Zen Educate
Regional Lead - Sunderland

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Location: Sunderland, United Kingdom
Type: Full-time, 5 days on site.
Salary: £50-65K OTE
If your salary expectations do not meet our banding, please do still apply - salary banding is based on transferable skills, tenure, industry experience, and interview performance.
🌍 What We’re Building And Why
Here’s the challenge: UK schools spend over £2 billion a year on temporary staff. But £600m of that goes straight into the pockets of recruitment agencies, money that should be going back into classrooms and teachers’ pay. So we’re doing things differently. Zen Educate is an online platform that gives schools instant access to fully vetted teachers and support staff. Since launching in 2017, we’ve already saved schools over £30 million, that’s gone straight back to where it matters most. We've just closed a $37m Series B (the biggest EdTech round in Europe last year!), and we’re scaling fast in the UK and the US.
It’s an exciting time to join, have a huge impact, and grow alongside us.
Looking to make a difference? 🚀
You’ll be joining Zen in a key leadership position. This is an exceptional opportunity for someone looking to apply themselves and make a difference with great responsibility and autonomy to shape the product for years to come. We’re still young and you’ll play a pivotal role in the growth of the company and team.
Responsibilities
- Responsible for the commercial success of Zen in supporting secondary schools in Sunderland.
- Own commercial output, set targets and execute strategies, build relationships with school leaders and upskill wider teams.
- Collaborate with team leaders across the business, design and execute effective campaigns.
- Provide line management to Account Managers.
- Increase efficiency of days booked and build strategic relationships with stakeholders.
- Build senior strategic relationships with senior stakeholders within your region - Executive School leaders, Trust CEOs etc.
Reasons to use Rodeo
I’m in my final year doing Economics and I don’t know whether to apply for grad schemes now or do a masters first. What do you think?
Honest answer — it depends on where you want to end up. A lot of top grad schemes (Big 4, civil service, banking) don’t need a masters. Let’s look at the ones you’d be competitive for now, and we can decide if a masters actually adds anything.
Also worth knowing: most autumn 2026 applications are open now. Timing matters more than you think.
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
Graduate Consultant — 2026 Scheme
Why you're a good match
StrongYour economics background and your summer at a regional bank line up with what PwC looks for on the consulting scheme. Applications close in four weeks.
See breakdownIt searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Why you're a good match
You’ve got the grades and the economics background, and your bank internship is exactly the experience this scheme looks for. Apply soon — deadlines close within the month.
Experience fit
Your summer at the bank plus your econometrics coursework map directly to the day-one responsibilities on this scheme — client modelling, market briefings, and deal support.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Success KPIs
- YoY revenue growth of schools in Sunderland.
- YoY Active school growth of schools in Sunderland.
- YoY School retention.
- Growth of schools in new markets.
- Effective marketing and new business campaigns with how we attract schools & staff.
- Resourcing efficiency and prioritisation; candidates vetted and placed.
- Platform adoption % of Zen Educate features.
Requirements
- Prior management experience of at least one year, with direct line management of more than two people.
- Have a good understanding of the pain points of schools and demonstrate a passion and desire to work for a company that is solving these challenges.
- Have either commercial leadership or school leadership experience, preferably both, with demonstrated success in either field.
- A history of rapid career growth and be excited about further growth opportunities.
- A solution-oriented mindset, be a team player and have an understanding of the importance of collaboration.
What's in it for you?
- Work that you want to talk about
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Cycle to work scheme
- Electric car scheme
- Ownership in the company
- 25+ days of holiday
- Summer hours with shorter days during holidays in August and an early Friday finish
- Fun-loving, tight-knit team solving a problem that makes a difference
Diversity and Inclusion
At Zen, we strive to build a culture of equity and inclusion, where everyone is respected, valued and appreciated for their unique traits, experiences and perspectives. We are committed to creating a safe, inclusive and equitable environment where our team can thrive, regardless of age, ethnicity, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, disability, religion or beliefs. We value our differences and believe that practices of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion help us create a fairer, more compassionate environment for all.


Get help with your application
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We welcome applicants with diverse backgrounds and different experiences and perspectives - just like the staff who teach through Zen and the children at the schools we work with. We believe in hiring the best people from the widest pool and creating an inclusive culture where people’s voices are heard and all our team can look forward to coming to work.
We are committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of our community and promoting an equitable and inclusive environment for all. We seek out diverse opinions, beliefs, and experiences because they collectively make us stronger; we’ve had former teachers, pilots, fundraisers, engineers, lawyers, marketers, social media experts and more join our team.
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.
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