Senior Operations Manager - School Group

LEAMS Education; Dubai; On-site; AED 201,000 - 312,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tuition fee benefits for children

Professional development opportunities

Job summary

LEAMS Education seeks a Senior Operations Manager to lead group-wide school operations in Dubai. The role drives standards across campuses, aligns facilities, transport, and admin with regulatory requirements, and partners with Principals and senior leaders to ensure safe, efficient learning environments.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years in operations leadership within education, strong governance experience, and a proven ability to implement SOPs and cost optimization across multiple sites.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business Management or related discipline is required.
• Experience in operations leadership within education is essential.
• Strong knowledge of KHDA MOE DHA and regulatory requirements is required.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership across the group’s school campuses.
• Support the Group Head of Operations in implementing organization-wide priorities.
• Translate corporate objectives into practical operating plans for individual schools.
• Establish consistent operational standards across campuses.
• Develop and monitor Standard Operating Procedures.
• Review processes to improve efficiency and service quality.
• Ensure procedures are practical and measurable.
• Coordinate with principals and leadership on priorities.
• Oversee facilities, transport, admin, health and safety and other services.

Skills

Multi-school operations

Education operations

School operations management

Group operations

Operational leadership

Strategic operations

KHDA compliance

MOE compliance

Dubai Municipality compliance

Regulatory inspections

Cost optimization

Governance

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business Management

NEBOSH or equivalent health and safety certification

Tools

Excel

Job description

Senior Operations Manager - School Group Job Snapshot

Role: Senior Operations Manager - School Group Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates Industry: Education Management Function: Operations-Plant Management Experience: 5 years of progressive operations leadership experience Job Type: Full-time

Job Details Country: United Arab Emirates City: Dubai Industry: Education Management Function: Operations-Plant Management Salary: 18000-28000 Estimated salary range based on similar jobs in Dubai; please confirm the final offer with the employer. Gender: Any Candidate Nationality: Any Job Type: Full-time

Role Context This is a strategic group-level operations position with responsibility for ensuring that multiple schools operate consistently, efficiently, safely, and in accordance with UAE regulatory requirements. The Senior Operations Manager will work closely with School Principals, senior leadership, the Group Head of Operations, procurement teams, and campus-based operational personnel. The role requires a leader who can move effectively between strategic planning and hands-on operational oversight. Key priorities include standardizing procedures, strengthening governance, optimizing resources, responding to regulatory inspections, developing support teams, and ensuring that facilities, transport, administration, health and safety, and other services operate to a consistently high standard.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership across the group 's school campuses.
• Support the Group Head of Operations in implementing organization-wide operational priorities.
• Translate corporate objectives into practical operating plans for individual schools.
• Establish consistent operational standards across campuses.
• Develop, implement, and monitor Standard Operating Procedures.
• Review existing processes and identify opportunities to improve efficiency and service quality.
• Ensure operational procedures are practical, measurable, and consistently applied.
• Monitor day-to-day school operations and intervene where performance falls below expectations.
• Coordinate closely with School Principals and senior leadership teams on operational priorities.
• Build effective working relationships between corporate operations and campus leadership.
• Oversee administrative and non-academic support services across the school group.
• Monitor facilities management performance and campus readiness.
• Ensure school buildings and operational areas are maintained to appropriate standards.
• Coordinate with facilities teams on preventive and corrective maintenance requirements.
• Oversee transportation operations and related service standards.
• Monitor Health and Safety performance across school campuses.
• Support implementation of appropriate emergency, safety, and risk management procedures.
• Ensure support services contribute effectively to a safe and efficient learning environment.
• Lead the training and development of facilities and support teams.
• Identify operational capability gaps and arrange appropriate staff development.
• Establish performance expectations for operations and support personnel.
• Encourage accountability and continuous improvement across support functions.
• Ensure compliance with KHDA requirements relevant to school operations.
• Maintain operational alignment with Ministry of Education requirements.
• Monitor compliance with Dubai Health Authority requirements.
• Ensure adherence to applicable Dubai Municipality requirements.
• Coordinate preparation for regulatory audits and inspections.
• Maintain appropriate documentation and evidence for compliance reviews.
• Work with school and corporate teams to address findings raised by regulatory authorities.
• Review inspection reports and identify required corrective actions.
• Develop clear corrective action plans with accountable owners and completion deadlines.
• Track corrective actions through to satisfactory closure.
• Escalate significant compliance risks to senior leadership where appropriate.
• Maintain awareness of changes to relevant education and operational regulations.
• Support budgeting activities for facilities, services, transportation, and operational requirements.
• Review operational expenditure and identify opportunities for sustainable cost reduction.
• Implement cost optimization initiatives without compromising safety or service quality.
• Monitor resource utilization across multiple campuses.
• Identify opportunities to consolidate services, improve procurement efficiency, or reduce duplication.
• Coordinate closely with procurement teams on operational purchasing requirements.
• Work with MSOs and other relevant stakeholders on service delivery and operational priorities.
• Review vendor and contractor performance where required.
• Support effective supplier management and service-level monitoring.
• Contribute to contract reviews for operational services where assigned.
• Monitor operational projects across campuses.
• Manage multiple priorities and competing project deadlines.
• Track progress against agreed milestones and escalation risks.
• Coordinate stakeholders to resolve operational obstacles promptly.
• Support new initiatives, campus improvements, and expansion activities as required.
• Develop meaningful operational Key Performance Indicators.
• Monitor service quality, compliance, cost, and performance trends.
• Prepare accurate operational reports for senior management.
• Produce clear performance information for Board-level review.
• Analyze operational data and highlight significant risks, variances, and improvement opportunities.
• Maintain high-quality operational reporting systems and spreadsheets.
• Present complex operational information in a concise and decision-oriented format.
• Support risk identification and mitigation across group operations.
• Investigate significant operational failures and recommend preventive actions.
• Establish controls that reduce recurring operational issues.
• Maintain strong governance over operational processes and documentation.
• Encourage disciplined record keeping across facilities and support functions.
• Ensure operational decisions reflect organizational policies, mission, and strategic objectives.
• Lead cross-functional meetings focused on operational performance and problem resolution.
• Communicate clearly with school leaders, corporate teams, service providers, and external authorities.
• Provide practical guidance to campus operations personnel.
• Promote a collaborative and service-oriented operating culture.
• Maintain high standards of professionalism, organization, and attention to detail.

Ideal Profile

Candidates should hold a Bachelor 's degree in Business Management or a related discipline. NEBOSH or an equivalent professional health and safety certification is preferred. Applicants should have at least 5 years of progressive experience in operations leadership. A minimum of 3 years of experience within an educational group, school network, or comparable school environment is required. The successful candidate should have practical experience managing complex school operations across functions such as facilities, administration, transportation, Health and Safety, and support services. In-depth knowledge of MOE and KHDA requirements is essential, together with practical experience handling regulatory compliance audits and inspections. Exposure to DHA, Dubai Municipality, and other applicable regulatory requirements is highly valuable. Candidates should demonstrate proven ability to respond to inspection findings, create corrective action plans, and coordinate successful closure of compliance issues. Strong cost optimization and resource management experience is required. The position demands excellent organizational and problem-solving abilities, with the capacity to manage multiple projects and competing priorities across different campuses. Candidates should demonstrate strong leadership, stakeholder management, and communication skills. High attention to detail is essential, particularly when reviewing compliance documentation, operational performance, budgets, and Board-level reports. Strong proficiency in operational reporting systems and electronic spreadsheets is required.

Skills Set

• Multi-school operations
• Education operations
• School operations management
• Group operations
• Operational leadership
• Strategic operations
• Standard Operating Procedures
• Process standardization
• Operational excellence
• KHDA compliance
• MOE compliance
• DHA compliance
• Dubai Municipality compliance
• Regulatory inspections
• Compliance audits
• Corrective action planning
• Governance
• Facilities management
• School facilities
• Transportation operations
• Health and Safety
• NEBOSH
• Support services management
• Administration
• Team development
• Staff training
• Cost optimization
• Budget management
• Cost control
• Resource optimization
• Procurement coordination
• Vendor management
• Contractor management
• Operational reporting
• Board reporting
• Performance reporting
• KPI management
• Data analysis
• Electronic spreadsheets
• Risk management
• Project management
• Stakeholder management
• Process improvement
• Operational audits
• Service quality
• Problem-solving
• Multi-site management
• Senior leadership communication

Why Join Us

This position offers the opportunity to lead operations at group level across a growing education network in Dubai and to influence how multiple campuses perform from a governance, compliance, service, and cost perspective. The role provides direct exposure to senior leadership and Board-level decision-making while offering responsibility across facilities, transportation, safety, regulatory compliance, budgeting, procurement, and support services. The organization also provides ongoing training and professional development, alongside a competitive tax-free salary, tuition fee benefits for children, and other applicable employee benefits.

About the Company

LEAMS Education operates a growing network of schools in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, including British Curriculum and CBSE institutions. The group emphasizes academic quality, operational excellence, professional development, student welfare, and effective governance while continuing to strengthen and expand its education services across multiple campuses.