Delivering an Executive Search to appoint a Director, Academy Services for a Victorian education authority to ensure high quality professional learning and an engaging and seamless participant experience
The Brief
Future Leadership™ was engaged by a Victorian statutory education authority in to appoint a Director, Academy Services, a senior executive role responsible for overseeing specialist functions that ensure consistent quality management, high quality professional learning and an engaging participant experience across the organisation’s programs. The position required leadership of multidisciplinary teams spanning learning design, data, evaluation and evidence, as well as communications and public advocacy. The authority sought to strengthen the quality, coherence and impact of professional learning programs that support teachers and school leaders across all Victorian school sectors.
The search required candidates with a sophisticated understanding of evidence‑informed program design, strategic insights into school improvement, and experience leading organisational functions that translate research, data and evaluation into improved practice. Ideal candidates needed a proven ability to lead complex program portfolios, drive continuous improvement, manage stakeholder relationships across sectors and provide authoritative strategic advice to senior executives. Experience in leading change, shaping organisational culture and supporting capability uplift across learning design teams was highly desirable.
Given the role’s statewide influence, particular emphasis was placed on attracting candidates with expertise in educator development, evaluation and impact measurement, and organisational leadership gained within education systems or high‑performing development organisations. Candidates with demonstrated success in leading teams through transformation, building evidence and research functions, influencing program design and working collaboratively with internal and external partners were prioritised. This ensured a strong field of applicants equipped to support the organisation’s strategic mandate to elevate teaching and leadership excellence across Victoria.
Candidate Net Promoter Score
Future Leadership combines truly personalised relationships with innovative technology solutions to ensure an approachable and efficient process for all our Net Promoter Score across clients, successful candidates and unsuccessful candidates is well above industry standard.
Candidates supported every year
We maintain genuine relationships with past candidates and continue to support them with leadership solutions long term, after they land their role.
Senior Women Appointed since 2002
Over half of the executive search assignments undertaken by our team have resulted in the appointment of outstanding female or LGBTQI+ leaders to high profile roles.
Candidate Retention Rate for 12 months since 2002
Our thorough briefing process and ability to engage passive candidates mean that we go to great lengths to find the right person for the role – long term!
Future Leadership™ undertook a comprehensive, targeted search to identify senior leaders with the capability to deliver system‑level impact and uplift program quality across the Academy Services Division.
Key steps included:
- Briefing and strategy development: Future Leadership engaged with senior organisational stakeholders to understand the strategic priorities related to professional learning quality, participant experience, evidence and evaluation requirements and system advocacy expectations. This information informed the search strategy, allowing for a comprehensive plan to be confirmed with the client.
- Targeted candidate search: A national search process was conducted, supported by an online advertising campaign. This resulted in 25 formal expressions of interest from candidates with experience in education, policy, learning design and program evaluation.
- Candidate assessment: Shortlisted candidates were assessed for strategic mindset, capability to lead multidisciplinary specialist teams, and experience improving professional learning programs through evidence‑based and contextually informed design. Key leadership criteria included strategic planning, people leadership, stakeholder influence and governance capability.
- Final evaluation: The final candidates were evaluated on their ability to drive system‑level impact, strengthen the Academy brand, and lead evidence and evaluation functions to inform state educational priorities. Future Leadership supported comprehensive reference checking, along with final negotiations to confirm the appointed candidate.
Future Leadership Capability Framework
Strategy and Purpose
Develops and leads strategy for the function/organisation, taking a broad and long-term perspective. Understands and considers context. Communicates and gains buy-in to the function/organisation goals, direction and vision, promoting change initiatives.
Stakeholder Relations
Establishes rapport with stakeholders, builds and sustains trusted and collaborative relationships. Identifies and draws on relevant and diverse perspectives and integrates them to support productive interactions.
Governance and Compliance
Establishes, champions and measures the effectiveness of an organisation’s regulatory and reporting systems. Identifies and evaluates risks, develops strategies to mitigate risk.
Organisational Capability
Understands the organisation's future requirements and identifies opportunities to build potential across the organisation. Seeks opportunities to develop other people and takes appropriate action to address skill gaps in others.
Communication and Influence
Articulates messages with clarity and impact to build understanding, inspire action, persuade others and enable information exchange. Considers the audience and draws on different styles to create impact.
The Outcome
The search resulted in the appointment of an accomplished senior leader with extensive experience across educator development, research, evaluation, workforce strategy and program design, gained in both local and international education systems. Their background included leading research and evaluation functions within a major teacher and leadership development organisation, where they oversaw the redesign of evaluation frameworks, embedded evidence‑informed program improvement, and established organisational research capability. They successfully guided multidisciplinary teams through significant organisational change while maintaining stability, performance and strategic clarity.
The appointee also brought experience delivering professional learning for school leaders across multiple Australian states, designing programs informed by system insights and collaborating with educators, partners and cross‑sector stakeholders. Their recent leadership of a strategic policy and workforce analytics function within a government department strengthened their capability in applying data to inform system reform, advising executives and ministers, and building team capability in ethical and responsible use of evidence. They demonstrated strong organisational leadership, an inclusive approach to culture building, and the ability to elevate divisional influence through research, evaluation and strategic engagement.
Their appointment strengthened the Academy Services Division’s ability to deliver high quality professional learning, enhance participant experience, and embed evidence‑driven practice across program cycles. The successful candidate’s depth of expertise positioned the organisation to deliver on its mandate to raise teaching and leadership excellence across Victoria.
