Chief Commercial Operating Officer

A rare and exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Trust as Chief Commercial & Operating Officer (CCOO). This role sits at the heart of Place Partnership, connecting strategy with delivery and aligning people, processes and services so that we can deliver the best possible educational experiences for children and young people across Yorkshire. The CCOO will drive joined-up delivery across the Trust, translating strategic priorities into action. The CCOO will lead and develop scalable, high-performing shared services across Governance, Compliance, Estates (including PFI), ICT, Data and operational risk. Through clear standards, a service catalogue and robust SLAs, the postholder will ensure services are responsive to academy need, compliant with statutory and regulatory requirements, and consistently delivered. Working closely with the Executive Team and Trustees, the role will provide high-quality assurance, insight and reporting, and strengthen accountability. Commercial leadership is a core element of the post. The CCOO will develop and deliver the Trust's Commercial Strategy, identifying sustainable growth opportunities, partnerships and efficiencies that build capacity, generate additional income and release increased resource for frontline education. New opportunities will be assessed against operational readiness, ensuring systems, processes and people are in place to deliver successfully. The postholder will also hold executive responsibility for risk protection and insurance arrangements (including commercial insurance and the Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) where applicable), internal audit, business continuity and operational risk. A key aspect of the role will be to build upon the post holder's skill set and experience; working with the specialists within managed teams to delivery operational compliance and strategic aims.