Deputy Head - Engineering

What does an engineering teacher do?

According to AI, “An engineering teacher educates students by explaining engineering principles, guiding hands-on projects, fostering problem-solving skills, and preparing them for real-world applications in technology, design, and innovation.”  

If this sounds like something you’ve accomplished, then you’re ready to engineer the next step of your teaching career.

As a Deputy Head of our engineering department, you’ll be…

• Working alongside the Head of Engineering who will support your development in an increasingly growing department.
• Supporting the development of the courses and enhance towards being a centre of excellence.
• Teaching, supporting, and assessing students’ coursework.
• Overseeing Mechanical & Electrical/Electronic Engineering qualifications
• Planning a highly relevant and distinctive curriculum to meet the local/regional skills requirements.
• Implementing the launching of the new T levels in Engineering
• Leading, communicating, and coordinating your team, so all students receive up-to-date and correct information.
• Working towards becoming a centre of excellent for green engineering within the region.

About the department

As a teacher, trainer or educator who has developed programmes and courses, you’ll be excited to hear that we have a new £10 million state-of-the-art engineering facility in Ashford College, as well as a £500,000 investment in new engineering machinery across our group.

With robotic Kuka arms, XYZ CNC mills and lathes, 3D printers, computer-based labs (with CAD software) + more, you’ll have all the latest equipment to manufacture engaging & creative programmes.

We were the only Kent-based project to be successful in receiving part of the £83m Fund, which is aimed at increasing capacity for a growing cohort of students entering Sixth Form and College. With the funding, we’re able to ‘Level Up’ to support our communities and meet local employers’ needs. Altogether, the upgrade will allow an about 250 additional students to study with Ashford College.

The ‘Engineering Hub’ will aim to promote access to the field and we encourage applications from those that are underrepresented in engineering and is set to focus on how engineering can create solutions to climate change and decarbonisation.

Alongside our priority of excellent student experience, we also focus on our employees. Here are just some of our benefits when working for the East Kent Colleges Group:

• Competitive salary and holiday entitlement (38 days FTE)
• Access to 100's of online discounts via our Rewards Scheme (Inc. Restaurant, Grocery, Retail, Gym, Holidays)
• Access to cycle to work, car leasing and tech purchasing schemes
• Generous pension scheme - 28% employer contribution
• Being part of a company with a Eco-Sustainability focus of being Net-Zero
• Time off for your child's first day at school, moving home and for interviews
• My 10 Days initiative - bid for up-to 10 days off work to pursue voluntary work
• Being part of Community Days and Annual Staff Celebration Day

Outstanding Ofsted Provider

East Kent Colleges Group is an Ofsted Outstanding rated provider. It is proud to be the first General Further Education college organisation in the country to have received the Outstanding grade against each of the strands under the new Ofsted inspection framework. An inclusive provider, our colleagues place our students and the communities we serve at the heart of everything they do across EKC Group and this is illustrated in our ‘Strong’ skills grading by Ofsted.

Commitment to Safeguarding

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and we ensure that all staff are aware of their responsibilities for upholding these principles.

As a designated establishment, we are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore have an obligation to carry out checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children and vulnerable adults. These checks include conviction/caution self-declaration, Enhanced DBS check and obtaining sufficient referencing.

It is a criminal offence to apply for a post which involves engaging in regulated activity relevant to children if you are barred from doing so.

If you are successful in being shortlisted to interview, your suitability to work with children and vulnerable adults will be explored as part of the interview process.

Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

East Kent Colleges Group is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all members of our communities. We are particularly keen to increase the diversity of our staff body and encourage applications from candidates where there is underrepresentation in our workforce.

We are proud to hold the Positive About Disability Award and are a Disability Confident Employer. This confirms our commitment to interviewing all applicants who declare that they have a disability and who meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification. With any successful candidate, we will explore any reasonable adjustments to a role due to a health needs or disability.

Similarly, we have a commitment to Care Leavers (Care Covenant Pledge) and to current or previous Armed Forces personnel (Armed Forces Covenant Pledge) with a commitment to interview applicants who meet the positions essential criteria and who have declared this on their application. 

We welcome applications from anyone wishing to work flexibly and those considering a return to work from a career break.

We do not engage with agencies for permanent staff and have an in-house recruitment team.