Academics Director (expired)

About Tokyo Academics

We are Tokyo’s leading academic tutoring, test preparation, and college admissions counseling company, providing world-class education in the heart of Tokyo. TA is the passion project of a constellation of teachers, researchers, and academics in Tokyo, Japan. Since 2012, we’ve evolved from a few university friends tutoring at a tiny restaurant in Tokyo into an organization of academic, test prep, and college admissions experts, helping students to realize and reach their potential and capture the opportunities of the future.

Our tutors work with English-speaking, international students from 1st grade through 12th grade (and some post-graduate students), in various academic subjects, ranging from Latin and Debate to Computer Science and AP Physics. Most of our team is in Japan and in the Philippines, but we are growing our US-based team as well. Most of our students are located in Japan, but we also have students in the US, Europe, and other parts of Asia.

Over the last 8 years, we have grown consistently year after year. We are also constantly expanding our line of services. We started with just private test prep tutoring, and now we offer academic tutoring, group classes, online learning, college admissions counseling, boarding school admissions counseling, coding classes, and student research (also running one of the only international high school research conferences in the world). We are now looking to stabilize and grow further and are hoping to expand our services beyond Tokyo, to other parts of Japan, Asia, and the world.

About the role

We are looking for an Academics Director to provide leadership, mentoring, and coaching to our team of academic tutors to ensure increased student achievement, overall student success, and achievement of organizational goals. This position is best suited for a self-driven individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment. This is an opportunity to really buy into the vision of a young and growing company and become a part of the core team in the long run.

What you will work on:
- Creating systems for measuring, tracking, reporting, and improving both teacher and student performance
- Supervising staff and working closely and collaboratively with them to increase the overall effectiveness and efficiency of instructional delivery to significantly increase student achievement
- Implementing processes and systems for strategic planning, data driven decision making, leadership coaching, professional development, and community engagement
- Developing, improving, and maintaining training manuals and systems
- Creating and maintaining organizational standards for all relevant curricula and standardized tests: AP, IB, A-Levels, Common Core, SAT, SSAT, ISEE, etc.
- Standardizing pedagogy to allow for individual flexibility
- Ensuring up-to-date alignment with both local and international standards
- Delivering difficult and potentially challenging messages
- Delivering reports and making recommendations to management, staff, students, and parents
- Ensuring the efficient and effective use of human, fiscal, and other resources
- Analyzing and reviewing course materials to determine the effectiveness of private lessons, group classes, and teacher training sessions

Our ideal candidate:
- Is results-oriented
- Prioritizes simplicity over complexity
- Can effectively budget the time needed to train staff
- Can adjust support based on tutors’ and students’ individualized personalities and needs
- Identifies gaps in own knowledge/skill and seeks support
- Delegates tasks to other staff when appropriate
- Has excellent interpersonal skills (interacting with students, parents, and tutors)
- Has both clear and concise oral and written communication
- Has the ability to solve practical problems in situations where only limited standardization exists
- Is self-driven and has the capability and confidence to interface effectively with senior leaders and multiple stakeholders
- Has strong business acumen, excellent communication skills, influencing skills, and planning/project management skills
- Thrives in a fast paced, rigorous environment with changing priorities
- Has the ability to exercise integrity and sound judgment in complex and ambiguous situations

Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree or above from top university (Master’s Degree in Education, Educational Leadership, or Learning and Development from an accredited educational institution preferred)
- Language: Native English
- Commitment to living and working in Japan for at least 2-3 years
- Familiarity with the US and UK academic experience
- Minimum of five (5) years of successful teaching and teacher training experience
- Experience with after school tutoring and test prep is preferred

Benefits:
- Competitive compensation package
- Bonuses based on company growth
- 20 days of paid time off per year
- Join a growing bootstrapped company with a lot of potential for growth
- Autonomy to implement ideas and have a significant impact