Director of Engagement & School Partnerships

The Difference is seeking a Director of Engagement and School Partnerships to grow our traded relationships with schools and sector partners, and build the systems and team to deepen impact at scale. This senior role ensures partnerships, delivery and learning work as one coherent cycle from first contact to long-term partnership. Key Responsibilities Grow traded relationships : build and convert a pipeline of trusts and LAs into our programmes Build a sequenced pipeline :turn engagements from press and events into a journey towards deeper work Design the partner journey :map and improve from first contact through onboarding and renewal Develop CRM and systems :track relationships and income with discipline Org-wide leadership :senior ambassador and leadership team member About The Difference Every day, 5,500 children are suspended from England's schools, doubling their NEET likelihood by 24. The Difference tackles this through whole school inclusion training leaders, researching what works and turning insights into policy. Our vision: lost learning falling nationally by 2030. About You: Essential Shared values and commitment to the children most affected by lost learning Credibility with schools, trusts and local authorities Experience designing end-to-end partner journeys Hitting income targets while staying honest about quality Knowledge of school improvement or inclusion to work with programme experts Building routines that help a team deliver consistently CRM or pipeline experience to drive decisions Managing relationships :expectations, risks and progression Strategic judgement :balancing delivery against long-term value Managing people and building a culture of clarity, care and accountability Critical friend in a senior team Desired Background in partnerships, engagement, account management or business development Experience scaling a programme while protecting quality Experience building business cases for school-sector audiences Experience designing renewa