Job Description

Reporting to:	Regional Managing Director
Direct Reports:	School Senior Leadership Team [SLT]

Job Purpose

To lead and inspire the school community to meet the highest standards of organisational success, educationally and commercially ensuring all stakeholders are engaged and committed to this purpose, understand the part they play and strive for the best outcomes for all.

Other Key Relationships:

Internal

School SLT
Teachers and Academic teams
Function teams
Regional office
Group Central Support
[Head Office]
Other Nord Anglia Principals

External

Parents
Vendors

Key Performance Indicators:

Student Outcomes
Parent Satisfaction
EBITDA
Student enrolment/growth
Market share
Employee Engagement

The Role of the Principal within Nord Anglia Education

At Nord Anglia, the role of the Principal is central to the success of each school. We approach every recruitment with careful consideration of the unique character and needs of the school, ensuring that each Principal is exceptionally well-matched to lead their community to success.

The best Principals inspire their school communities to meet the highest standards of organisational success – educationally and commercially ensuring all stakeholders are engaged and committed to this purpose and understand the part they play in achieving the best outcomes for all.

As a Principal at Nord Anglia, you will lead your school with the autonomy to make decisions that best meet the needs of your students, staff, and community, while operating within a clear reporting structure. You will also be a member of the global senior leadership team and benefit from the support of a network of experienced education professionals around the world, offering opportunities for collaboration and shared best practices.

In this role, you will contribute to the strategic development of your school. Working within a commercially run organisation, you will have the opportunity to propose and implement initiatives that enhance educational outcomes and operational performance. You will also have access to global partnerships that provide valuable resources and opportunities for your staff and students.

Additionally, you will be offered ongoing professional development, including executive coaching and mentoring, invitations to workshops designed to deepen your leadership practice, enhance your skills in new areas, and keep you informed about emerging trends in education.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Delivering Excellent Academic Outcomes

Create an environment where the NAE pillars of academic achievement, wellbeing, creativity, and global connectedness thrive
Demonstrate unwavering commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all students, ensuring a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment that meets statutory requirements and reflects best practices in child protection.
Deliver an appropriate curriculum using different learning tools that meet the needs of the students
Work with the senior leadership team to quality assure both the delivery of learning and the assessment of student attainment and progress
Embed a curriculum and after-school opportunities that ensure student well-being and personal development are central to the educational offer in the school
Develop a culture with students and colleagues to achieve high standards of behaviour, a positive attitude to learning and collaborative discussions to promote better academic outcomes for everyone
Establish an annual school review process that involves all colleagues, parents and students, utilising parent, student and employee survey outcomes to help define areas for continuous improvement
Support the deployment of the latest advances in educational research and technology to drive innovation and creativity
Inspire colleagues to undertake courses in Nord Anglia University [NAU], our internal learning platform, to enhance knowledge and skills acquisition and share best practices
Leverage data-driven insights to enhance academic achievement, student wellbeing, and personal development by systematically analysing student performance, behaviour trends, and stakeholder feedback. Collaborate with senior leadership to ensure data informs curriculum design, teaching strategies, and continuous school improvement
Champion a culture of evidence-based practice, using data to support innovation, monitor progress, and drive high standards across all areas of school life
Respond to Parent NPS survey data and shape strategy that drives continuous improvement in parent satisfaction

Empowering, Engaging and Developing Talent

Employee Engagement

Use data, including findings from our annual Employee Engagement Survey, to inform and shape a people strategy that promotes a positive culture, supports staff wellbeing, and drives retention and performance

Recruitment

In line with safer recruitment policies, recruit skilled and motivated colleagues and teams, reflective of the diversity within the community, who inspire students to achieve outstanding academic outcomes
Provide a comprehensive 12-month induction programme for new colleagues which uses a variety of different tools including peer mentoring, webinars, leadership courses and self-study courses on NAU, and which ensures familiarity and compliance with all NAE policies

Culture and Influence

Be the public face of the school deploying appropriate leadership and influencing skills to grow the school’s reputation in the community through external outreach
Build a skilled, supportive, and collaborative school culture with clearly defined roles, responsibilities, accountabilities and values that are shared with colleagues and the community
Engage appropriately with all stakeholders to establish and nurture the school as the centre of the community and act as ‘front of house’ when welcoming potential new parents
Champion a positive safeguarding culture across the school demonstrating that strong, proactive leadership is essential to embedding safeguarding values, practices and accountability at every level of the school.

Talent Development and Training

Champion and foster a culture of professional growth by identifying, nurturing, and developing internal talent, ensuring a strong pipeline of future leaders and fostering long-term staff engagement and excellence
Establish a clear succession plan underpinned by high quality capability and talent within the school and across the NAE family.
Grow senior colleagues’ skills through collaborative working on commercial propositions such as budget setting
Train all colleagues on the Family Experience Journey to ensure they understand the importance of admissions and marketing in the school and that each person acts as an ambassador in the community
Ensure all colleagues have training in, and are responsible for, excellent communications with parents including the use of NAE and local country social media policies
Grow the length of tenure of colleagues either in school or within NAE
As part of the management of the school’s balanced scorecard, implement a performance review programme for all colleagues linked to robust, ongoing constructive feedback and personal development opportunities

Safe stewardship in the local context

Ensure country and state laws that affect students, and the school community are known and adhered to

Driving Commercial Success

Drive the NAE School annual budget to achieve FTE, EBITDA and flowthrough metrics
Ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of managing resources, achieving best value and with adherence to NAE guidelines and policies
Use data intelligently to inform strategic decision-making, optimise resource allocation, and drive commercial success while maintaining the highest standards of educational excellence
Provide safe stewardship of the school by ensuring full compliance with all relevant laws, regulations, and policies, and by fostering a secure and supportive environment for students, staff, and the wider school community.

Manage the school’s balanced scorecard by:

Meeting all operational reporting deadlines with well-prepared, high quality content e.g. curriculum and staffing model, draft budget, CAPEX requests
Developing and supporting robust monitoring programmes, involving the school’s SLT colleagues, that ensure key performance metrics and admissions and marketing initiatives meet targets and are on track
Through an effective integration plan (where appropriate) share and promote the NAE values and benefits to students, colleagues and parents
Empower and support the school’s MAC team to develop an effective, personalised marketing plan that grows enrolment, promotes high re-enrolment and increases market share
Ensure all aspects of health and safety requirements are met e.g. criminal background checks or country specific, reference checking, and audit tasks actioned
Work collaboratively with the regional office and the central support teams to resolve issues swiftly, mitigate risk and realise opportunities for the school