Head of University & Careers Guidance

Victoria Shanghai Academy (VSA) is now recruiting an enthusiastic and committed person for the above position for the school year beginning August 2025. The ideal candidate will have:

Key attributes:

The Head of University & Careers Guidance must be able to:

• Relate to students and develop a firm respectful rapport with them and their parents. They must always keep the student's needs as the primary guideline in all that they do;
• Consider the needs of the VSA community in terms of developing a greater understanding of career programmes and university admissions;
• Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of competitive university admissions globally, particularly in relation to admissions in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

Key responsibilities:

• Programme development
• Leading a collaborative, informed team of university guidance counselors to provide high-quality, detailed, and empathetic advice to students and families at VSA
• Ensuring all university counselors are familiar with university systems and their application procedures for universities in major countries
• Developing working relationships with administration, other staff members at the school and other university counselors in the Hong Kong school community
• Organising and running workshops on university research and preparation, including applying to key destinations including USA, UK, Canada, and Hong Kong
• Relationships and networks
• Facilitating the University Counselling Team in building trustful relationships with university admission representatives
• Developing key programming to bring increased awareness of elite and specialist university programmes around the world to VSA students and families
• Leading university guidance and careers parent programming and supporting the parent programming run within the Student Support group
• Writing meaningful reference letters and recommendations, which must be submitted in a timely manner to an excellent standard
• Researching and adapting systems to new situations, new universities and new conditions
• Attending PLT meetings, Student Support Committee meetings, Head of Year meetings as required
• Working with the Deputy Principal (Student Support) on the SPARC programme and mentoring and guidance for gifted and talented students and other programmes developed to facilitate VSA’s strategic plan initiatives
• Administration
• Ensure the professional development of members of the University Counselling Team, including appropriate training and annual appraisals
• Manage the University Counselling Team’s advertising and administration of the SAT (4-5 times per year) and PSAT in October. Assisting with arrangements for special concessions regarding testing in SAT and PSAT
• Maintaining proper records of students
• Scheduling university visits to VSA
• Conducting a university fair each year, running field trips to local universities and career exploration opportunities, and participating in experiential learning activities being run for students during the school year
• Preparing a VSA profile for distribution to the higher education community
• Keeping current with trends in university, educational and school policies

Applicants please download and complete the application form and email along with a full resume to the Secondary School Principal (ssrecruit@vsa.edu.hk). Applications accepted until the position is filled.

Our School:

Victoria Shanghai Academy (VSA) is a private independent, non-denominational, co-educational day school established in 2004 under the auspices of the Victoria Shanghai Education Foundation Limited, a registered charitable body.

In the Secondary School, the Middle Years Programme (“MYP”) and Diploma Programme (“DP”) were authorised in December 2006 and June 2007 respectively.

VSA emphasizes a holistic approach to education, at the heart of which is inquiry-based learning and teaching. The Primary School offers a bilingual education (English and Putonghua); the Secondary School curriculum is delivered in English and supplemented by a strong Chinese programme.

VSA has approximately 2,000 students and over 200 teaching staff. In Secondary, there are over 100 faculty members, consisting of local and expatriate staff.

VSA is accredited by CIS and NEASC. More information about Victoria Shanghai Academy can be found here: www.vsa.edu.hk

At VSA, we adhere to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which sets out to ensure children have the right to protection, education, health care, shelter, and good nutrition.

Aligned with the recommendations of the International Task Force on Child Protection, we hold ourselves to a high standard of effective recruiting practices with specific attention to child protection.

(Personal data collected will be used for recruitment-related purposes only)