Who are Ambition Institute?

A great teacher changes the future every day. Especially for children who have had a tough start in life, a teacher can be the critical factor in their success.

At Ambition Institute we help schools tackling educational disadvantage to keep getting better and help their teachers and school leaders to become more expert over time.

That’s how we’ll make sure every child gets a great education and the best possible start in life.

• We train teachers and leaders at all levels to get better at the things that make the biggest difference: what you teach, how you teach it, and how you create the conditions for schools to thrive.

• We share what works. Everyone can benefit from evidence of how great teaching and leadership can improve schools and change lives, so we connect people to the latest research and best practice.

• We champion every teacher and school leader’s potential to develop, as the driving force for sustainable school improvement.

What would we like…?

Are you an experienced product or programme leader with a demonstrable track record of successfully managing a large portfolio of products through the early stages of development?

We're looking for a Associate Director, Product Development to join us on a 6 month FTC basis.

We’re building a new Product Development team at Ambition Institute, tasked with designing, piloting, and testing the next generation of programmes that will serve the sector and help teachers and leaders to keep getting better and tackle areas of educational disadvantage. 

The successful postholder will lead a small core team of multi-disciplinary experts. 

You'll also build out the culture, governance and processes needed to get the most out of the team and contributions from the wider organisation. You’ll manage a pipeline of product ideas from ideation through to piloting and business case.

We would like you to:

• Oversee a multidisciplinary team with expertise ranging from project management to learning design, making best use of each of their skillsets

• Lead the formulation of product concepts and push the very best through to pilot and testing and business case stages

• Prepare and present impactful papers and decks to a wide range of senior stakeholders, including our Executive Committee, and facilitate decision-making

• Meet with sector partners such as Multi-Academy Trust leaders and like-minded organisations to work through the details of partnership agreements

Working in a hybrid way, you’ll be attached to either our Birmingham, London or Manchester office and will report to the Director of Sales and New Product Development. In line with our current ways of working, you’ll be expected to be in the office at least 1 day a month, in addition to team days and this may be reviewed by Ambition.

To succeed in this role you'll have a successful track record of taking concepts from ideation through to pilot or mobilisation. With credibility and confidence, you'll challenge and hold to account senior stakeholders. A successful track record of starting up a new Product Development function would be advantageous but not essential.

What’s in it for you….?

• Competitive annual salary.

• Professional development for all staff.

• 25 days’ annual leave, plus bank holidays and 'winter shut down’ between Christmas and New Year.

• Employer pension contribution of 11%.

• Agile, hybrid working culture, so you can manage when and where you work.

• Staff affinity networks that help keep equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work.

• Blind recruitment process to ensure equality and fairness in our hiring.

• Enhanced maternity pay after a year’s service.

• Shared parental leave package.

• Access to free, confidential 24/7 wellbeing and support line.

• Comfortable and collaborative workspaces in the city centres of Manchester, Birmingham and London

• Work-from-home technology package to support hybrid working.

• Interest free season ticket / bike loans.

ABOUT YOU

We don’t expect the person we hire to have all of the following, but this should give you a sense of what would enable you to thrive in this role and in our team:

YOU SHOULD APPLY FOR THIS ROLE IF:

• You care deeply about educational disadvantage and being part of an organisation that challenges inequality.

• You have a good work ethic and strive to make a difference in the job you do.

• You always give maximum effort to understand and meet the needs of our partners and participants.

• You always have a great attitude so we “can do” for all our colleagues, partners and participants.

• You are open to feedback and learning because we want to keep getting better.

• You work with your initiative to bring new ideas and a fresh perspective.

• You are well organised and can prioritise work that will have the greatest impact.

YOU’LL LOVE WORKING AT AMBITION IF…

• You want a career with a person-centred organisation with a cause at its heart.

• You have a collaborative work ethos, bring warmth and good humour to work and constructive outlook to every situation.

• You enjoy working in a fast-moving workplace, with a great support structure around you.

• You would like to grow with an ambitious organisation as it progresses over time

• Want flexibility in how you work – splitting your time between one of our offices and remote working and managing your own working patterns to get the job done.

Applications will be considered for all locations

How to apply  

Applications must be received by the closing date, 9am on 2 January 2024. First stage interviews are expected take place on 8 January followed by a second stage expected on 16 January.

Our mission needs the best people for the job, which is why we use sift questions to assess candidates’ genuine knowledge and skills. Sift questions are an opportunity for you to show us how you would do the job you are applying for, so please avoid using ChatGPT or other generative AI tools. We want to see your response, so those found to use content taken from AI tools will have scores adjusted down.