Required to start as soon as possible
Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust is seeking a driven and enthusiastic Governance Professional to join our team. This role could be carried out alongside the Governance Lead and Company Secretary Role, that is also currently advertised if the applicant has the necessary skills.
To support the work of schools and the Trustees, Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust ensures the local stakeholder voice is represented and heard through our Advocates in our primary schools and Local Stakeholder Boards with our secondary settings. They provide a local level of access and accountability for our parents and carers designed to build and deepen partnership and connection. This is the place where the individual pupil and parent voice is heard and understood; where the lived experience of our provision and offer is felt and triangulated.
In our primary schools we have Advocate roles and these governance colleagues link directly with one school to support and act as conduits sharing stakeholder voice upwards to the newly formed Primary Advocacy Board, a sub-committee of the Trust Board. The secondary schools still continue to have Local Stakeholder Boards.
Our Trust comprises of 19 schools, 3 Colleges, 15 Primaries, and one All Through SEMH Special school. Established in 2018, We are situated in beautiful Devon on the out the outskirts of the stunning Dartmoor National Park. The schools vary in size and are all unique. Our schools are a large part of their local communities, and we value those relationships with families and locals.
The Trust was created to enable schools and staff to work closely together in providing the best education possible for our children. We achieve this through meaningful collaboration both within our schools and beyond our Trust to ensure schools are able to secure and sustain improvement.
Our work is built on our shared values and an unwavering belief that education improves the life chances for the children in our care. We aim for everyone in our organisation, staff and children, to be the best they can be and are relentless in our ambition to achieve this. We want our children to look back on their school experience with a sense of achievement and joy and we provide a wealth of additional curriculum experiences to enrich their learning.
We care deeply about the children in our schools and work with kindness, compassion, manners and respect. By modelling and expecting these behaviours from our children, we aim to grow future citizens who will positively contribute to society, creating a brighter future for our world.
Our vision and values are what we build our schools upon, with Ambition, Co-operation & Transformation being at the heart.
As an established Trust, DMAT can offer a wide range of benefits for our employees
1. Cycle to work scheme
2. Tech Scheme
3. Eyecare Vouchers
4. Access to Discounts
5. CPD opportunities
6. Extensive Health & Wellbeing Package
7. Long Service Days
8. On site Parking – In some locations
9. Excellent Training Package
10. Employee Recognition Scheme
Why choose DMAT?
DMAT are an inclusive and forward-looking trust, who seek to nurture our children and employees to be the best they can be.
The Governance Professional is central to governance effectiveness, compliance, and innovation within the trust, supporting trustees and local governing boards to deliver on core strategic functions.
11. The role is to work as part of a small team to provide administrative support to the Trust board, committees and individual trustees and governors to facilitate effective and efficient meetings and strategic governance. To make a key contribution to ensuring a strong evidence base is provided for Ofsted/Audit through an accurate record of governing board challenge, actions and decisions via concise and accurate minutes.
12. The job is largely home-based, with the ability to travel to attend meetings at some school settings. Some meetings will take place outside conventional working hours, and the post holder will therefore need to manage their time effectively and be able to react to the needs of the team, especially where statutory timescales may apply. To provide advice to the Trust board and its individual members on governance, constitutional and procedural matters, ensuring the board meets its statutory requirements. Legislation introduced by the Department for Education in 2013 requires boards to have regard to advice from the governance professional with regard to exercising their functions.
Summary of the Role
13. To provide administrative support to the Trust board, committees and individual trustees and governors to facilitate effective and efficient meetings and strategic governance.
14. To make a key contribution to ensuring a strong evidence base is provided for Ofsted/Audit through an accurate record of governing board challenge, actions and decisions via concise and accurate minutes.
15. To manage information effectively and in accordance with legal requirements, observing confidentiality where necessary
16. To facilitate and co-ordinate the induction process for new Trustees and promote training, succession planning and recruitment based on the skills required to fulfil the Trust Board’s three key roles.
17. To oversee the Trust’s policy tracker and to trigger reviews as and when required, ensuring a draft version is ready to be presented to the relevant committee for approval with final ratification by the Trust board.
18. To manage the stage 3 complaints and review of exclusion committee process as they are received, to include meeting attendance and minuting proceedings.
19. To follow the requirements set out in the Department for Education Clerking Competency Framework.
20. Assess facts, opinions and situations accurately and exercise sound judgement, remaining objective and neutral at all times and be the ‘constitutional conscience’ of the board. This is essential when holding panel meetings.
21. Have the ability, knowledge and confidence to challenge and intervene. A specific example might be to ensure trustees have attended safer recruitment training before serving on an appointment panel or to ensure that governance colleagues follow their policies and/or seek Trust Governance Professional Page 3 of 5 professional advice.
22. Undertake appropriate and regular training and development to improve practice, maintain and extend knowledge, skills and expertise.
23. The role may require travel to Trust educational settings and offices
Data Protection / General Data Protection Regulations Compliance
The Privacy Notice sets our general principles in relation to Data Protection and the General Data Protection Regulations. You should also abide all Trust policies relating to the use of data including but not limited to:
24. Acceptable Use Policy
25. Records Retention Policy
26. Personal Data Breach Procedure
27. Employee Code of Conduct
28. E-safety Policy
29. Social Media Policy
30. Use of Personal Devices Policy
Our Privacy Notice for Employees explains how we use your personal data.
You should note that a duty of confidentiality applies to all personal data seen prior to the first day of employment (for example, pupil lists for the purposes of lesson planning or other activities to support teaching and learning). This reflects the custom and practice of those contracts of employment starting on the first day of term while recognising the need to be aware of and plan to support pupil needs.
Full details of the role and responsibilities can be found in the attached job description.
Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants from all backgrounds to apply.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
All schools in The Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
The successful candidate will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure via the Disclosure Barring Service (DBS).
‘This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (2013 and 2020). This means that certain convictions and cautions are considered ‘protected’ and do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Guidance about whether a conviction or caution should be disclosed can be found on the Ministry of Justice website: .’
Your application form will be processed by My New Term who act for DMAT as a data processor- please see our Privacy Notice for more information about how we process job applicant personal data.
The successful candidate will be required to come to DMAT HQ to complete mandatory training.
Training Details:
Location: Central Head Office (Wardhayes) 8 Simmons Way, Okehampton, EX20 1PY
Purpose: To provide comprehensive training on company policies, procedures, and systems necessary for successful integration into the role.
Training Schedule: Daily sessions from 9am to 4pm, with breaks provided.
Benefits of Training Week:
31. To gain valuable insights into our company culture and values.
32. Interact with key stakeholders and team members.
33. Acquire essential knowledge and skills to excel in your role.
34. Establish a strong foundation for your career growth within Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust.
Please visit our website: - to apply for this position.