Education
Education appointments for schools where fit matters as much as qualification.
Arnett International supports leading international school groups in the United Arab Emirates with senior leadership, specialist teaching, and SEN appointments. Our work is search-led, structured, and built around the operational realities of international school recruitment.
The practice
A search-led education practice. Built for international schools.
International schools operate in a specific environment. Stakeholder scrutiny is high, parent expectations are exacting, and curriculum standards are inspected by multiple regulatory frameworks. The wrong appointment costs more than the recruitment fee. It costs continuity in the classroom, confidence in the leadership team, and credibility with families.
We support school groups in the UAE with a different model. Every mandate is led by a named partner. Shortlists are built from whole-market mapping, not advertised roles. Assessment is structured around the school’s specific environment: curriculum, phase, inspection framework, and the moment in the school’s development. We work across senior leadership, specialist teaching for shortage subjects, and inclusion and SEN appointments.
Initial focus is the United Arab Emirates. The practice extends to wider Gulf markets as client relationships develop.
Typical mandates
Where we work.
i.
Senior school leadership
Principals, Heads of School, Deputy Heads, Heads of Section, and senior academic leadership. Appointments where governance, parent stakeholder management, and inspection accountability sit alongside instructional leadership.
ii.
Specialist subject teaching
Chemistry, Music, Economics, Business Studies, Psychology, Biology, Art and Design, Modern Foreign Languages, and other shortage subjects across secondary and sixth form. Roles where subject depth and curriculum alignment are central to the appointment.
iii.
Inclusion, SEN and safeguarding-led roles
SEN coordinators, inclusion specialists, designated safeguarding leads, and senior pastoral appointments. Roles where regulatory standards and child protection responsibilities require specific expertise and credentials.
iv.
Curriculum and academic leadership
Heads of Department, curriculum leads, and academic coordinators across British, IB, and American curriculum frameworks. Roles that bridge instructional design with day-to-day teaching delivery.
How we work
Whole-market mapping. Educational context.
Education appointments cannot be assessed in isolation from the school. A leader who performs well in one curriculum framework may not perform in another. A specialist subject teacher experienced in a single-school setting may find a large group with multiple campuses operationally different. Our role is to identify who will thrive in the specific environment, not who looks strongest on paper.
Every mandate begins with structured discovery: the curriculum framework, the inspection regime, the leadership team, the stakeholder landscape, and the phase of the school’s development. We then conduct whole-market mapping across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and direct outreach into the existing international school network. Candidates are assessed against the school’s context, not a generic competency framework.
Where appropriate, we work alongside Red Sky Referencing for safeguarding-compliant background checks, verification of qualifications, and reference validation aligned to Keeping Children Safe in Education and equivalent international standards.
Sector lead
Education at Arnett International.
The education practice is led by Zuzu Jordan, Director of Research and Intelligence, with over twenty years of sector experience spanning UK and international school recruitment, leadership search, and education sector intelligence. Zuzu works alongside the wider Arnett partnership on every mandate, with named partner accountability from first briefing to final appointment.
The Arnett Standard
Every education mandate is conducted following The Arnett Standard.
Six principles govern every search we accept. Whole-market mapping. Contextual assessment. Partner-led accountability. Confidential engagement. Structured evidence. Long-term tracking. The framework applies across aviation, infrastructure, and education without exception.
Read The Arnett Standard →Current work
Active education appointments.
A small number of education appointments are open to direct applications from qualified teachers and school leaders.
View current opportunities →Speak with our team
Discreet, structured search for international school groups.
If you are a school group, foundation, or board considering a senior or specialist appointment, we are open to a confidential conversation about your requirements. We work selectively and on a partner-led basis.
Speak with a Partner