Director of Security

Location: Shenzhen, China

Start Date: Feb-March 2019

About Avenues

Begin by thinking Avenues New York, Avenues São Paulo, Avenues Beijing, Avenues London, Avenues Doha. Think of Avenues as one international school with multiple interconnected campuses. It will not be a collection of schools all pursuing different educational strategies, but rather one highly integrated learning community, connected and supported by a common vision, a shared education design and curriculum, world-class technology and a talented headquarters team in New York City.

Avenues New York opened in 2012 and now serves 1,700 students in grades nursery – 12. Avenues São Paulo and the state of the art Avenues Shenzhen ( http://shenzhen.avenues.org ) Learning Innovation Center opened in 2018, and Avenues Shenzhen is scheduled to open in 2019. Avenues prepares students for engaged global citizenship in the modern world, with an approach that combines language immersion, interdisciplinary learning, a global curriculum and a culture of creativity and deep collaboration.

The Opportunity

The Director of Security is directly responsibility for ensuring a safe learning atmosphere for students, faculty and parents by managing the security, fire safety and emergency preparedness of the school. The director will build trusting relationships with our families and staff, lead a team to ensure our school spaces are safe for all members of our community, develop and enforce thoughtful safety procedures, and work to continuously improve our safety and security practices.

Responsibilities

Develop and reinforce a culture of safety:

• Build and nurture a culture of safety that is relentlessly focused on high quality service and improving the experience of families, students and teachers
• Work with Director of Administration and Operations to build a culture where all members of the campus team are involved in actively managing risk; lead risk management efforts focused particularly on safety and security
• Develop and maintain deep level of trust between security staff, families and family security teams

Guarantee smoothly functioning school safety systems:

• Develop comprehensive safety procedures and ensure they're understood by all members of the school community
• Ensure all school spaces are fully compliant with safety requirements at the beginning of the school year; maintain safety operations and compliance throughout the school year
• Develop guidance for school leaders on how to maintain safety and security throughout our school spaces and ensure security personnel are equipped to provide them with ongoing support
• Proactively identify areas for improvement to security precautions and resource solutions appropriately

Manage security team:

• Ensure that security personnel effectively ensure a safe, secure environment for all members of our community
• Manage security vendor and personnel to ensure highest quality services and integrate with the culture of Avenues

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional experience in the security field, with increasing responsibility over time
• In-depth understanding of school security risks and best practices
• Experience hiring and managing security teams that deliver exceptional service to clients
• A keen analytical, problem-solving approach, including in ambiguous situations that require figuring out new solutions rather than taking pre-determined paths to success
• Ability to lead effectively through relationships, persuasion and influence
• Track record of developing strategies to meet goals and executing on that strategy; great planner with excellent follow through
• Strong written and verbal communication in Chinese
• Professional-level English
• Thrives in collaborative environment
• Rolls up sleeves to get the job done and gets the right work done even amidst ambiguity
• Sense of deep personal responsibility for the organization's success
• Passion for education; experience in international and/or private schools is a plus

To Apply

Please read first about Avenues: The World School and our distinctive approach, and consider whether our mission and approach would be a good fit for you at https://shenzhen.avenues.org ( https://shenzhen.avenues.org ).

To apply, please submit your resume and letter of application, in English or Chinese, in which you thoughtfully explain why you believe that this role at Avenues Shenzhen would be an excellent match for your experience, skills and passions at https://shenzhen.avenues.org ( https://shenzhen.avenues.org ).

Avenues offers competitive compensation and a generous benefits package. Avenues is committed to diversity among our staff, and applicants of diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.