Seren Manager - Academi Seren

Seren Manager – Academi Seren

📍 Location: South Wales

💷 Salary: £40,000 per annum

🕒 Contract: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week

📅 Start Date: As soon as possible

📄 Term: Fixed term to 31 July 2027, with potential 3-year extension

🗓️ Closing Date: 5pm Wednesday 21st October

Overview 

Are you passionate about education and empowering learners?  The Welsh Government’s Academi Seren is looking for a new Seren Manager. The successful candidate will join a team which delivers an all-Wales Seren offer to our brightest learners.

About Academi Seren

Academi Seren’s vision is for learners, regardless of socioeconomic background, to have the ambition, capability and curiosity to fulfil their potential and excel in their future educational goals at the highest level.

The mission is to support Seren learners in their pursuit of excellence via three strategic objectives:

• Ignite learners' curiosity and motivation for their learning.
• Empower learners to make ambitious, informed choices about their future educational pathway.
• Advance learners' ability to reach their potential and succeed at highly selective universities

Academi Seren delivers a programme of specialised support aimed at the needs of our brightest learners and delivers a hybrid programme of super curricular activity to stretch and challenge for learners which builds from Year 8 to Year 13.   

We are open to other locations within south Wales other than those listed in this advert.

Role and Responsibilities

The purpose of this role is to: 

• Engage and build relationships with your designated schools and FE colleges and support them to identify the appropriate learners for Academi Seren.
• Be the face of Seren for your designated centres to answer questions, provide opportunities in the local area for learners to engage together, raise aspirations and self-efficacy of learners to aim high.
• Ensure the learners and centres are informed of all the opportunities, activities and experiences available to them as part of the Academi.
• Make the most of the available resources to inspire learners to aspire for their future.
• Celebrate the success of learners and their centres.

The responsibilities are to:

• Ensure all identified Seren learners are registered with the Academi.
• Adhere to safeguarding regulations for the different age groups.
• Work across the Seren team to provide a coordinated all-Wales offer to learners.
• Engage with learners to inform them of the opportunities available to them, how and when to make the right choices and open doors for them to engage with the right people, institutions and resources to support their pathway.
• Encourage learners to engage with building the required skills for the destination of their choice.
• Identify the needs of the learners within your designated centres and work with the team to collaborate on opportunities.
• Bring together the teachers of your designated centres to collaborate on opportunities.
• Engage and inform the Seren parents/carers in how best to support their child.
• Be proactive within the team to support others and share specialist knowledge and best practise. 
• Identify good examples of delivery and case studies to celebrate success.
• Collect and report data and expenditure to support evaluation and continuous improvement of the programme.
• Attend at least two residentials (sometimes referred to ‘Seren Summer Schools') each year, in order to support the successful delivery of the residentials including (but not limited to) safeguarding oversight, learner pastoral support and programme delivery. 
• To undertake any other reasonable duties requested by your line manager in order to meet the needs of the role and wider Seren Team.

What We’re Looking For

We’re seeking individuals with:

• Experience in education, youth work or outreach (experience of working with schools/colleges is essential).
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to engage and inspire young people, teachers, and wider stakeholders.
• A track record of organising and delivering enrichment activities, workshops or events.
• Strong planning, organisation and time management skills – with the ability to work autonomously across multiple locations.
• A genuine passion for educational equity, social mobility, and learner support.
• An understanding of the Welsh education landscape and a commitment to supporting learners in Wales.
• A full driving licence and willingness to travel extensively across the allocated region.
• A willingness to work flexibly, as the role will require some evening and weekend work, as well as time working away to support delivery of residential summer schools at UK universities. 

 Desirable (but not essential)

• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
• Experience working on HE access or widening participation programmes
• Welsh language speaker (support is available with written and simultaneous translation)

• £40,000 annual salary
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Hybrid working
• TOIL for evening and weekend work