Senior UCT Online High School Portfolio Manager at Valenture Institute

Description

The Senior UCT Online High School Portfolio Manager oversees all student experience support team members working on UCT Online High School. The Portfolio Manager owns the delivery and support model for FET and Senior Phase for UCT Online High School. They translate the support vision as directed by the Head of Student Experience into clear priorities and goals for their team. They are responsible for leading the UCT Online High School Portfolio Managers team,setting strategic direction, operational planning, providing day to day operational support, monitoring SLA and monitoring the quality of the support and teaching that the team provides on UCT Online High School.The Senior UCT Online High School Portfolio Manager role is focussed on people management and development and the holistic student experience for UCT Online High School as we seek to serve thousands of students across the globe. They work closely with Valenture stakeholders as an advocate for our students, parents and partners.

Leadership and Culture

• Work with the Head of Student Experience, to build a culture of student experience, teaching excellence, collaboration and innovation for all working on UCT Online High School

• Provide direction and leadership to direct reports in line with the Student Experience team’s priorities.

• Focus on the overall health and wellness of the team through coaching and development plans.

• Actively shape the culture of the team to provide high-quality education and pastoral care at scale.

• Monitor and report on key academics and support SLA’s for UCT Online High School.

• Ensure the alignment and consistent application of policy and procedure across the Student Experience Portfolio Managers

• Oversee the academic and support quality for UCT Online High School.

• Work with the Principal and Teaching and Learning Advisor to write and maintain all academic and support policies, including Teaching and Learning, Assessment and Reporting, Curriculum and the relevant sections of Student Handbooks.

• Work with the Student and Parent Engagement Manager, Principal and Deputy Principal to plan and facilitate parent evenings throughout the school year, to ensure that parents remain informed and supported as active participants in their child’s learning journey.

• Collaborate with the Student and Parent Engagement Manager to compile weekly school newsletter, and create an ongoing presence in the Online School Community

• Stay up to date on the competitor landscape to ensure that the product offering remains competitive.

Governance

• Inform policy relating to academic progression, exclusion and any disciplinary matters relating to students.

• Work with the UCT Online High School Principal and Deputy Principal to draft a quarterly academic report to the partner institution governance committee for review and feedback.

• Sit on the internal Academic Board for disciplinary hearings

Partner Engagement

• Serve as a point of contact for Student Experience with UCT if and when needed

Operations

• Ensure good collaboration and communication with the Product Division on all matters relating to timetabling, scheduling, capacity planning and process mapping.

• Support on process development and improvement, remove operational blockers and ensure that Student Experience Leads, Support Coaches and Teachers are enabled to provide efficient and effective support to students.

• Overseeing redundancy in the team and ensuring effective workforce management and capacity planning day to day and at established planning intervals.

• Continuously interrogate processes and policies for UCT Online High School with the purview of reducing operational costs and providing the best learner experience

Student Experience

• Oversee the academic and support quality for UCT Online High School for FET and Senior Phase.

• Work with the Head of Student Experience and the Head of Student Well-being on continuously refining and improving our Pastoral Care offerings

• Ensure seamless collaboration between all departments working on UCT Online High School, namely Student Experience and the Learning Design, Learning Technology, Project Management and Admissions teams.

• Liaise with other teams on inter-departmental processes.

• Work with the Student Experience Product Owner to maintain and enhance our student facing systems (CRM tools)

Student Progress Monitoring and Assessment:

• Work with the Principal, Teaching and Learning Advisor and Head of Student Well-being to continuously assess and refine the Remediation Policy (RTI)

• Maintain the integrity of assessment data through ongoing quality assurance, moderation and data validation exercise

Budget management

• Work with the Head of Student Experience to set the annual UCT Online High School Student Experience budget and manage costs in line with annual objectives.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree in Education, Communication, Counselling or Psychology preferred.

• Teaching and or management experience at secondary school level, with either BEd or PGCE qualification is beneficial

• Customer support mindset

• Management and leadership experience is essential with demonstrated experience in mentoring and leading people. At least 3 years of experience.

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.

• Operationally savvy.

• A good feel for working with assessment data and operational data.

• A blend of academic, customer support and business skill sets is preferred.

Realities of the role:

• Valenture Institute is a fast-paced startup. We are not a traditional school! We are reimagining schooling and precedent needs to be adopted only where it has proven to have great results. If you think that traditional schools have it all figured out, this is probably not the right role for you.

• Collaboration is the name of the game. We operate in highly specialised teams, and our ability to deliver an excellent student experience is premised on our team’s ability to collaborate, value the contributions of their teammates (including those in other teams) and see the value in the “rubbing of minds”. If you do not find value in having your ideas interrogated or others weighing in on how things could foreseeably be done, you are unlikely to enjoy the role. Similarly, if you are not comfortable with other teams being accountable for different parts of the learning experience, you are unlikely to find this environment to be a good fit for you.

• The Student Experience team are master multitaskers. They enjoy the pace and variety of parent and student engagements, coaching groups, monitoring multiple data points, updating student progress monitoring resources, collaborating with teams, dealing with special cases, and working on multiple systems — all in a day’s work! If you prefer long periods of deep, uninterrupted time, you are unlikely to enjoy this role.

• Providing a seamless learning experience for students and parents often involves a lot of backend admin. The ideal candidate would have a pragmatic understanding of the value that administrative tasks bring to bear on the experience of an end user.

• As a new brand of schooling operating at the forefront of digital disruption, technical challenges do arise. The ideal candidate will have an appreciation for how necessary it is to fail fast and fail forward, learn through iterative feedback loops, and embrace the process of continuous learning.

• Change is constant as a result of rapid learning cycles. If consistent change gives you energy rather than drains your energy, you are likely to thrive in this environment. Similarly, if you are adept at managing yourself in a demanding environment and understand the importance of self awareness and boundaries in your work, you are likely to do very well.

Requirements:

• Preferred: SACE

• Police clearance required

Benefits

Family member discount for Valenture Institute

Remote work

Voluntary savings Programme

Please note that if you do not hear from us within 3 weeks, your application is considered unsuccessful at this time.

Valenture Institute is an equal opportunity employer. Appointments will be in accordance to our Employment Equity Plan