Chief School Officer

This position can be based in any of our key hubs across Africa, with a strong preference for our Head Office in Johannesburg. It involves frequent travel across our network.

Enko Education is at a defining moment in its journey; as we continue to broaden our Pan-African footprint, our strategic focus is shifting toward deep operational transformation: the realization of the African International School of Choice (AISoC). Our ambition is to ensure that every school in our portfolio becomes the undisputed leader in its community - a place where academic excellence and operational profitability coexist in a delicate, high-impact equilibrium.

To bridge this gap and fulfill our mission of providing African learners access to the best universities, we are seeking a seasoned Chief School Officer (CSO) to join our Executive Committee. Reporting directly to the CEO, you will be the architect of our schools' transformation, driving the Enko Model to ensure our growth is predictable, reproducible, and synonymous with world-class quality.

You are a rare breed of leader who marries the surgical execution of a COO with the high emotional intelligence required to lead educators through profound transformation. Your career in multi-site management - whether in Education, premium Retail, or high-end Services - demonstrates a mastery of driving a "Group Playbook" while empowering local leadership to excel.

Thriving as a disciplined intrapreneur, you would navigate the Enko Model with a knack for creative, low-cost problem-solving that never compromises the blueprint. You possess an innate ability for relentless prioritization, instinctively filtering out the noise to protect "the main thing." Rather than leading by decree, you secure buy-in through influential narrative building, stepping into the shoes of your team members to turn systemic change into a shared mission.

People describe you as a People Developer to the core; you diagnose performance gaps with precision and foster a culture where unwavering accountability meets psychological safety. Moving fluidly between English and French, you bridge the gap between international standards and local context, ensuring our vision resonates deeply with every stakeholder across our diverse African network.

As CSO, you will leverage four Strategic Pillars to deliver the Group Business Plan:

• Operational Excellence: Drive P&L and process performance across all schools to ensure financial sustainability.
• Leadership Development: Empower and hold Heads of School (HoS) accountable, streamlining operations to maximize their focus on Learning & Teaching.
• Scalable Synergies: Harness the "power of the group" by standardizing best practices and securing compliance through the Enko Comprehensive School Support Solution.
• Brand Ambassadorship: Embody Enko's values to strengthen our Value Proposition for both parents and employees.

To succeed in this role and thrive within the Enko culture, you will need to demonstrate a unique blend of operational rigor and high-level leadership. Specifically, we are looking for the following core competencies:

• Analytical Strategist: You possess the structural rigor to manage complex P&Ls and the analytical depth to solve root-cause operational challenges systematically.
• Agile Intrapreneur: You thrive on autonomy and find creative, low-cost solutions to hurdles while remaining strictly disciplined in your execution of the Enko Model.
• Focused Executor: You demonstrate relentless prioritization, protecting "the main thing" from distractions and maintaining a high-performance tempo across the network.
• Influential People Developer: You combine high EQ with influential storytelling to mentor leaders, create psychological safety, and turn organizational resistance into positive momentum.
• Avid Learner: You possess the intellectual curiosity and agility to grow alongside our organization, constantly seeking to improve both yourself and our operational frameworks.
• Bilingual Communicator: You offer professional fluency in both English and French, an essential enabler for engaging deeply with our diverse stakeholders across the continent.

Joining Enko means taking a seat at the table of an ambitious educational project in Africa. We offer a high-autonomy environment where "disciplined intrapreneurship" is celebrated. You will work within a committed Executive Committee and lead a team of independent-minded school leaders, all driven by the same purpose: giving African learners the wings to fly. This is a unique opportunity to shape the governance and operational landscape of a fast-growing group that is literally changing the trajectory of thousands of young lives.

Enko Education is an equal opportunities employer, committed to inclusivity, diversity, and valuing difference. Enko Education schools are committed to child safeguarding and promoting the welfare of students and young people, and we expect all staff, volunteers, and third parties to share this commitment. Our safer recruitment practices aim to ensure that only individuals committed to child safeguarding join our schools. Safer Recruitment Statement here.

• Successful candidates must provide a police clearance (or equivalent) from every country where they have lived in the past 10 years before signing an employment contract.
• Reference checks with previous employers will also be conducted for each successful candidate.