Head of School / Principal

International Schools Partnership Limited; India; On-site; INR 6,000,000 - 9,000,000; Full time

Job summary

International Schools Partnership Limited in India invites applications for a Principal/Head of School role in a Tier 1 city. The candidate will set a compelling vision, lead learning and student outcomes, and manage operations with a focus on governance and financial sustainability.

The successful leader will drive academic excellence across Cambridge/IB pathways, build a high-performance leadership team, oversee admissions and parent engagement, and collaborate with regional and global ISP

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Principal, Head of School, Deputy Head, or Divisional Head of Secondary or Senior Secondary in an international curriculum school.
• Strong experience leading Cambridge, IB, or equivalent international curriculum pathways, particularly at Secondary and Senior Secondary level.
• Proven track record of improving academic standards, strengthening teaching quality, developing middle and senior leaders, and building a high-performance learning culture.
• Experience owning admissions, parent engagement, marketing partnerships, enrolment growth, conversion, and retention in a competitive school market.
• Strong commercial acumen, attention to detail, and the ability to translate strategy into action through clear governance, disciplined execution, measurement, and reporting.
• Confidence engaging with Tier 1 city parents, building trust through visible leadership and responsive communication.
• A demonstrable commitment to child safeguarding and wellbeing.

Responsibilities

• Build, align, and inspire a capable senior and middle leadership team; recruit, develop, and retain excellent teachers and staff; set high performance expectations.
• Raise the quality of learning by leading international pathways with discipline, rigorous assessment, and clear progression.
• Own admissions funnel from enquiry to enrolment; collaborate with marketing and admissions teams to drive conversion and enrolment growth.
• Take executive ownership of financial health, operating discipline, staffing, resource planning, compliance, safeguarding, and execution rhythm.

Skills

Principal/Head of School experience

International curriculum leadership

Academic standards improvement

Admissions & enrolment growth

Commercial acumen & governance

Stakeholder communication

Safeguarding & wellbeing

Job description

This role will be based in a school and it is not remote

The International Schools Partnership (ISP) is entering an exciting new phase of growth in India, as we continue to expand our family of schools through new acquisitions and investment. As our presence grows, so does the opportunity for exceptional school leaders. We are seeking outstanding Heads of School and aspiring Heads of School who are ready to take the next step in their leadership journey for the Academic Year 2027. If you are passionate about amazing learning, bring educational excellence alongside strong operational and commercial insight, and are excited by the opportunity to shape the future of schools within a growing global organisation, we would love to hear from you. Join a community where leaders are empowered to make meaningful decisions, collaborate across borders and create lasting impact for students, staff and communities.

About the Role

We are looking for an inspiring, commercially astute, and academically credible leader to lead one of our ISP international curriculum schools in a Tier 1 city. This is a whole-school leadership role for someone who can set a compelling vision, build a high-performance culture, raise academic ambition, strengthen parent trust, and position our school clearly in a competitive international education market. As Principal, you will take full ownership of learning outcomes, people leadership, admissions growth, operations, safeguarding, financial sustainability, and the reputation of our school within the International Schools Partnership network of 120 schools across more than 26 countries, educating 118,700+ students worldwide.

You will report to the Regional Managing Director and work closely with regional, divisional, and central ISP teams. The role requires a leader who can operate with autonomy at school level, make sound decisions at pace, and collaborate effectively across a global education network on learning, admissions, operations, people, compliance, and strategic growth.

What You'll Own

Leading People & Culture

Build, align, and inspire a capable senior and middle leadership team. Recruit, develop, and retain excellent teachers and professional staff. Set high expectations for performance, accountability, collaboration, and care, while creating a culture where every student and adult in our school feels safe, valued, and able to thrive.

Driving Learning & Academic Excellence

Raise the quality of learning across our school by setting clear expectations for teaching, assessment, curriculum rigor, and student progress. Lead Cambridge, IB, or equivalent international pathways with discipline and ambition, ensuring strong assessment standards, clear progression routes, and genuine university readiness. Use evidence, learning data, learning observations, and student voice to improve classroom practice, strengthen teacher capability, and close gaps in student achievement. Bring thoughtful EdTech and AI-enabled tools into learning where they improve feedback, personalization, academic confidence, and measurable student outcomes.

Growing Our School — Community, Marketing & Admissions

Be the face of our school to parents, students, feeder communities, and the wider Tier 1 city market. Own the full admissions funnel from enquiry to enrolment, working closely with ISP marketing and admissions teams to position our school clearly in a competitive international education landscape. Understand what discerning families value — curriculum credibility, student outcomes, safety, wellbeing, global pathways, facilities, communication, and trust — and use these insights to drive conversion, retention, reputation, and long-term enrolment growth.

Running a Sustainable, Well-Governed School

Take executive ownership of our school’s financial health, operating discipline, staffing model, resource planning, compliance, safeguarding, and execution rhythm. Bring sound commercial judgement and a process-driven approach to operations, ensuring that decisions improve student experience, protect quality standards, and support sustainable growth in a competitive market.

What We're Looking For

• Proven experience as a Principal, Head of School, Deputy Head, or Divisional Head of Secondary or Senior Secondary in an international curriculum school, with readiness to step into whole-school leadership
• Strong experience leading Cambridge, IB, or equivalent international curriculum pathways, particularly at Secondary and Senior Secondary level
• A proven track record of improving academic standards, strengthening teaching quality, developing middle and senior leaders, and building a high-performance learning culture
• Experience owning admissions, parent engagement, marketing partnership, enrolment growth, conversion, and retention in a competitive school market
• Strong commercial acumen, attention to detail, and the ability to translate strategy into action through clear governance, disciplined execution, measurement, and reporting
• Confidence in engaging with aspirational Tier 1 city parents, handling complex expectations with clarity and warmth, and building trust through visible leadership and responsive communication. Comfortable working in a matrix structure, partnering confidently with regional, divisional, and global teams while maintaining clear ownership of school-level outcomes
• A demonstrable commitment to child safeguarding and wellbeing

Why Join ISP

Joining ISP means becoming part of a global community of educators united by a shared belief in improving learning for every child. You will lead our school with real ownership and autonomy, while learning from and contributing to a network of 120 schools across 26+ countries. This is a strong opportunity for an accomplished Principal or an ambitious Secondary or Senior Secondary leader from an international curriculum school who is ready to step into whole-school leadership, supported by structured onboarding, mentoring, peer collaboration, ISP’s Learning Hub, and leadership development pathways across school, regional, divisional, and global roles.

ISP is deeply committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of every child in our care, and to a culture of continuous learning for our educators. Our schools are united by ISP's Learning.First pedagogy — anchored in the Learning Improvement Process and our five Pillars of Learning — which drives evidence-based teaching and consistently strong student outcomes across our community of schools.

ISP Commitment to Safeguarding Principles

ISP is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All post holders are subject to appropriate vetting procedures, including an online due diligence search, references and satisfactory Criminal Background Checks or equivalent covering the previous 10 years’ employment history.

ISP Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

ISP is committed to strengthening our inclusive culture by identifying, hiring, developing, and retaining high-performing teammates regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender expression, age, disability status, neurodivergence, socio-economic background or other demographic characteristics. Candidates who share our vision and principles and are interested in contributing to the success of ISP through this role are strongly encouraged to apply.