Chinese Principal

Job Title: Chinese Principal

Department: Non-Academic

Line Manager: Chair of Governing Board with dotted line to the School Principal  

Responsible For: Head of HR, IT Manager, Head of Operations, Director of M&A

Start Time: ASAP 2025

The Appointment

We seek to appoint an individual with proven leadership ability, capable of commanding respect in a high-level organisation. Specific qualifications are less important than the right skills and personal qualities. The successful candidate will be a strategic thinker, able to work with the School Principal, Governors and Senior Management Team to lead this highly successful school into its next stage of development.  Other essential qualities will include excellent leadership and people management skills, a keen eye for detail and an unswerving commitment to high standards.

The Chinese Principal will need to liaise frequently with the other members of the senior management team in order to fulfil the responsibilities of their role and to ensure that the educational purpose and all business areas of the school are fully supported by the bursary.

Role Summary

The Chinese Principal is responsible for effectively running 3 key areas of school operations:  day to day management of all business aspects of the school, government and parental relations.  The role is expected to lead on all business aspects to develop strategies and plans to form part of the overall school development plan, including health and safety and data protection. They will represent the school with governmental engagements, ensuring all relevant regulations are updated and understood by the school community.  The Chinese Principal will oversee the staff appraisal within their relevant departments, ensuring all departments’ objectives are met the role should have a good understanding of the educational priorities and operations of the school in its entirety.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Governance:

1. Maintain a regular dialogue with the School Principal and Chair of Governing Board to support their understanding of the school’s business operations and ensure that strategic matters are dealt with in a timely fashion.

2. Advise the School Principal, Chair of Governing Board and the Governing Board on business policies.

3. Prepare reports and supporting papers for Governing Board meetings and other committees, participating in those meetings as required.

4. Make proposals for annual budgets, pay and fee levels, and planned capital expenditure.

5. Chair of the Staff Welfare and Remuneration Committee.

6. Provide support and advice on pay scale reviews and school fee determination.

Compliance:

1. Ensure the school has appropriate risk assessment and risk management processes, including a risk-register, emergency evacuation and a crisis management plan in place at all times.

2. Ensure internal policies and statutory requirements affecting school operations and non-teaching staff are met.

3. Manage all aspects of health and safety on the site and all school-related health and safety matters for staff and students, providing timely reports to the Principal and Governing Board as necessary.

4. Chair the Health and Safety and other operational, compliance-related committees as necessary.

5. Ensure the school has adequate insurance cover at all times.

6. Liaise with external agencies on compliance issues including making official reports if required.

7. Act as the school’s Data Protection Manager, in accordance with Chinese data legislation, ensuring appropriate IT security of information controls are robust and in place and all staff are fully conversant with the school’s data protection policies.

Facilities & Building:

1. Manage all external contract work and contractors, including the contract process, ensuring high quality delivery on-site and value for money.

2. Ensure the delivery of a first-class catering and front-of-house service for students, staff and events.

3. Ensure the estate and buildings are provided for use in excellent order and regular maintenance is planned and carried out.

4. Maintain essential services and oversee the purchase of all goods.

5. Oversee and support the operation and provision of an effective IT infrastructure which meets the evolving needs of the school.

6. Ensure appropriate controls for IT security information are in place.

Parental and Public Relations:

1. Oversee effective marketing and branding of the school, developing strategies to engage external partners.

2. Oversee regular communication with parents, such as weekly articles and newsletters and regularly liaise with parents, ensuring that key messages about the school’s academic processes and practices are effectively shared.

3. Work with all the Head of department and managers to build and maintain close and positive public relations, including partners, vendors and government departments.

4. Attend all government, parents’ and committee meetings as required.

5. Work closely with the Principal to support the academic team to gain a full understanding of the market and parents' expectations. 

Non-Teaching Staff Management:

1. Provide line-management for direct reports, including all aspects of performance management.

2. Provide leadership for all members of the non-teaching staff and ensure an understanding of the school’s educational requirements.

3. Conduct annual pay reviews for non-teaching staff with the School Principal.

4. Support the training and professional development of the non-teaching staff, including providing mentorship for non-academic heads of function, and managing talent and ensuring succession planning with HR.

5. Ensure safeguarding processes and procedures are in place for all support and outsourced staff.

Other areas:

1. Build and maintain strong relationships between the school and the local community to fit into business purpose, including through developing understanding of the political and environmental issues of relevance to the school, liaising with local government including but not limited to education bureau, foreign expert bureau, entry and exit bureau.

2. Explore potential means of raising school revenue through additional commercial activities e.g. in during academic holidays.

PERSON SPECIFICATION:

QUALIFICATIONS

1. Bachelor’s degree or above in Business Management or a related Business field.

2. Professional qualifications in a functional specialty (e.g.: HR) would be advantageous.

LANGUAGES ·

Fluent in English.

WORKING EXPERIENCE

1. A minimum of 10 years’ work experience in the field of business.

2. Management experience in operations, including at least 5 years of successful people management.

3. Experience of managing multi-disciplinary teams.

4. Experience with schools and the education field.

5. Understanding of high-quality education.

6. Familiarity with functional processes, policies and procedures in an international school setting.

COMPETENCIES

1. Robust leadership ability, with demonstrable experience of leading a team by example, empowering others and commanding respect. to deliver quality customer centred outcomes.

2. Strategic and commercial planning ability.

3. A working knowledge of accounting procedures and requirements.

4. An appreciation of the regulations affecting international schools, including a commitment to the safeguarding and welfare of those in the School’s care.

5. Project Management skills.

6. Proven cost management and large-scale budget leadership and/or accounting experience.

7. Demonstrable evidence of managing change and knowledge of employment and other legal requirements.

8. Extensive experience of computerized systems.

9. Excellent oral and written communication skills.

APTITUDES

1. Strong people skills and experience of building productive and collaborative relationships with people from different cultures, industries and different levels of seniority.

2. Innovative and creative problem solver.

3. Strong emotional intelligence.

4. Flexible with the ability to work as a team leader and a team member.

5. Strong initiative, integrity and sound judgement.

6. Culturally sensitive, calm and patient.

7. Excellent interpersonal skills, with an even-handed approach, sensitive and empathetic and able to see things from the perspectives of others.

8. The willingness to confront difficult issues and have difficult conversations.

9. Demonstrating practice that represent the five core SPGS values at all times (Achievement, Community, Liberalism, Creativity and Possibility).

SPGS International School Chengdu is committed to ensuring and promoting the health and safety of children. Successful applicants will:

1.Participate in the school's regular training on child protection, and sign the code of conduct

2.Immediately report to the designated or deputy designated safeguarding lead any potential risks for children

3.Strictly abide by the school's policies on information, confidentiality and protection

4.Play the role of safeguarding members to promote and ensure the health and safety development of all students in the school

5.Report any students concerns to the designated or acting safeguarding lead

6.Report any unsafe behavior on campus to the designated or acting safety lead in accordance with the school's "whistle blowing" policy

7.Maintain a professional relationship with students and respect and maintain personal boundaries

* SPGS International School Chengdu is committed to safe recruitment and child protection, relevant qualifications and police clearance of applicants will be verified *

Whilst every effort has been made to explain the main duties and responsibilities for the post, each individual task undertaken may not be identified, especially in the context of a school which requires flexibility in all of its employees. This job description is current at the date shown but, in consultation with the post holder, may be changed by the Principal to reflect or anticipate changes in the job commensurate with the grade and job title.