Assistant Headteacher Secondary School August 2026

The School

Deira International School (DIS) is an Outstanding BSO- and KHDA-rated, award-winning school located on a beautiful campus in Festival City, Dubai. In 2023, DIS received the Education Excellence Award for ‘School Team of the Year’ and holds Platinum status for ‘Best Place to Work’, reflecting our commitment to staff wellbeing and a thriving school community.

DIS is a not-for-profit school within the Al-Futtaim Education Foundation (AFEF). Founded in 2005, we provide an outstanding, inclusive and holistic education for students aged 3–18. Our most recent inspection highlighted significant strengths, including outstanding teaching, high expectations, a precisely planned curriculum, strong academic progress, and a culture in which staff feel respected, valued and proud to work.

With over 90 nationalities represented, our diverse community is central to our ethos. Exceptional facilities support a rich curriculum across sport, performing arts, technology, leadership and academic enrichment. Although non-selective, our students achieve exceptional examination results comparable to top UK schools and progress to leading universities worldwide. Digital literacy is embedded across all phases of learning.

Early Years follows a personalised, play-based approach aligned to EYFS. Primary offers a broad and enriching curriculum. In Secondary, students complete IGCSEs before progressing to the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) or IB Career-related Programme (IBCP). The Secondary School is a high-performing and inclusive community, achieving 100% IB pass rates and consistently strong GCSE outcomes. Our ALPS score places us in the top 1% globally for value-added progress.

DIS offers an exceptional platform for leaders seeking to make a meaningful and lasting impact.

The Role

We seek to appoint an outstanding Assistant Headteacher to join our ambitious and highly skilled leadership team. This versatile role will be shaped around the strengths of the successful candidate and involves working collaboratively to secure the highest standards of teaching, learning and student outcomes, while contributing to strategic priorities aligned with academic excellence, innovation and wellbeing.

You will support the development of confident, capable and globally minded young people by driving high-quality teaching practice, leading curriculum development and overseeing key whole-school initiatives. Our leadership culture empowers staff to innovate, take informed risks and contribute to continuous improvement.

Experience And Knowledge

• Proven success in teaching and leadership within a high-performing secondary school
• Clear evidence of improving outcomes across diverse student groups
• Strong understanding of curriculum design, assessment and quality assurance, ideally within British and/or IB frameworks
• Experience contributing to whole-school strategy and improvement initiatives
• Strong understanding of effective pastoral systems
  
  

• Credible instructional leader who inspires and develops colleagues
• Strategic and confident in using data to drive improvement
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills
• Organised, analytical and forward-thinking
• Strong commitment to inclusion and belonging
• Resilient and adaptable in a fast-paced international environment
  
  

• Minimum 7 years post-qualification experience, including at least 3 years in leadership within a high-performing British curriculum school
• Experience, or clear understanding, of international school contexts
• B.Ed., or degree with PGCE/PGDE (or equivalent)
• Leadership qualification (e.g. NPQSL) desirable
• Demonstrated commitment to high performance, enriched curriculum development and student wellbeing