School Leader (Ruimsig Secondary)

Are you a culture and instructional leader looking to serve an organisation and passionate about the future of Africa? Nova Pioneer is looking for an outstanding culture and instructional leader to serve as School Leader (Principal) at our Ruimsig Secondary School (Grade 8-12) in South Africa! This is an opportunity to help create a transformative school model with the future of Africa’s youth at stake.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Nova Pioneer already has 15 schools on the continent - nine in Johannesburg and six in Nairobi. Prior to assuming the School Leader position, you will go through core training to get you ready to lead in the Nova Pioneer way with support, participation, and leadership in the Emerging Leaders Program. The series of experiences will be customised based on your prior experience. These experiences include shadowing a current School Leader and gaining experience with coaching teachers using the Nova Pioneer system.

Key Responsibilities

1. Living the Nova Culture: Fully embrace Nova Pioneer’s values and promote them to students, staff, other faculty, parents and members of the outside community. Live the culture principles inside and outside of the classroom. Maintain positive, constructive and professional relationships with teachers, students, their families, and colleagues. Attend daily team, weekly staff and other meetings that arise throughout the school year. Contribute as part of the regional leadership team to support the growth and health of the collective Nova Pioneer brand.
2. Vision and Leadership: Manage the execution of the daily operation of the school, and support all members of the community in meeting the mission, vision and instructional model of Nova Pioneer. Articulate a compelling short- and long-term vision for the development of the school’s culture and program. Establish and maintain an extremely strong and vibrant school culture consistent with Nova’s core cultural principles. Manage teaching and learning, and the academic outcomes of all learners. Manage the school leadership team, and all teachers using the Managing the Nova Pioneer Way (MNPW) framework. Plan and support the implementation of Open Days, Academic events, community events, and parent-centered events.
3. Organisation and Administration Skills: Provide overall management of the school, including the planning and overseeing of the daily timetabling of classes. Manage the execution of the teacher duty schedules as well as morning, break time, and lunch supervision. Support and maintain effective data management systems such as student records, teacher records, attendance, etc. Collect, analyze, share, and interpret internal and external school assessment data and ensure that data is used strategically to improve student academic performance.
4. Teacher Development: Lead the coaching and development of other leaders in the school, including Deans and Grade Level leads to be exemplars in all aspects of the Nova Pioneer Model. Oversee the attendance roster and roster of absent teachers and ensure effective teacher substitute plans as necessary. Develop a school environment that is supportive of learning and high achievement among the students.
5. Communication: Develop effective communication systems with students, team, parents and the wider community. Communicate with students, staff and parents in a positive, friendly and professional manner. Responsible for managing communication systems - D6, Newsletters, EdAdmin, etc.

ABOUT YOU

You have 5+ years of experience in a rigorous, high-expectations school setting including instructional leadership roles (e.g., Dean of Instruction, Dean of Students, Deputy Head, teacher coach, etc.). More years of experience or experience as a Head of School is highly valued but not a prerequisite; having 5+ years of Senior School professional experience is a prerequisite. You are widely recognised as a highly effective teacher and can model what great, inquiry-based teaching looks like. You consistently seek out opportunities to grow, whether by asking others for feedback, forming communities of learning with other school leaders or seeking out training. You have a track record of improving other people’s performance through coaching, building uncommonly strong relationships, developing creative training sessions, and sharing feedback. A strong community leader, with the ‘head and heart’ to foster a caring community. You have an exceptional ability to think strategically—and are unusually detail-oriented and conscientious. You are excited about our organisational culture—and in particular, you are fired up to challenge yourself by embracing mutual vulnerability and a firehose of feedback. You have a desire to further develop your leadership skills and apply them to transform the lives of African youth.

HOW TO APPLY

Does working at Nova Pioneer excite you? If so, then apply now! To apply, please complete the form on the right-hand side of this page. We cannot process applications that are emailed to us. Please note: Where a copy of your resume is required, copying and pasting from a formatted document e.g. Microsoft Word may not result in the formatting transferring correctly to the final resume. You are encouraged to attach your resume in Microsoft Word or PDF format to protect formatting. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the right candidate is identified. Only qualified candidates will be invited for interviews.

Please Note: Nova Pioneer may appoint and/or expire the posting of this advertisement at their own discretion. If you have not been contacted within 30 days of the closing date of this advertisement please consider your application as unsuccessful. Nova Pioneer, in line with the POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act) will attempt to ensure the confidentiality of all applicants for this role. All reasonable measurements will be in place to protect personal information but it will be used for recruitment and employment purposes. By submitting your application with Nova Pioneer, you are recognising and accepting this disclaimer. Nova Pioneer will never request an application fee from candidates. If you are contacted with a request to pay a fee from someone claiming to be a Nova Pioneer Talent or Recruitment representative, please do not pay them and report it to us immediately on talent.ke@novapioneer.com or talent.sa@novapioneer.com.