APPOINTED!: Chief Executive Officer - Laetare Catholic Multi Academy Trust

APPOINTED!: Chief Executive Officer - Laetare Catholic Multi Academy Trust - Merseyside

£Competitive to attract the right candidate - Catholic - Head/Principal
Ref: 142 Date Posted: Wednesday 02 Apr 2025

THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF A RECENT VACANCY EMMAUS HAVE APPOINTED TO.

Salary: Competitive to attract the right applicant
Location: Flexible
Contract Type: Full Time
Contract Term: Permanent
Start Date: September 2025

This is a truly unique opportunity to become the CEO of the newly formed Laetare CMAT, a national CMAT for Religious Order schools, offering a distinctive but complementary option for schools under the Trusteeship of Religious Orders in addition to Diocesan CMATs.

The Laetare CMAT is an exciting project and the first national Catholic MAT with the first wave of schools being in the Northwest followed closely by schools in London and the Southeast.

The first school, De La Salle, St Helens, joined Laetare on 1st December 2024. It is expected that the next three schools, all founded by the Christian Brothers, St Anselm’s College and St Ambrose College will join Laetare in the immediate future, and St Joseph’s College will join on 1st November 2025. These will form the northern hub. There are a similar number of Religious Order schools in London and the Southeast preparing to join which will form a southern hub.The CMAT will largely be made up of secondary schools, reflecting the history of Religious Order schools, as well as some primary schools.

Laetare CMAT is uniquely committed to a governance model which respects and empowers each school’s unique identity and allows the individual charisms of each school’s Founder to be nurtured. It is the Trust’s expectation that schools will retain significant levels of autonomy as far as it is appropriate to do so.

We welcome applications from practising and committed Catholics with the ability to articulate a clear philosophy for Catholic Education. We are looking for significant school leadership experience gained in Catholic education through one of the following:

- Executive headship role
- Headteacher/Principal of a secondary school
- School improvement or previous Trust CEO/Deputy CEO experience

Now is a moment of real opportunity to lead and grow this unique national Catholic MAT, which makes this post an extremely attractive and rewarding career opportunity.

As a national CMAT this will involve the Central Team working remotely or within schools for the majority of the time. As a consequence, there is flexibility as to your location.

Closing Date: Monday 10 March at 5pm

Interviews: Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 March

For an initial informal chat please call Liam Dowds, our Emmaus Advising Consultant, on 01737 652 043 or email him at ldowds@emmausleadership.me for an Application Pack

All conversations will be held in the strictest confidence.

DO NOT APPLY ONLINE. ALL COMPLETED APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED VIA EMAIL.

Laetare CMAT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people and all applicants are expected to share this commitment. All appointments are subject to pre-employment checks, including satisfactory references and an Enhanced DBS check.

 

 

"Emmaus brings a level of professionalism, seen in other industry sectors, to church schools’ recruitment."

The Rt Rev Nick Baines - Anglican Bishop of Leeds

"I approached Emmaus following our unsuccessful attempts to recruit Deputy DDEs for both Dioceses. They went on to source a far greater number of candidates of high calibre. I highly recommend Emmaus!"

Canon Carolyn Lewis, Director of Education - Diocese of Leicester and Diocese of Derby

"We had been cold called by a few other companies but chose Emmaus as it specialised in Church schools. We were impressed by Liam and his team coming to the school and burrowing in to what the school wanted and needed. He asked searching questions and we were satisfied this was the way forward. I had not been a fan of head hunters before, but I have to say this process and its result was a hugely better experience than going out on our own and was totally professional throughout."

Bridget Prentice, Chair of Governors - Trinity School, Lewisham

"I cannot imagine a better service to fulfil the requirement of helping a Catholic school find a Head. I was impressed with the number and high quality of candidates sourced by Emmaus Leadership."

Marjorie Bannister, Chair - St Michael's Catholic College, London

"We are delighted with the appointment we made and I have reported to the whole community that we could not have been more thorough in the search or more rigorous in the selection process. Thank you Emmaus Leadership."

Jacqui Feely, Chair at All Hallows Catholic College, Macclesfield

"I’m delighted with the way it went and the successful outcome (third SLT placement now!) helps confirm to Governors that your approach is right for these levels of appointment. It’s difficult to quantify the costs of recruiting and failing to get the right candidate ourselves - we’d only find out the true cost and also lost opportunities if we tried and failed. Altogether better to invest in getting it right first time, so thank you for all your hard work on this. The other side is the perception we leave with all candidates and I think we’ve worked together to do an excellent job (using your Assessment support). The communication, logistics and the care given I think is really important and Emmaus are a big part of that - you work as an extension of the school. I am fairly sure that all of the candidates will go away having had a great experience and that will help our reputation spread in a positive way."

Dave Cobb - School Business & Development Manager, Saint Cecilia's CE School, London

"This is the second time our Governing Board has used the services of Emmaus Leadership in the successful appointment of a new headteacher and we have no hesitation in recommending them to others."

Rosemary Johnson, Chair of Governors - Lowton CE High School

"I have no hesitation in commending Emmaus to any school that is seeking to appoint a Christian Headteacher. In particular, Emmaus’ ability to promote the school, assess the ethos of the school and communicate this within the networks of those who might be considered as possible candidates was invaluable."

Clive Purser, Chair of Governors, St Andrew's CE High School for Boys, Worthing

"We came across Emmaus by accident after our own attempts to recruit a Headteacher failed. We would not hesitate to engage them again to find a suitable candidate for a leadership position."

Michael Tennant - Chairman of the Board, St Edward's School

"…we also considered other external recruiters, but Emmaus were clear favourites in terms of their recruitment expertise and in-depth knowledge and appreciation of the catholic school’s sector."

Peter Giorgio, Director of Education, Nottingham Diocese

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