Head of School | Founding Appointment
Sydney, Australia
Radical Recruitment is proud to partner exclusively with a visionary education founder in Sydney to appoint the founding Head of School for a new secondary school launching in 2027. This is a rare and career-defining opportunity for an exceptional education leader to design and build an institution from the ground up, leading a project-based, city-wide learning model that is grounded in Islamic values and unlike anything currently operating in Australia.
About the School
This is not a school that has been inherited or reformed. It is being built from a blank page.
Launching in 2027 and NESA-accredited, the school operates without fixed classrooms or subject silos. Sydney itself is the learning environment. From Year 7 through 12, students learn through studios, galleries, civic institutions, and industry spaces across the city. Learning unfolds across three stages: Discovery (Years 7 and 8), Mastery (Years 9 and 10), and Impact (Years 11 and 12), where students lead real capstone projects that deliver solutions into the world.
The school is faith-informed, rooted in Islamic principles, and designed to produce graduates who are academically excellent, creatively capable, and spiritually grounded.
About the Role
The founding Head of School will be responsible for building this institution from first principles. Reporting directly to the school’s founding board, this is not a principal role in the conventional sense. It is a founder role.
You will design the academic and cultural frameworks that define how the school operates. You will recruit and coach a founding team of educators who think like designers and challenge the boundaries of what a school can be. You will build strategic partnerships with universities, industry bodies, and civic institutions that bring the city-as-campus model to life. And you will serve as the public face of an education model that Australia has not seen before.
Commencement is July 2026 ahead of the school’s 2027 launch.
What are we looking for?
- Postgraduate qualifications in Education, Educational Leadership, or a related discipline, preferred.
- Demonstrated experience designing and leading an innovative, non-traditional, or project-based education model at a secondary level.
- Previous leadership experience at Head of Department, Deputy Principal, Head of School, or equivalent level.
- Deep personal alignment with Islamic values and a thorough understanding of faith-informed education frameworks.
- Proven ability to recruit, coach, and lead high-performing education teams.
- Strong track record of building partnerships with universities, industry, government, or civic institutions.
- Ability to lead with clarity and confidence through the ambiguity of building a new institution.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to represent the school publicly and credibly.
- Full working rights in Australia, or eligibility to obtain them.
- Willingness to relocate to Sydney if not already based there.
What the role offers?
- A once-in-a-career opportunity to build an original school model from the ground up.
- Full institutional ownership of the academic vision, culture, and team from day one.
- A founding board committed to genuine innovation in Islamic education.
- Competitive remuneration package commensurate with the seniority and scope of the role.
- The platform to lead a school that will be studied, referenced, and replicated.
- Global visibility as the founding leader of a genuinely new education model.
How to apply?
To apply, send a current CV and a 2 to 3 page letter outlining your educational philosophy and leadership vision to Radical Recruitment. All enquiries and applications are handled in strict confidence.
Radical Recruitment welcomes applications from exceptional candidates globally.