Academic Deputy Principal (ADP)
Job Title: Academic Deputy Principal (ADP)
Employment Type: Full Time
Start Date: 1st August 2026
WELCOME TO SCIE – STRIVING TO BE THE BEST:
- AS/AL, IGCSE & AP
- Enjoy teaching students who want to learn at the highest level
- Quality of life matters – Standard teaching load only 50% timetable
- Fully CIS & WASC accredited school founded in 2003
Position Profile:
- Direct UK teaching experiences preferred
- Ability to teach high achieving students
- Degree in area of expertise for teaching
- Teaching qualification (PGCE, or equivalent)
- A minimum of 4 years of experience in academic leadership at the school-wide level
Specific Responsibilities:
1. Academic programme: ADP is responsible for the leadership and management of the entire academic program and for Teaching and Learning in the College. This includes the following:
- a. Leadership and responsibility for the quality, implementation and review of the curriculum, ensuring High Quality Teaching and Learning and the development of our higher level programmes and extensions, ensuring regular review and performance analysis for improvement
- b. Responsibility for appraisal and Continuing Professional Development of teaching staff, ensuring targets set are measurable and trackable and encouraging ongoing development within subjects. Maintenance and development of standards of competence and professionalism to ensure High Quality Teaching and Learning, while balancing parental and student requirements with teaching standards,
- c. Responsibility for the College Schemes of Work and Assessment and faculty documentation. Ensuring that teaching progress is maintained across each subject
- d. Responsibility for the Academic induction of new students and the progress and tracking of continuing students
- e. Development and implementation of the College academic annual action plans, understanding and in line with the broader strategic plans of the College
- f. Production of an annual academic staffing and class allocation plan
- g. Oversight of College results and student academic records and reports
- h. Oversight of the College timetable and individual timetables for staff and students
- i. Oversight of the use, review and purchase of educational materials and of technology for teaching and learning.
2. Managerial position: ADP is direct line manager for the Academic Senior Leadership and overall line manager for all academic staff. ADP is part of the Principal Team and the SLT. The line manager of ADP is the Principal.
3. Budget Scrutiny: The approval of ADP is required for expenditure related to Academic programmes.
4. Liaison: ADP must work closely with the other members of the Principals Team to ensure that all support and pastoral programs enable the academic program to meet the mission of the College.
5. As a Deputy Principal, the ADP will deputise for the Principal as required.
6. Any other allocated tasks consistent with the principal purpose of the position.
These responsibilities will be carried out in accordance with the Guiding Statements of the College and with due consideration of Child Safeguarding.
Person Specification:
We are looking for applicants with a proven track record and strong experience of academic leadership at the senior level, particularly in an AS/A Level programme, who are able to handle all aspects of leading, managing and coordinating the academic programme and developing our high quality teaching and learning. We welcome applications from those who have experience with students applying to Oxbridge and with the processes involved, and who have backgrounds in high achieving secondary schools. Applicants should also consider how they would contribute to the development of our academic programme in line with our guiding statements and within the culture of SCIE, particularly with enhancing our gifted and talented and independent learning provisions.
The College is a large high school teaching a 2-year IGCSE programme followed by 2-year AS/AL programme (alongside a growing AP stream) through the medium of English, with about 500 students in each year cohort. The ADP will be direct line manager for our senior leadership Heads of Faculty, who themselves lead their subject teams of teachers and Heads of Subject as well as having their own whole school responsibility.
Our cohort is highly academic and the ADP will need to develop our provision of high quality learning for mainstream lessons as well as our gifted and talented extensions. This is aimed at developing students who are able to achieve at the higher A* levels.
The ADP needs to develop familiarity with the academic team, to develop an understanding of the quality of the teachers and their teaching and to instill an atmosphere of development to improve. They will need the pragmatism to balance parental expectation with teaching standards to achieve high outcomes, providing support for the teachers without lowering those standards.
With the size of the College, each year the ADP will be involved in recruitment of new teachers and the ADP should be familiar with safe-recruitment practices and with interviewing methods for identifying the best potential teachers capable of helping our students learn to the highest standards. They should also be able to continue the development of our teacher quality assurance and teacher development programme.
As a member of the Principals Team, the ADP should have familiarity with accreditation process and procedures, particularly for CIS/WASC, experience in developing strategic planning for the college as a whole, as well as for the academic areas and curriculum development.
Examinations and timetabling are not a prerequisite of the ADP as these are run by our Education Administration Office. However, the applicant should have enough familiarity with them to provide relevant input in the timetable creation as well as the academic side of the examination process.
Successful applicants will need to have the skills and experience to take on the full role from the outset and be a productive and effective member of our Principals Team.
Brief Description of SCIE:
UK curriculum high school (Cambridge International AS/AL & IGCSE) teaching through the medium of English to mainly Chinese students preparing for overseas universities.
We also run an AP stream since 2025, hence there are some opportunities for teachers interested in AP teaching in various subjects.
The mission of the College is to educate Students in a Challenging, International Environment leading to academic achievement at the highest level, and to develop Social responsibility, Creativity, Independence and Enthusiasm, providing each student with the best preparation for future opportunities.
- Highly selective – English and Mathematics admissions tests
- Medium of instruction & communication – AS/AL English, with students functioning at first language level, mostly studying AS/AL English language or literature in A1/A2
- 1800+ students, High school only – UK Key Stages 4 & 5
- Accreditation – Fully accredited by Council of International Schools (CIS) & WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges in US) and regional members of FOBISIA & EARCOS
- Examinations – AS/AL, IGCSE (Cambridge International and AQA), and AP (College Board)
- Day & boarding school – teachers are not involved in boarding facility nor have evening or night duties
- Founded in 2003
Students：
- Highly motivated academic students
- Students complete IGCSE exams at end of G2, and then go on to 5/6 subjects at AS, and 4/5 at AL (including English) or follow an AP curriculum
- Average international exam results, typically grade A/A* across school
- 41 Oxbridge offers and over 90% students applying to UK achieve offers from top 10 universities in 2025 cohort
- US university offers including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Columbia, Cornell
- Students achieve success across range of subjects including Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Languages, Science and Mathematics
- Class size maximum 26 at IGCSE and 24 at AS/A Level
- Huge range of ECAs with over 200 clubs, both staff led and student led
Schedule：
- Working week: Monday – Friday 07:50 – 16:40 (with 07:30 start Mondays and early finish 15:00 Fridays)
- Normal contact teaching time – 24 x 40-minute periods per week (approx. 50% timetable)
- Personal time – 6 periods per week fixed in timetable when do not need to be at work.
- Extra – Curricular Activity – 1 hour per week ECA after school (16:30 – 17:30)
- CPD – large range of professional development available both online and face-to-face.
- Holidays – 1 week for October China National Day holiday, 2 weeks Christmas holiday, 3 weeks Chinese New Year holiday, Chinese public holidays, mid-June to early August Summer holiday.
Benefits：
- Published fixed salary scale (reviewed annually) based on years of teaching experience and annual progression at SCIE
- School provided accommodation (Expat apartments adjacent to campus)
- Full international medical cover (self + 1 dependent)
- Annual flight allowance (self + 1 dependent)
- Dedicated staff gym in campus
Application Process:
Apply by CV with a letter of application addressing your suitability for the role and how you would develop the high quality teaching and learning with our teaching team. Send your application to jobs@scie.com.cn
The Application deadline is December 19th 2025. Shortlisting will take place in early January 2026, followed by online or onsite interviews scheduled for January or February 2026. SCIE is committed to creating a safe environment for students. All applicants are required to comply with our child-protection guidelines for application. References will be taken up including direct contact with your current, or most recent employer for a safeguarding reference check and to confirm clearance from contract commitment. Please note that no offer will be made until the background check is complete.
Please find more information for our school on the official website：
