Programme Lead

About Us

The National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) has an unswerving commitment to high quality, evidence-informed teacher education, and is on a mission to improve the quality of teacher and leader development across the system.

The NIoT aims to improve teacher professional development through rigorous, impactful, and cutting-edge school-led research. Our programme team plays a key role in this mission, as we work with our Research teams to test approaches to delivery and respond to the needs and questions of our partner organisations in the wider education sector.

As a Programme Lead at NIoT, you will have the opportunity to work with a team of dedicated professionals working in the design and delivery of teacher training and development programmes, and on cutting-edge research that has the potential to shape the future of teacher education and professional development. If you are passionate about teacher and leader education and are looking for an exciting new opportunity, we encourage you to apply.

About the Role

We’re looking for a Programme Lead to drive forward a bold, nationally significant initiative designed to support educators in responding to one of the most complex and urgent challenges facing young people today.

This project will help schools engage with issues that affect how students form beliefs, navigate digital spaces, and make sense of the world. You’ll make sure the right things happen at the right time, driving both the strategy and the detail that bring this ambitious programme to life. You’ll coordinate multiple stakeholders, shape and manage delivery timelines, and maintain project fidelity.

You will work alongside the Director of Teacher Development, as well as other colleagues from our ITE, ECF and NPQ Faculties, as well as the Research and Best Practice team. You will also work closely with diverse external stakeholders including schoolteachers and leaders and young people.

Corporate Responsibilities

• To ensure that the responsibilities of the role are carried out in a way which reflects the mission and the values of the NIoT.
• To be aware of and observe all policies, procedures, working practices and regulations, and in particular to comply with policies relating to Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety, Confidentiality, Data Protection and Financial Regulations, reporting any concerns to an appropriate person.
• To comply with all reasonable management requests.

Main Duties & Key Responsibilities

1.Programme Design, Planning & Oversight

• Lead the end-to-end planning and coordination of a multi-year, multi-partner national programme.
• Translate strategic vision into an actionable and detailed delivery roadmap, ensuring timely execution across all strands (teacher development, research, media, digital).
• Manage dependencies between workstreams, aligning timelines across internal teams, delivery partners and the evaluation partner.

2.Stakeholder Management & Communication

• Act as the central relationship manager across a wide network: schools, teacher educators, research partners, digital production teams, and funders.
• Establish strong relationships with school leaders, mentors, content designers, and national partners to ensure engagement, coherence, and alignment to purpose.
• Represent the programme credibly and professionally in external meetings and reporting to the funders and other stakeholders.

3.Team Coordination & Internal Leadership

• Lead cross-functional internal collaboration across curriculum, delivery, comms, digital and operations teams at the NIoT.
• Recruit and lead freelance contributors.
• Provide clear direction, prioritisation, and problem-solving to ensure that contributors know what’s needed and by when.
• Identify and address risks early, maintaining momentum without compromising quality.

4.Delivery Quality & Fidelity

• Oversee the implementation of the programme’s professional development components (e.g. online courses, live sessions, facilitator training).
• Work closely with the Director of Teacher Development to ensure the programme design is evidence-informed and school-led.
• Ensure programme materials are accessible for teachers across roles and career stages.

5.Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning

• Work closely with the research team to ensure robust learning and iterative improvement.
• Collate insights and feedback from delivery to inform both internal reflection and external reporting.
• Champion a learning culture within the programme, using evidence and feedback to shape content, implementation, and scale-up decisions.

6.Operational and Financial Oversight

• Monitor programme spend, ensuring alignment with the agreed budget.
• Coordinate procurement or commissioning of external contributors (e.g. podcast producers, illustrators, facilitators) as needed.
• Produce high-quality internal and external reports that reflect accurate progress and key learning.

Essential Criteria

• A commitment to the aims of the National Institute of Teaching.
• Demonstrable experience leading complex, multi-phase education or change programmes at a national or system level.
• Excellent organisational skills, with experience of managing intricate timelines.
• Experience of holding teams to account, while driving action with urgency and care.
• A deep understanding of teacher education, leadership development and school improvement.
• Able to balance big picture thinking with forensic attention to detail and delivery.
• Able to quickly build trust with schools, partners, researchers, content creators, and funders — with outstanding communication skills.
• Outstanding track record of development and delivery against tight timelines.
• Exceptional interpersonal and written communication skills.
• Experience in applying research and evaluation into programme iteration.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience across ITE, ECF and NPQ landscapes.
• Familiarity with the cognitive, social, and pedagogical dimensions of misinformation, and/or relevant actors in this space .
• Understanding of how people learn, change beliefs, and develop judgement, especially in educational contexts.
• Ability to support work on storytelling, podcasting, or digital communications elements of the programme.
• Experience working with or in schools serving disadvantaged communities.
• Familiarity with EEF research pipeline or similar evidence-generation frameworks.

Working at the National Institute of Teaching

Contract: Full-Time, Fixed Term Contract until October 2028

Salary: £58,998 per annum + benefits

Key Benefits:

• Flexible start and end working times
• Flexible working opportunities, with significant scope for hybrid working
• Highly competitive pay and pay progression opportunities.
• At least 27 days’ holiday a year (plus 8 bank holidays) rising to 33 days after five years’ service (with an annual discretionary office shutdown between Christmas and New Year).
• Entry to the highly valued Local Government Pension Scheme
• Excellent opportunities to develop your skills and experience and to progress your career.
• A stimulating, supportive and rewarding working environment with a dedicated team of likeminded professionals.

Diversity & Inclusion

We think a wide range of different work and educational experiences could support you to be successful in this role. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, communities and industries, and are committed to employing a team that has diverse skills, experiences and abilities. 

Further Information

-This document is an overview of the role.

-The responsibilities will include but will not be limited to those listed above and it is anticipated that the role will evolve over time and as such the duties may change.

-This document does not form part of the contract of employment.

-We regret that we are currently unable to sponsor visas.

-This post requires a satisfactory enhanced disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) with a Children’s Barred List Check and Occupational Health Check is required as a condition of employment.

How to Apply:

Submit your application online

Closing Date:

3rd August 2025 - BST (11:59pm)

Contact Us:

If you have any queries about this role, please email us at [email protected]