Chief Operating Officer

Job Reference GAKAGA
Closing Date Friday 05 Jun 2020

The Good Shepherd Trust (GST) is a growing family of 16 church and community schools within the Diocese of Guildford. The Trust currently educates 4,700 children across its schools (3 infants, 3 junior, 9 primary and 1 secondary) in both urban and rural settings within Surrey and Hampshire.
The Good Shepherd Trust is rooted within the Diocese of Guildford and its mission is to ensure the best possible educational outcomes for every pupil. The Trust believes that every pupil has the right to a broad and rich education to be achieved within a distinctly Christian context, valuing each child as an individual and enabling them to flourish by discovering and developing their God given gifts.
The Trust is at an exciting stage in its development with two major projects on the horizon. Firstly, the Board of GST has decided to transform the structure of the Trust through the creation of regional hubs for its schools from September 2020. The second major development will be improvements to, and a centralisation of, the Trust’s business operations, which is about driving efficiency and effectiveness across IT, finance, estates and HR. The intention is that these projects will lead to reduced operating costs for the Trust, which will in turn lead to more resource being invested in creating better outcomes for children. Alongside this centralisation project, the Trust will consider further opportunities for growth, that will continue to improve outcomes for children in the Diocese.
The GST is looking to appoint a dynamic and experienced Chief Operating Officer to provide leadership for the Trust’s centralisation project and wider transformation. The Chief Operating Officer will be responsible for driving change that will lead to operations being delivered more efficiently and more effectively across the Trust. This person will report to and work closely with the CEO providing leadership for the Business Operational side of the Trust and ensuring that this works cohesively with the Trust Strategy.
The successful candidate will be an experienced leader with a demonstrable track record of having delivered successful business operations, ideally with a significant degree of change, in an organisation of significant scale and/or complexity. They will be a dynamic, proactive person, capable of inspiring teams, working across functions, and effectively navigating a complex stakeholder landscape. The successful candidate will be naturally collaborative and will act as a role model for The Good Shepherd Trust’s values of Trust, Love, Courage, Respect and Integrity.
SAFEGUARDING STATEMENT: The Good Shepherd Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We ensure that all our employment practices reflect this commitment.
Saxton Bampfylde Ltd is acting as an employment agency advisor to The Good Shepherd Trust on this appointment. For further information about the role, including details about how to apply, please visit www.saxbam.com/appointments using reference GAKAGA. Alternatively telephone +44 (0)20 7227 0880 (during office hours). Applications should be received by noon on Friday 5th June 2020.