Associate Dean of Students (Athi River School)

We are looking for two outstanding educators to serve as Associate Dean of Students at our Athi River campus who will be ready to start in August 2025.  Nova Pioneer Athi River School is a campus that offers both the CBE and Cambridge curricula and serves Pre-Primary, Primary, Junior Secondary and Senior Secondary students. 

As an Associate Dean of Students, you will be required to have expertise and competency across students affairs, co-curricular programming, parent relations and health, safety and operations. 

You will be responsible for co-developing, leading, refining and executing our student affairs, welfare, culture, behavior and programming strategy, systems and structures.  You will also be responsible for our parent partnership model alongside the Deputy School Leader, Parent Associate and the school leadership team.  In addition you will build relationships with students, teammates and parents to facilitate discipline strategies in the schools. Moreover, you will work closely with data systems to ensure and develop pastoral excellence.

This is an exciting opportunity to be a part of an innovative network of schools that is developing generations of innovators and leaders who will shape the African Century.

ABOUT NOVA PIONEER

Imagine a world in which every young person across Africa attends a school that truly sets them up for success in the 21st century. A school that cares about individual students and allows them to explore the world around them. A school that focuses more on developing skills than on memorizing content. At Nova Pioneer, we have done more than just imagine this future, we are bringing it to life. Nova Pioneer is a pan-African, independent network of schools offering high quality, accessible education from pre-primary through secondary school. Nova Pioneer uses a unique, enquiry-based learning approach that encourages students to ask “why” instead of telling them the “what”. It allows them to form their own thinking through exploration, investigation and collaboration. Nova Pioneer currently has 16 schools in South Africa and Kenya with a vision to launch 100 schools and reach tens of thousands of students across the African continent in the next decade. To learn more visit www.novapioneer.com.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Key responsibilities of the role are:

In partnership and under the guidance of the Deputy School Leader, you shall hold the following responsibilities: 

Vision and Administration for the Student Affairs Program

• Create, refine, manage and monitor a vision, action plan and monitoring plan for Student Affairs.
• Develop and maintain the student affairs department’s strategic plan, ensuring alignment with the overall institutional strategic planning efforts in fulfillment of the Nova Pioneer mission. 
• Using past and current data, oversee the vision and implementation of a Student Life strategy and provide oversight to ensure effective and efficient use of all resources assigned to student life (financial, human, etc.)
• Implementing and monitoring ongoing benchmarking, assessment, and innovative improvements for all Student Affairs areas to improve the student experience.
• Appraising performance, rewarding accomplishments, addressing inappropriate behavior, addressing complaints and resolving problems.
• Making and implementing schedules of clubs, sports, after school and weekend programming. 
• Manages the school’s clubs and house programmes including club scheduling & sign up, patron/vendor management, club reports, club activities; and all house programmes. 
• Conducting clubs and sports walkthroughs and providing feedback.
• Ensuring that all students and their parents have signed the student/parent handbook and keeping the signed handbook in record. 
• Ensuring the management, development, coaching, growth and accountability of direct reports.
• Is the student data champion on the school enrolment register, Ed-Admin, Class Dojo, and other student data systems. 
• Be a culture champion for our School by spearheading school student culture events within the school's vision and annual theme.
• Works with the Admissions team to track enrolment and student class and house allocation.
• Coordinates the school’s daily routine, ensuring all schedules are clearly mapped out and implemented. 

Student Affairs, Behavior, Culture and Programming

• Loves students and understands how to provide Socio Emotional Learning (SEL).
• Executing and monitoring behaviour systems and structures ensuring strong implementation of  both student culture and behaviour policies.
• Ensuring that the School’s behavior policy is implemented consistently and effectively. Working in collaboration with the leadership team and behavior committee to ensure fair proceedings. 
• Executing, analyzing and monitoring systems and structures for positive behavior systems for students that are used with fidelity by students, teammates and parents. 
• Provides safe channels for students to share feedback/ideas and address their concerns
• Executing, analyzing and monitoring systems and structures for a thriving house system that serves as the cornerstone for the positive behavior system.
• Execute, analyze and monitor systems and structures for culture and behavior trend data.
• Execute, analyze and monitor systems and structures for end to end addressing and documenting all infractions.
• Support students in managing behaviour expectations using a restorative justice approach.
• Ensuring that the highest standards of discipline are maintained. You will work closely with the Deputy School Leader to ensure that incidents are dealt with in the most appropriate way in order that the School’s behaviour policy is implemented consistently and effectively.
• Provides structures for celebrating students who are living and leading NP Culture.
• Leads student mentorship/buddy programmes to strengthen student relationships. 
• Manages the student happiness survey process (scheduling, administration, data analysis and leveraging data to improve students’ experience).
• Participating in the school based discipline committee.
• Manages the students’ government programmes including elections, induction, training, activities and offboarding.
• Coordinates student onboarding. Onboard new students and orient continuing students to new expectations as they progress from one level to the next.

Parent Engagement

• Implementing an inspiring vision for parent partnership that ensures parents are pulled in as active partners and advocates of the school who are involved in their childrens’ learning, character and holistic growth.
• Implementing an inspiring vision for parent partnership that ensures parents are engaged as active partners and advocates of the school with regular parent feedback cycles on their childrens’ learning progress, welfare and behaviour as well as school environment at every major occurrence or data release. 
• Leading in systems and structures to provide weekly updates to parents regarding student instruction and academic programmes, student well-being, affairs and co-curricular programmes, and relevant teammate news.
• Co-facilitate parent events, fora, seminars, orientations and open days.
• Facilitate 1:1  and group parent meetings aimed at improving student behaviour and community culture.

• Conduct orientation at the start of the new year and for new joiners. 

Teammate Development 

• Coaches teachers on managing student behaviour and building student character.
• Is the primary owner of Student Leadership Development: Creates plans and systems for teaching student leadership development to Novaneers, including supporting rollout with teachers, training and development for teachers, and observation and feedback on implementation.
• Coaches, develops, manages and holds accountable swimming coaches, clubs vendors and sports vendors.
• Works with the School Counsellors and teachers to create individual student behaviour plans and student support plans.
• Coordinates school duty rotas and other relevant student life experiences (non-academic) e.g. health and safety; school culture e.g. transitions; safety drills e.g. fire drills, etc.

Communication 

• Execute and monitor vision for and roll out effective communication systems with students, team, parents and the wider community, in collaboration with the external relations team.
• Ensure clear systems and structures for communication and clarity in all matters student affairs.
• Ensure timely updates on student affairs to the Deputy School Leader and School Leader.
• Collaboratively engage the parent body on key student affairs programs by being part of any PTA-related meeting from time to time.
• Ensuring a response time of no more than 48 hours on all matters students affairs to stakeholders. 

Operations, Health and Safety 

• Creating a plan for student health and safety emergency preparedness.
• In partnership with the Deputy School Leader and school leadership team daily participate in operational walkthroughs of campus to ensure high standards of functionality.
• Conducting monthly safety drills, health and safety and risk committee meetings.

Events and After-School Programming

• Plan, coordinate and execute engaging after school and weekend activities that promote student social and personal development.
• Creating weekly and monthly events to foster the students 6 Culture Principles, 3Cs, Leadership and Innovation.
• Lead in and participate in event After Action Reviews (AARs). 
• Trains, manages and oversees peer mentors.

ABOUT YOU

• You have a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and you are TSC certified
• Masters degree in education/ social sciences is not compulsory but will be an added advantage.
• You have excellent interpersonal and leadership skills that encompass trust and respect.
• You have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• You have strong coaching and people management skills.
• You have a proven track record of success in leading team(s) at the entry or mid-level.
• You have very strong planning and organisation skills (will be required to send parent surveys, organise student lists and teacher lists for school events, etc).
• You have experience using tech. 
• You are a critical thinker, flexible, adaptable, innovative and creative. 
• You understand the complexities of working in a multi-faceted, fast-paced organisation.
• You are passionate about building strong relationships with students and parents. 
• You have high energy levels and can work in a highly confidential setting. 
• You have experience working with parents. 

HOW TO APPLY

Does working at Nova Pioneer excite you? If so, then apply now!

To apply, please complete the form on the right hand side of this page. We cannot process applications that are emailed to us.

Please note: You are encouraged to attach your resume in PDF format to protect formatting.

There are a series of stages in the Nova Pioneer interview process and candidates will be moved forward in the process depending on their success in the previous stage. The process is as follows:

• Phone interview: a short conversation to understand your skills and experience a little better.
• Practical demonstration of what you can do: you will complete a written task or a demonstration related to the role you are applying for. Teachers sit an assessment and deliver a lesson to a class.
• Final interview: you’ll have a final conversation with the hiring manager before decisions are made.

WORKING AT NOVA PIONEER

Nova Pioneer is a place where our people experience tremendous growth, fast! We invest heavily in the growth of our people because it leads to greater mastery in both us and our students. “Novaneers” work harder and work longer hours than at most schools but as a result, the growth they experience is extraordinary. We offer consistent and ongoing professional development and provide clear career pathways that ensure that our people are always achieving their personal and professional best. Nova Pioneer has a highly energetic, entrepreneurial environment where our people get to bring their creative and innovative ideas to life. We look for people who are flexible and who are able to adapt and respond quickly to adversity with a positive, can-do attitude (there are no problems, only solutions!). We welcome challenges and roll with the punches because it makes us, and our students, better. There is no problem too big for us! We work hard but we also have a lot of fun together. We bring infectious energy and enthusiasm to everything we do because joy fuels the hardest work and learning. Read more about our culture principles here

Nova Pioneer will never request an application fee from candidates. If you are contacted with a request to pay a fee from someone claiming to be a Nova Pioneer Talent or Recruitment representative, please do not pay them and report it to us immediately on talent.ke@novapioneer.com or talent.sa@novapioneer.com.