Senior Academic Lead (across all subjects)
Subject Division Leadership | Curriculum Ownership | Team Development | Business Growth
Location: London or Shanghai
Contract: Full-time | Hybrid | Evening/weekend teaching required during peak cycles
Blue Education is a leading education technology company specialising in helping students achieve their academic, university admissions, postgraduate and career goals. Our team is comprised of graduates from Oxford, Cambridge, Ivy League and other world-leading institutions, bringing academic excellence, teaching expertise and a strong record of student success.
We support ambitious students and families through rigorous teaching, personalised academic guidance and strategic planning. Our mission is to help students thrive academically, gain admission to the world’s top universities and develop the confidence, curiosity and skills to make meaningful contributions to society.
This role is ideal for an outstanding academic leader who combines exceptional teaching expertise with the ability to lead people, design scalable academic programmes, own student outcomes and drive business growth within a high-performance education environment.
The Senior Academic Lead is the senior academic owner for a designated subject division. The role is accountable for the quality, consistency, growth and commercial success of all academic provision within that subject area. This includes responsibility for all students in the discipline, subject curriculum strategy, teaching standards, student outcomes, tutor performance, staff recruitment and training, and the development of new academic programmes that support Blue Education’s growth.
This is not simply a more experienced teaching role. It is a senior leadership position responsible for building and scaling a high-performing subject team, ensuring every student receives excellent academic support, and taking the subject area forward as a strategic business unit.
Responsibilities
1. Subject Area Ownership & Student Outcomes
Take overall responsibility for all students within the designated subject area, ensuring each student has a clear academic plan, appropriate teaching provision and measurable progression.
Be accountable for subject-level academic outcomes, including student progress, university admissions success, retention, parent satisfaction and student experience.
Act as the senior escalation point for complex academic cases, underperformance, family concerns and high-stakes university application decisions.
Review student data and academic feedback regularly, identifying risks early and implementing interventions to improve outcomes.
Ensure consistent academic quality and student support across all tutors, Academic Leads and programmes within the subject area.
2. Teaching, Academic Mentoring & Admissions Expertise
Deliver exceptional teaching and high-level academic mentoring for top-performing students targeting Oxbridge, Ivy League and other globally competitive universities.
Provide specialist guidance on demanding admissions pathways, including subject preparation, written work, personal statements, admissions tests, interviews and scholarship preparation.
Serve as final academic reviewer for critical applications, interview preparation and high-value student cases within the subject area.
Model the standard of analytical rigour, intellectual curiosity and student-centred teaching expected across the academic team.
Maintain deep and current knowledge of global university admissions requirements, subject curricula and competitive selection processes.
3. Curriculum Strategy & Programme Development
Own the academic vision, curriculum strategy and pedagogical framework for the entire subject division.
Design, approve and continuously improve curricula, enrichment programmes, teaching resources, assessment frameworks and intervention models.
Ensure the curriculum is academically rigorous, commercially relevant and aligned with Oxbridge, Ivy League and global university admissions standards.
Develop scalable academic products and subject pathways that support students at different stages of academic development and application readiness.
Use student outcomes, tutor feedback, parent feedback, market insight and admissions trends to improve programme quality and effectiveness.
4. Team Management, Leadership & Performance
Directly manage and lead Academic Leads, and Tutors within the subject area, as applicable.
Set clear expectations, objectives and performance standards for the subject team, ensuring alignment with Blue Education’s academic quality and service standards.
Conduct regular performance reviews, lesson observations, coaching conversations and feedback sessions.
Build a culture of excellence, responsiveness, collaboration and intellectual ambition across the subject team.
Identify capability gaps, manage underperformance professionally and support succession planning for future academic leaders.
5. Recruitment, Onboarding & Training
Lead recruitment, selection and onboarding of academic staff within the subject discipline.
Establish and maintain subject-specific hiring standards, sample lesson expectations and evaluation criteria.
Design and deliver training programmes for Academic Leads, and Tutors.
Create scalable training materials, teaching frameworks, quality guidelines and best-practice resources for the subject team.
Ensure all new academic staff understand Blue Education’s teaching standards, communication expectations, student management processes and admissions methodology.
6. Academic Quality Assurance
Establish and monitor subject-level academic KPIs, including student progress, lesson quality, report quality, admissions outcomes, retention and satisfaction.
Implement quality assurance processes for lesson delivery, curriculum use, student feedback, tutor reporting and academic interventions.
Review academic records, student plans and tutor performance data to ensure consistency and excellence across the subject area.
Lead regular subject review meetings and produce clear recommendations for continuous improvement.
Ensure academic delivery remains aligned with safeguarding, professional conduct, data protection and internal operating standards.
7. Family Communication & Premium Educational Consulting
Build trusted relationships with students and families, particularly high-value and complex cases requiring senior academic input.
Provide strategic educational consulting, long-term academic planning and senior-level advice on university placement strategy.
Represent Blue Education as a credible academic authority in meetings with parents, students, schools and external partners.
Support Academic Leads and tutors in managing sensitive family communications, expectations and progression concerns.
Ensure student and parent communication is timely, professional, accurate and commercially aware.
8. Business Growth & Strategic Contribution
Partner with senior leadership to define and deliver growth strategy for the subject division.
Contribute to revenue growth through improved student retention, programme expansion, referrals, conversion support and premium academic services.
Identify market opportunities, competitor trends and emerging student needs to shape new programmes and services.
Support sales, marketing and partnership activity by providing expert academic insight, webinars, workshops and public-facing thought leadership.
Contribute to annual planning, resourcing, team capacity decisions and subject-level commercial priorities.
9. External Representation & Brand Building
Represent the academic team in school collaborations, external partnerships, webinars, parent seminars and public speaking engagements.
Strengthen Blue Education’s reputation for academic excellence through high-quality content, events and strategic academic initiatives.
Stay ahead of global education trends, admissions developments, curriculum changes and competitor positioning.
Translate external insight into practical improvements in curriculum, teaching practice, student support and commercial offering.
1. Academic Credentials
Graduate, Master’s or PhD degree from Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Imperial College, Ivy League, or an equivalent top global university.
Outstanding subject expertise and the credibility to lead a team of high-calibre academics and advise ambitious families.
2. Teaching & Admissions Experience
Minimum 1,500+ hours of teaching, tutoring or academic mentoring experience, ideally with high-achieving and university-bound students.
Proven track record supporting students applying to Oxbridge, Ivy League or other competitive university programmes.
Demonstrated ability to diagnose student needs, design targeted learning plans and improve academic outcomes.
Experience handling complex or high-stakes student cases, including admissions strategy, interviews, written work and subject-specific preparation.
3. Leadership & Management Experience
Minimum 2-3 years of people management or academic team leadership experience within education, tutoring, schools, higher education, admissions consulting or a related sector.
Proven ability to lead, motivate and engage teams to achieve excellent performance.
Experience recruiting, onboarding, training and developing teachers, tutors or academic staff.
Confidence setting standards, giving feedback, managing performance and holding team members accountable.
4. Curriculum, Quality & Programme Leadership
Experience designing curricula, academic pathways, assessments, teaching resources or enrichment programmes.
Strong understanding of academic quality assurance, student progress tracking and teaching excellence frameworks.
Ability to translate educational insight into scalable processes, training materials and commercially viable academic products.
5. Commercial & Strategic Capability
Commercial acumen with evidence of measurable contribution to business growth, student retention, programme development, referrals, partnerships or premium service delivery.
Entrepreneurial mindset and ability to identify opportunities that take the subject area and wider business forward.
Comfortable working with senior leadership on planning, priorities, resourcing and strategic initiatives.
6. Core Skills & Personal Qualities
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to advise students, parents, tutors and senior stakeholders clearly and professionally.
Highly organised, responsive and capable of managing multiple students, team members, deadlines and priorities.
Strong digital literacy and confidence using online learning platforms, data tools and collaborative working systems.
Willingness to teach and support families during evenings and weekends in peak application cycles.
Intellectual curiosity, integrity, resilience and strong commitment to student development and educational excellence.
Collaborative, ambitious and energised by working in a high-achieving, fast-growing academic environment.
Success Measures
Student progress, retention, satisfaction and admissions outcomes across the subject area.
Quality and consistency of teaching delivery, reporting and academic intervention across the team.
Successful recruitment, onboarding, training and development of academic staff.
Improvement and scalability of curricula, resources and subject pathways.
Commercial contribution through growth, referrals, programme innovation and premium service quality.
Strength and reputation of the subject area within Blue Education and the wider market.
£70,000-£80,000 base salary, plus performance-based bonuses and potential equity options.
UK work permit sponsorship for exceptional candidates, where applicable.
A collaborative environment with colleagues from Oxford, Cambridge, Ivy League and top global universities.
A senior leadership pathway with real influence over academic strategy, programme design, team development and business growth.
Comprehensive benefits including private health insurance and pension scheme.
International exposure across the UK and Asia, with opportunities for travel.
The opportunity to make a transformative impact on students’ academic and personal development while helping to scale a leading education business.
