About The Role
Ark Schools seeks to appoint a new Regional Director to lead the Birmingham region and take responsibility for aspects of our network‑wide strategy. This rare opportunity offers the successful candidate the chance to join one of the country’s most successful MATs at an exciting point in our journey. As Ark embarks on our new ten‑year strategy, the successful candidate will play an integral role in shaping and delivering a compelling vision for education over the coming years. The appointed Regional Director will join Ark this September (2026), or sooner if possible.
Our schools are currently organised into five regions – Birmingham, Hastings, London & Portsmouth Primaries, North London & Portsmouth and South London. Our current Regional Director, Gail Peyton, has played an instrumental role across the Ark network during her tenure and leaves us to become the CEO of a new trust abroad. As such, we are seeking to find an exceptional leader with a track record of delivering great outcomes; a strong alignment with the Ark mission; a willingness to go the extra mile for our pupils and staff; and an ability to lead and inspire principals and central colleagues.
We welcome and encourage confidential conversations about the role from suitable candidates. If you are interested in finding out more about this opportunity, please contact our Head of Talent, Lexy di Marco, at Alexia.DiMarco@arkonline.org. To apply, please submit a full application, including CV and personal statement, by Monday 13th April at 9am.
Please ensure your personal statement focuses on how you meet the first seven italic bullet points from the ‘Spec…’ section in the person specification.
For more information about the role and Ark, please view the full job pack.
About Us
Ark is an education charity and one of the country’s most successful multi‑academy trusts. Our network of 39 schools reaches traditionally underserved communities in Birmingham, Hastings, London and Portsmouth. We educate 30,000 pupils and have nearly 3,000 teaching staff across our network.
Each of our schools has its own ethos and distinctive character, reflecting its local community, but they all share the same mission: to make sure that all children, regardless of their background, have access to a great education and real choices in life.
We also incubate and scale innovative ventures, which we roll out beyond our network of schools for the benefit of teachers, pupils and the education system as a whole. Current Ventures include Ark Curriculum Plus, which equips teachers with the subject expertise needed to ensure students succeed, and Ark Start, a growing chain of nurseries offering affordable, high‑quality early years education.
Recently, Ark moved to new offices at EdCity – a unique not‑for‑profit development in West London, in partnership with Hammersmith & Fulham council. EdCity is designed to bring mission‑aligned organisations together to focus on improving the lives of children, especially through education.
Diversity and inclusion
We aim to build a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone – staff and students – can do their best work and achieve their full potential. We want to reflect and represent diverse perspectives across our organisation because we know that doing so will make us stronger and more effective. To know more about Ark’s diversity and inclusion commitments, please click this link.
Safeguarding statement
Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants. Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non‑disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment – this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred. To read more about Ark’s safer recruitment process, please click this link.
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