Service Lead – Standards and Learning

Wigan

Full Time

£74,122

Permanent

Expires 04/01/2026

Priority Candidates will be considered in the first instance

Wigan Life Centre South

College Avenue

Wigan

WN1 1NJ

Salary: Grade 16, £74,122 per annum.

37 hours per week

Permanent

We're on a journey to build a workforce reflective of our Borough.

We are committed to fostering diverse teams where everybody can bring their authentic selves to work and feel that they belong. If you want to work for a Council where everybody is encouraged to meet their full potential and make a difference in our neighbourhoods, we would love to hear from you

Your role:

You will be working with our amazing education leaders right across the borough. We work across all designations and operate as a 'family' of schools in Wigan. Based on data and intelligence, you will be required to provide sound advice and support to these leaders where appropriate to ensure that all schools and academies within the Borough are supported and challenged to be Good or better.

You will also provide strong leadership and support for a range of fabulous education services and teams as determined by the Assistant Director.

To support you, and our settings, you will also work closely with our partners within and beyond the Council as necessary and contribute to and help drive Wigan Council's Excellence in Education Strategy so that priorities are met.

About you:

We are a forward thinking, supportive and dynamic service that is committed to school improvement and have made a measurable difference over the last 5 years. Strong and effective leadership will make a further positive contribution. You will need extensive knowledge of current local, regional and national education issues and developments and be able to demonstrate how you have previously applied this to improving outcomes for children and young people.

You will have excellent, strong leadership and emotional intelligence skills whilst being empathetic, articulate and be able to demonstrate our Wigan behaviours. You will be able to motivate, inspire and enthuse our education leaders, council managers, members of their teams and colleagues.

You will have recent and relevant experience of Council and or school/college senior leadership.

About us:

Wigan Council has been voted 'Overall Council of the Year' at the APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence) Awards. We are signed up to the Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment ensuring that your service will be continuous or 'unbroken' between the supporting organisations.

The Progress with Unity plan is a place movement for change for the next decade, bringing a new era for Wigan Borough. It draws on the strengths of our individual organisations, recognising that together we can achieve much more for our communities by delivering on our 2 place missions; create fair opportunities for all children, families, residents and businesses and make our towns and neighbourhoods flourish for those who live and work in them.

About us:

This is an excellent opportunity to join a forward thinking and incredibly aspirational education service. We are committed to ensuring that the children and young people in Wigan experience the best standards of teaching and the best experience of learning.

Our School Improvement is a highly effective system led; consortia model.

Through our Excellence and Education Strategy we are determined to improve the opportunities for all of our children and young people in their education journey and to maximise their potential for opportunities into adulthood. We have a strong history of excellent links with partners to drive continual improvement and work closely to support our schools with a range of strong well established education services.

Here at Wigan, we are proud to support flexible working patterns, when the service can accommodate this. We also take a blended approach to where we work, depending on the work we do. This may include working from home, the office, or the community. We like to thank our employees for their hard work and commitment by giving them the opportunity to access a range of exclusive rewards and benefits

To be appointed to this role you must be able to prove your right to work in the UK. Please visit the link below to check you qualify to apply. Please note, at present we are not a licenced sponsor. Prove your right to work to an employer: Overview - GOV.UK )

Prove your right to work to an employer

For an informal discussion please contact Cath Pealing at or

Interview date: 12th January 2026

This is a politically restricted role

This position is subject to Enhanced Disclosure Procedures plus child barred list check

The employer is committed to safeguarding

If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme, please indicate this within the 'About You' or 'Supporting Statement' section of your application.

To view the details relating to this position, please click the links below:

• Job Specification
• DBS Applicant Information
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