About This Role
Following the announcement of the retirement of Mark Taylor as Bursar, the School is now seeking an exceptional Chief Operating Officer to help lead its next phase of development at a time of continued growth and increasing organisational complexity. Reporting to the Head and working closely with Governors and senior leaders, the COO will provide strategic leadership across professional services, shaping a coherent shared services model that supports the Group’s ambitions and ensures excellent day to day operational delivery. The COO will oversee a broad portfolio including estates and capital development, domestic services, catering, HR, IT and digital strategy, health and safety, compliance, security, and the School’s major shared services. They will steward a substantial and historically significant estate, ensure the resilience of systems and infrastructure, and lead large and diverse teams delivering services essential to the life of a leading boarding school.
We are seeking an experienced operational leader with a track record of managing complex, multi-site or multi-disciplinary organisations. Candidates will combine strategic insight with the ability to engage confidently with operational detail, bring strong organisational and financial acumen, and lead teams through change with clarity and purpose. A genuine affinity with the values of King’s and its educational purpose is essential.
King’s offers a warm, collegiate working environment, excellent professional support, and generous staff benefits. Situated in the heart of the historic city of Canterbury, the school combines academic excellence with a rich cultural and artistic life.
Further information on The King’s Canterbury can be found via the school’s website.
A Candidate Brief can be downloaded below.
To apply, please visit the vacancy website via the apply button to send your CV and covering letter.
Closing date: 9.00am on Monday 20 April 2026.
The King’s School is committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our pupils, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We adopt a fair, robust and consistent recruitment process which is in line with the statutory Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. This includes online checks for shortlisted candidates.
All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, references, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check.