Head of School Systems Design - Early & Primary years

International Baccalaureate•District of Columbia, DC

3d•$148,928 - $176,705•Hybrid

About The Position

This role is responsible for leading the evolution and contextualization of IB’s primary-level learning pathways for children in the formative years (typically 0-6 and 6-12). The Head of School Systems Design will lead the Early and Primary years school systems design, ensuring alignment of learning, teaching, and assessment with other pathways for impactful learning in IB schools. This includes assessing different school types and their engagement with the IB, developing and executing school systems strategies, policies, and processes to reflect the IB educational philosophy, and maintaining ongoing relevance and competitiveness. Reporting to the Director of School Systems Design, the role contributes to the strategic direction of the Education Office and supports initiative implementation. Responsibilities include writing management reports, representing the IB at external events, providing leadership and guidance to the Early and Primary Years team, and managing projects. The role also involves financial accountability for Early and Primary Years budgets, reviewing and enhancing educational offerings, designing authorization and evaluation requirements, and developing flexible, culturally responsive models. Collaboration with Student Learning Design, other departments, and external stakeholders is crucial for growth and ensuring seamless learner progression. The role also includes line managing the team and piloting innovative approaches.

Requirements

Master’s degree in education related field followed by 5 years of experience working in early and/or primary education OR Ph.D. in Education and 2 years of experience working in early and / or primary education.
2 years of experience with full time teaching in early or primary years education.
2 years of experience with school administration or leadership; international school experience acceptable if documented.
2 years of experience collecting, analyzing, and interpreting student performance or school operations data using defined analytical tools or software.
2 years of experience preparing written reports, data summaries, and instructional or operational recommendations based on quantitative findings.
2 years of experience implementing curriculum, operational procedures, or program changes based on documented school needs or performance metrics.
2 years of experience in project management, including planning, scheduling, task tracking, and delivery of education related projects.
2 years of experience in budget management, including tracking expenditures, preparing budget reports, and monitoring compliance with approved financial plans.

Responsibilities

Leading the evolution and contextualization of IB’s primary-level learning pathways for children in the formative years (typically 0-6).
Leading the evolution and contextualization of IB’s primary-level learning pathways for children in the formative years (typically 6-12).
Leading the Early and Primary years school systems design.
Aligning learning, teaching, and assessment coherently with the other pathways for impactful learning and teaching in IB schools and school systems.
Assessing different kinds of schools and how they can engage with the IB.
Developing and executing school systems strategies, policies, and processes to ensure that they reflect the IB educational philosophy, ongoing relevance and competitiveness within the IB’s framework for international education.
Contributing to the overall strategic direction of the Education Office and supporting the implementation of office initiatives.
Writing management reports and papers on both thought leadership and school systems initiatives or activities.
Representing the IB at external events and meetings.
Providing leadership and guidance to Early and Primary Years team on the strategic level, including oversight of projects related to these educational offers.
Building, guiding, and inspiring project teams to execute strategic plans.
Representing, communicating, and collaborating with colleagues in the Education Office leadership teams and in different offices / departments across the organization as well as with external stakeholders to further growth.
Reviewing and enhancing educational offerings to align with developmental needs of early and primary years and trends in education.
Accountable for the development, publication, revision, and ongoing interpretation of guidance for schools and/or school systems.
Designing requirements for authorization and evaluation for early and primary years schools/ settings.
Customizing school authorization/evaluation for early and primary years settings.
Developing and innovating flexible and culturally responsive early and primary years models, allowing adaptation to a wide range of national curricula, multilingual, low resource and Schools & Government Partnerships learning settings by partnering with Schools & Government Partnerships Office and its local team.
Collaborating with Student Learning Design on early and primary years developmental frameworks (cognition, well-being, foundational skills).
Ensuring coherence within early and primary years offerings to support smooth pedagogical and curricular transition.
Ensuring collaboration with the functions in own department as well as Education Office as a whole.
Embedding inclusive design features for school systems design and development that support diverse learners.
Working closely with School Systems Design – Middle Years to ensure seamless learner progression.
Line managing the early and primary years school systems design team.
Prototyping and piloting innovative approaches in collaboration with Schools & Government Partnerships Office.
Creating prototypes, pilots, or scalable models for systemic education reforms.