CRM Change Management Lead (12-Month Fixed-Term Contract)

Duncombe School; Dubai; Hybrid; AED 260,000 - 420,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognita is seeking a CRM Change Management Lead in Dubai to drive change readiness for HubSpot and ongoing CRM updates across clusters and schools. You will shape communications, manage adoption risk, and coordinate training with the CRM Enablement team, ensuring a unified approach across regions.

The role requires applying established change frameworks, excellent stakeholder engagement, and the ability to operate in a matrixed, multi-site organisation.

Qualifications

• Experience applying a recognised change framework in a real organisation.
• Led change management for technology or process rollouts across multiple sites or regions.
• Managed stakeholder resistance and adoption risk in a matrixed organisation.
• Designed and delivered comms and engagement plans for diverse audiences.
• Excellent written and verbal communication tailored to leaders and staff.
• Defined adoption metrics and translated data into practical interventions.
• Degree-level education or equivalent professional experience.

Responsibilities

• Own the change management strategy for HubSpot and CRM changes across clusters and schools.
• Identify adoption blockers early and work with leaders to address them before go-live.
• Design engagement and communications plans for each rollout wave.
• Maintain a change calendar aligned with delivery plans to avoid overlaps.
• Coordinate training within the broader change plan with CRM Enablement.
• Define KPIs and data sources to track adoption, sentiment, and fatigue.

Skills

ADKAR/Prosci/Kotter

Change management

Stakeholder engagement

Communications planning

Multi-site rollout

CRM change experience

Education

Degree-level education

Tools

HubSpot

Salesforce

Job description

Working with us

Cognita is a global family of 86 schools across 21 countries, with more than 100,000 students, 22,000 colleagues, 14 curricula and 9 languages of instruction. Our strength lies in our diversity. There is no single model of a Cognita school because education is inherently local. When families choose a school, they are making a deeply personal and community-based decision, and our schools reflect this.

What unites us is a shared ambition to deliver consistently high-quality education, alongside an exceptional experience for students and parents. We define this clearly through group-wide standards that articulate what “great” looks like, while allowing schools the freedom to express their local identity.

We have recently launched a new vision and strategic plan. It is ambitious and sets a clear direction for the years ahead.

Job Overview

Help ourschools move through change with confidence

Cognita is a global community of schools committed to making a lasting difference ineducation. We believe great schools are built by great people, and as HubSpotrolls out across our clusters, we need someone who can make sure our people areready for it.

As our CRMChange Management Lead, you’ll own how schools and clusters experience change.You’ll build readiness before changes land, work through resistance, and makesure every rollout wave is met with clear communication and strong adoption.You’ll also be the voice of the school in the wider programme, making sure whatteams are telling us on the ground shapes what we prioritise next.

Contract Type: Fixed-Term Contract (12 Months)

What you’ll do

• Own the change management strategy for HubSpot andongoing CRM changes, covering stakeholder readiness, communications andadoption planning across clusters and schools
• Identify and manage adoption risk and resistance,working with cluster leads and school leadership to address blockers earlyand eliminate where go-live is at risk
• Design and run engagement and communications plansfor each rollout wave and subsequent product or process change
• Maintain a change calendar aligned to the delivery plan, so schools aren’t hit with uncoordinated or overlapping changes
• Sequence training within the broader change plan,in partnership with the CRM Enablement Manager
• Define the KPIs and data sources used to track adoption, including usage, sentiment and change fatigue, by school and cluster
• Design a single, coordinated model of central engagement, so schools experience one joined-up approach rather than separate check-ins
• Feed field-level sentiment and change blockers intoproduct prioritisation via the Business Analyst
• Provide a change-readiness assessment as a requiredinput to go-live decisions for each school or cluster
• Support change management for new school onboarding, including new openings and acquisitions

You’ll workclosely with the CRM Optimisation Manager, the HubSpot Global Rollout ProgrammeManager, the CRM Enablement, Data and Insights teams, and cluster and schoolleaders, including Principals and Parent Experience Managers.

What you’llbring

Essential

• Practical experience applying a recognised change framework (e.g. ADKAR, Prosci, Kotter) in a real organisational setting
• Experience leading change management for a technology or process rollout across multiple sites or regions
• Experience managing stakeholder resistance andadoption risk in a complex, matrixed organisation
• Experience designing and delivering communicationsand engagement plans for diverse, non-co-located audiences
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to tailor your message from school leadership to frontline staff
• The ability to define and track adoption andsentiment metrics, and turn the data into practical, targeted interventions
• Degree-level education or equivalent professional experience

Desirable

• Familiarity with CRM or similar platform adoption programmes, ideally HubSpot or Salesforce
• Experience using pulse surveys orsentiment-tracking tools to measure change impact
• Confidence navigating multi-level organisations(group, cluster and school) and influencing without direct authority
• A change management certification (e.g. ProsciADKAR, APMG Change Management)
• A project or programme management certification(e.g. PRINCE2, PMP)
• Experience in K-12, independent or internationaleducation, or another multi-site consumer/service sector
• Experience supporting large-scale, multi-market CRMor system rollouts

To view the role profile, click here

Workingarrangements

4 days per week in Dubai office, 1 day working from home.This roleinvolves flexible working across multiple time zones and regular engagementwith school and cluster leadership across regions, balancing central programmetimelines with local readiness. You should expect regular international travelto schools and clusters to support readiness, communications and go-liveactivities, particularly during active rollout phases.