Assistant Principal at Nova Pioneer

Nova Pioneer is looking for an outstanding educator to serve as Assistant Principal and lead professional development for teachers at our first school in Kenya and South Africa. This is an opportunity to help create a transformative school model with the future of Africa’s youth at stake.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are looking for an exceptional individual to be part of the leadership team launching Nova’s second school, slated to open in January 2017. This school represents Nova’s first attempt to replicate its school model and to prove that it is possible to maintain an extremely high quality standard and to continue innovating as Nova grows. As Assistant Principal you will play a critical role in realizing this aspiration by leading teacher coaching and development at Nova’s second school and co-leading on school culture together with the Principal. Our tentative expectation is that the second school will be a boarding secondary school for girls.

Your single biggest responsibility in the school’s first year of operation will be helping the Principal establish an extremely strong and vibrant school culture consistent with Nova’s core culture principles. Over time, as this culture takes root, you will shift your primary focus to teacher development. Drawing on support from instructional leaders on Nova’s network team, you will create a professional development “machine” inside the school: deliberate practice routines and management habits that stretch team members professionally and give them higher quality, more intensive coaching than they can get anywhere else. You will build a pipeline of homegrown local teacher talent inside the school that produces master teachers and great instructional leaders over time.

Specific key responsibilities for the role include:

• Work with the Principal to articulate a compelling short- and long-term vision for the development of the school’s culture and program
• Set and model a consistent tone of highest expectations, joy, and growth mindset
• Lead key school rituals as needed to model and ingrain culture
• Quickly identify and respond to classroom/school culture or behavior issues
• Serve as hiring manager for all instructional staff hires
• Coach teachers through extensive observation and feedback
• Supervise all professional development routines and activities across the school
• Facilitate collaboration among teachers within/across grade levels and subject areas
• Support the Principal in his or her own professional development—particularly as relates to instructional leadership
• Collect, analyze, share and interpret internal and external school assessment data and ensure that data is used strategically to improve student academic performance.
• Oversee planning, execution and analysis of intervention programs targeted at needs of diverse academic subgroups, whether remedial or enrichment. 

ABOUT YOU

• You have 4+ years of experience in a rigorous, high-expectations school setting including at least one instructional leadership role (e.g., department chair, grade level lead, teacher coach, etc.)
• You are widely recognized as a highly effective teacher and can model what great, inquiry-based teaching looks like
• You have a track record of improving other people’s performance through coaching and build uncommonly strong relationships
• 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 driven by data and know how to use data from student assessments to strengthen and differentiate student learning
• 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 learning design skills and apply them to transform the lives of African youth