The posting
This is a pivotal strategic role for a values driven leader who can bring clarity, grip and long term thinking to finance, estates, HR services, IT, compliance and organisational development.
The Howard Partnership Trust (THPT) is one of Surrey’s largest and most diverse multi‑academy trusts, educating children across five secondary, six primary and three special schools, with a further special free school in the pipeline. Formed from a long‑standing tradition of partnership working, we have grown steadily and intentionally, now comprising four secondary schools, six primaries and three special schools, with further expansion planned. We are a values-driven Trust, and we strive to live by our values across all parts of the life of the Trust: Aspiration, Collaboration, Inclusion, Integrity, Resilience and Respect.
As we continue to evolve, we are appointing a Chief Operating Officer to help strengthen the operational foundations that support our educational mission. This is a key strategic role within our Executive Team, ensuring that our systems, processes and infrastructure are aligned, resilient and capable of supporting a large, multi‑phase organisation.
Who we are
The Howard Partnership Trust (THPT) is a growing family of schools in the South East of England. We exist to ensure a great school sits at the heart of our communities, serving every child with ambition and care. Our Trust includes Primary, Secondary and Special Schools and welcomes any school that shares our values and commitment to provide a life-changing education for every one of our children and young people.
Our Trust has a proud history of improving and sustaining schools at all stages of their development journey, including both high-performing schools and schools in need of support and improvement. To do this, we work in deep collaboration and partnership across our schools to share expertise and enable the highest quality education for every child.
Driven by our three shared values, we build up, we serve all, and we forge paths. We strive to do our best for every child, expanding their life chances and choices from the moment they join us. We use the wealth and diversity of experience across our different settings, together with the expertise available within our dedicated operational service teams, to benefit all within the Trust, sharing and extending good practice to support our continual improvement and secure excellence in education in all of our schools and beyond.
Like the children in them, our schools are unique, and our principals, headteachers and staff teams make key decisions to shape schools to best serve their children. We believe our schools have a crucial role as community anchors and providers of education for the here and now, and the future.
In addition to our three special schools, many of our mainstream settings benefit from additional resources to support learners with a wide range of needs, including vision impairment, communication and interaction needs (COIN), and autism.
About the role
Our COO will work closely with our CEO, Executive Team and Trust Board to lead and integrate our core operational functions: finance, estates, HR services, IT, compliance, risk, governance operations and wider business services. We want a leader who can ensure our systems, processes and infrastructure are robust, efficient and future‑proof, enabling our schools to focus on delivering excellent education.
You will help us strengthen financial resilience, ensuring value for money and long‑term sustainability. You will oversee estates strategy and compliance, including major capital projects. You will lead workforce planning, HR transformation and culture development across a diverse staff body. You will ensure our digital infrastructure is modern, secure and aligned with teaching, learning and operational priorities.
We also expect our COO to play a key role in organisational planning, risk management and change leadership. You will work closely with Principals, Headteachers and senior leaders to ensure operational decisions are evidence‑based, strategic and grounded in the lived experience of our schools. Above all, we want a COO who will help us build an organisation that is operationally strong, strategically confident and deeply rooted in our values — enabling children to thrive, staff to flourish and our Trust to grow with clarity and purpose.
Who we are looking for
We are seeking an exceptional operational leader who can bring strategic clarity, organisational grip and values‑driven leadership to The Howard Partnership Trust. You will have significant senior leadership experience in a complex, multi‑site environment — whether from education, local government, health, charity, commercial or wider public‑sector settings. What matters most is your ability to lead with integrity, emotional intelligence and a deep commitment to improving children’s lives.
You will be a systems thinker: someone who can see the whole organisation, understand interdependencies and design operational solutions that are coherent, scalable and future‑focused. You will have experience overseeing several operational disciplines, with particular strength in at least two of the following: finance, estates, HR services, IT, compliance, risk or organisational development. You will be confident leading specialists, building high‑performing teams and ensuring that operational functions work seamlessly together.
We are looking for a leader who is values‑driven, emotionally intelligent and able to build strong relationships across schools, central teams and the Board. You will be visible, approachable and able to engage meaningfully with Principals, Headteachers, staff and stakeholders. You will bring professional curiosity, analytical rigour and the ability to ask the right questions at the right time.
You will be comfortable navigating complexity, managing risk and leading change. Experience of organisational transformation, cultural development or major capital projects would be advantageous. You will understand the importance of safeguarding, compliance and regulatory frameworks, and be able to ensure that operational decisions are always aligned with the Trust’s duty of care.
Above all, you will share THPT’s belief that every child deserves a life-changing education. You will bring humility, ambition and a commitment to service — helping to shape a Trust that is operationally strong, strategically confident and deeply rooted in its values.
Chief Operating Officer | The Howard Partnership Trust
As well as verification of identity, we ask all successful candidates to undertake an enhanced DBS disclosure. In line with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) guidance, we may also conduct an online search about any shortlisted candidates as part of our due diligence to identify any matters that might relate directly to our legal duty to meet safeguarding duties, in accordance with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE).
SAFEGUARDING AND FURTHER INFORMATION
The successful candidate will be subject to a satisfactory enhanced disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
The Howard Partnership Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment
Due to the nature of this role, it will be necessary for the appropriate level of criminal record disclosure to be undertaken. In making your application, it is essential you disclose whether you have any pending charges, convictions, bind-overs or cautions and, if so, for which offences. This post will be exempt from the provisions of Section 4 (2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Therefore, applicants are not entitled to withhold information about convictions which for other purposes are ‘spent’ under the provision of the Act, and, in the event of the employment being taken up; any failure to disclose such convictions will result in dismissal or disciplinary action. The fact that a pending charge, conviction, bind-over or caution has been recorded against you will not necessarily debar you from consideration for this appointment.
