What is a Head of Education ?
Leading Educational Transformation
The education and training sector is undergoing profound and continuous transformation, driven by societal changes, the evolution of the job market, new pedagogical tools, and technological innovations. With these rapid changes, the Head of Education plays a strategic role: guiding, structuring, and driving change.
What is a Head of Education or School Transformation Lead?
The Head of Education is a senior executive in the field of education and training, responsible for overseeing all pedagogical activities within an organization.
This is a highly strategic position with multidimensional responsibilities, including defining educational direction, coordinating teams, managing development projects, and leading pedagogical innovation.
It can be held in schools (public or private), higher education institutions, corporate environments, NGOs, training centers, or national and international institutions. The Head of Education shapes a long-term vision for learning, regardless of the target audience or educational format.
Responsibilities of a Head of Education
The Head of Education is the architect of the institution's educational vision. Working closely with stakeholders and the academic team, they develop a comprehensive strategy aligned with the organization’s values, ambitions, and context.
They define development priorities and identify the resources needed to meet today’s educational challenges: new skillsets, blended learning, inclusion, and internationalization.
Beyond supervision, the Head of Education is a transformation agent. They lead the adaptation or redesign of programs by incorporating:
- Active learning methods (e.g., project-based learning, flipped classrooms)
- Digital learning tools and EdTech solutions
- Competency-based approaches, now essential in many fields.
They ensure the coherence, relevance, and agility of all pedagogical content and formats.
The Head of Education often manages a team of academic directors, instructors, coordinators, and trainers. They foster a collaborative and professional learning community, support upskilling, promote cross-functional work, and facilitate change management.
As an educational leader, they align teams with a shared vision.
They implement systems for evaluating and improving pedagogical practices: performance analysis, KPI monitoring, feedback from learners and instructors, and quality audits.
These processes help maintain excellence and institutional reputation, especially for certifications and accreditations.
The Head of Education also acts as a key ambassador for the organization. They contribute to external visibility through:
- Academic and professional partnerships
- International or inter-institutional projects
- Communication initiatives: conferences, publications, events, etc.
Their role requires active monitoring of pedagogical, digital, societal, and regulatory trends.
This ensures that the learning offer remains aligned with field demands, learner expectations, and sector innovations.
What Skills Are Required to Become a Head of Education / School Transformation Lead?
The role requires a comprehensive understanding of education and training, combining pedagogical, managerial, and strategic expertise. It is best suited to experienced professionals from education, training, or academic management.
Key Skills
Ideal candidates possess a broad range of professional and interpersonal competencies, including:
- Pedagogical expertise: instructional design, educational frameworks, assessment methods
- Leadership: inspiring teams, managing people, building cohesion
- Project management: planning, coordination, budget oversight
- Strategic vision: anticipating changes in the education landscape
- Innovation and transformation: digital integration, agile approaches
- Communication: clarity, influence, institutional representation
- International perspective: navigating multicultural and global dynamics.
Salary and Career Outlook
The salary of a Head of Education varies depending on the type of organization, country, and scope of responsibility.
European benchmarks suggest:
- Corporate L&D (Learning & Development): €55,000 to €100,000 gross/year for senior international roles
- Higher Education Institutions: €48,000 to €80,000 gross/year, depending on size and reputation.
What Training Leads to a Head of Education Role?
Traditionally, leadership roles in education were reserved for highly experienced professionals with degrees such as:
- A Bachelor's degree in humanities, psychology, education sciences, engineering, technology, etc. - Whatever the field, this degree develops analytical, critical thinking, and reasoning skills, while adding a specific flavor to the candidate’s profile.
- A Master’s / MSc / MBA in any field + experience in education or training + EdTech certification or complementary coursework.
- A Master's degree specializing in instructional design, education management, or educational innovation.
Today, there is a need to innovate and evolve which requires specialized training and new competencies. Articulating expertise in educational sciences and pedagogy, cognitive neurosciences, technology and AI, innovation design and leadership is key. Applying those on real educational projects during the studies is the best way to drastically enhance the relevance of the profiles. This is our ambition at Copernia.