Nova Pioneer is looking for an outstanding instructional leader to serve as the Founding Primary School Headteacher at our school opening in Nairobi in late 2018. This is an opportunity to help create a transformative school model with the future of Africa’s youth at stake.

About Nova Pioneer

Imagine a world in which every young person across Africa attends a school that truly sets them up for success in the 21st century. A school that cares about individual students and allows them to explore the world around them. A school that focuses more on developing skills than on memorizing content. At Nova Pioneer, we have done more than just imagine this future, we are bringing it to life. Nova Pioneer is a pan-African, independent network of schools offering high quality, accessible education from pre-primary through secondary school. Nova Pioneer uses a unique, enquiry-based learning approach that encourages students to ask “why” instead of telling them the “what”. It allows them to form their own thinking through exploration, investigation and collaboration. Nova Pioneer currently has 6 schools in South Africa and Kenya with a vision to launch 100 schools and reach tens of thousands of students across the African continent in the next decade. To learn more visit www.novapioneer.com.

About The Role

We are looking for an exceptional individual to lead the Primary school in Nairobi that will open in Athi River in late 2018. This school will be our fourth in Kenya and will enroll more than 1,000 students as it grows over the years.

As the founding headteacher of this school, you will play a critical role in shaping the culture and student experience within an institution that will play a critical role in the community for decades. You will also actively collaborate with other academic leaders and school leaders across both South Africa and Kenya, including through regular travel, to use the experience in your school to improve the overall Nova Pioneer education model.

We will invest heavily in your professional growth in this important role. You will receive significant training prior to assuming the position, including by spending time shadowing current school leaders in the network and participating in other aspects of our academic system. Once you are in the position you will receive consistent coaching from our academic leaders who have worked in top schools around the world among other professional development activities (this year our school leaders went on an extensive tour of great, innovative schools in the United States).

As headteacher, you will be responsible for ensuring the realization of Nova Pioneer’s vision in your school. This will include a heavy focus on developing and leading an exceptional school culture. You will also spend a large portion of your time developing your teaching team into world-class educators who deliver great inquiry-based education for your students and who are ready to quickly move into leadership within the Nova network.

Key responsibilities for the Founding Primary School Headteacher Job

Act as an effective leader and ambassador for the organization
Articulate a compelling short- and long-term vision for the development of the school’s culture and student program;
Drive the development of an exceptional teaching team including through coaching teachers through observation and feedback;
Set and model a consistent tone of highest expectations, joy, and growth mindset among staff and students alike
Collaborate with fellow School Leaders in the network to continuously develop and improve the Nova education model across schools
Develop and strengthen partnerships with other schools and organizations to provide enriching academic and extracurricular opportunities for students
Lead key school rituals as needed to model and ingrain culture
Quickly identify and respond to classroom/school culture or behavior issues
Partner with parents and other key community stakeholders to build the Nova Pioneer brand
Plan and lead school staff meetings

Founding Primary School Headteacher Job Qualifications

You have 7+ years of experience in a rigorous, high-expectations school setting including instructional leadership roles (e.g., deputy headteacher, teacher coach, etc.). Experience as a headteacher is highly valued but not a prerequisite.
You are widely recognized as a highly effective teacher and can model what great, inquiry-based teaching looks like. If you don’t have teaching experience, you are instructionally passionate and have a desire to learn and entrench yourself in the Nova approach to teaching and learning.
You are excited about your own professional development, always seeking out opportunities to grow, whether by asking others for feedback, forming communities of learning with other school leaders, or seeking out training
You have a track record of improving other people’s performance through coaching, building uncommonly strong relationships, developing creative training sessions and sharing feedback
You have an exceptional ability to think strategically and yet you sweat the small stuff—people see you as unusually detail-oriented and conscientious
You are excited about our organizational culture—and in particular, you are fired up to challenge yourself by embracing mutual vulnerability and a firehose of feedback
You have a desire to further develop your leadership skills and apply them to transform the lives of African youth

How to Apply

Does working at Nova Pioneer excite you? If so, then apply now!

To apply, please complete the form on the right hand side of this page. We cannot process applications that are emailed to us.

Please note: Where a copy of your resume is required, copying and pasting from a formatted document e.g. Microsoft Word may not result in the formatting transferring correctly to the final resume. You are encouraged to attach your resume in Microsoft Word® or PDF format to protect formatting.

Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the right candidate is identified. Only qualified candidates will be invited for interviews.