School Lead Counsellor

About Us

Arcadia School - Dubai is an exciting, forward-thinking international community built on a strong UAE vision where innovation and growth sit at the forefront. The vast expat-community provides vibrancy and inclusivity and thus promise a variety of exciting activities and events beyond the workplace. It is a wonderful place to grow professionally and personally where all citizens are welcomed to immerse themselves within the culture and the community.

We are looking to appoint an experienced Lead Counsellor to join us in August 2026.

The successful candidate will be an outstanding School Counsellor, who will take responsibility for whole school practices (Age 3-18). The successful candidate will lead a small team and will have the knowledge and understanding of a complex position in order to liaise frequently with inclusion, education and behaviour specialists. Lead Counsellor will be familiar with important frameworks surrounding successful support and implementation.

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate experience of working with or within schools.

You will support families on a need’s basis, delivering appropriate intervention to children to support their resilience and emotional wellbeing.

• Provide leadership, line management, and reflective supervision to the Counselling Team across Primary and Secondary phases.
• Design, implement, and evaluate a whole-school counselling strategy aligned with the school’s ethos, KHDA requirements, UK safeguarding guidance, and international best practice.
• Embed trauma-informed principles across counselling provision, prioritising emotional safety, trust, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural humility.
• Establish and maintain clear systems for referrals, triage, documentation, confidentiality, and follow-up.
• Contribute to senior leadership discussions where student wellbeing, safeguarding, and pastoral systems are considered.

• Previous experience leading an outstanding Counselling department
• Master's Degree in counselling or equivalent
• Experience working with pupils across all key stages and abilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent organisation and time management.
• Skilled at using digital tools to ensure that learning is enriched and relevant so as to complement the schools Apple Distinguished School’s status.

• A commitment to fostering a positive learning environment
• Commitment to the values of inclusion, diversity and well-being.
• Passion for working with students and families and helping them reach their full potential
• Flexibility, adaptability, and willingness to collaborate with colleagues
• Dedication to continuous professional development

• Competitive salary based on experience with other benefits
• A unique and inspiring work environment comprising state of the art resources and facilities.
• A robust leadership structure which ensures all colleagues are well supported.
• A well-crafted Professional Learning Community which ensures constant growth for individual colleagues and the school as a whole.

Please complete the application form and submit your Cover Letter, CV and copies of your Qualification Certificates as supporting documents.

Arcadia Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to an enhanced background checks according to our safer recruitment policy available on the school's website.