The posting
Job Description
Aldar Education is seeking a Centre of Excellence (COE) Director of Arts & Culture in Abu Dhabi. This is an exciting opportunity for a skilled professional to join the highly successful Aldar family of schools and to help shape the future of Abu Dhabi’s leading school group.
Since its inception in 2007 with just 250 students, Aldar Education has grown into a highly sought-after education provider, with more than 25 owned and managed premium and super-premium schools and academies- in partnership with some of the world’s most prestigious institutions including Rugby School, King’s College Wimbledon, and Cranleigh. The Group now serves over 38,000 students through 5,000 educators from more than 100 nationalities to deliver world-class education across a broad range of curricula and learning pathways from nursery through to K12.
At Aldar Education, our impact goes far beyond the classroom: we are proud to contribute to the UAE’s vision for a sustainable, knowledge-based economy through premium education. With this in mind, we hire educators and industry professionals who not only embody our values and cultural ethos but also bring a genuine passion for education—qualities central to our mission of shaping the leaders of tomorrow.
If you are passionate about excellence and ready to make a meaningful impact, we invite you to apply and be part of our journey.
This is an exciting opportunity to join the highly successful Aldar family of schools and to help shape the future of Abu Dhabi’s leading school group.
Lead the strategic, cultural and commercial development of Arts and Culture across Aldar Education, positioning the Centre of Excellence (CoE) as a group-wide hub for outstanding arts education, cultural engagement, elite talent development and high-quality public programming. Provide professional oversight and support to school-based arts leaders, strengthen teaching and artistic standards, and create pathways for employee growth, succession and internal promotion. Develop sustainable revenue through approved programmes, events, partnerships, sponsorship and external engagement, while ensuring commercial activity supports educational priorities. Identify and nurture elite student talent, expand scholarship, audition and higher-education opportunities, and build meaningful UAE and international partnerships across the performing, visual and cultural arts.
Responsibilities
Main Duties:
- Set and deliver a group-wide Arts and Culture strategy that strengthens educational quality, cultural impact, reputation, participation and student progression.
- Develop sustainable revenue streams through approved programmes, events, venue use, partnerships, sponsorship and external engagement, with clear income, cost and impact measures.
- Lead, coach and develop employees across the arts network, building capability, succession pipelines and clear opportunities for internal promotion.
- Identify, assess and nurture elite student talent through specialist coaching, performance opportunities, scholarships, auditions and progression pathways.
- Lead the artistic and cultural planning of group-wide performances, exhibitions, festivals, productions, ensembles and community-facing programmes.
- Build UAE and international partnerships with universities, conservatoires, cultural institutions, professional artists, sponsors and industry bodies.
- Manage people, budgets, resources, partnerships, safeguarding and performance reporting to deliver safe, inclusive, commercially responsible and high-quality provision.
Specific Duties:
Strategy, Quality & School Positioning
- Develop a multi-year strategy and annual delivery plan with clear school priorities, resources, milestones and measures of success across Music, Drama, Musical Theatre, Visual Arts and wider cultural programming.
- Work with Principals and education leaders to review provision, identify strengths and gaps, and agree differentiated school improvement plans across curricula and age groups.
- Partner with Marketing and Admissions to communicate evidenced achievements and distinctive opportunities that strengthen family engagement, retention and school choice.
Oversight & Support of School-Based Leads
- Chair a group Arts and Culture network; establish regular school visits, planning meetings and peer reviews to monitor progress and provide practical support.
- Coach school leads in artistic direction, curriculum enrichment, assessment, repertoire, productions and department planning; share expertise, resources and effective practice.
- Agree objectives with school leadership and provide professional input into recruitment, induction, development, succession and performance review of specialist staff.
- Coordinate visiting specialists and shared resources; resolve cross-school delivery issues with Principals while maintaining clear local accountability.
Group-Wide Performances & Events
- Own a coordinated annual calendar of concerts, drama productions, musicals, festivals, competitions and showcases, aligned with school calendars and student learning.
- Establish group choirs, orchestras, ensembles and theatre companies where appropriate, using transparent selection and broad opportunities for participation.
- Lead artistic programming, repertoire selection and quality assurance; coordinate school leads, producers and operations teams on auditions, rehearsals, venues, technical production, staffing and logistics.
- Develop joint productions, community performances and approved touring or exchange opportunities; review educational impact, audience experience and delivery quality after each major event.
Partnerships, Professional Artists & Special Guests
- Build and maintain a diverse network of universities, conservatoires, drama schools, theatres, opera companies, orchestras, festivals and cultural organisations across the UAE and international markets.
- Convert relationships into structured programmes such as masterclasses, residencies, mentoring, joint productions, backstage learning, student exchanges and progression support.
- Identify and coordinate special guest appearances by performers, directors, conductors, composers and other industry professionals; agree educational objectives, student access, schedules, fees and hosting arrangements.
- Work with Legal, Procurement, Finance and school leaders to agree partnership terms, responsibilities, approvals and review points; evaluate delivery and renew relationships based on student benefit.
Student Development, Scholarships & Progression
- Work with school leads to identify and nurture emerging talent while widening access for beginners, students of determination and students facing financial barriers.
- Create individual development pathways combining specialist coaching, performance experience, mentoring and appropriate external opportunities.
- Coordinate with careers and university guidance teams on auditions, portfolios, recordings, applications and preparation for universities, conservatoires and drama schools worldwide.
- Develop access to scholarships, bursaries, summer schools and funded programmes; track applications, offers, awards and destinations without promising admission or funding.
Revenue Growth & Commercial Development
- Develop and deliver an approved revenue plan for the CoE, including income targets, pricing principles, cost recovery and contribution measures.
- Identify viable revenue opportunities through ticketed events, enrichment programmes, holiday provision, masterclasses, venue hire, sponsorship, grants and strategic partnerships.
- Prepare business cases and work with Finance, Legal, Procurement, Marketing and Operations to ensure commercial activity is properly approved, contracted, promoted and evaluated.
- Monitor revenue, costs, utilisation and return on investment, taking corrective action where programmes are not delivering the agreed educational or financial value.
Employee Growth, Succession & Internal Promotion
- Create a structured capability framework for arts employees, with clear expectations, development pathways and readiness criteria for progression.
- Coach managers and specialist employees, identify development needs and coordinate mentoring, stretch assignments, professional learning and cross-school opportunities.
- Build succession plans for critical roles and actively identify internal talent for promotion, ensuring opportunities and selection processes are transparent and evidence based.
- Track employee development, internal movement, promotion outcomes and succession readiness, and report progress to the relevant leadership and People & Culture teams.
Elite Talent Identification & Development
- Establish transparent, inclusive and age-appropriate methods to identify elite and high-potential talent across schools and artistic disciplines.
- Maintain individual development pathways for identified talent, combining specialist tuition, mentoring, performances, competitions, portfolio development and external exposure.
- Coordinate auditions, scholarships, conservatoire or university applications and links to recognised UAE and international cultural institutions.
- Track participation, progress, awards, scholarships and destinations while ensuring that access remains broad and that identification does not exclude emerging talent.
Resources, Safeguarding & Performance
- Prepare budgets and business cases; prioritise facilities, instruments, equipment and technical resources, and monitor expenditure and value for money.
- Explore approved sponsorship and in-kind support with relevant teams, ensuring arrangements serve educational priorities and protect the group’s reputation.
- Embed safeguarding, visitor vetting, supervision, consent, accessibility and risk assessment in artist engagement, rehearsals, performances and travel; coordinate required permissions, production rights and recording arrangements with responsible teams.
- Ensure programming respects the UAE context and represents diverse cultures and artistic traditions; maintain safe, supportive and age-appropriate participation.
- Report termly on school improvement, participation and access, artistic quality, partnership outcomes, guest-artist learning, scholarship and university destinations, budget delivery and stakeholder feedback. Agree annual targets with the reporting executive.
- Undertake other duties reasonably aligned with the role; attend school visits and evening or weekend performances and undertake approved travel as required.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Music, Drama, Performing Arts, Arts Education or a closely related field, or an equivalent recognised professional qualification.
- Relevant teaching qualification or substantial demonstrable school-education leadership experience. Postgraduate study in arts, education or leadership is desirable.
Minimum Experience:
- Typically 10 or more years of relevant Arts and Culture experience, including at least 5 years leading a school arts programme, specialist arts provision or a comparable education portfolio.
- Substantial professional industry experience as a performer, director, conductor, producer, artistic director or equivalent, alongside sustained work with school-age learners.
- Evidence of leading multidisciplinary arts and cultural provision, developing employees, enabling internal progression, delivering major programmes and building productive external partnerships.
- Demonstrable contribution to student auditions, scholarships or progression into selective arts institutions; international, multicultural or multi-campus experience is desirable.
- Strong artistic judgement and credibility in Music or Drama, with the breadth to lead both through specialist colleagues.
- Understanding of school curricula, age-appropriate progression, inclusive arts practice, quality assurance and safeguarding.
- Ability to lead through influence across schools, coach subject leaders and translate strategic ambition into delivery.
- Established professional networks and the ability to develop partnerships across different regions and cultural traditions.
- Knowledge of international arts admissions, audition preparation and scholarship processes.
- Commercial planning, revenue development, production and project management, negotiation, budget management and resource prioritisation.
- Excellent communication, relationship building and public representation; sound judgement when engaging high-profile guests.
- Ability to use participation, destination and evaluation data to improve provision and demonstrate impact.
- Demonstrated ability to develop employees, build succession pipelines and support fair, evidence-based internal promotion.
- Strong capability in identifying elite talent and creating structured development and progression pathways.
What We Offer:
Aldar Education is a family of world-class, child-centered, and innovative schools based in the UAE. We educate students across our group of owned and managed schools and as we grow, so does our need for highly skilled, inspirational, and dedicated school and educational leaders. We offer an attractive remuneration package including a range of benefits. Our future-focused learning model includes both students and staff, so we place a special emphasis on professional development, coaching, and training.
Successful candidates will have access to a wide network of professionals and opportunities to both lead and contribute to training others as well as developing themselves.
This job description is not all-inclusive. Aldar Education reserves the right to amend this job description at any time. We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment. We are dedicated to our national development strategy and encourage UAE Nationals in their application to our company.
Aldar Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment. Offers of appointment are subject to satisfactory references and police clearance.
