Head of School

  • Location: Chroy Changvar Campus, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
  • Schedule: Full-time
  • Reports to: The Board

Position Summary

The Head of School (HoS) is the most senior executive leader of AUPP Liger Leadership Academy and the single point of accountability to the Board for the whole institution – academic, residential, operational, financial and cultural. The HoS leads the academy in delivering the mission of developing principled, entrepreneurial leaders through rigorous, project-based, experiential education within an integrated residential community across a non-residential Primary school (Grade 1 to Grade 6, expanding to include Kindergarten) as well as the established residential Secondary school (Grades 7–12).

The HoS provides unified leadership to a senior team of eleven, organized in two tiers: academic and residential leadership – the Secondary School Principal, Primary School Principal and Head of Residential; and business and operations management – the Operations Manager, Head of Finance, F&B Manager, Head of Marketing, Admissions and Recruiting, Senior Administrator, IT Supervisor, Head of HR and Head of Student Wellbeing. The HoS sets institutional strategy, safeguards educational and residential quality and student wellbeing, secures the academy’s financial sustainability, and is the academy’s principal representative to the Board, to government, and to the wider community.

The HoS holds ultimate accountability for outcomes across all areas. While each leader exercises delegated authority within their domain, the HoS is the final arbiter on matters that cross domains, and is accountable to the Board for the academy’s overall performance, compliance and culture.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic & Institutional Leadership

  • Set and articulate the academy’s vision, strategy and annual objectives in partnership with the Board.
  • Lead institutional growth and change, ensuring fidelity to the mission and the ESTEAM, project-based educational model for Secondary School (Liger Curriculum Secondary Education Program), the establishment of the Primary school (Victorian Curriculum 2.0) and the embedding of the Chroy Changvar campus.
  • Translate Board-approved strategy into coherent plans schoolwide and all business functions, and foster a unified, values-driven culture.

Board Governance & Reporting

  • Serve as the principal point of contact between the executive team and the Board, providing regular, transparent reporting on performance, risk, finance, safeguarding and strategy.
  • Bring forward proposals, policies and material decisions for Board ratification, and implement Board decisions across the academy, operating within delegated authority.
  • Support the Quality Assurance Officer in the independent assurance function reporting to the Board, providing full access to information, staff and records.

Leadership of the Senior Team & Decision-Making

  • Line-manage, develop and appraise the leaders across both tiers, setting clear objectives and holding regular structured one-to-ones.
  • Chair a regular senior leadership meeting to align the school and the business functions, review events and ensure smooth, coordinated operation.
  • Act as final arbiter on matters that cross domains or where leaders disagree, ensuring decisions and any strong disagreements are formally documented, while preserving each leader’s accountability within their own domain.

Academic Excellence (via the Secondary and Primary School Principals)

  • Hold the Secondary School Principal accountable for the quality and rigour of the Secondary curriculum, teaching and outcomes, and adherence to the Liger curriculum.
  • Hold the Primary School Principal accountable for establishing and delivering a high-quality Primary program under the adapted Victorian Curriculum 2.0, with coherent transition into the Secondary school.
  • Champion innovation in pedagogy while maintaining alignment with recognized standards and university-readiness pathways (AP, SAT) and accreditation (WASC).

Residential Life (via the Head of Residential)

  • Hold the Head of Residential accountable for safe, nurturing and well-run boarding operations for Grades 7–12, and for residential policy and pastoral care.

Student Wellbeing (via the Head of Student Wellbeing)

  • Hold the Head of Student Wellbeing accountable for counselling, medical and nursing provision, and social work across the day and residential settings, including coordinated care for boarders.
  • Ensure welfare provision is integrated with residential and academic leadership without compromising the confidentiality and professional independence proper to those roles.

Operations, Facilities & Security (via the Operations Manager)

  • Hold the Operations Manager accountable for facilities and maintenance, grounds, transport, security, safety and purchasing, and for reliable logistics across the campus.

Information Technology (via the IT Supervisor)

  • Hold the IT Supervisor accountable for IT systems, infrastructure, connectivity, data security and user support across the academy.
  • Maintain an effective working relationship with the AUPP Head of IT, to whom the IT Supervisor holds a dotted reporting line, ensuring academy requirements are met within group standards.

Financial Sustainability & Stewardship (via the Head of Finance)

  • Own the academy’s overall financial health: lead the annual budgeting process and ensure prudent stewardship, sound controls and accurate reporting to the Board.
  • Retain budget ownership for the academy and maintain an effective working relationship with the AUPP Chief Financial Officer, to whom the Head of Finance holds a dotted reporting line.

Catering & Food Safety (via the F&B Manager)

  • Hold the F&B Manager accountable for catering and dining, nutrition, dietary requirements, food safety and hygiene, including boarders’ daily meals and catering for any requested school events.

Marketing, Admissions, Recruiting & Enrolment (via the Head of Marketing, Admissions and Recruiting)

  • Provide leadership for admissions, recruitment and enrolment to meet the academy’s student and revenue targets, and ensure the academy’s distinctive proposition is clearly communicated.
  • Safeguard the academy’s reputation for quality, character and student outcomes.

Administration (via the Senior Administrator)

  • Hold the Senior Administrator accountable for the administration team, reception, student affairs administration and accurate institutional record-keeping.

People, Culture & HR (via the Head of HR)

  • Set the standard for professional conduct, collaboration and care across all staff, modelling the academy’s values.
  • Hold the Head of HR accountable for leave, payroll, onboarding and arrivals, recruitment coordination, contracts and lawful, consistent HR practice and individual confidentiality; oversee workforce planning and leadership development.

Safeguarding & Child Protection

  • Hold ultimate accountability for the safety and welfare of all students and for a robust, well functioning child protection system across the school and the residential setting.
  • Foster a culture in which every member of staff understands and acts on their safeguarding duty.

External Relations, Partnerships & Advancement

  • Act as the academy’s principal external representative.
  • Build constructive relationships with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) and relevant authorities, and support advancement and donor stewardship.

Risk, Compliance & Regulatory

  • Ensure the academy complies with Cambodian law, education regulations and licensing agreements, and maintain an effective risk-management framework covering safeguarding, health and safety, financial, operational, residential and reputational risk, reporting on it to the Board.

Decision-Making & Authority

  • Reserved to the Board: strategy, major policy, budgets, significant financial commitments and changes to the operating structure.
  • Held by the Head of School: all executive decisions delegated by the Board; final authority over cross-domain matters and unresolved disputes; accountability for institutional performance.
  • Delegated to the leaders: decisions within each leader’s domain, exercised under the oversight of the HoS, with the leader remaining ultimately responsible within that domain.
  • Group functions: the dotted reporting lines to the AUPP Chief Financial Officer and the AUPP Head of IT are advisory and standard-setting. They do not displace the HoS’s line authority over the Head of Finance and the IT Supervisor, nor the HoS’s budget ownership for the academy.

Key Relationships

  • The Board (line of accountability), and the Board Chairwoman.
  • The leadership team direct reports: Secondary School Principal, Primary School Principal, Head of Residential, Operations Manager, Head of Finance, F&B Manager, Head of Marketing, Admissions and Recruiting, Senior Administrator, IT Supervisor, Head of HR and Head of Student Wellbeing.
  • The Quality Assurance Officer (independent assurance, reporting to the Board Chairwoman).
  • AUPP group functions: the Chief Financial Officer and the Head of IT.
  • Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) and relevant authorities.
  • Students, families, staff, donors and the wider community.

Person Specification

Qualifications

  • Essential: a Master’s degree in education, educational leadership or a related field, or equivalent professional standing; a recognized teaching qualification with substantial classroom and school-leadership experience.
  • Desirable: doctoral-level study; safeguarding lead certification; governance or executive leadership training.

Experience

  • Essential: proven senior leadership of a school or major division (e.g. Head, Principal or Deputy); experience leading and developing a sizable senior team; budget ownership and operational oversight; safeguarding leadership.
  • Desirable: experience across both primary and secondary phases; of a residential or boarding setting; of innovative, project-based or experiential curricula; of growing or establishing a school or new phase; and of international or cross-cultural environments, ideally in Cambodia or the wider Southeast Asia region.

Skills & Competencies

  • Strategic leadership, governance and Board-level reporting.
  • Financial acumen and a sustainability or enterprise mindset.
  • Change management and the ability to build a unified institutional culture.
  • Sound, decisive judgement and skilled conflict resolution across competing priorities.
  • Excellent communication and stakeholder and partnership management.

Personal Attributes

  • Deep commitment to the mission of developing principled, capable young leaders.
  • Child-centred, with the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct.
  • Cultural sensitivity and genuine respect for Khmer culture and community.
  • Resilience, humility and the energy to lead a complex, growing institution.
  • Desirable: Khmer-language ability or a clear willingness to learn; familiarity with Cambodian education regulations.

To Apply

Please send your application to career@aupplla.edu.kh with the subject line “Head of School Application, [Full Name].” Please include:

  • A cover letter (no more than two pages)
  • A current CV
  • A statement of your educational leadership philosophy (no more than one page)
  • Copies of your degrees and teaching qualification
  • Contact details for three professional referees, including your current or most recent supervisor
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