Academic Director

If you are interested in this opportunity, please submit your application through the following link: https://wellington.avature.cn/su/7c188906ef7def2a . We look forward to reviewing your profile.

JOB TITLE

Academic Director

DEPARTMENT

The Bridge Team

LOCATION

Shanghai

SUPERVISOR

Director of the Bridge

ROLE OVERVIEW

The Bridge Academic Director roles are strategic leaders responsible for advancing educational excellence across the organization, driving work in four core pillars: Curriculum Innovation; Professional Learning; Quality Assurance and Accreditation; and Data Diagnostics and Insights.

Candidates are not required to possess full expertise in every domain; however, they should demonstrate strong proficiency in at least one or more core areas and show an openness to develop skills in areas where they have less experience.

These roles are designed to empower continuous improvement, foster collaborative innovation, and ensure rigorous standards while supporting the unique identities of individual schools within the Wellington College Education (China) group. 

Each school year, the specific responsibilities assigned to each Director will be tailored based on the team’s expertise and composition. Directors assume an agreed-upon scope of work across the four pillars, allowing each to focus on strategic projects that best match their strengths. This approach ensures that individual strengths are maximized while maintaining alignment with the organization’s priorities and needs.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Curriculum Innovation  

·            Drive curriculum innovation, identify future skills and research-informed trends, and help define the group’s unique educational proposition. Lead projects that differentiate the group and reduce redundant research at the school level.

·            Provide clear guidance on aligning school development plans with group-level strategies, including sharing policies, trends, and expectations for future curriculum and academic development.

·            Foster a networked approach to innovation, facilitating sharing of research-informed practice, connecting teams facing similar challenges to foster collective development, and enabling collaboration across all levels (from leadership to teachers).

·            Act as a catalyst for change, supporting both established and newer schools with tailored guidance and encouraging schools to challenge traditions, adopt new tools, and think creatively about curriculum and operations.

·            Advise on programme decisions to help schools avoid common pitfalls and lower risks, especially schools in the start-up or growth phase.

·            Coordinate dynamic curriculum renewal cycles, pilot innovative initiatives, and cultivate strategic external partnerships—including collaborations with leading universities—to advance group-wide educational excellence.

Professional Learning

·            Implement shared, group-wide policies, systems, and processes for professional development, working in close partnership with school-based professional development coordinators to foster a shared approach.

·            Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of teaching standards, appraisal systems, and leadership development programs, ensuring continuous growth and alignment with best practices.

·            Lead transformative group-level training programs—including iPGCE, NPQs, and middle leadership development—empowering educators to excel and drive collective improvement.

·            Facilitate and monitor vibrant, group-wide job-alike and professional learning communities, enabling robust knowledge sharing and action research across all schools.

Quality Assurance and Accreditation

·            Support schools in executing accreditation and annual review processes at the highest level, providing strategic guidance and connecting them with internal and external best practices—empowering schools to excel without assuming the role of evaluator.

·            Champion a culture of continuous improvement by balancing rigorous standards with collaborative support, fostering an environment where excellence and growth are mutually reinforced. 

·            Develop and refine quality assurance processes, offering differentiated support tiers tailored to schools at varying stages of development, and ensuring that each institution receives the guidance most relevant to its context.

·            Design and implement group-wide accreditation strategies, aligning with international accrediting bodies and cycles to uphold global standards while honoring local distinctiveness. 

·            Coach schools through every phase of the accreditation journey, including documentation audits and mock visits, equipping teams with the tools and confidence to succeed.

·            Maintain a living policy toolkit, ensuring ongoing alignment with global standards and enabling local differentiation to meet the evolving needs of each school.

Data, Diagnostics and Insights

·            Analyze and interpret data to drive school and group-wide improvement, offering advanced expertise in data analysis while building internal capacity within schools to execute this work with increasing confidence and autonomy.

·            Ensure accurate, timely, and group-level data collection and analysis, proactively addressing challenges such as dashboard reliability and manual data entry. 

·            Facilitate internal benchmarking between schools, connecting teams facing similar challenges and promoting collaboration—while ensuring that comparisons remain constructive and do not foster unhealthy competition. 

·            Act as a strategic coach, guiding schools in data analysis, knowledge sharing, and strategy design. Offer insight on the effectiveness of assessment tools and help schools reflect on longitudinal data trends to inform evidence-based decision-making.

·            Maintain and develop robust data infrastructure to generate actionable insights for both school and group-wide improvement. Oversee the integrity and automation of data pipelines, ensuring streamlined reporting for accreditation, quality assurance, and board processes.

·            Redesign and maintain dashboards that prioritize leading indicators alongside traditional outcomes, providing regular insight briefs and diagnostics. Leverage AI as a cognitive layer and analytical partner to deliver advanced, actionable insights. 

BASIC QUALIFICATION

Education:  A Master’s Degree, or higher, in Education, Curriculum, or a related field.

Language：Proficient in oral and written English 

Working experience: Minimum of ten years of relevant experience

EXPERTISE

·           Demonstrate emotional intelligence, advanced coaching skills, and a facilitative leadership style that empowers others to excel. 

·           Exhibit strong influencing skills and act as a strategic partner and enabler, driving impact at a senior leadership level and supporting schools to thrive within a shared framework while honoring their unique identities. 

·           Bring experience working within group or matrix structures and foster cross-functional collaboration across schools, phases, teams, and roles, cultivating a culture of partnership and shared purpose. 

·           Possess proven experience in educational leadership at the senior management level, with expertise in curriculum innovation, professional learning, quality assurance, accreditation, and/or data analytics.

·           Demonstrate a strong understanding of bilingual and international education contexts, leveraging global perspectives to inform local practice.

·           Display exceptional communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills, enabling effective decision-making and stakeholder engagement.

·           Lead change, drive continuous improvement, and build collaborative networks that sustain growth and innovation through knowledge sharing and partnership building.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please submit your application through the following link: https://wellington.avature.cn/su/7c188906ef7def2a . We look forward to reviewing your profile.