Director - Operated Schools

Aldar Education is currently seeking a Director - Operated Schools to support our growing family of owned and operated schools in the UAE.

The Director - Operated Schools will lead and manage all operational matters across our group of owned and operated schools. To ensure the highest standards of education, parent experience, and student outcomes against board-approved targets and the company’s strategic vision and plans.

The successful candidate will be closely aligned with our core values and ethos and possess a genuine understanding and appreciation of the values of the region.

Main Duties

• Oversee all day-to-day operations of Aldar Education's owned and operated schools, ensuring the delivery of the highest standards of education and customer service.
• Lead and manage a multi-functional team responsible for education provision and related support services, including marketing, enrolment, teacher hiring and training, budgetary control, operations, procurement, and all people-related matters.
• Collaborate with the wider network of support functions and quality assurance teams to maintain and enhance educational standards and operational efficiency.
• Develop and implement strategic plans to achieve organizational goals, including enrolment targets, academic excellence, and financial sustainability.

Specific Duties 

Operational Leadership

• Inspire and support direct reports in the delivery of high standards of student achievement, increased student progress, and school inspection increases using available data to drive improvement.
• Support Leadership and other senior staff to shape the strategic direction, guiding the delivery of specified educational goals and directives.
• Provide quality assurance of all strategic documents such as the school's strategic improvement/development plans and self-evaluations, taking appropriate action as required.
• Lead in the effective implementation (and ongoing review) of learning and assessment frameworks that use benchmarking and value-added data, to monitor and report student progress and achievement.
• Support Principals in the most appropriate educational strategies ensuring equity of educational outcomes to enrich the school as a learning environment for its students, families, and the wider community.
• Provide support and guidance in relation to inspection planning, preparation, and quality assuring the SEF.

Relationship Management

• Promote and represent the company effectively and positively to all internal and external stakeholders and seek opportunities to expand its role across the UAE and globally.
• Represent the company at school functions, interacting with parents in a professional and collaborative manner to build trust in the company and strong community relations.
• Develop strong relationships with education authorities and other government entities in order to establish and maintain a positive reputation that enhances the company’s standing.
• Establish and maintain excellent working relationships with other members of the Executive Leadership Team and other colleagues at HQ to ensure a positive and collegial working environment that enables the company’s goals to be met.

People Responsibilities, Leadership & Management

• Support the leadership teams and schools to draft, deliver, and update relevant plans as required and undertake monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of progress.
• Identify and implement strategies to raise standards of teaching and learning, including the creation of experts to support recommendations. 
• Support appropriate staff in the development and implementation of strategic planning and ensure regular reviews and monitor the strategic plan and targets in each of the schools.
• Communicate and broker, where necessary, Leadership/Principal professional development opportunities, ensuring processes are in place to share successful improvement strategies and best practices and promoting the use of technology for virtual communication where appropriate.
• Encourage collaboration across schools, creating communities of professional learning and networks focused on key areas of school improvement, new educational initiatives, and development.

Strategic Planning and Financial Management:  

• Collaborate with School Leadership Teams to present a three-year school improvement plan with educational and financial KPIs (refreshed on an annual basis)
• Present the annual operating budgets for approval by the Aldar Education Executive Management Team.
• Be accountable for the execution of operating budgets and achieve approved financial and academic KPIs. 
• Review the monthly financial performance of the schools and set in place action points for addressing variances for the School Leadership Team to execute.
• Collaborate with the School Leadership Team to identify value-added services that not only generate additional revenue streams for the schools but also strengthen their USP and provide a strong return on investment for all stakeholders.    

Minimum Qualifications   

• Bachelor’s degree with postgraduate qualification in education (eg. PGCE).
• Education Degree
• NPQH or similar
• Master’s Level qualification, preferably in Educational Leadership or related.

Minimum Experience   

• At least 10 years’ experience in a school senior leadership role (ie. MAT CEO, Executive Principal, Principal, Head).
• A proven track record of school leadership at Principal or Head level.
• A proven track record at district, cluster, group level of an education company would be an advantage. 

Job Specific Knowledge & Skill 

• Extensive experience in senior leadership roles within the education sector, demonstrating a strong track record of effectively managing and delivering high-quality educational services.
• Proven leadership and management skills, with the ability to lead and inspire a diverse team of professionals to achieve common goals.
• Excellent understanding of education provision and related support services, including marketing, enrolment management, teacher recruitment and training, budgetary control, operations management, and procurement.
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build and maintain positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities, with a focus on driving innovation and continuous improvement.

What We Offer

Aldar Education is a family of world-class, child-centered, and innovative schools based in the UAE. We educate over 40,000 students across our group of owned and managed schools and as we grow, so does our need for highly skilled, inspirational, and dedicated school and educational leaders. We offer an attractive remuneration package including a range of benefits.

This job description is not all-inclusive. Aldar Education reserves the right to amend this job description at any time.

Aldar Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment. Offers of appointment are subject to satisfactory references and police clearance.