transfer, and compliance with the Academies Trust Handbook
• Working with local authorities to ensure sufficient places for pupils
• Providing advice, briefing, and support to Ministers
• Leading on a cross-cutting priority area on behalf of Regions Group
• Leading a strong, inclusive, and effective culture of delivery across a diverse team

Person Specification:

Essential criteria include:

• Excellent system leadership skills gained within the education or care sector, local or national government
• Ability to galvanise influential stakeholder relationships that can deliver impact
• Proven ability to make decisions based on evidence and analysis
• Effective communication skills to advocate for delivery and policy development
• Demonstrable experience of leading and delivering change inclusively with a team

Benefits:

• Salary: £105,000 - £150,000 per year
• Membership of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme, with a contribution of £30,418 from the Department for Education
• 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years' service
• King's Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days' bank and public holidays
• Flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time, and compressed hours
• Opportunities for professional development

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We are looking for two exceptional Higher Executive Officer (HEO) candidates with strong design, research and technological skills. These roles are integral to delivering Policy Lab’s portfolio of policy innovation projects.

Job Description

Project Delivery

• Work as part of a multidisciplinary, design and research-led project team, providing essential support across project operations and delivery and cross-government engagement.
• Work confidently in a fast-paced, agile environment, managing competing priorities and adapting to changing requirements.
• Support research, design and delivery activity, including logistics for user research, workshops, sprints and events (online and in person), ensuring smooth research and design delivery.
• Work closely with policy, technology and research colleagues, as well as external partners and commissioners, to ensure projects are well run, inclusive and effective.
• Support engagement and business development activity, including coordinating meetings with commissioners, contributing to proposals, and maintaining clear, professional communications.

Design and Creative Practice

• Support and deliver day-to-day design processes within Policy Lab projects, ranging from visual design tasks, creating communication materials, workshop design and delivery, and report design.
• Run creative research activities using a range of material and virtual facilitation techniques to capture people’s lived experience and new ideas.
• Manage diary, travel and meeting arrangements where required, ensuring clear information flows.
• Contribute to continuous improvement by contributing to reviews and refinements of design processes.
• Support communications activity of project work to demonstrate how Policy Lab’s work results in better policy outcomes for people in the UK.

Creative Technology

• Work flexibly across multiple coding languages, programming environments and cloud services to iterate existing Policy Lab software prototypes.
• Develop innovative new software applications using emerging technologies including AI and vibecoding within Policy Lab projects, to meet commissioner needs.
• Support the building of capability around the use and creation of creative technology prototypes within Policy Lab and across wider government.
• Help run and analyse user research, prototype testing and show-and-tell sessions to inform the iteration of Policy Lab’s emerging technology practice.

Person Specification

• High-quality project delivery: experience supporting ambitious projects or programmes that achieve impactful outcomes, maintaining a strong attention to detail.
• Cutting-edge design or creative technology skills: experience applying excellent design and/or creative technology skills across multiple projects in a fast-paced, agile environment, resulting in high-quality products and outcomes.
• Working in multidisciplinary teams: experience managing competing priorities and different ways of working; maintaining effective working relationships across a wide range of stakeholders.
• Innovative approaches to policymaking: experience and/or proven interest in applying design and/or creative technology skills to policy design challenges, through methods such as people-centred research, co-design, speculative design or other participatory methods.

Benefits

• Salary: £37,260 - £41,537 per year
• Department for Education contributes £10,794 towards being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
• 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service.
• King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.
• Flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

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The Pre-16 Assurance Team provides regularity assurance over circa £77 billion of grant funding, paid to local authorities, local-maintained schools, academy trust schools and early years providers, to both the DfE Accounting Officer, and the National Audit Office (NAO).

Your main responsibilities will include:

Leadership and Delivery

• Lead the planning, delivery and reporting on pre-16 assurance work-strands, ensuring assurance objectives are delivered effectively and efficiently.
• Own team outputs and deliverables, ensuring plans align with wider assurance objectives, departmental and strategic priorities.
• Develop, manage and deliver risk-based assurance plans that deliver efficient and effective assurance over grant funding.
• Ensure assurance activities support the successful achievement of Assurance Division objectives.
• Identify delivery risks and emerging issues, taking timely action to maintain performance and quality standards.
• Oversee the production of clear, concise and evidence-based assurance assessments, reports and briefings for senior stakeholders.
• Work with other assurance managers, contributing to the management and delivery of the annual regularity assurance programme.
• Liaise with the NAO Audit Team to facilitate delivery of their regularity audit of grants.

Assurance and Risk Management

• Design, develop and implement assurance frameworks, strategies, plans and approaches for complex or high-value grant programmes and funding streams.
• Oversee the delivery of either the local authority regularity assurance programme or the academy financial regularity assurance programme.
• Evaluate assurance findings and grant data sources to identify trends, risks, control weaknesses and opportunities for improvement.
• Ensure sufficient assurance is obtained that grants are being used for their intended purposes and in accordance with funding agreements and departmental requirements.
• Lead the escalation and reporting of significant risks and assurance concerns, supporting effective decision-making by senior leaders.
• Actively contribute to the Grants Transformation Programme Risk and Assurance strand.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Build and maintain strong partnerships across policy, delivery, finance and commercial functions.
• Collaborate with grant policy, management and delivery teams to improve assurance practices and strengthen risk management.
• Communicate assurance findings and recommendations clearly and professionally to audited bodies, senior leaders and stakeholders.
• Bring together diverse perspectives and evidence to support balanced and informed assurance judgements.

People Leadership

• Create a clear sense of team purpose and foster a high-performing, inclusive and collaborative culture.
• Empower individuals and teams with confidence and empathy to take initiative, exercise professional judgement and contribute to continuous improvement.
• Manage performance proactively, setting clear expectations and providing regular, honest, direct, kind and constructive feedback.
• Support the professional development of team members through coaching, mentoring and targeted learning opportunities.
• Promote knowledge sharing, collaboration and continuous learning across the team and wider assurance community.
• Champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing, ensuring all colleagues are supported to achieve their potential.

The role offers a salary of £60,222 - £64,518 per year, and a range of benefits including 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years' service, plus the King's Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days' bank and public holidays.

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As a lead software developer, you will be part of a team responsible for developing and supporting scalable, secure, and high-quality user-centric digital services. Working with senior colleagues, you will lead team members on the design and build of digital services and will work closely with colleagues within multidisciplinary agile teams, that focus on delivering work iteratively and at pace. You will innovate to radically transform how public services are delivered and improved.

The DfE is looking for a lead software developer who will add rigour and value to an organisation where software development across Data and Digital product delivery is still evolving. This is an exciting opportunity to help build and maintain a software development capability in a fast-paced environment within the Department.

You will be an experienced software development leader and practitioner, setting technical direction across the project, wider department and creating the conditions for teams to build maintainable, sustainable and user-centred digital products. You will work across organisational boundaries to improve engineering standards, enable effective delivery and develop the capability of the software development community.

Responsibilities:

• Be responsible for a team of developers, including line management
• Help lead the development community to ensure we build maintainable and sustainable digital products
• Stay up to date with, and support the creation/maintenance of, standards around development practices and techniques to best enable our teams to consistently deliver at pace
• Handle allocation of developers to teams, ensuring a good balance of personalities, skills and seniority, enabling the teams to deliver great services quickly
• Mentor development teams, helping ensure they're building things to our standards, and identifying opportunities for collaboration and career progression
• Advocate user-centric, agile approaches which focus on rapid, effective delivery of high-quality digital services
• Transform government into a modern, agile development centre by embedding practices like Test Driven Development, continuous deployment, and DevSecOps
• Support sharing of methods and technologies across teams, government, and the industry by helping to organise internal and external events
• Help publicise our achievements and learning through blog posts and social media
• Provide leadership for the support and operation of digital services, including the triage and resolution of significant software issues. Participate in an out-of-hours support rota where required, for which an allowance will be paid.

Person specification:

Essential Criteria:

• Expert practical experience of software development using C# .NET, together with strong knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and the ability to set technical direction and evaluate appropriate technologies across a varied software estate.
• Expert experience of creating, sustaining and assuring modern software development standards, practices and techniques across multiple teams, enabling consistent delivery of secure, accessible, maintainable and high-quality digital services.
• Significant experience of setting technical direction and potentially leading multiple technical teams to deliver user-focused services in an agile environment, including developing people, influencing senior stakeholders and resolving complex delivery and engineering challenges.
• Expert experience of establishing, embedding and assuring modern software development practices, including test-driven development, automated testing, CI/CD, DevSecOps and modern GitHub-based development workflows, with evidence of improving deployment quality, frequency and reliability.
• Expert experience of designing and assuring scalable, resilient cloud architectures using appropriate IaaS and PaaS services, with strong knowledge of infrastructure as code, containerisation, operability and cost-effective service design.
• Expert experience of applying and assuring software design principles, including object-oriented design, SOLID principles and design patterns, and of designing scalable, maintainable and loosely coupled architectures using RESTful APIs and microservices where appropriate.
• Expert understanding of web application security, including the OWASP Top 10, with significant experience of embedding secure development practices and assuring that security risks are identified, managed and addressed throughout the software delivery lifecycle.
• Significant experience of building software development capability through knowledge sharing, coaching and mentoring, leading a diverse and inclusive development community across multidisciplinary teams, and enabling the adoption of shared methods and technologies that improve the sustainability of digital products.

Benefits:

Alongside your salary of £73,334, Department for Education contributes £21,244 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK. You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

Part‑time hours may be available, this will be considered by the hiring manager on a case-by-case basis, dependant on business need.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

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As Deputy Director, you will be directly accountable for:

• Press Office and Media Relations, leading the department's 24/7 media operation, overseeing strategic media engagement, proactive communications, and issues management.
• Leading the department's content and channel strategy, ensuring our work is based on evidence and puts our audiences first.
• Leading creative content production across video, photography, graphic design, and emerging formats.
• Working with strategic and marketing leads to develop integrated communications campaigns.
• Providing advice and delivery plans to ministers, colleagues, and advisers.

The outcomes you will deliver:

• High levels of confidence in all our audiences in the work of the department.
• A movement for change driven by your communication abilities that brings pupils, students, parents, teachers, lecturers, and everyone involved in education together.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria:

1. Excellent leadership, with a proven track record transforming multidisciplinary communications functions in a complex and high-profile environment.
2. Media expertise, with significant experience leading media engagement and managing high-profile and challenging issues.
3. A deep understanding of digital and content-driven storytelling.
4. The ability to convene and influence senior leaders and partners.
5. Sound leadership and people management skills.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £92,000, the Department for Education contributes £26,652 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years' service. We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time, and compressed hours.

Selection Process

The selection process will include:

1. Online numerical and verbal reasoning assessments.
2. A staff engagement exercise.
3. A formal in-person interview.

Other Information

• The successful candidate will be subject to a social media check and Due Diligence prior to appointment.
• The Department for Education does not cover the cost of travel to your interview or assessment unless otherwise stated.

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At DfE, we are proud of the commitment we make to diversity and inclusion and of the progress we have made. We have active & vibrant staff networks, special leave policies and workplace adjustments put in place for those who need them. We are continuing to build a diverse DfE, in an inclusive environment which nurtures and realises potential in all, at all levels.

Hosted by the DfE, the Evaluation Services Unit (ESU) is a cross-government unit launched in 2024 to make it quicker, easier and more affordable for the Civil Service to conduct high-quality policy evaluations. We operate like an in-house consultancy, working at pace to deliver evaluation projects across all policy areas, including health, policing, and government reform. As a Senior Evaluation Advisor, you will play a key role in shaping this new service, delivering high-quality evaluation projects on some of the most important policy issues facing the country, while working closely with the Cabinet Office and other partners to maximise the impact of this exciting new initiative. This is a unique opportunity to apply your expertise where it matters most, helping government make better decisions and improving outcomes for citizens.

Job description

Working with the Head of the Evaluation Services Unit, your primary role will be to deliver high-quality evaluation projects for customers across government. Responding to demand and tailoring your approach as needed, you will design and deliver impact, process and Value for Money evaluations that shape policy decisions. You will also be responsible for helping to identify and agree new projects. You will proactively build networks across government, promote the team and pitch for work, helping to develop a community of satisfied customers that pays us enough to cover our costs. This is a fantastic opportunity to shape a new cross-government evaluation service, helping to build it from the ground up. Candidates must have detailed knowledge of evaluation methods and their application to complex policy questions, they must be able to deliver a high-quality service to our customers, and they must have the creativity and resilience to operate effectively in an environment that is more like a business start-up than a government department.

Key responsibilities include:

• Designing & delivering policy evaluations: you will lead the design and delivery of high-quality policy evaluations across a wide range of areas. You will ensure the evaluations you design are practical, proportionate and robust. You will report findings in a clear and accessible way.
• Delivering a quality service - you must be able to deliver a high-quality service to our customers, interpreting their needs accurately, responding creatively, communicating effectively and adapting as required.
• Managing teams & projects: you will take responsibility for a portfolio of work, covering multiple projects simultaneously and managing colleagues as needed to deliver at pace.
• Generating new business: you will proactively promote the ESU’s services, and pitch for work, generating a pipeline of high impact projects to further develop a community of satisfied customers.
• Improving services: you will work collaboratively with colleagues to refine existing services and develop new approaches that improve the quality of the ESU’s offer.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Designing and delivering policy evaluations: you will have significant experience of leading on the design and delivery of high-quality policy evaluations, using both quantitative and qualitative methods.
• Managing a quality service: you must be experienced in managing customers on complex evaluation projects, clarifying their needs and communicating with them effectively throughout.
• Managing people and teams: you will have experience of line managing a small team, task managing a wider group, and collaborating effectively with peers and seniors.
• Generating new business: you must be comfortable networking with stakeholders, promoting the work of the team, finding new opportunities and converting these into paid projects.

Technical Skill:

• Evaluation expertise: The successful candidate will have substantial experience applying a range of evaluation techniques to policy programmes and interventions. In particular, you must have a strong track record in designing and delivering counterfactual impact evaluations, alongside experience using qualitative research methods. You will be confident in planning and executing high-quality policy evaluations from end to end. Proficiency in R, Stata, or an equivalent statistical software package is expected, or you must be willing to learn.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £60,222, Department for Education contributes £17,446 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

Part‑time hours available, from a minimum of 0.8 FTE.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

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This role represents an exciting opportunity for a highly skilled psychometrician to support the development and delivery of national assessments. The role requires excellent, demonstrable skills in item response theory among other educational measurement analytical techniques.

Job Description:

The post holder will report to the Head of Assessment Research and Psychometrics.

You will be responsible for leading a team of psychometricians responsible for quantitative analysis for trialling and standards maintenance for statutory large scale national curriculum assessments. Your responsibilities will include:

• Line management and task management of psychometricians.
• Leading and developing technical experts to deliver high quality work and develop their skills.
• Undertaking psychometric and statistical analysis on a range of testing programmes.
• Contributing to the development of tests and other assessments through provision of psychometric expertise.
• Working closely with trialling manager to ensure data from trialling meets analysis needs both from paper-based and digital assessments.
• Ensuring the process for setting and maintaining standards on tests is undertaken in a rigorous way.
• Applying appropriate project management techniques to ensure that all projects are delivered to time, cost and quality.
• Leading on development and coding of tools for psychometric analysis using for example, R, RShiny, SQL and VBA, and the willingness to develop competency with other software as required.
• Contributing to the development of evidence on validity, reliability and fairness of tests.
• Contributing to data governance for the team.

Person Specification:

Essential Criteria:

• Strong experience delivering high quality analysis in an operational testing/assessment context. This will include using advanced skills in Excel and experience in IRT software such as flexMIRT and experience in at least one of the following: R, SQL, VBA, Python.
• Experience applying knowledge of assessment theories and psychometric techniques such as classical test theory, item response theory and validity theory.
• Experience using advanced programming skills with a focus on quality of coding and developing integrated tools to support analysis and improve processes.
• Experience leading and supporting technical colleagues in specialist domain knowledge and skills such as equating, standard setting and standards maintenance for evidence-based decision making.
• Experience leading with purpose and direction, organising and supporting others in effective collaboration with other teams and/or stakeholders, to deliver high quality outcomes for a project at pace to tight timescales.

Benefits:

Alongside your salary of £60,222, Department for Education contributes £17,446 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK. You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

Part‑time hours available, from a minimum of 80% FTE.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

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