Secondary Vice Principal - Student Culture & Experience
Job Description
GEMS Wellington Academy, Al Khail are looking for a Secondary Vice Principal - Student Culture and Experience to join our team from August 2025. The role requires a skill set that includes exceptional leadership, outstanding communication, and the ability to positively influence both staff and students.
As a member of the Academy Leadership Team, the Vice Principal is responsible for fostering a culture of success, inspiring students to be positive role models within the wider school community.
Whole-School Responsibilities
Drive the improvement of the school by providing a clear vision and leadership for behaviour and culture, ensuring high expectations and standards. Ensure students are supported with outstanding pastoral care and wellbeing initiatives, placing their needs at the forefront of school practice. Lead and monitor whole-school initiatives to improve behaviour, attendance, and punctuality. Oversee effective systems for recognising and celebrating student achievements. Build strong professional relationships with parents, ensuring confidence in the care and education provided for their children. Coordinate and ensure the quality assurance of secondary school trips, enhancing student engagement and experiential learning opportunities. Set high expectations and standards for teaching and learning across the school, contributing to the whole-school vision. Conduct quality assurance of KS3 lessons to ensure alignment with school-wide teaching and learning practices. Ensure alignment between KS3 teaching and learning practices and the whole-school vision. Coach and mentor staff to support professional growth and teaching excellence. Deliver professional development (PD) sessions aligned with the school’s needs. Ensure effective performance and line management of staff within the pastoral and wellbeing team, including Assistant Principals and Heads of Year. Oversee student enrolment and retention processes for KS3, ensuring effective communication with prospective and current families. Collaborate with the Assistant Principal – KS3 on improving the student experience and fostering a positive environment for learning and growth. Contribute to the consultative and strategic management of the school as part of the senior leadership team. Lead Secondary School logistics to support students and staff in areas such as duties, trips, building safety, and school events.
Alongside strategic over sight of student culture and pastoral care, the Vice Principal will provide executive leadership and oversight of Key Stage 3 and line manage the Assistant Principal of that Key Stage.
Key Stage 3 Responsibilities
Work closely with the Assistant Principal – KS3 to implement and embed behaviour and culture strategies, ensuring alignment with whole-school initiatives. Provide collective oversight of the KS2-to-KS3 student transition, ensuring a seamless and supportive process. Ensure effective line management of Heads of Year through the Assistant Principal – KS3, supporting student culture and experience initiatives. Oversee coordination of KS3 Parent-Teacher Conferences (PTCs) and enhance parental engagement across the Key Stage. Oversee programs that promote student leadership and voice within KS3, fostering engagement and a sense of community. Support the implementation of the curriculum and assessment strategy across KS3 in collaboration with the Assistant Principal. Lead efforts to improve student attainment and progress outcomes in KS3 by setting ambitious and achievable goals. Oversee the planning and execution of KS3 assessment and key assessment (KA) windows, ensuring consistency and effectiveness. Provide strategic oversight for National Agenda testing, including CAT4, NGRT, and GL assessments, in collaboration with the Assistant Principal – KS3.
Skills
Qualifications Qualified Teacher Status A good honors degree and/or post-graduate qualification A post-graduate degree in an appropriate area Training Evidence of ongoing personal professional development as both a teacher and leader Evidence of developing others, either through mentoring or coaching Experience At least 3 years’ experience of senior leadership (or ELT) with a pastoral and/or wellbeing element Leading Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement processes Experience in the mapping of pastoral curriculum content and student development Leading innovation and change with regard to pastoral practice A successful track record of planning, implementing, and managing change Experience of leadership in the Secondary School Experience in working in an international setting, with thorough knowledge and understanding of the DSIB inspection framework and UAE National Agenda Professional Skills and Knowledge The ability to think and plan strategically to promote vision, ethos, and values Knowledge of pedagogy to achieve student progress The ability to tackle difficult situations and conversations with empathy and sensitivity In-depth knowledge and understanding of the wider educational agenda including current national policies and educational issues and trends Strong interpersonal skills, able to adapt to situations and carefully manage professional relationships Educational Philosophy and Understanding A clear drive and motivation for all students to achieve and in most cases exceed their potential A willingness to commit and support the vision for GEMS Wellington Academy - Al Khail An understanding of current educational issues and developments within your leadership area and the UAE in general A growth mind-set, both personally and also with regard to student potential A solution-oriented thinker Emotionally intelligent and able to read situations and empathise with an individual’s perspective Job Location Dubai, UAE Company Industry Primary/Secondary Education Job Role Education GEMS WELLINGTON ACADEMY - AL KHAIL
Education Dubai, United Arab Emirates At GEMS Wellington Academy Al Khail, we want to ensure that our students aspire, create, and excel in this world that is, so they can help create the world that will be. We are seeking exceptional teachers to join our team who can help us achieve this goal through our three pillars of: the science of learning, social enterprise, and student agency and innovation. As a cognitive science... driven school, evidence-informed practice is at the heart of what we do, and we seek educators who can passionately articulate what outstanding learning and teaching looks like and translate this into practice in the classroom. Successful candidates will be joining a fully inclusive, high performing school that is evidenced through: • GCSE and A-Level results far exceeding UK national averages • ‘Very Good’ rating from the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB) • ‘Outstanding rating from British Schools Overseas (BSO) • ‘World Class School’ status from High Performance Learning • Being an invited member of the Cognitive Science school network • A member of the Council of British International Schools Through our comprehensive professional learning programme, we ensure our teachers have access to quality development opportunities that not only help them develop as professionals but also contribute to our outstanding success. Steplab instructional coaching, Schools Students and Teachers Network (SSAT), the Best Practice Network (BPN) and Evidence Based Education (EBE) are just some of the partners we work with to ensure our teachers are comprehensively developed.
