Description
Job description / Role
Job Type
Full Time
Job Location
Dubai, UAE
Nationality
Any Nationality
Salary
Not Specified
Gender
Not Specified
Arabic Fluency
Not Specified
Job Function
Education & Teaching
Company Industry
Education & Training
Job description
We are seeking an exceptional, visionary, and experienced Head of Kindergarten to lead one of the largest kindergarten divisions in the region, comprising approximately 50 sections and a diverse team of educators dedicated to delivering outstanding early years education.
This leadership role requires a passionate educator with a deep understanding of contemporary early childhood education, child development, and innovative pedagogical practices. The successful candidate will be responsible for driving excellence in teaching and learning, fostering a nurturing and inclusive environment, and ensuring every child experiences a joyful, purposeful, and future-focused start to their educational journey.
Key responsibilities
Strategic leadership and vision
Lead the kindergarten phase in alignment with the school's vision, mission, values, and strategic priorities.
Develop and implement a future-focused kindergarten improvement plan that reflects global best practices in early childhood education.
Create a culture of innovation, excellence, wellbeing, and continuous improvement across the kindergarten section.
Work collaboratively with the principal and senior leadership team to drive whole-school improvement initiatives.
Teaching and learning excellence
Champion developmentally appropriate, child-centered, inquiry-based, and play-based learning approaches.
Ensure high-quality curriculum implementation that develops foundational literacy, numeracy, communication, creativity, and critical thinking skills.
Promote innovative pedagogies that foster curiosity, problem-solving, collaboration, and learner agency.
Lead the integration of technology and digital literacy in age-appropriate and purposeful ways.
Ensure learning experiences support the development of future-ready competencies, including creativity, communication, adaptability, resilience, and social-emotional intelligence.
Establish clear learning outcomes, assessment frameworks, and developmental benchmarks to monitor student progress and attainment.
Curriculum and innovation
Lead curriculum design, implementation, review, and enhancement to ensure relevance, rigor, and engagement.
Embed emerging trends in early childhood education, including:
Inquiry-based and project-based learning
Play-based pedagogies
STEM and STEAM integration
Computational thinking and digital fluency
Sustainability education
Global citizenship
Multilingual development
Social-emotional learning (SEL)
Executive functioning and self-regulation skills
Ensure smooth transitions from home to school and from kindergarten to primary.
People leadership and capacity building
Lead, mentor, coach, and inspire a large team of teachers, teaching assistants, and middle leaders.
Conduct lesson observations, learning walks, coaching conversations, and performance reviews to improve classroom practice.
Design and facilitate impactful professional learning programs aligned with school priorities and emerging educational research.
Foster a collaborative professional culture built on trust, accountability, innovation, and reflective practice.
Develop leadership capacity within the kindergarten team.
Student wellbeing, inclusion, and safeguarding
Ensure the highest standards of student wellbeing, safeguarding, inclusion, and pastoral care.
Promote positive behavior support systems and emotionally safe learning environments.
Work closely with inclusion teams to ensure equitable access, early intervention, and personalized support for all learners.
Champion diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within the kindergarten community.
Data, assessment, and quality assurance
Use assessment data, developmental indicators, and observational evidence to inform decision-making and improve outcomes.
Monitor teaching quality and student progress through robust quality assurance processes.
Lead self-evaluation, action planning, and readiness for external inspections and accreditation visits.
Ensure compliance with all regulatory, safeguarding, and operational requirements.
Parent and community engagement
Build strong partnerships with parents as co-educators in their children's learning journey.
Lead parent engagement initiatives, workshops, and communication strategies that strengthen home-school collaboration.
Foster meaningful community partnerships that enrich children's learning experiences.
Skills description
Qualifications and experience
Essential
Bachelor's degree in education or a relevant discipline.
Bachelor's degree in literature or PCM (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics) subjects.
Minimum of 10 years' teaching experience in early years or kindergarten education.
Minimum of 5 years' successful leadership experience in a kindergarten or early years leadership role.
Proven experience leading large teams and managing large-scale educational operations.
Strong understanding of child development and contemporary early childhood pedagogy.
Demonstrated success in improving teaching quality and student outcomes.
Preferred
Master's degree in education, educational leadership, early childhood education, or a related field.
Master's degree in literature or PCM subjects.
Experience within a high-performing CBSE or international school environment.
Experience leading schools through inspection, accreditation, or quality assurance processes.
Knowledge, skills, and expertise
The ideal candidate will demonstrate expertise in:
Early childhood development and neuroscience
Inquiry-based and play-based learning
Literacy and numeracy foundations
Reggio Emilia, Montessori, HighScope, or other globally recognized early years approaches
Social-emotional learning and wellbeing
Inclusive education and early intervention
Curriculum design and assessment for learning
Educational technology and digital citizenship
Coaching and instructional leadership
Data-informed decision making
Artificial intelligence awareness and age-appropriate digital learning integration
Sustainability and global citizenship education
Family and community partnerships
Change management and school improvement planning
Personal attributes
The successful candidate will be:
A visionary and inspirational leader.
Passionate about early childhood education and child wellbeing.
Innovative, reflective, and future-focused.
An excellent communicator and relationship builder.
Highly organized and able to manage complexity at scale.
Collaborative, resilient, and solution-oriented.
Committed to lifelong learning and professional growth.
Aligned with the school's values and dedicated to fostering a culture of excellence.
This is an exciting opportunity for an accomplished educational leader to shape the learning experiences of young children within a thriving and ambitious school community, ensuring they develop the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and character needed to flourish in an ever-changing world.
About the Company
GEMS Education is a pioneering education company with an international network of award winning K-12 schools. Over the past 55 years GEMS has grown from one school to being a truly global company with one incredible mission – to make quality education available to every student. Over 20,000 education professionals unlock the potential of over 250,000 students across 14 countries each and every day, preparing children of all ages for real world success.
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