Committee member

Oak National Academy is an independent public body, funded by the Department for Education. We help improve the quality of curriculum teachers teach and pupils access, and lower teacher workload from lesson planning. We achieve this by providing free access to thousands of teacher-made, fully-sequenced teaching resources, aligned to the national curriculum, and inspiration and advice for schools on how to design their own curriculum.

We are looking for new members to join our Board sub-committees. This is a fantastic opportunity to bring your valuable input and expertise, ensuring that the committee’s work aligns with Oak's strategic goals and operates under strong governance frameworks. This in turn will help ensure Oak achieves its mission: to improve pupil outcomes and close the disadvantage gap by supporting teachers to teach and enabling pupils to access a high-quality curriculum.

We have a number of roles available across our four committees:

• Finance, Audit & Risk Committee: Oversees Oak’s financial management, risk control, internal audit, and ensuring that Oak adheres to public sector financial regulations and value-for-money principles.
• Remuneration & HR Committee: Oversees Oak’s pay and benefits structure, ensuring that remuneration policies are transparent, fair, and in line with public sector guidelines.
• Curriculum Committee: Ensures Oak’s curriculum and resources support the improvement of educational outcomes and help to close the disadvantage gap.
• Product Committee: Responsible for the strategy, development, and oversight of Oak’s digital products. The committee ensures that Oak’s online platforms and resources are innovative, user-focused, and aligned with its educational mission.

Our committees support the Board in the fulfilment of its functions. This includes ensuring effective arrangements for governance and compliance processes, providing strategic support and challenge and monitoring results and impact. They are an essential part of helping us achieve our strategic aims.

Responsibilities

• Attend and activtely contribute to at least 3 virtual committee meetings a year, providing informed input based on your area of expertise.
• Work effectively with other Committee members to support the team to deliver against Oak’s strategic goals.
• Monitor performance against agreed targets and provide support, advice and challenge to the executive team on their delivery.
• Ensure Committees operate within the limits of their authority, including in accordance with the Nolan Principles and the code of conduct for board members of public bodies, and abiding to conditions relating to the use of public funds. This includes being seen as politically impartial and consideration of conflicts of interest.
• Ensure high standards of corporate governance are observed at all times and that Oak remains compliant with its statutory, legal, and regulatory obligations.

Knowledge, skills, and experience

• The ability to make strategic, evidenced based decisions by drawing on and applying the latest information or research.
• Exceptional communication skills to support the ability to build effective relationships at senior level and/or between organisations.
• The ability to drive forward the work of an organisation at non-executive level, with a successful track record in the public, voluntary or private sectors of ensuring that strategic objectives are achieved.
• Demonstrated commitment to the values of public service, including the ethical use of public funds.
• Experience and knowledge that will contribute to the functioning of a Committee.

Candidates ideally will be able to demonstrate a proven track record of experience in one of the following areas:

• Expertise in evidence-based curriculum and/or pedagogy
• Teaching or school leadership
• Digital/Technology
• Commercial
• Legal
• HR
• Executive leadership

We are also looking for candidates to demonstrate the following generic committee leadership skills

• Governance
• Statutory compliance
• Performance management
• Diligence
• Risk management
• Integrity/ethics