ISI is a not-for-profit organisation appointed by UK Government to inspect independent schools in England which are in membership of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), private further education colleges, and British Schools Overseas. It is also appointed to inspect provision for international qualified teacher status.

We assure standards across the diverse range of more than 1,400 schools that make up the membership of the ISC, educating more than 500,000 children in England. We have inspection experience in over 50 countries across five continents. As a result, we make a significant contribution to effective quality assurance in education.

We are seeking a Director National Inspections to join our Extended Leadership Team and bring system-level leadership and insights to the work of our inspector teams, further evolving our approach to inspection process, risk, technology, inspection governance and stakeholder liaison.

We are particularly interested in candidates who have a proven track record of system improvement as well as successful inspection experience. The post holder will combine in-depth understanding of inspection, gained in the independent, state funded, and/or international sectors with expertise in quality assurance, use of technology and data at system level. The post holder will have experience in leading and developing a team.

The post holder will join at an exciting time for ISI, with our national inspection framework starting its fourth year, and the recent introduction of a revised framework for our inspection of British Schools Overseas.

GatenbySanderson has been appointed to partner with ISI on this key appointment. For an initial confidential discussion to discuss your suitability, please contact: Sophie Hester, sophie.hester@gatenbysanderson.com

To apply for this post, please submit your application no later than 17.00 BST on Friday 28th August.

To view the job description and person specification, please scroll to the bottom of the page, tick to agree to the privacy policy, then click 'Continue to full details'.

Recruitment Timetable

Closing date
5pm Friday 28 August 2026

Preliminary interviews
w/c 14 September and w/c 20 September

Short listing
Friday 25 September 2026

Final panel
Thursday 1 October 2026

How to Apply

• Please submit your CV along with a Supporting Statement addressing the person specification criteria, evidencing how you meet the criteria.
• Detail any employment or education gaps.
• Be ready to provide the names, positions, organisations and contact details for two referees; one should be your current or most recent employer. Referees will be contacted for those proceeding to final stages. We will always gain your permission before we contact referees.
• Let us know any difficulty you may have with the indicative timetable.
• Check that your contact details are correct before you submit.

Once you have submitted your application, you will receive an automated email confirmation. If you do not receive, please email contactus@gatenbysanderson.com