Leadership Posts at Edvectus

Principal | Vice Principal | Head Teacher | Deputy Head Teacher

Edvectus works with selected international schools and organisations to recommend school leaders for international schools.

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Minimum criteria

The minimum criteria for consideration by Edvectus for one of these Leadership positions are below:

Principal (Head Teacher) Roles

At least 7 years of recent experience teaching/leading in a mainstream Primary/Elementary or Secondary/Middle/High school.
At least 4 years as a Principal/Head Teacher, Vice Principal/Deputy Head Teacher in a mainstream, English-speaking Primary, Secondary, Elementary, Middle or High School. Advisory/consultancy work is not normally considered equivalent*
Consistent work experience – candidates must have worked 2 of the past 3 years within one mainstream school.
UAE and Indonesia posts: Master’s degree in an Education-related subject is required by the Ministry of Education
Current teaching license, qualified teacher status, state teacher registration or Principal license.
Confidential references must be able to be obtained by Edvectus from your current Chairman of the Board of Governors, School Director, school owner or Superintendent, as well as all previous direct employers for the past 5 years as part of the registration process.
Visa related age restrictions – are in place in most countries in the Gulf, Brunei, Singapore, Macau, Indonesia, as well as most of China and all of Hong Kong. More information here. Clients will prefer candidates who will be able to remain at their school for at least 5-10 years.
International school teaching/leadership experience is preferred by some schools.
Most international schools strongly prefer candidates with recent previous teaching or leadership experience in their curriculum.

Vice Principal (Deputy Head Teacher) Roles

At least 5 years of recent experience teaching/leading in a mainstream, English-speaking Primary/Elementary or Secondary/Middle/High school.
At least 2 years of experience at whole school Middle Management such as Assistant Principal, Deputy Head Teacher, Senior Management Team member. Advisory/consultancy work is not normally considered equivalent*
Current teaching license, qualified teacher status/teacher registration or Principal license.
A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree and teacher training such as a PGCE, Bachelors of Education or Masters of Education, QTS, full US state certification, state teacher registration, etc
Consistent work experience – candidates must have worked 2 of the past 3 years within one mainstream school.
Most international schools strongly prefer candidates with recent teaching or leadership experience in their curriculum.
Visa related age restrictions – are in place in most countries in the Gulf, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, Macau, as well as most of China and all of Hong Kong. More information here. Clients will prefer candidates who will be able to remain at their school for at least 5-10 years.
Confidential references must be able to be obtained by Edvectus from your current Principal/Head Teacher, as well as previous direct employers for the past 5 years as part of the registration process.

Note about Advisory and Consultancy work

Advisory and consultancy work within schools is undoubtedly valuable to the schools served by it and skilled advisors often make the difference between a failing school and a good/outstanding school. Advisors and consultants are usually talented communicators and trainers.

However, because of the volume of applications we receive for leadership posts, Edvectus must prioritise candidates who most closely match our clients’ requirements. Without recent, first-hand experience of leading and running a school, it is not possible to assess a candidate’s ability to perform the role in another school context because the scope of activity, accountability, responsibility is different for a consultant/advisor vs a school leader. Therefore, we can only consider applicants who have recent experience leading a school as a member of the Senior Management Team within the past 2 years. If you do not meet this requirement, you will be more successful making direct applications to schools rather than applying through Edvectus.

Note about interim posts

Most international schools prefer leaders who want to become a long term member of the school. With leaders as with teachers, the longer a staff member stays in post, the bigger is the positive impact they make. Furthermore, because international schools are usually fee-paying, the negative parental perception of frequent leadership changes is also taken into account.

Because of this, Edvectus does not normally receive requests for interim leadership positions because most schools will promote an internal candidate as ‘acting’ principal rather than hire an outsider, no matter how qualified the outsider may be. Candidates who are looking for interim positions are advised to contact specialist agencies or job boards for these types of specialist, infrequently available roles.

Note about leadership in Language Schools vs International Schools

Whilst Language Schools (for teaching English as a Foreign Language) and International Schools (a substitute for compulsory education which teach all/most subjects in English) both exist abroad, the two are not considered equivalent from a leadership perspective. Timetabling, parental expectations, licensing, financial responsibility, curriculum expectations and staff management are all much more complex in an International School, therefore Edvectus requires candidates to have leadership experience in International Schools abroad or state schools at home, rather than in Language Schools or other similar specialist schools before applying to our roles unless the roles are specifically noted otherwise.

How to proceed

If you meet the minimum requirements as above and are suited to and interested in one or more of our leadership jobs, please register online and send your cv and requirements to leadership@edvectus.com