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…?

We are looking for a talented and dedicated professional to join our organisation as a Project Manager. The Project Manager is responsible for the development and implementation of project plans, administrating project governance, maintaining accurate project documentation and managing and facilitating cross-departmental specialist teams to support high quality project delivery. Recent examples of projects include the mobilisation of Ambition’s Early Career Teacher (ECT) programme and mobilisation of Ambition’s new National Professional Qualification (NPQ) programmes.

The role sits within Ambition’s Mobilisation and Programmes Office (MPO), a cross-functional team providing project management support, data and reporting, governance, and policy support to the wider organisation. You will join a team of other Project Managers, Project Associates, and Associate Directors working across a wide portfolio of projects. The successful candidate will be expected to shape and develop project management best practice across the organisation.

We would like you to: 

• Ensure that your project portfolio is successfully managed and delivered in line with the agreed plans.

• Support workstream leads with problem-solving and resolving blockers

• Lead project communication, to ensure that the relevant stakeholders are updated in a timely manner on progress, issues, and decisions

• Work with the wider MPO team to establish and embed project management best practice within Ambition, developing templates, upskilling staff, and developing the team

• Have a track record of working on cross-team projects over the short, medium, and long term

Working in a hybrid way, you’ll be attached to either our Birmingham, London or Manchester office and will report to the Associate Director, Project Management Office. 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 us.

What’s in it for you….?

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

• Professional development for all staff.

• 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 can be considered for all office locations (London, Birmingham, Manchester).

How to apply  

Applications will be considered for all locations and must be received by the closing date, 9am on 5 February 2024. First stage interviews are expected to take place on 12 February, with a second stage to conclude by week beginning 19 February.

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..