Founding Head of Secondary

Peridot Partners; Olbia; Remoto; EUR 120.000 - 170.000; Tempo pieno

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Sardinia International School in Olbia, Sardinia, seeks a Founding Head of Secondary to lead the development of Years 7–13 as the school opens its full 6–18 offer. The successful candidate will shape culture, curriculum and pastoral life, working with an international leadership team to raise standards and drive growth.

Experience in leading international programmes such as IGCSE and IB Diploma, with a collaborative, visionary approach, is essential.

Mansioni

• Lead the growth and development of the Secondary School from Year 7 through to Year 13.
• Establish and embed high-quality IGCSE and IB Diploma provision.
• Ensure consistently excellent teaching, learning, pastoral care and student wellbeing.
• Develop a distinctive, ambitious and internationally minded Secondary School culture.
• Lead and develop the Secondary leadership team, Heads of Department and teaching faculty.

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Home / Roles / Founding Head of Secondary | Sardinia International School

Founding Head of Secondary Sardinia International School

Sardinia International School is looking for its Founding Head of Secondary to support the opening of the new school in September 2027.

• Closing date: 9 a.m. Thursday 19th November

Sardinia International School is a rapidly growing international school in Olbia, northern Sardinia. Following a highly successful founding year, the school now educates more than 130 pupils and is developing towards a full 6-18 offer, with IGCSE, the IB Diploma and boarding central to its next phase.

We are seeking an exceptional Founding Head of Secondary to lead this exciting development. Working with an experienced leadership and teaching team, you will shape the culture, curriculum and direction of the Secondary School as it grows from its current Years 7-9 provision through to Year 13.

We are looking for an ambitious, collaborative and internationally minded secondary leader who combines educational excellence with the energy and adaptability to build. This is a rare opportunity to make a lasting contribution to a distinctive international school at a pivotal point in its journey.

Who we are

Sardinia International School is a young and ambitious international school in Olbia, providing an internationally minded education for children from diverse backgrounds. Since opening, the school has grown rapidly and now educates more than 130 pupils across its primary and early secondary divisions. Building on a highly successful first full year, SIS is developing towards a full 6-18 education, with IGCSE, the IB Diploma and boarding central to its next phase of growth. Supported by an experienced international team and significant investment in its campus, SIS is creating a distinctive educational community with strong connections to Sardinia and an increasingly international reach.

About the role

The Founding Head of Secondary will provide the educational leadership, vision and direction for Sardinia International School’s growing Secondary Division, shaping its development from its current Year 7 to Year 9 provision into a full Year 7 to Year 13 international secondary school.

This is an exciting opportunity to lead at a formative stage in the school’s development. With 55 pupils currently in Secondary and the first Year 7 cohort already at capacity, the successful candidate will build on strong foundations while preparing for substantial further growth. A key priority will be leading the introduction of IGCSE and the IB Diploma, alongside the opening of Years 10 and 12 and the school’s first boarding provision.

The Head of Secondary will be responsible for the quality of teaching, learning and pastoral provision across the division, creating a culture of high expectations in which students are known, supported and encouraged to achieve their potential. They will continue to develop the curriculum, recruit and grow the staff team, and ensure that SIS provides an international education of consistently high quality.

The early development of the Middle and Secondary School has been led by the CEO alongside a number of founding staff, establishing strong foundations from which the new Head of Secondary can build. The incoming Head will work closely with Deputy Head Morgan Curtin, who leads pastoral and organisational matters, and Director of Studies Richard Poles, who leads the academic programme, alongside a strong group of internationally experienced Heads of Department and specialist leaders.

Working closely with the CEO and Head of Primary, the Head of Secondary will also contribute to SIS’s wider strategic development as an all-through 6-18 school. For an exceptional candidate with the appropriate experience and ambition, there may be scope for the role to carry a wider Head of School remit, providing educational leadership across the whole school.

This is an opportunity to help shape something with significance beyond the school itself. SIS has been founded with the ambition not only to provide an exceptional international education, but to make a positive and lasting contribution to Sardinia, strengthening the opportunities available to families on the island and helping to attract new families, talent and ideas from around the world.

For the incoming Head of Secondary, there is a rare chance to join at a formative stage and influence what the school becomes. The impact of their leadership could be felt not only by generations of SIS students, but across the wider community as the school grows, develops partnerships and establishes itself as an important part of Sardinia’s future.

Key priorities will include:

• Leading the growth and development of the Secondary School from Year 7 through to Year 13.
• Establishing and embedding high-quality IGCSE and IB Diploma provision.
• Ensuring consistently excellent teaching, learning, pastoral care and student wellbeing.
• Developing a distinctive, ambitious and internationally minded Secondary School culture.
• Leading and developing the Secondary leadership team, Heads of Department and teaching faculty.
• Supporting continued pupil growth while protecting the quality and personal nature of the student experience.
• Helping shape the development of boarding and the wider secondary student experience.
• Exploring future post-16 pathways alongside the IB Diploma, including more applied and project-based learning.
• Building stronger connections between the curriculum and the opportunities presented by Sardinia, its communities and its industries.

Who we are looking for

We are seeking an inspiring and ambitious secondary leader who can combine strong educational leadership with the energy and adaptability required to build a growing international Secondary School. The successful candidate will bring significant secondary leadership experience, a strong record of educational and pastoral excellence, and ideally experience within a boarding school environment.

They will bring a clear understanding of what excellent international secondary education looks like, ideally with experience of IGCSE and the IB Diploma or comparable international programmes. They will be confident leading curriculum development, building academic structures and developing staff as the school expands through to Year 13.

This opportunity will particularly suit someone who enjoys building and shaping, rather than simply maintaining established structures. Collaborative, visible and approachable, they will be able to bring people with them, working effectively with a secondary and whole school leadership team while establishing a clear vision and high expectations for growing operations.

Excellent communication and intercultural skills will be important, alongside the ability to build strong relationships with students, families and colleagues from a wide range of backgrounds. The successful candidate will be strategic but hands‑on, resilient and comfortable operating in a fast‑growing school where new programmes, year groups and boarding provision are being developed.

Above all, we are looking for someone excited by the opportunity to shape a distinctive Secondary School from an early stage, establishing the culture, academic ambition and student experience that will define SIS as it grows into a full 6-18 international school.

If you would like to know more about this role please contact Phil Gifford

Thank you for your interest in joining us at Sardinia International School (SIS).

We are an ambitious international school, independent of any group ownership, with a clear purpose: to provide an outstanding educational experience for curious and compassionate young people, enabling them to make a positive contribution to Sardinia and to the wider world.

Having successfully demonstrated the proof of concept in our founding year, SIS is now entering an exciting new phase. Pupil numbers have grown rapidly, our first Year 7 cohort in our secondary is full, and we are seeing increasing interest from families in Sardinia as well as those looking to relocate from elsewhere in Italy, Europe and further afield. As we grow, our ambition is to develop SIS into a distinctive all-through international school for students aged 6-18.

Our campus provides an extraordinary setting in which to realise that ambition. Once a sports resort and spa, the site is being progressively and considerately transformed into a modern international school campus, with significant investment in new classrooms, science and STEM facilities, sports provision and accommodation to support the future development of boarding.

We are now seeking an exceptional Founding Head of Secondary to lead the next stage of our journey. This is an opportunity to build on strong foundations, working with an experienced Secondary leadership and teaching team while shaping the culture, curriculum and direction of the school as it develops from Year 7 through to Year 13. The introduction of IGCSE and the IB Diploma, together with our first boarding provision, will make the coming years particularly important in the evolution of SIS.

We are looking for a leader with educational expertise, ambition and warmth, but also someone who is excited by the opportunity to build. You will have the freedom to influence what our Secondary School becomes, while joining a collaborative team that is deeply committed to creating an exceptional experience for our students and families.

If you share our ambition and are inspired by the opportunity to help shape the next chapter of Sardinia International School, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Tony Chan
CEO | Amministratore Delegato
Sardinia International School

About Sardinia International School

Sardinia International School (SIS) is a young, ambitious and rapidly growing international learning community in Olbia, offering an inclusive education to children from diverse cultural backgrounds and fostering curiosity, compassion and confidence within a multilingual environment.

The school opened with a primary phase in September 2024 with 45 pupils. Its first year was, in many respects, a proof of concept: demonstrating that a high-quality international school could be established in Sardinia and attract both local families and families seeking to relocate to the island. Enrolment grew by the end of the first academic year and has since doubled to 133 for the start of the 2027/28 academic year. The first Year 7 cohort is already full, with all 36 available places taken and a waiting list established.

This growth has been accompanied by a rapidly developing reputation for the quality of the educational experience SIS provides. Families from the school’s inaugural year have become strong advocates in the community, while press coverage and partnerships with public bodies and key business networks are helping SIS establish itself in Sardinia and beyond. Alongside local demand, the school is seeing a growing pipeline of enquiries and visits from international families considering relocating to Sardinia, including families moving from elsewhere in Italy and Europe and from further afield.

A growing all-through international school

SIS currently provides education from age 6 and is developing towards an all-through 6-18 model. The primary division currently has 75 pupils and is expected to grow to a maximum of approximately 160. Plans are in place to expand the primary into nursery and early years next year. The secondary division currently has 55 pupils across Years 7 to 9, with significant further growth anticipated as the school introduces IGCSE, the IB Diploma programme, and boarding. The secondary division’s capacity is expected to be 640 pupils.

From September 2027, SIS plans to open Years 10 and 12 and introduce its IGCSE and IB Diploma programmes. By September 2028, the intention is to provide a complete secondary pathway from Year 7 through to Year 13. A small boarding cohort is also planned from September 2027, forming the first stage of a much larger boarding provision as the school develops.

The school’s educational model brings together Italian, British and international approaches. The primary school operates within the paritaria system, combining international and Italian curriculum requirements, with the Italian component led by the Coordinatore Didattico, who also serves as Director of Studies. Our ambition is for our primary students to become fluent in both English and Italian while increasingly developing a fully international curriculum pathway as they progress through the school. This multilingual foundation is designed not only to develop linguistic confidence but also to prepare young people to learn additional languages, engage with different cultures and thrive in an internationally minded environment.

As the secondary division develops, there is also scope to consider educational pathways beyond the IB Diploma for students in Years 12 and 13. This could include a more applied, project-based two-year programme with meaningful links to industry. More broadly, the school has an exciting opportunity to develop an aspirational and inclusive educational experience for its pupils by exploring local and international partnerships and outdoor learning.

An experienced and international team

SIS’s rapid expansion is underpinned by a strong and increasingly international staff team. Almost three-quarters of the founding staff joined from schools outside Italy, bringing experience from a wide variety of international educational settings.

Chris Moore, an experienced and highly collaborative Head of Primary, leads the primary school and joined in September 2027.

Within secondary, the incoming Head will inherit a framework to build on, and a founding leadership structure. Deputy Head, Morgan Curtin, leads many of the pastoral and organisational aspects of the school, while Director of Studies, Richard Poles provides leadership of the academic programme. An experienced group of Heads of Department supports them, recruited with the future development of IGCSE and the IB Diploma firmly in mind, alongside specialist leadership in SEND, Creative and Performing Arts and Outdoor Education.

The academic team is complemented by well-resourced operational functions across Finance, Admissions, Marketing, HR, IT, and Estates and Maintenance. There is also a dedicated Project Manager who oversees the school’s substantial construction and renovation programme. As SIS grows, there are also plans to appoint a Chief Operating Officer, creating further capacity to support the educational leadership team.

An exceptional campus with ambitious plans

SIS occupies an expansive site within Geovillage on the edge of Olbia, a former sports resort and spa that is being progressively transformed into a distinctive international school campus. Its combination of existing buildings, extensive sporting infrastructure, accommodation and development space provides considerable potential for the school as it grows.

The campus already includes high-quality classrooms and learning facilities, a dining hall, a cortile used for outdoor learning, hybrid classrooms and studio spaces. Eight new classrooms were delivered in summer 2026, designed with careful consideration of how physical learning environments can support teaching and learning. A further six classrooms are planned for summer 2027, including a Technology/STEM laboratory and two high-quality science laboratories.

The wider Geovillage site offers access to substantial sporting facilities, including tennis courts, football pitches, an indoor sports hall and swimming facilities. Agreements are in place to enable the school to acquire additional facilities progressively as pupil numbers and the school’s needs increase.

Alongside the educational development is a major investment in residential provision. Three large accommodation blocks are being completed and will ultimately provide more than 400 beds to support a significant boarding offer. The site also has land earmarked for a new purpose‑built teaching and learning building, creating the opportunity to develop facilities informed by leading contemporary approaches to school design.

Looking ahead

SIS has achieved a great deal in a remarkably short period, but its ambitions extend well beyond its early success. Equally important to the next phase of growth in the primary and secondary is the opportunity to shape what an international education rooted in Sardinia can look like. SIS wants its students to benefit from the island’s culture, environment and communities, while receiving an education with genuinely international horizons. The school is already developing external programmes and partnerships, but there is considerable potential to go further.

For leaders joining SIS at this stage, this is a rare opportunity to join a successful and increasingly established school while still having significant freedom to influence its academic direction, culture, structures and identity for years to come.

Sardinia International School is committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our community. As an international school and equal opportunities employer, we value diversity and believe that everyone should have equal access to opportunities within our school. We will ensure that reasonable adjustments are made to support applicants and employees with disabilities or additional needs throughout the recruitment process and in the workplace. If you require any adjustments as part of your application or interview process, please let us know.

We understand that different members of the community have different access needs and have made some modifications to the way we do business to accommodate people from diverse communities and abilities. We offer the following amenities:

• Accessible interview locations, ensuring step‑free access, parking close to entrances, and accessible toilets.
• Remote or hybrid interviews, including video interviews for those who may have difficulty travelling.
• Modified duties or equipment such as ergonomic chairs, height‑adjustable desks, or screen magnifiers.

Recruitment selection processes are based on evidence of competence stated in the person specification and in relation to our values.

Timetable

Closing date: 9 a.m. Thursday 19th November 2026
Candidates informed of outcome: Friday 20th November 2026
First stage interviews (online): w/c 23rd November 2026
Second stage interviews (in Sardinia): w/c 30th November 2026

Peridot and Sardinia International School are committed to promoting equality and diversity. To help us raise awareness and support a culture that is diverse and recognises and develops the potential of all, we need to appreciate the profile of candidates who apply for positions.We will send you an equality monitoring survey at the point of receiving your application and at the time of placement. This ensures that our processes remain inclusive and equitable throughout, and provides us with important data to help us showcase our impact.

The information will be treated confidentially and anonymously and will help us to support our commitment to fair recruitment practice. All information provided will be held in the strictest confidence and will not be shared with anyone, in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 launched on 25 May 2018.

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