Subject Expert (Maths)

Subject Expert (Maths), Devon

Sparx Head Office in Exeter
Salary: £28-50k dependent on experience (plus generous benefits and relocation package)

Reporting to: Product Director

About Sparx:

Sparx is developing an extraordinary new technology for the classroom that is redefining the limits of what young people can achieve.

Our platform for Maths uses custom built content and a powerful, data-driven mobile framework to deliver a tailored set of exercises, games and incentives to the student.

We're looking for people with a deep passion for education and a belief in the power of technology to improve it. Things move fast at Sparx so we need people who assume excellence is a given and who are ambitious, creative and effortlessly knowledgeable. People who want a challenge; people who want to make a difference.

Job description

Our Subject Experts are the fundamental connection between our customers in schools who are using Sparx, and the team back at Sparx HQ. In this role, you'll assist the teachers and students that use Sparx on a daily basis, and ensure that the team at Sparx receive meaningful feedback as to the application and performance of the Sparx system.  You'll help the team make insightful decision about how to change and develop the technology and content.

Alongside this, you'll use your deep knowledge of Mathematics and passion for understanding the learning process, to develop, manage and deliver research projects that investigate radical new ways to teach topics. You'll use your skills and experience to identify how different approaches play out, recognising, for example, when teaching interventions are required, and identifying the appropriate use of our products.

As a Subject Expert at Sparx, you'll be at the heart of our mission to optimise the learning process and transform children's futures. In a nutshell, you'll be helping to shape how the next generation learn.

Key responsibilities

• Provide in-lesson support and training for teachers within schools using the Sparx system
• Find out what's working (and what's not) through the observation of school lessons and talking to teachers
• End-to-end project management, taking ownership of a group of tasks and making sure everything comes together in time and key objectives are achieved
• Make sure that the system is performing beautifully (quality assurance) and support the development of new tools and procedures to make this job easier in the future
• Deliver non-term time programmes and initiatives including our holiday maths camps, where you will take ownership of the organisation, content creation and day to day running as well as oversee the output and analysis of the data
• Work with the wider Sparx team to ensure the product is the best it can be
• Be a good team player - help out if someone asks
• Be positive and infectiously enthusiastic about the values and vision of Sparx
• Be a prominent and respected product and company ambassador for Sparx

About you:

You're an expert and passionate about Mathematics, we'd expect nothing less. More than that though, you're insatiably curious, constantly questioning results and challenging how things are done. You're passionate about data and technology, so you'll be confident using our unique system to prove and disprove the success of the content and structures we've put together.

You may well have been in charge of a department or team of maths teachers at a school or institution and may well be interested in taking your experience into a more commercial environment.  Somewhere you can make your experience count for a generation of students.

At heart, we're all scientists at Sparx, and you know you are too. You'll be able to demonstrate a scientific, highly organised way of working and your extraordinary attention to detail, ingenuity and pride in what we're creating will ensure you always deliver something outstanding.

Things move quickly here so you'll be able to work under pressure and be comfortable with a fast-paced technical environment with changing priorities and a fluctuating workload. Multi-tasking and project management are two of your strengths and you can deliver on short-term objectives, without forgetting the bigger, long-term goal.

You'll be able to get going of your own accord, a true self-starter who uses your initiative to get stuff done. As well as being a great team worker with strong communication skills, you have the ability to focus on what's best for the product above your own objectives.  You'll pride yourself on excellent customer service - professionalism, tact, diplomacy and emotional intelligence are second nature but always at the forefront of your actions.  

Here's an overview of some of the specific skills and experience we're looking for:

Essential:

• Minimum 2:1 in a Maths or related subject and A at A Level Maths
• Qualification as a Secondary School Maths teacher
• A passion and aptitude for technology
• Proactive, enthusiastic and energetic
• Tenacious, resilient and problem solving

Desirable:

• Ability to use Apple hardware, including Mac laptops and iPads.
• Highly proficient knowledge of Microsoft Office (includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Exchange, and web browser).
• Project management experience

Our team:

At Sparx, we work hard, and we play hard. You'll be able to see Dartmoor from your office window, and get to the beach in 20 minutes.

Our generous benefits include substantial holiday leave and a company pension once you've completed your probationary period. We also have a range of on-site facilities for all employees to use free of charge. There's a netball court and a five-a-side football pitch just outside, an on-site gym with classes throughout the day, a running track and pool table, a 2012 Olympic table tennis table and a cafe serving free, delicious and organic food. On top of this, we're constantly organising events and activities to support our charities, and to socialise.

To find out more, and to see the other roles we are recruiting for, please visit our website at www.sparx.co.uk.

How to apply

If you think you've got what it takes then tell us about yourself by applying now. You can apply online by visiting our careers site www.sparx.co.uk/ignite.