I am a Lecturer in Education Leadership in the Manchester Institute of Education (MIE), and Associate Director for Research Ethics in the School of Environment, Education and Developement. I have previously held roles as a Programme Director, Lecturer in Education, and Lecturer in Initial Teacher Education in MIE.

My research interests are in the field of education leadership, education policy, and teacher professional development. I am an active member of both the Critical Education Leadership and Policy (CELP) research group and the Teacher Education and Professional Learning (TEPL) research group, both based within the Manchester Institute of Education.

The Micro-Politics of Policy Enactment in a Multi-Academy Trust was the title of my doctoral thesis. The thesis project involved working with a fifteen-school multi-academy trust (MAT), interviewing and observing school leaders as they developed new policy. Including three pilot papers, my doctorate generated a total of eight peer reviewed publications. This included publications in Education Leadership & Management (EMAL), a special edition of School Leadership and Management (SLAM), the Journal of Education Policy (JEP) and a book chapter published by Emerald.

Beginning in 2025, I am the lead researcher on a project aimed at rethinking and re-imagining the development of leaders and teachers in schools and MATs. To date, this has involved data generation with early career teachers, analysis of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) in England, and an ongoing funding bid. I am actively seeking productive partnerships with school and MAT leaders for future work in this field.

Outside of the university, I am a member of the British Education Research Association (BERA) and the British Education Leadership and Administration Society (BELMAS). I have now presented several times at annual conferences for both of these organisations, and have written several high-profile blogs for BERA. For BELMAS, I am a Convener of the Organisational Reform research interest group (RIG). Through the RIG, I wish to highlight the ongoing privatisation of state institutions and ensure they are accountable to the public.  

In addition, I am an Editorial Board Member for the journal International Studies in the Sociology of Education (ISSE). I also regularly review journal articles by request for various academic journals. To date I have reviewed for Oxford Review of Education; Management in Education; English in Education; British Journal of Educational Studies; Discover Education; and Journal of Education Policy.

In the past I have served as an external examiner for New College Durham, and as an external panel member for Anglia Ruskin University and University of Cumbria. I am open to further work as an external of courses related to education leadership. I have also previously worked on a consultancy basis for private firms in the learning technology and leadership development fields. Again, I am open to further work in this area.