Academic Vice Principal
Location: Shenzhen, China
School Type: International Middle & High School
Curriculum: U.S. Common Core State Standards (Common Core) and AP
Position Overview
Shenzhen RDF International School invites an Academic Vice Principal with proven experience in American private schools and strong frontline academic leadership and classroom improvement expertise. This role will drive overall teaching and academic quality, ensuring instruction and assessment align rigorously with the Common Core and AP standards. The successful candidate will demonstrate wisdom, responsibility, and patience to engage deeply in classrooms through observations, diagnostic reviews, and teacher empowerment, thereby elevating both teacher effectiveness and school-wide academic management. The candidate must have solid, hands-on experience with flipped classrooms and Project-Based Learning (PBL), and be able to deliver actionable, trackable, and closed-loop solutions and implementation pathways for individual students’ academic challenges, fostering a positive, inclusive, and high-achieving academic culture.
Key Responsibilities
Academic Planning and Curriculum Leadership
Lead curriculum mapping, unit planning, and assessment design to ensure alignment with Common Core and AP requirements.
Systematically embed flipped classrooms and PBL into course design and classroom practice, establishing clear implementation standards and an exemplar lesson repository.
Coordinate horizontal (same-grade) and vertical (cross-grade) curriculum articulation to ensure alignment of learning goals, assessment standards, and evidence of learning.
Instructional Supervision and Teacher Empowerment
Engage deeply in classrooms: conduct frequent observations, post-observation conferences, and peer observation cycles; provide evidence-based diagnostics and timely, concrete, actionable feedback.
Clearly recognize and amplify teachers’ strengths; provide differentiated professional support to drive continuous growth in instructional design, learning strategies, assessment literacy, and classroom management.
Address instructional gaps by delivering targeted strategy toolkits (e.g., effective questioning, visual thinking, formative assessment, differentiation and flexible grouping, collaborative learning, use of classroom data), supplemented by coaching-in-action and structured reflection.
Academic Quality Evaluation and Continuous Improvement
Establish a closed-loop quality management cycle of “Goals–Instruction–Assessment–Feedback–Redesign,” using classroom observations, coursework and assessment data, student portfolios, and project products for holistic evaluation.
Lead pedagogical research and action research; publish regular academic quality reports; drive grade-level and subject-level performance improvement.
Organize school-based research, open classes, lesson study, and model lessons to develop scalable, high-quality instructional practices.
Teacher Professional Development (PD)
Design annual and semester PD roadmaps focusing on flipped classrooms, PBL, differentiated instruction, formative assessment, learner-centered classrooms, and cross-cultural teaching competencies.
Organize workshops, instructional coaching, professional learning communities, and micro-action research; establish a mentoring system and develop a cadre of lead teachers.
Build a PD implementation cycle of “Training–Practice–Follow-up–Evidence–Evaluation” to ensure transfer to classroom practice.
Student Academic Support and Case Management
Establish an academic early-warning and support system. For every student facing academic difficulties, provide individualized, actionable, trackable improvement plans (including goal setting, strategy checklists, timelines, responsible persons, milestones, and review mechanisms).
Promote learning strategy coaching (study planning, note-taking, retrieval practice, spaced repetition, peer support) and academic integrity education.
Collaborate with grade-level teams, subject departments, and college counseling to ensure cross-functional coordination and sustained follow-through until closure.
Home–School Communication and Brand Building
Maintain high-quality academic communication with students and parents, providing periodic learning feedback and improvement recommendations.
Participate in admissions talks, open houses, and school branding events (including necessary weekend activities), showcasing academic strength and curricular特色 to attract and serve families.
Team Leadership and Culture Building
Lead by example to build a positive, collaborative, inclusive, and excellence-oriented academic culture.
Support teacher well-being and motivation; cultivate a professional community centered on student learning and evidence-driven improvement.
Performance and Evaluation Indicators (sample KPIs)
Instructional Quality: rate of meeting classroom observation standards, effective use of formative assessment, proportion of high-quality PBL products.
Student Achievement: improvements in standardized assessments and AP outcomes, conversion rate of academic alerts, student growth metrics.
Teacher Development: PD participation and attainment, implementation rate of teacher improvement actions, progress in building a lead-teacher pipeline.
Academic Management: completeness and coherence of curriculum maps, execution rate of data-driven improvement cycles, parent-school satisfaction and effective communication rates.
Branding and Admissions: conversion from academic presentations, impact metrics of model/open classes.
Preferred Additional Materials:
2–3 quantifiable instructional improvement cases or action research reports.
A school-based implementation blueprint for flipped classrooms or PBL, teacher training plans, and model lesson scripts/flows.
Practical toolkits for data-driven instructional improvement (e.g., observation rubrics, formative assessment templates, student academic support SOPs and tracking sheets).
Qualifications
Nationality: U.S. citizen (preferred).
Background and Experience:
Nationality: U.S. Citizen.
Experience: Minimum 10 years of proven experience in academic leadership roles (e.g.Academic Vice Principal, Academic Director, Head of Curriculum) within an international school setting, preferably with an American curriculum. Deep understanding of the U.S. Common Core Standards and AP program is essential.
Education: Master's degree or higher in Educational Leadership, Curriculum & Instruction, or a closely related field is required.
Certification: Possession of a valid U.S. principal/School Administrator certification or equivalent is highly preferred.
Educational Background: Graduation from an lvy League institution or other highly prestigious U.S. university is advantageous.
Leadership Skills: Exceptional educational leadership, strategic thinking, and team management skills with the ability to motivate, mentor, and develop teachers.
Communication Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English (proficient in Mandarin is a plus but not mandatory). Ability to communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders including faculty, students, and parents.
Personal Attributes: Passionate, proactive, detail-oriented, with strong problem-solving abilities and a high level of professionalism and commitment. Must thrive in a fast-paced international educational environment.