Programme Director - EnAble (EA One Replacement)

Job Description

Reports to: Chief Finance Officer

Programme Directors are responsible for working flexibly and collaboratively with the Chief Executive and Chief Officers to provide corporate leadership to the Education Authority (EA), particularly in relation to progressing EA’s improvement journey and ensuring corporate alignment across the organisation.

These are challenging roles requiring proven skills in leading and working collaboratively with others to ensure delivery of programmes that improve outcomes for children and young people.

Corporate Leadership

• As part of the Senior Leadership Team, optimise business structures, harness strengths and make EA a great place to work.
• Lead and drive delivery of assigned programmes, projects and services.
• Work towards EA’s long‑term improvement ambitions, ensuring resources, delivery models, governance and organisational structure are aligned with its vision, purpose and strategic goals.
• Support Chief Officers and collaborate with other Directors to align, agree and progress corporate priorities.
• Focus on corporate leadership duties, empowering teams, individuals and schools to focus on operational excellence.
• Monitor performance and outcomes, drive continuous improvement and implement innovative change at pace where required to improve outcomes.
• Ensure that EA lives within its annual budget allocation from the Department of Education.
• Work in partnership with staff and stakeholders including partners across the education sector, governing bodies, school leaders, trade unions, elected representatives, other related agencies, the media and the public.
• Adhere to relevant legislation and standards.
• Ensure that delivery is shaped by service‑user input.
• Advise the Department of Education on policy issues and contribute to policy reviews.

Key Areas of Focus

• Corporate Leadership and Planning – provide leadership, foster a culture of improvement, collaboration and engagement.
• Establish, lead and manage the programme through to delivery and realisation of benefits in line with agreed programme goals, resources and governance arrangements, including supporting the transition to business as usual.
• Proactive intervention and decision‑making to keep the programme on track and deliver intended outcomes/benefits, including managing risk, issues, change, conflicts, priorities, communications and resources.
• Work positively and proactively with all stakeholders, particularly the senior responsible owner and business and sectoral stakeholders.
• Provide expert strategic business advice to enable decisions in relation to the transformation programme, migration from legacy systems, business process re‑design and risk management.
• Ensure interface between programme ownership and delivery, acting as a focal point between service delivery areas, stakeholders, users and the programme team.
• Guide the Corporate Leadership Team and EA Board on how the programme delivers transformational change for EA, improving outcomes for children and young people.

Other Responsibilities

• Any other duties related to the role which may be required from time‑to‑time by the Chief Executive and the Board.
• In accordance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), promote Good Relations, Equality of Opportunity and pay due regard for Equality Legislation at all times.

EnAble Programme Background

The Education Authority (EA) has been on a journey to transform and streamline the back‑office services it delivers for most of Northern Ireland’s education sector. The first part of that journey was establishing the EA One Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution over 2016‑2024.

EA One enables service delivery across finance, procurement and human resources for approximately 44,000 EA non‑teaching staff and 22,000 teaching staff, processing on average 33,000 invoices and 14,000 procurement orders each month, and supporting payroll, leave requests, sickness recording and expenses for all staff.

AE One is based on the Oracle E‑Business Suite and is currently supported by Fujitsu. The legacy platform will be replaced by the Software as a Service (SaaS) Oracle Fusion platform, with global withdrawal of support for the E‑Business Suite in March 2034. The EnAble Programme has been mobilised to ensure EA One is fully replaced by March 2032.

Strategic drivers for the EnAble Programme include:

• Legacy system commercial milestones present significant risks to EA and the wider education sector.
• Significant opportunities to improve processes and ways of working through adoption of new cloud ERP technology.
• Functional limitations in the current system across finance, HR, procurement and payroll, with future solutions offering better alignment with strategic priorities.
• System implementation time pressure, with typical ICT programmes requiring 6+ years to implement.

Strategic Vision For The EnAble Programme Is

To redefine our service delivery through a seamlessly integrated solution that elevates our services to schools, empowers our people and customers, optimises processes and provides trusted data to support strategic decisions.

Objectives Of The EnAble Programme Are

• Enhance user experience – implement intuitive solutions and seamless processes across all core service delivery functions.
• Improve data quality and accessibility for decision‐making – provide an integrated data architecture within the ERP system.
• Optimise operational efficiency and cost‑effectiveness – streamline and automate core business processes.
• Enhance system resilience and adaptability – implement a resilient and scalable ERP platform that supports continuous improvement and adapts to emerging requirements.

Person Specification

Essential criteria:

• Minimum of three years’ experience in a senior management role successfully leading strategic projects or programmes of work on a significant and challenging scale.
• Experience working collectively across a senior team to align goals, resources, policies and processes to optimise the organisation’s use of resources and deliver maximum value for the public or customers.
• Experience of leading and championing continuous improvement in complex service delivery that has delivered improved outcomes for the public or customers.
• Strong communicator with proven skills to engage across a range of stakeholders, demonstrating successful impact.

Other

Successful candidates will be required to have access to a suitable vehicle that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner and thus meet this essential criterion. Alternatively, they may provide sufficient information on the application form that demonstrates access to an appropriate alternative form of transport that allows them to meet the mobility requirements of the post.

Disclosures and Legal

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 defines working directly with children or young people or in specified places as ‘regulated activity’.

In the event that a candidate is recommended for a post that involves regulated activity, the Education Authority will undertake an Enhanced Disclosure of Criminal Background. Candidates will be expected to bear the cost of an Enhanced Disclosure Certificate, with payment details provided at the pre‑employment stage.

Applicant Guidance Notes

Information for applicants is available in the candidate information pack.

Equal Opportunities Employer

The Education Authority is an Equal Opportunities Employer.