Chief Operating Officer

About Company

Our client is a leading K-12 education institution committed to delivering progressive, future-focused learning experiences. Established in 2010, the organization offers comprehensive educational programs from Kindergarten and Montessori through Grade 12, with curricula spanning State Board, CBSE, ICSE, IGCSE, and Pre-University levels.

Backed by one of Bengaluru's most respected education groups, the institution is part of a well-established network serving nearly 20,000 students across K-12 and higher education. With a strong emphasis on research-driven pedagogy, student-centric learning, innovation, and holistic development, the organization is dedicated to nurturing confident, responsible, and globally minded learners prepared to thrive in an ever-evolving world.

The Role

The COO for K12 ensures the head office supports schools in all aspects of implementation. The role brings together every head office function into one coordinated system that enables campuses to deliver the school model consistently and at scale. The head office teams that come together under this role include the Professional Development Institute, Operations, Curriculum, Growth, Student Development, and Quality Assurance.

Key Objective: Achieve the K12 annual admission target of 5,000 students across all institutions and ensure parent NPS is high.

Purpose

To translate client's educational vision into consistent, scalable, high quality experiences across all campuses while ensuring operational excellence, talent effectiveness, and long term growth.

Key Responsibilities

1. Head Office Alignment and School Enablement

• Bring together and align all head office functions: the Professional Development Institute, Operations, Curriculum, Growth, Student Development, and Quality Assurance.
• Ensure the head office acts as a single, coordinated engine that supports schools in all implementations.
• Stitch cross team plans into one coherent operating calendar and support system for campuses.
• Translate institutional priorities into clear, usable support for every school.

2. School Operations

• Lead all campus operations.
• Ensure consistent execution of the school's model across campuses.
• Establish operating standards and service excellence.
• Drive safety, security, transport, facilities, and infrastructure.

3. Admissions and Growth

• Own the group admission target of 5,000 students across all institutions.
• Support new school launches.
• Lead operational readiness for new campuses.
• Develop scalable systems and processes.
• Support mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships where applicable.

4. Financial Leadership

• Oversee annual budgets and operating plans.
• Improve operating efficiency.
• Monitor enrollment economics and capacity utilization.

5. Talent and Organization

• Partner with HR on workforce planning.
• Ensure strong leadership capability across schools.
• Build succession plans for key leadership positions.
• Drive accountability and performance management.

6. Parent and Student Experience

• Ensure consistent parent experience.
• Improve retention and satisfaction.
• Resolve escalated stakeholder concerns.
• Monitor service quality across all touchpoints.

7. Governance and Compliance

• Ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements.
• Maintain audit readiness.
• Oversee risk management.
• Strengthen internal controls and governance systems.

8. Strategy Execution

• Translate strategic priorities into measurable initiatives.
• Drive cross functional execution.
• Monitor organizational KPIs.
• Report performance to the Founder

Ideal Candidate Profile

The candidate has successfully built and scaled service organizations where experience, people, culture, and operational excellence must coexist.

Experience

• 15 to 20 plus years leadership experience.
• Multi site operations leadership.
• Experience leading large teams across locations.

Education

• MBA preferred.
• Strong financial and operational background.
• Educational leadership experience is advantageous but not mandatory

Skills Required
Compliance, Leadership, Operational Excellence, Risk Management