Building Regional Leadership for a Growing School Network Across Europe

A global K-12 school network with over 120 campuses in 20 countries that was in the midst of a significant structural transformation. The organization had grown internationally over many years, and was moving away from a model of independently operated campuses to a regionally managed structure that was more coordinated. Across Europe, 11 campuses in seven countries, including a sizable cluster in France along with sites in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Switzerland, called for a new level of regional leadership. The new leader would have to push for consistency and increased performance throughout a diverse geographic presence. For this regional model, a central European office was established in Paris.

The brief was urgent. We had two senior regional appointments to make at the same time: a Regional Director of Operations and a Regional Director of People and Culture. Both positions were based in Paris, and the directors were expected to travel extensively across all the client’s campuses in Europe. 

The Operations mandate was to fill in for a departing leader and take over a function with no team in place. The new director would be coming in cold, and focusing immediately on completing a technology infrastructure rollout across campuses and beginning an IT restructure. This role called for someone very hands-on, used to considerable multi-country travel, and capable of working in a high-communication, fast-paced environment. 

The People and Culture mandate added further complications. The last post-holder had not delivered the practical support campuses needed, leaving a legacy of inconsistent recruitment practices and distrust across the network. Things would need to be rebuilt from the ground up. The new director would have to create a team, install a new HRIS, and restore employee confidence across 11 geographically dispersed sites, while managing recruitment in multiple labor law environments. 

Both searches had to be rapid, concurrent, and deliver believable senior candidates who could integrate into a high-performance, values-led culture that equally rewards flexibility and accountability.

Keller Executive Search ran both searches simultaneously on an exclusive retained basis. Structured interview frameworks were developed for each role, assessing the candidates based on specific skills every position required. This included multi-site operational leadership and change delivery for the Operations role, and hands-on HR generalism, people function transformation, and stakeholder trust-building for People and Culture. Candidates were assessed and profiled with video screening providing the client with early visibility of shortlisted profiles before committing to interview time. The final interviews were conducted in person in Paris, where the best candidates from all over Europe were brought together for direct assessment by the regional leadership team.

Both roles were filled. A Regional Director of Operations was appointed to the position. A Regional Director of People and Culture was selected and accepted immediately after the Paris finals, available to start within weeks of the offer. The two placements were made within a mutually agreed upon time frame on an exclusive basis, and with no parallel agencies involved in the process.