Executive Head of School

ADvTECH; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

ADvTECH is seeking an Executive Head to lead three campuses in Private Education, driving brand strategy, academic excellence, and commercial success. You will oversee budgets, staffing, timetabling, and stakeholder engagement to position the campus as a top private education provider.

You will partner with central academic teams to ensure high-quality teaching, innovative pedagogy, and sustainable growth while managing resources and ensuring an engaging learning environment for students and

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree (NQF 7) and teaching/leadership background.
• PGDE or B.Ed and SACE certification are required.
• Postgraduate qualification in Management or Curriculum development preferred.

Responsibilities

• Manage campus budgets, monitor KPIs and drive value by reducing waste.
• Oversee debt collection and enrolment-related finances with governance.
• Sign off quotes, CAPEX requisitions, and fee credits.
• Lead academic strategy, timetabling, and resource planning.
• Analyse academic results and drive improvement plans.
• Partner with Brand Marketing to raise campus visibility and engagement.
• Coordinate communications and events to strengthen brand presence.
• Drive human capital management and succession planning.
• Ensure facilities safety and compliance with policies.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Execution

Customer orientation

Collaborative relationships

Decision making

Capability building

Performance leadership

Interpersonal effectiveness

Commercial aptitude

Leadership

Education

Undergraduate degree (NQF7)

PGDE or B.Ed

Postgraduate qualification (NQF8) in Management or Curriculum

SACE certification

Job description

Our Purpose

We aim to GROW a reputation for our ability to make a real difference to the people we serve, for our connectedness and partnerships with African and global markets and players, for the relevance, quality and usefulness of our offerings, and for the enterprising and agile way in which we tackle our task.

We will ACHIEVE this by focusing on our customers and taking a lead from our markets, by our innovative approach, especially in harnessing the power of technology, and by striving for excellence and sustainability in all we do.

Pinnacle Colleges provides a focused academic foundation whilst preparing students for life. This is done through the delivery of a structured academic programme, as well as an extra-mural offering which includes a sporting and cultural programme. Accompanying the educational programme is an emphasis on values-based education suited to the community, allowing the students to reach their full potential.

Key Purpose Statement

Reporting to the Brand Managing Director, the role of the Executive Head is to execute the Brand strategy by providing leadership and guidance to the academic and support staff across three schools (Pre-primary, Prepatory and College) to drive both commercial and academic success. The incumbent will effectively position their campus for sustainable growth as a preferred supplier of private education to maximise the return on investment for all stakeholders: students, parents, staff and shareholders.

The Executive Head will lead the resources under their control to provide and engaging and productive teaching and learning environment for students and teachers. He/she will partner with the central academic team to build and maintain a strong reputation for academic excellence, innovation in pedagogy and an operationally efficient entity.

Principal Accountabilities

Management of Campus commercials

• Compiles the campus preliminary and annual budgets, keeps track of monthly spend and drives an ethos of creating value for the customer by reducing waste.
• Actively monitors the key financial KPIs and makes informed decisions on shifting the levers that key inputs into these measures to achieve targets. Eg. Paycost ratios, EBIT etc.
• Supervises the effective management of the continuous debt collection process; including the age analysis of the debt. Enables the Head of Schools to manage the relationship with the parent but is responsible for enforcing suspension of the students where necessary.
• Signs off all quotes, CAPEX requisitions, cheques and fee credits.

Execution of Academic Strategy

• Executes the academic policies and procedures for all academic and support staff and drives the effective implementation of new Group and Brand policies.
• Oversees the timetabling process and ensures that there are sufficient resources (e.g. classrooms, teachers) available to accommodate students.
• Analyses the academic results across campuses to ensure the quality of the academic offering remains superior. Where issues arise, contribute to the problem solving by driving the development of robust plans to remedy these. Eg. Summer school, winter school etc.

Creating Brand Awareness in the Community

• Liaises directly with the Brand Marketing and Sales Manager to position the campus as a priority to the brand agenda. Understands the unique brand proposition and ensures all students and staff live this brand on campus.
• Engages in word-of-mouth marketing for the school
• Identifies media opportunities and leverages school accomplishments for publication in the local press
• Forecasts registration targets for new students and academic staff as well as for roll-over students and actively involves oneself in all open days.
• Coordinates all communications to the customer to ensure one voice, one message and one tone is delivered.
• Monitors the Net Promoter Score to understand the trends and creates plans to resolve issues outlined by parents and students in collaboration with the marketing team and the school’s leadership teams.
• Liaises directly with parents in appropriate fora to support the Principal and create brand awareness. Contributes to regular parent newsletters as an opportunity to drive the brand culture.
• Plans and hosts events involving the community and other schools. E.g. hosts subject-related workshops for surrounding schools, sports days etc.
• Oversees the registration process and the graduation process, ensuring they are aligned to the unique selling proposition of the brand.
• Ensures that the overall impression of the campus is aligned with the brand promise and that the customers (parents and students) understand this.
• Monitors student retention / exits, completes diagnoses to unpack reasons for leaving and creates plans to address these issues.

Human Capital Management

• Leads and guides the school leadership teams by creating alignment across all schools in all areas, with a specific focus on the brand message.
• Ensures that academic and support staff roles and responsibilities are clarified, and performance objectives are set.
• Manages and conducts performance reviews in accordance with polices and procedures and takes corrective action where necessary. Provides continuous feedback to leadership teams.
• Ensures that a management succession plan is implemented with focused development drive for identified individuals.
• Builds a pro-active environment where the academic and support staff can take responsibility for results.
• Leads the Growth culture by examples and drives the establishment of this by targeting staff growth- both teachers and management.
• Manage strategic Human Resources in accordance with policies, procedures and legal requirements.
• Monitors staff labour turnover across the campus, unpacking reasons for leaving and ensuring issues are resolved appropriately.
• Ensures that employment equity targets are achieved through true transformation.

Facilities Management

• Effectively allocate resources across the campus (including IT)
• Maintains overall accountability for the identification of risks and hazards and ensures precautionary measures are taken to keep everyone on campus safe and secure.
• Enforces the requirements of the OHS Act and oversees compliance
• Assumes overall responsibility for the health, safety and welfare of students, staff and visitors
• Maintains overall accountability for the identification of risks and hazards and ensures precautionary measures are taken to keep everyone on campus safe and secure.

Competencies

The successful incumbent will have an undergraduate degree (NQF level 7) and PGDE or B. Education degree. Ideally, they should have a post graduate qualification (NQF 8) in Management Policy Development or Curriculum Development. SACE certification is a requirement, as is a minimum of 8 years teaching and learning experience with 5 years in Management. Computer literacy is a requirement, and it is expected that the incumbent will become proficient in the ADvTECH academic system quickly. In addition, they will possess:

• Demonstrated planning and organisation skills with superior detail orientation
• Exceptional interpersonal skills with excellent written and verbal abilities and with professional presentation skills
• A proven track record of managing professional relationships with maturity and high EQ
• The incumbent must present themselves professionally and in alignment with the brand message.
• Professional time management is a minimum requirement of the role.

Demonstrated evidence of the ability to think critically and problem solve appropriately

A solid level of achievement in the following competencies is required:

• Commercial Aptitude

  Understanding the bigger picture and all the facets incorporated into leading a school.

• Strategic Thinking

  Ability to create strategic plans that sets the school up for a sustainable future.

• Execution

  Understanding how to translate strategic plans into day-to-day executable activities.

• Customer Orientation

  Patience and understanding of what parents and students want and need, and how best to facilitate these.

• Collaborative Relationships

  Respect for peers and the ability to build collaborative partnerships with other senior leaders, vendors, suppliers and customers.

• Decision Making

  Ability to make data-rich, informed decisions, and proactively taking advantage of opportunities as they arise.

• Capability Building

  Ability to coach and provide feedback and guidance. The ability to actively develop others and have difficult conversations as needed.

• Performance Leadership

  Unites people behind a strong vision and leads the team in executing on goals and achieving stretch objectives.

• Interpersonal Effectiveness

  Aware of how their actions impact others. Ability to influence others and build relationships.

Training

• ADvTECH Principal Development Programme (PDP)
• Mentorship Programme
• Schools Strategy, Policies and Procedures