The Department for Education is looking to appoint three regional schools commissioners - including two of the three roles covering the North of England.
It is recruiting a new commissioner for Lancashire and West Yorkshire to replace Vicky Beer who will be stepping down at the end of a five-year term later this year.
The department is also recruiting for permanent regional school commissioners for both the North of England and the South Central and North West London roles, which were filled by interim appointments last year.
Concerns: Fourth RSC quits the role amid fears that school leaders are being poached
U-turn: Vicky Beer reverses decision to quit as regional schools commissioner
Interim: DfE fills two RSC roles on a temporary basis
The job adverts say the roles involve driving forward the academy programme and providing advice to ministers over the management of “contentious academy decisions”.
The national schools commissioner Dominic Herrington has paid tribute to Ms Beer today.
He said: “I would like to personally thank Vicky Beer for her professionalism, resilience and excellence as regional schools commissioner in the Lancashire and West Yorkshire region.
“She has made a fantastic contribution to the work of the team during her five years in post and has helped make a difference to education in the region.”
Ms Beer almost left the role in 2017 when but reversed her decision to resign.
She had announced that she was leaving to become executive principal of the Greater Manchester Learning Trust but then decided to stay.
She has been the commissioner for the region since November 2015 after her predecessor Paul Smith quit.
At the time, she was the fourth RSC to hand in their resignation, prompting concerns about filling these posts.
The new job adverts say the roles will pay £110,000 a year.
Dame Kate Dethridge took up the RSC post in North West London and South Central and Katherine Cowell was appointed to the North of England last year.
A DfE spokesperson said the plan was to have a new appointment for the Lancashire and West Yorkshire post in place for the Autumn of this year.
She said the interim commissioners would remain in place until permanent appointments are made for these roles.
Both the current interim post-holders are former headteachers whose appointments appear to buck the trend of roles increasingly being handed to career civil servants rather than former school leaders.
Under the regional schools commissioner system, England is divided up into eight regions and London is divided into three.
The regions are: North of England; Lancashire and West Yorkshire; East Midlands and the Humber; West Midlands; North West London and South Central England; South East England and South London; East of England and North East London; and South West England.
The job advert says commissioners will be responsible for “driving forward the academies programme for the region and making decisions informed by advice from headteacher boards.”
It adds: “This includes taking decisions on the creation of new academies and free schools, approving changes to open academies, providing advice on the management of contentious academy decisions which are escalated to ministers for decision, and monitoring the performance of existing sponsors, liaising with the ESFA [Education and Skills Funding Agency].”
