About the Role
This is an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated, energetic, dynamic, empathetic and hard working individual to join a passionate and committed team.
The Director of Business and Operations will lead the development and execution of a sustainability and growth strategy to meet the needs of current and future students at NIS.
This includes implementing financial strategies to sustain and enhance the school’s value proposition.
The Director of Business and Operations will build strong relationships across support staff teams to maximize organizational potential in alignment with the school’s mission.
They will demonstrate adept problem-solving, empathetic listening, decisive leadership, and a collaborative approach to teamwork.
As a community school, the successful candidate will embrace their role as a part of the community and will enjoy preparing for and participating in community events just as much as they may enjoy looking at a balance sheet or studying an architectural plan!
They will recognize the significance of a school’s mission, history and community in shaping its value proposition and understand how this influences business planning and operations management.
Requirements
Qualifications
• Educated to degree level. If your degree was not studied through the medium of English you will need to demonstrate high business level English through the application process.
• Child protection/safeguarding clearance from your country of passport and any additional countries in which you have lived as an adult.
Experience
• A track record of successful team leadership within and across multiple interconnected teams with a demonstrated ability to impact effective change within and across those teams.
• At least 3 years of full-time experience working in a strategic finance role, preferably in an educational context similar to NIS, in which you have been responsible for the formation and implementation of financial strategy.
• A working familiarity with - and confidence to lead - human resources, operations and facilities management, IT, and the other functional areas of a busy independent international school.
• Experience of working in contexts that are diverse in background, culture, language, gender, and identity with a proven ability to forge a shared vision that utilizes the strengths and perspectives of the individual.
• Experience working in schools - and especially in international schools - while not essential, will be a welcome addition to your candidate profile.
• While speaking Japanese is not required, this would be a welcome addition to your candidate profile. The ability to empathize with your team (all of whom are operating in at least two languages daily) by being a multilinguist yourself, will be an advantage.
Skills
• Exceptional skills in strategic financial management with a proven ability to develop and implement short, medium, and long-range financial plans that are risk-assessed, stress-tested, appropriate and mission-aligned.
• Strong strategic abilities and administrative and organizational skills with the capacity to guide whole-organizational development while maintaining direct operational responsibilities. • A highly accomplished communicator (both verbally and in writing, in both formal and informal settings) able to work with and across multiple stakeholders to build understanding and value.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a proven ability to operate effectively and efficiently in a diverse environment with a broad range of stakeholders. The right candidate will be able to listen with empathy and care, yet also have the strength of purpose and conviction to have challenging conversations and hold individuals and teams accountable.
• An ability to work within regulatory frameworks and a fast learner able to quickly understand the nuance of Japanese accounting, employment law, and other applicable statutes.
• Strong digital literacy skills and an awareness of their role in 21st-century learning and an educational setting. • Excellent leadership skills - able to manage, coach, mentor, and supervise employees - as both individuals and in teams - through the lens of contextual and situational leadership.
• Highly developed skills in analysis with the ability to take complex problems and distill them into the strategic questions that need to be asked in order to move the school forward.
Leadership Dispositions & Personal Attributes
• A commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and belonging in education and leadership and the ability and commitment to lead teams from an intercultural lens.
• A calm, clear thinker, able to maintain composure and effectively make decisions and manage priorities under pressure.
• A commercially aware operator who instinctively understands the ‘double bottom line’ of non-profit schools and the relationship between an operational surplus and the delivery of the mission for our students. • Highly motivated and engaging, able to bring energy, passion and conviction to your work every day.
• A strong sense of humor and love of working collaboratively with others.
• A team player willing to roll up your sleeves and get the work done.
Our Director of Business and Operations will enjoy developing strategic policy one minute and then cheering on the volleyball team or advising the business club on their marketing plans the next.
• A highly visible and agile leader who appreciates that without relationships, nothing can be accomplished