---
title: 'Regional Lead  - Sunderland at Zen Educate'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/regional-lead-sunderland-zen-educate-sunderland-g2zx26wsrn39'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Regional Lead  - Sunderland at Zen Educate

- **Company:** Zen Educate
- **Location:** Sunderland, United Kingdom
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-28
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/zeneducate/a80df0cb-58a9-4eae-9e3d-de7cba7cb7d4

## Job description

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. 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.

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.

## About Zen Educate

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Zen Educate is a digital platform that connects schools directly with qualified educators, replacing traditional staffing agencies to save money and improve classroom stability.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B)
- **Headquarters**: London, United Kingdom
- **Founded**: 2017
- **Founders**: Not publicly available

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Education technology / education staffing
- Target customers: Schools (B2B) and educators (B2C); serves K-12 schools, academies, and trusts in the UK, US, and Canada
- Mission/purpose: "To reinvest in education through innovative technology" – the company aims to redirect funds from agency fees back into classrooms and provide stable, inspiring learning environments.

## Products & Services
- **Zen Educate Platform**: A digital marketplace that matches schools with supply/substitute teachers, teaching assistants, special education staff, early years educators, and other school support staff. The platform handles compliance checks, payroll, and scheduling. Educators sign up online, set preferences, and get matched to daily, long-term, or permanent roles. Schools benefit from faster fill rates (97% of short-term requests) and lower fees (roughly half of traditional agency fees).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding – Series B led by Round2 Capital (amount undisclosed); over £50 million redirected into classrooms in the UK; $15 million saved in the US since 2022 launch.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Round2 Capital; government-approved education staffing supplier; accredited social enterprise and certified B Corp.
- **Growth Signals**: 1,000,000+ hours of classroom instruction delivered; 5,000+ educators empowered weekly; 13,000+ educators on platform; 2,000+ schools actively booking monthly; headcount of 1,196 employees (+52.6% YoY, +740 people); launched in the US in 2022 and expanding rapidly in cities like Minneapolis, Phoenix, Los Angeles; also operating in Canada; acquisitions of Opus Education, Aquinas Education, and AK Education.

## Competitive Advantages
- Technology-driven marketplace that bypasses costly traditional agencies, cutting fees by roughly 50% – saving schools money while allowing educators to earn more.
- Certified B Corp and accredited social enterprise, reinforcing a commitment to social impact over profit.
- High fill rate (97% for short-term requests) and integrated compliance/payroll, reducing administrative burden on schools.
- UK government-approved supplier, adding credibility in the public education sector.

## Strategic Focus
- Continued geographic expansion across the UK, US, and Canada.
- Deepening platform capabilities to attract more schools and educators, with a focus on stability and quality of placements.
- Reinvesting savings into classrooms and educator support to drive systemic change in education staffing.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Mission-driven, ambitious, and collaborative team that "genuinely enjoys working together." Emphasis on ownership, transparency, and impact.
- **Work policy**: Mix of remote, hybrid, and office-based roles depending on location and function (e.g., Account Coordinator roles are remote in Canada; Sales roles are hybrid in Vancouver). Offices across the UK and US.
- **Perks**: Mac laptop, stock options for all employees, yearly pay reviews, comprehensive health insurance (Vitality in UK; Medical/Dental/Vision with 75% coverage in US), life insurance, 401k (US), Cycle to Work scheme (UK), generous vacation, twice-yearly Ship-It Day, clear career frameworks with training and mentoring.
- **Engineering/development**: Dedicated learning time, career progression frameworks, and structured onboarding.

## Sources
1. [zeneducate.com/about](https://www.zeneducate.com/about)
2. [jobs.lever.co/zeneducate](https://jobs.lever.co/zeneducate)
3. [zeneducate.com/careers](https://www.zeneducate.com/careers)
4. [uk.linkedin.com/company/zen-educate](https://uk.linkedin.com/company/zen-educate)
5. [zeneducate.com/us/careers](https://www.zeneducate.com/us/careers)

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- [Educator Recruitment Associate](https://feeny.ai/job/educator-recruitment-associate-zen-educate-chicago-t9djr4ct9gyh) — Chicago, IL
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