Head of School Systems Design - Early & Primary years

International Baccalaureate Organization: Head of School Systems Design - Early & Primary years - Washington, DC

DUTIES:

• Responsible for leading the evolution and contextualization of IB’s primary-level learning pathways for children in the formative years (typically 0-6) – a stage marked by rapid cognitive growth, social-emotional learning, moral curiosity, and imaginative exploration.

• Responsible for the learning pathways for children in the formative years (typically 6-12) – a stage marked by rapid cognitive growth, social-emotional learning, moral curiosity, and imaginative exploration.

• Lead the Early and Primary years school systems design. 

• Align learning, teaching and assessment coherently with the other pathways for impactful learning and teaching in IB schools and school systems. 

• Assess different kinds of schools and how they can engage with the IB. 

• Develop and execute 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. 

• Reporting to the Director of School Systems Design, contribute to the overall strategic direction of the Education Office and supports the implementation of office initiatives. 

• Write management reports and papers on both thought leadership and school systems initiatives or activities and represent the IB at external events and meetings. 

• Provide leadership and guidance to Early and Primary Years team on the strategic level, including oversight of projects related to these this educational offer, building, guiding and inspiring project teams to execute the strategic plans. 

• Represent, communicate and collaborate 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. The role also has financial accountability for Early and Primary Years budgets.

• Lead the school systems design for early and primary years.

• Review and enhance 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. 

• Design requirements for authorization and evaluation for early and primary years schools/ settings. 

• Customize school authorization/evaluation for early and primary years settings. 

• Develop and innovate 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. 

• Collaborate with Student Learning Design on early and primary years developmental frameworks (cognition, well-being, foundational skills). 

• Ensure coherence within early and primary years offerings to support smooth pedagogical and curricular transition. 

• Ensure collaboration with the functions in own department as well as Education Office as a whole. 

• Embed inclusive design feature for school systems design and development that support diverse learners. 

• Work closely with School Systems Design – Middle Years to ensure seamless learner progression. 

• Line manage the early and primary years school systems design team. Prototypes and Pilot innovative approaches in collaboration with Schools & Government Partnerships Office. 

• Creates prototypes, pilots, or scalable models for systemic education reforms.

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 each of the following:

• Full time teaching in early or primary years education.

• School administration or leadership; international school experience acceptable if documented.

• Collecting, analyzing, and interpreting student performance or school operations data using defined analytical tools or software.

• Preparing written reports, data summaries, and instructional or operational recommendations based on quantitative findings.

• Implementing curriculum, operational procedures, or program changes based on documented school needs or performance metrics.

• Project management, including planning, scheduling, task tracking, and delivery of education related projects.

• Budget management, including tracking expenditures, preparing budget reports, and monitoring compliance with approved financial plans.

TELEWORK: Hybrid position p/t telework 

TRAVEL: Up to 40% domestic and international travel                                               

SALARY: $148,928.00-$176,704.93, Benefits will be included 

LOCATION: 3950 Wisconsin Ave, Washington, DC 20016