Director of Education - Southwest Education Region

Bunbury

Advertised Vacancy Number: DOE 888164

This is a 60 month fixed term, full-time position commencing Term 3, 2024

Provide every student in your region with a pathway to a successful future

The Department of Education is the WA public sector’s largest employer, with over 55,000 staff across the state delivering quality education for over 320,000 students. The Department’s strategic direction, “Every student, every classroom, every day” is exemplified in schools across the state.

We are seeking to fill the position of Director of Education for the Southwest Education Region.

About the Role

Our Directors of Education (Regions) play a critical role in supporting schools to operationalise the Department’s priorities and directions as outlined in the ‘Every Student Every Classroom Every Day’, ‘Building on Strength’ and ‘Focus’ documents.

Directors of Education undertake the following six key activities within the region:

Influencing student achievement and progress

Leadership of local, place-based initiatives to respond to local needs

Strengthening local inter-agency approaches

Incident response

Identification and development of leadership talent.

Leading connection with Aboriginal Groups, including traditional owners.

The Directors of Education impact student achievement and progress for public school students by having a highly developed skill set that influences the leadership teams of schools in their regions. Directors of Education are required to solve complex problems, source multiple solutions to complex issues and support principals and region office staff to do the same. Being able to respond quickly, calmly and in a considered way to incidents is part of the role. They work in collaboration with the Deputy Director General Schools and other system leaders to build a strong network of high performing public schools.

Directors of Education operationalise the Department’s strategic directions, so every student is provided with an educational pathway to a successful future. Through their leadership, student health and well-being outcomes will be enhanced, literacy and numeracy achievement improved, and student attendance increased. A key element of the roles will be leading improvement strategies so that outcomes for Aboriginal students are improved.

Directors of Education are based in each of the 8 educational regions and are the most senior Department representative at a regional level. They work locally to maintain proactive partnerships with significant stakeholders and lead cross-agency projects. To enable this, travel, housing and movement costs will be covered by the Department.

Directors of Education lead their educational regional offices, and these offices play an important role in brokering and coordinating support to families through complaints management, the management of enrolment appeals and preparing written advice to senior officers and Ministerial staff.

Additional Responsibilities

Enabling Aboriginal students to achieve as Aboriginal people is a priority for the Department and our vision is to be a reconciled and culturally responsive education system. The Directors of Education are leading this work through the establishment of ongoing partnerships and forums with local Aboriginal Elders, families, students and staff. Reconciliation is a priority for all senior leaders of the Department and Directors of Education are involved in the Native Title Holders to understand and commit to delivering on educational opportunities that enable students to fulfill their aspirations.

Directors of Education will be expected to establish and maintain partnerships with other agencies in the locations in which they serve a model collaboration with other leaders, and across the regions. Participation in District Leadership Groups and informal partnerships with other heads of agencies help to provide the pre-conditions for student learning and calm, safe learning environments.

About the Department

The Western Australian Public School system is driven by a connected autonomy agenda, seeking to capitalise on the advantages of empowerment and the benefits of belonging to a system of schools. The Directors of Education are a part of the system architecture that includes:

Public School Review

Principal Professional Review

Collegiate Principals and

State Wide Services

This architecture has been designed to ensure that every school knows what needs to be achieved for the students they educate, what supports are in place and how they will know if they are meeting the expectations.

Directors of Education are based in each of the 8 educational regions and are the most senior Department representative at a regional level. They work locally to maintain proactive partnerships with significant stakeholders and lead cross-agency projects. To enable this, travel, housing and movement costs will be covered by the Department.

Directors of Education lead their educational regional offices, and these offices play an important role in brokering and coordinating support to families through complaints management, the management of enrolment appeals and preparing written advice to senior officers and Ministerial staff.

We are seeking applicants for this position who are highly capable leaders, able to work with and influence other leaders, with a passion for improving outcomes for all public school students. The ability to be able to pivot seamlessly from strategy to other elements such as crisis or critical incident management is crucial. Applicants with exceptional experience in educational leadership and development are encouraged to apply.

For Further Job Related Information

More details on this position, including information on eligibility and training requirements, and can be found in the attached Job Description Form (JDF).

For specific information relating to the role and responsibilities, please contact Melesha Sands, Deputy Director General Schools, on 08 9264 5570 or via email at [email protected].

Information for Applicants

To be suitable for this role, you will need to demonstrate the following work related requirements:

Shape and manage strategy

Achieve results

Build productive relationships

Exemplify personal integrity and self-awareness

Communicate and influence effectively

In addition to these work related requirements, the Department of Education has identified six critical personal attributes (the Department’s Leadership Attributes) that are the pre-conditions for successful educational leadership. These define the personal attributes and dispositions that are expected of the Directors of Education.

These attributes are;

Openness and capacity for learning

Trustworthiness

Resilience

Interpersonal acumen

Self awareness and

Drive to excel

Demonstration and assessment of these Leadership Attributes will form part of the assessment process for these positions. Applicants will be assessed against both the work related requirements and the Department’sLeadership Attributes. Referee validation and comment will be requested and will also form part of the overall assessment process.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to access the pre-application reflection tool which is attached to this advert. This reflection tool will allow you to project into a variety of the skills required to be successful in the role and find out if this position is suitable for you.

It is recommended you consider all information contained in this advertisement and any other related information before applying for the vacancy.

How to Apply

To be considered for this position, your application should include the following:

1. A current CV outlining your experience and capabilities relevant to the role with the details of 3 referees who can attest to your personal attributes listed above. Please ensure you have one from each of the following categories:

Superordinate

Peer

Subordinate

2. A written response to the following (no more than one page per question):

Describe how and when you have influenced other leaders to implement initiatives and strategies that have led to improved student attendance, retention and achievement within you network, region or group of colleagues.

Describe how and when you have used your personal attributes to deliver quality results during a contentious issue or complex incident. How did you manage the competing priorities and manage stakeholders?

Application Instructions

All applications must be submitted online. It is recommended you have these documents completed and ready to attach before selecting “Apply for Job”. You are asked to complete an online application form and attach your application. Please allow enough time to complete this process as applications cannot be accepted after the closing date and time.

After you have submitted your application online, you will receive an email confirming lodgement. If you do not receive a confirmation email, please telephone 08 9264 8317.

If you are having difficulty submitting your online application, please telephone 08 9264 8666 for assistance.

Subsequent Appointments

This selection process will initially be used to fill the above vacancy. Applicants assessed as suitable during this selection process may be considered for other similar vacancies that occur for up to 12 months following this initial appointment. This includes circumstances where this position becomes subsequently vacant should the successful applicant decline or vacate the advertised position.

Cultural Diversity

The Department is an equal opportunity employer and encourages people with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and persons from culturally diverse backgrounds to apply.

Building Leadership Impact

We are committed to building the leadership capability of our people(Building Leadership Impact)

Living and Working in the Southwest

For more information on the southwest region, please visit Education.wa.edu.au/southwest

It is important to note that GROH housing is not available in the Bunbury and Busselton areas. You may be eligible for GROH housing in Albany should you choose to operate out of the Albany office.

The Department applies a 4 day breach period to this selection process.

Applications must be submitted before 4.30pm (WST) Monday 29 April 2024

Lodgement is system generated. Any submissions at, or after, 4:30pm will not be accepted.

APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED ONLINE

PROFORMA, FAXED, HAND DELIVERED, POSTED, EMAILED AND LATE APPLICATIONS ARE NOT ACCEPTED

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