Many schools today are finding it hard to recruit high-quality headteachers and principals. This is often particularly true in faith schools and small rural schools.

Nowadays, governors and Trustees often find it difficult to attract a competitive shortlist and, as a result, the process is often flawed from the outset. The cost of re-advertising and repeating the process is wasteful of precious time and resources, and delays in appointing can be the cause of instability and spiralling financial costs.

Our Executive Search gives you a new route to recruitment. We have a proven ability to produce quality shortlists for school headships, often at very short notice. We go beyond the traditional job advertisement, harnessing the power of professional recommendation and referral through our word-of-mouth network of associates, built up through our work in the broader education sector.

Executive Search gives you access to a pool of talented, hard-to-find candidates who meet your criteria. Costs can be offset against expensive advertisements in national newspapers and give you a much greater chance of attracting a high-quality field of candidates.

What you get:

  • access to potential candidates who aren’t in the open market for a job
  • a shortlist of people with the right skill sets and experience to match your school’s criteria
  • leaders with niche experience, such as: alternative provision, school set-up, amalgamations, or faith schools.

We worked closely with the team at Conexus utilising the separate but complementary skills of the two organisations to provide a full recruitment service to the client. This included: drawing up the contract of employment; advising on the development of a recruitment pack; building a recruitment microsite; undertaking a full executive search and organising an assessment centre.  The service provided by Conexus is second to none and their specific knowledge of the education sector means that we can be confident of providing the client with a strong field of candidates.

Michael Booker

Executive Director, EnlightenedHR

Latest opportunity: Interim Exec Head / Mentor

Interim Executive Head / Executive Mentorship Opportunity

We’re seeking an experienced Executive Headteacher or system leader to provide interim executive oversight and mentorship within a values-led, complex SEND organisation operating across three campuses.

This role is focused on supporting and strengthening the Heads of School, offering strategic leadership, safeguarding assurance, and high-quality executive coaching during a period of transition. You’ll bring a calm, credible presence, strong system-level judgement, and the emotional intelligence to lead through complexity.

The remit blends executive accountability with mentorship, ensuring confident decision-making, effective risk oversight, and organisational stability, while empowering Heads of School to thrive.

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