ACAMIS Executive Director Vacancy Announcement

The ACAMIS Executive Director (E.D.) will be stepping down on July 31, 2024, after nine years in that role and five prior years as a Board Member. The Association of China and Mongolia International Schools is therefore seeking highly qualified candidates for the Position of Executive Director with a starting date of August 1, 2024.

About ACAMIS
ACAMIS is registered in Hong Kong as a Not-For-Profit Society. Its member schools are located in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao and Mongolia. ACAMIS was founded by seven Heads of School in the year 2000, initially to connect Heads of School in developing China and to provide post-season regional sports tournaments and academic and cultural enrichment activities. Since then, the organization has grown to over 80 international school members, offering 14 post seasonal sports as well as other student academic enrichment  activities, service learning grants, and professional development opportunities for staff with 5 major conferences and about 12 workshops annually. ACAMIS members consist of nearly 63,000 students and over 8000 teachers. The purposes of ACAMIS are to:

• Broaden the learning opportunities for students of all ACAMIS member schools in a total program of education, especially in sports competitions and arts and culture;
• Advance the professional development of staff of member schools;
• Facilitate communication and cooperative action among member schools;
• Promote understanding and international friendship through the activities of member schools;
• Cooperate with other organisations and individuals pursuing similar purposes as ACAMIS.

  More information is available on the ACAMIS website at www.acamis.org

Position
The ACAMIS Executive Director (E.D.) will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for ACAMIS staff, programs, budget, expansion, and execution of its purpose. The E.D. works closely with, but is not a member of, the ACAMIS Board of Directors which meets three times per year and communicates through periodic updates that keep the Board informed. The E.D. role can be full or part-time through negotiation. The successful candidate is not currently expected to reside in HK, but is, in any case, required to travel to China a minimum of three times per year for 3-5 weeks in order to fulfill the job responsibilities. The Board conducts an annual review of the E.D. based on feedback, job description, annual goals, personal goals and self-reflections. While seeking a long-term E.D., contracts are usually issued in 2-3 year segments.

Responsibilities:

• Leads and supervises the ACAMIS Executive Office
  • Sets annual organizational and personal goals and priorities
  • Conducts annual review of Executive Officer (EO)
  • Maintains ongoing contact with Committee Chairs
  • Ensures that ACAMIS Committees are fully constituted.
• Communications and Public Relations
  • Utilizes a range of media, video clips such as Facebook, Linked In, etc. to enhance communications with members and others
  • Promotes the uniqueness of ACAMIS
  • Interfaces with member schools through visits, as possible at either end of conferences, workshops or other events, and through communication via a range of media
  • Oversees the publication of the ACAMIS online newsletter ACAMIS in Action in September, February and May.
  • Encourages members to conduct outreach to local media to promote ACAMIS events.
• Membership
  • Promotes membership development to grow the organization
  • Within a three to five-week span straddling conferences, visits member schools, potential member schools and other groups important to ACAMIS.
  • Monitors membership activities, participation, interests and trends
  • Encourages the participation of members and prospective members in ACAMIS events and activities
  • Arranges for site visits to candidate schools
  • Welcomes each new member school.
• Conference Preparations
  • Works with host schools and planning committees to identify themes and potential keynote speakers for confirmation by the Board
  • Identifies and communicates with potential host schools for future events
  • Works with EA to set guidelines and fee structure for service providers and identify appropriate potential sponsors
  • Prepares model budgets for each conference based on previous actual results.
  • Sets conference fee structures and budgets to align with the overall ACAMIS operating budget
  • Issues and signs host school written agreements
  • Assists with conference promotion & maintains constituent invitation lists
  • Convenes and hosts conferences as needed
• Finance
  • Assists the Treasurer in tracking income and expenses and monitoring the budget process
  • Works with EO and EA to prepare an annual budget and three-year budget projection
  • Ensures the completion of the Annual Audit and related legal procedures
  • Consults with the ACAMIS Financial Adviser on Investment Fund matters and advises Treasurer and the Board (but not authorized to make transfers)
  • Oversees legal requirements related to the 501c3
• Assists the Board
  • Assists the President by preparing agenda and supporting documents for Board meetings
  • Coordinates planning for the Annual General Meeting with Board Officers
  • Confers with the President on items of potential policy or strategic importance
  • Sets and accomplishes personal and organizational goals
  • Protects the interests of ACAMIS and advises the Board as necessary
  • Maintains the Constitution, By-Laws and operational manuals
  • Identifies potential Board members
  • Oversees the ACAMIS Awards selection process.
• Government Relations
  • Has general knowledge of the education system in China and specifically about the licensing system and 
  • Maintains strategic relationships with NCCT and Ministry of Education in China and elsewhere within the region. 
  • Has knowledge about different educational and licensing frameworks/systems, and specifically China’s Schools for Children of Foreign Nationals (SCFN) vs compulsory education, bi-lingual, and other types of private schools.
  • Familiarity with life and regulations in Hong Kong where ACAMIS is registered as a Society.
• Strategic and Forward Planning
  • Assists the President and Board in developing and maintaining planning that will lead to steady, manageable growth and advancement of the organization.
• Represents ACAMIS at major conferences and liaises with other organizations that will benefit ACAMIS.
• Academic and Cultural Enrichment (ACE) and Sports
  • Works closely with ACE and Sports Chairs and representatives to ensure their voices are heard and supported
  • Reviews Sports and ACE Charters with Chairs and updates annually as needed before presenting to the Board for approval
  • Encourages ACE and Sports leaders to deliver current activities/events and to develop new activities and events for students as appropriate
  • Works with member schools’ University Placement Counselors to Develop Relationships with Universities

Qualifications:
The Executive Director must be thoroughly committed to the ACAMIS purpose. All candidates should have proven leadership, coaching, and relationship management experience. Concrete demonstrable experience and other qualifications include:

• Advanced degree, minimum an MS or MA with at least 10 years of senior management experience, preferably as a head of school
• Track record of effectively leading an international organization; success with a performance- and outcomes-based organization and staff
• Awareness of Chinese culture and history and the realities of working in the Chinese context from previous residence in the ACAMIS region
• Ability to set itineraries, make travel arrangements, and to travel alone across China
• Ability to point to specific examples of having developed and operationalized strategies that have taken an organization to the next stage of growth
• Unwavering commitment to quality programs
• Excellence in organizational management with the ability to coach staff, manage, and develop high-performance teams, set and achieve strategic objectives, and manage a budget.
• Past success working with a Board of Trustees with the ability to cultivate existing board member relationships.
• Strong marketing and public relations ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders and cultures.
• Strong oral and written communication skills; a persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal and multidisciplinary project skills.
• Ability to work effectively as an independent consultant to produce the wide range of ACAMIS annual events and activities
• Ability to work effectively in collaboration with diverse groups of people
• Passion, idealism, integrity, positive attitude, mission-driven, and self-directed professional.

Compensation and Transition
A salary and benefits package will be available based on circumstances and may be negotiated with the successful candidate. An appropriate transition with the outgoing ED is possible.

Application Process
With notice of the vacancy so far in advance, initial expressions of interest/initial applications are already welcomed, in advance of the 1 November 2023 submission date.

• an application letter outlining how their experience fits the criteria above
• a current resume
• email addresses and telephone numbers of at least three current referees

Applications should be sent to:
Mr Steve Moody, President, ACAMIS
steve_moody@istianjin.org.cn

Board and Executive Office