Senior Academic Lead: Subject Division Growth & Impact

Blue Education; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Blue Education in London or Shanghai seeks a Senior Academic Lead to own a designated subject division, drive curriculum strategy, and lead a high‑performing team of tutors. You will ensure excellent student outcomes, oversee curriculum development and program growth, and align delivery with Oxbridge and Ivy League admissions standards.

This full-time hybrid role requires evening/weekend teaching during peak cycles, with a focus on scaling academic programmes, recruiting and coaching Academic

Responsibilities

• Subject Area Ownership & Student Outcomes
• Take overall responsibility for all students within the designated subject area, ensuring each student has a clear academic plan, appropriate teaching provision and measurable progression.
• Be accountable for subject-level academic outcomes, including student progress, university admissions success, retention, parent satisfaction and student experience.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex academic cases, underperformance, family concerns and high-stakes university application decisions.
• Review student data and academic feedback regularly, identifying risks early and implementing interventions to improve outcomes.
• Ensure consistent academic quality and student support across all tutors, Academic Leads and programmes within the subject area.
• Deliver exceptional teaching and high-level academic mentoring for top-performing students targeting Oxbridge, Ivy League and other globally competitive universities.
• Provide specialist guidance on demanding admissions pathways, including subject preparation, written work, personal statements, admissions tests, interviews and scholarship preparation.
• Serve as final academic reviewer for critical applications, interview preparation and high-value student cases within the subject area.
• Model the standard of analytical rigour, intellectual curiosity and student-centred teaching expected across the academic team.
• Maintain deep and current knowledge of global university admissions requirements, subject curricula and competitive selection processes.
• Own the academic vision, curriculum strategy and pedagogical framework for the entire subject division.
• Design, approve and continuously improve curricula, enrichment programmes, teaching resources, assessment frameworks and intervention models.
• Ensure the curriculum is academically rigorous, commercially relevant and aligned with Oxbridge, Ivy League and global university admissions standards.
• Develop scalable academic products and subject pathways that support students at different stages of academic development and application readiness.
• Use student outcomes, tutor feedback, parent feedback, market insight and admissions trends to improve programme quality and effectiveness.
• Directly manage and lead Academic Leads, and Tutors within the subject area, as applicable.
• Set clear expectations, objectives and performance standards for the subject team, ensuring alignment with Blue Education’s academic quality and service standards.
• Conduct regular performance reviews, lesson observations, coaching conversations and feedback sessions.
• Build a culture of excellence, responsiveness, collaboration and intellectual ambition across the subject team.
• Identify capability gaps, manage underperformance professionally and support succession planning for future academic leaders.
• Lead recruitment, selection and onboarding of academic staff within the subject discipline.
• Establish and maintain subject-specific hiring standards, sample lesson expectations and evaluation criteria.
• Design and deliver training programmes for Academic Leads, and Tutors.
• Create scalable training materials, teaching frameworks, quality guidelines and best-practice resources for the subject team.
• Ensure all new academic staff understand Blue Education’s teaching standards, communication expectations, student management processes and admissions methodology.
• Establish and monitor subject-level academic KPIs, including student progress, lesson quality, report quality, admissions outcomes, retention and satisfaction.
• Implement quality assurance processes for lesson delivery, curriculum use, student feedback, tutor reporting and academic interventions.
• Review academic records, student plans and tutor performance data to ensure consistency and excellence across the subject area.
• Lead regular subject review meetings and produce clear recommendations for continuous improvement.
• Ensure academic delivery remains aligned with safeguarding, professional conduct, data protection and internal operating standards.
• Build trusted relationships with students and families, particularly high-value and complex cases requiring senior academic input.
• Provide strategic educational consulting, long-term academic planning and senior-level advice on university placement strategy.
• Represent Blue Education as a credible academic authority in meetings with parents, students, schools and external partners.
• Support Academic Leads and tutors in managing sensitive family communications, expectations and progression concerns.
• Ensure student and parent communication is timely, professional, accurate and commercially aware.
• Partner with senior leadership to define and deliver growth strategy for the subject division.
• Contribute to revenue growth through improved student retention, programme expansion, referrals, conversion support and premium academic services.
• Identify market opportunities, competitor trends and emerging student needs to shape new programmes and services.
• Support sales, marketing and partnership activity by providing expert academic insight, webinars, workshops and public-facing thought leadership.
• Contribute to annual planning, resourcing, team capacity decisions and subject-level commercial priorities.
• Represent the academic team in school collaborations, external partnerships, webinars, parent seminars and public speaking engagements.
• Strengthen Blue Education’s reputation for academic excellence through high-quality content, events and strategic academic initiatives.
• Stay ahead of global education trends, admissions developments, curriculum changes and competitor positioning.
• Translate external insight into practical improvements in curriculum, teaching practice, student support and commercial offering.

Job description

Blue Education in London or Shanghai seeks a Senior Academic Lead to own a designated subject division, drive curriculum strategy, and lead a high‑performing team of tutors. You will ensure excellent student outcomes, oversee curriculum development and program growth, and align delivery with Oxbridge and Ivy League admissions standards.

This full-time hybrid role requires evening/weekend teaching during peak cycles, with a focus on scaling academic programmes, recruiting and coaching Academic