School Operations Manager

Are you a strategic, solutions-focused operations professional ready to make a meaningful impact in education?

Harrow School Dubai is seeking a School Operations Manager to lead and oversee all operational services at campus level. This pivotal role ensures smooth, compliant, and cost-effective delivery across procurement, facilities, health & safety, events, ESG, and shared services.

Job Purpose

The School Operations Manager oversees all operational services at campus level, ensuring smooth, compliant, and cost-effective delivery. Reporting directly to the Head of Business Operations and working closely with the Principal, the role covers key functions such as procurement, facilities, H&S, events, ESG, and shared services. The role also ensures regulatory readiness and contributes to school improvement plans through cross-functional coordination.

Key Accountabilities:

• Staff Management
• Purchasing and Contract Management
• Health and Safety
• Events and Excursions
• Facilities Management
• Compliance
• ESG and Energy Conservation
• Campus Development
• Shared Services
• IT end user support

What Were Looking For:

Education: Bachelor’s degree or relevant operational qualification; NEBOSH and IOSH preferred.

Experience: 3–5 years in operational roles, ideally in education, facilities, or service-driven environments.

Competencies:

• Multi-service operations coordination
• Vendor and contract oversight
• Health, safety, and compliance leadership
• Budget awareness and procurement control
• Cross-functional problem-solving and crisis response

Attributes:

• Calm, organized, and highly accountable
• Clear communicator and team enabler
• Practical, audit-ready, and solutions-focused
• Comfortable in a fast-paced, stakeholder-heavy school environment

Harrow Values

All staff are expected to conduct themselves in line with the School’s values which are: Courage, Honour, Humility and Fellowship. While the School’s values set out what matters most to us, the behaviours below are intended as a shared set of expectations to refer to, and standards to aspire to, in our dealings with others. They are the practical application of our values.

COURAGE

• We remain optimistic and purposeful in a disrupted world.
• We take responsibility for our decisions, even the hard ones.
• We always challenge poor behaviour in ourselves and others.
• We are open to new ideas, and seek fresh challenges.

HONOUR

• We keep our promises.
• We act with integrity – doing the right thing, even when it is difficult or when no one is watching.
• We respect and value our traditions whilst setting them in the context of today.

HUMILITY

• We work hard to serve others within the School and across our wider communities where possible putting their interests before our own.
• We respect each other and value our differences, knowing that we are more effective and more resilient working together.
• We are kind and inclusive; we value the contribution that each of us makes.
• We give and seek honest and appropriate feedback, reflect on our failures and learn from them.
• We support each other through challenges and whatever the outcome, we celebrate those that took part. We role model the behaviours that we would like to see in others; we ask only of others what we would be prepared to do ourselves.

FELLOWSHIP

• We respect each other and value our differences, knowing that we are more effective and more resilient working together.
• We are kind and inclusive; we value the contribution that each of us makes.
• We role model the behaviours that we would like to see in others; we ask only of others what we would be prepared to do ourselves.

Taaleem is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. We hold ourselves to a high standard of effective practices in relation to child protection and we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. We expect all staff to share this commitment.

All successful applicants must be willing to undergo enhanced child protection screening appropriate to the post, including various background checks including, receipt of high-quality references, proof of relevant qualifications, identification and police checks, including overseas checks. No member of staff will be able to start until these checks are complete and this process takes, on average, a month.