Job title:
Teach First Vice-President (year 1); Teach First President (year 2)
Location:
Any Local Area office
Closing date:
13 March 2016
Contract type: Fixed Term
Contract start date: 1 September 2016
Contract end date: 31 August 2018
Eligibility: Open to all Teach First ambassadors (any cohort 2003-2013) and Teach First
participants in their second year on the LDP (2014 cohort)
Job purpose
This is a pivotal role at Teach First. Back in 2005, our CEO and Founder, Brett Wigdortz, created what he called
an “exciting and powerful role” to ensure the voices of the community are truly represented within the
organisation and play a critical role in shaping the work we do. The role initially represented participants, but
now represents the entire community of participants and ambassadors – over 7000 people across 11 Local Areas.
You will be Vice-President in your first year of the role and President in your second year of the role. An election
is held each year to recruit the incoming Vice-President.
The President and Vice-President are unique within the organisation in being elected. This is crucial, as it means
you will have a real mandate from the community and the opportunity to lead and influence change and to make
an impact for over 7000 participants and ambassadors, as well as tens of thousands of pupils. As a passionate
advocate for the community, you will have an incredible opportunity to work with an extensive range of
stakeholders, including senior colleagues such as the CEO and Executive Directors, teams across the
organisation, participants and ambassadors in schools and workplaces across England and Wales, and Action
Network Chairs and representatives. You will be part of the Delivery Divisional Office team, working closely with
the Head of Divisional Office and Strategy and a team of business partners.
The scope of your work and your span of influence will be incredibly wide-ranging. You will lead Action Networks
and Action Network Chairs across the 11 Local Areas, as well as leading and organising National Action Network
three times each year, where high level consultation takes place. As a representative of our 7000-strong
community, you will work on a range of projects and with teams across the organisation, as well as sitting on
steering groups and governance groups to ensure community voice is fed in and acted upon. To ensure you have
a strong understanding of community voice, you will regularly attend school visits and events with participants
and ambassadors across Local Areas, as well as communicating with the community in innovative and engaging
ways. As a public champion of the community, you will have the opportunity to attend – and often speak at –
high profile events with the CEO and Chairman, and support the External Relations and Graduate Recruitment
teams. You will also have room to shape the role according to the areas of priority you are elected upon.
Key accountabilities
The Vice-President and President work as a close team. Below is an indication of how the accountabilities are
split over the two years across the role objectives.
Leading Action Networks
Both President and Vice-President
 Leading on Action Projects – planning strategy, ensuring Action Networks are set up to run successful and
impactful projects, including organising training and creating/commissioning resources, supporting
Action Networks with their projects throughout the year (e.g. giving feedback, providing links with
teams within Teach First)
 Organising and running an Action Network Training Weekend at Summer Institute for all Action Network
representatives (around 170)
 Collating and sharing feedback from Action Networks within the organisation; ensuring there are
effective feedback mechanisms in place and that feedback is acted upon
 Managing the Action Network budget to deliver stated outcomes
Vice-President (Year 1 in role)
 Organising and running National Action Network three times each year
 Leading and supporting a national group of 14 Action Network Chairs
 Supporting and enabling collaboration between staff leads in Local Areas
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Facilitating sharing and collaboration between Action Networks
President (Year 2 in role)
 Strategy and direction setting of Action Networks at a national and local level
 Raising the profile of and engagement with Action Networks within the organisation and the community
e.g. engagement from senior stakeholders and governance groups
 Building links between Action Networks and others networks in the community and externally
 Leading on developing Ambassador involvement in Action Networks and at National Action Network
Championing community voice
Both President and Vice-President
 Maintaining a strong understanding of community voice by attending (and sometimes organising) a wide
range of events and visits across Local Areas and cohorts e.g. Conference Days, school visits, ambassador
events, fundraising events, socials
 Attending monthly meetings with the CEO to provide updates on community voice
Teach
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First Vice-President (Year 1 in role)
Playing an active role in governance groups including the Ambassador Impact Steering Group
Attending a range of events and school visits to maintain a strong understanding of the community
Providing feedback and support as a representative of the community to various colleagues and teams
across the organisation
Teach First President (Year 2 in role)
 Playing an active role in governance groups including the Participant Impact Steering Group
 Leading on ensuring there are effective processes in place for gathering community feedback, sharing
across the organisation and ensuring action is taken
 Closing the feedback loop to the community and organisation
Public Champion
Both President and Vice-President
 Representing the charity by attending external events with the CEO and Chairman
 Playing an extensive role at Summer Institute e.g. visiting Local Areas; planning and running events such
as a multi-faith forum; presenting the Talent Show; making speeches at Closing Ceremonies
 Supporting the activity of External Relations e.g. writing content for Teach First communications,
attending events
 Working with the fundraising team to increase community engagement in fundraising
 Supporting the activity Graduate Recruitment, e.g. speaking at events
Communication
Both President and Vice-President
 Coming up with innovate ways of engaging the community
 Writing engaging content for a wide range of purposes and outlets e.g. the Ambassador Magazine, blogs
for the Community Website, regular slots in the range of email bulletins sent to the community
 Managing the Teach First President social media pages and create a communications plan to drive up
engagement
Teach First Vice-President (Year 1 in role)
 Leading on communications with the community
 Running the election for the next Vice-President
Teach First President (Year 2 in role)
 Leading on internal communications
 Supporting the Vice-President with the election
Influencing change within the organisation
Teach First Vice-President (Year 1 in role)
 Supporting the President on their project
Teach First President (Year 2 in role)
 Leading a project to influence change for the community
Role Competencies
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Commitment: Championing Teach First; Achieving results
Integrity: Managing and developing self; Seeking, accepting and giving feedback
Collaboration: Communicating and influencing; Developing relationship and team-building
Excellence: Prioritising, planning and organising; Innovating, adapting to and managing
Leadership: Managing, empowering and developing others; Providing strategic direction and vision
Technical competencies (training and development opportunities will be available)
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A passion for the Teach First vision and mission and the Teach First community
Excellent communication skills e.g. public speaking, blog writing and social media
Project management and event management skills
The ability to manage a wide range of priorities and effectively manage time
Skill in influencing, galvanising and leading others
Working with a wide range of teams and stakeholders
Location
Any Teach First office. The role will involve extensive travel around the Teach First Local Areas, particularly in
the first year (as Vice-President).
Salary band
£28,050, increasing to £31,510 on successful completion of the 6 month probationary period
Roles based in London will also receive the £3,000 London Weighting Allowance
Benefits
Teach First’s core benefits include 27 days holiday per annum (7 of which must be taken during the two weeks of
Christmas and New Year office closure), participation in the pension scheme (with an employer contribution of
up to 6%), life assurance, income protection and private healthcare.
Through our flexible benefits platform access to childcare vouchers, interest free travel season ticket loan/bike
loan, dental membership, health screening, discounted gym membership, travel insurance, Give As you Earn
(GAYE) and the option to buy/sell annual leave.
How to apply
Follow this link to the election pack on the Community Website, or contact Georgie Porter (Teach First VicePresident) [email protected]