Principal - The English College Dubai

About the role

The English College Dubai, founded in 1992 and part of International Schools Partnership (ISP), is seeking an ambitious, approachable and innovative Principal to lead the school's continued growth and success. The Principal reports to the Regional Managing Director and is responsible for safeguarding, learning and teaching quality, strategic planning, community engagement and commercial performance. The role is split into four areas, each weighted equally at 25%: People Development and Wellbeing, Student Learning Outcomes, Community and Customer Experience, and Commercial Success.

Key responsibilities

• Safeguarding and wellbeing: keep students and adults safe physically and mentally, and lead a strong, empowered leadership team through recruitment, development and succession planning.
• Teacher development: use ISP's leadership programmes and Learning Hub, run the annual performance and development cycle, and ensure every teacher receives meaningful feedback and tailored development.
• Learning outcomes: improve student progress and achievement using data, embed the ISP Learning First Framework and the five key learning pillars, and lead the curriculum strategy.
• Community and enrolment: deliver the School of Choice strategy, understand the market and catchment, work with ISP teams on branding and communications, and use parent feedback to drive engagement.
• Commercial success: own the school's commercial targets and KPIs, manage resources efficiently, drive enrolment growth and income, and meet EBITDA targets.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree (essential) and postgraduate teaching qualification such as PGCE, teaching license or equivalent (essential).
• Advanced leadership qualification such as MA Educational Leadership, NPQH/NPQEL or EdD.
• Significant senior leadership experience in a whole-school or multi-phase international setting, ideally in the Middle East.
• Proven track record of school-wide improvement and strong inspection outcomes.

Required skills

• Knowledge of international curricula across phases (IB, NCfE)
• Use of EdTech tools and the ISP AI toolkit