Director of Expeditions - School in Switzerland
A prestigious and internationally renowned boarding school in Switzerland is seeking an outstanding Director of Expeditions to lead one of the most distinctive outdoor education programmes in the world. Reporting to a senior member of the leadership team, the successful candidate will provide strategic and operational leadership for a large-scale expedition programme encompassing mountain, ski and adventure-based learning experiences. This is a rare opportunity for an experienced outdoor education professional with strong leadership credentials, technical expertise in alpine environments, and a passion for developing young people through challenge, resilience, and discovery.
Job Purpose
The Director of Expeditions serves as the strategic lead for Aiglon’s renowned expedition department. The post holder is responsible for the development and delivery of the programme’s vision and ethos, ensuring it is progressive, relevant, and distilled into a coherent curriculum across the whole school. They provide leadership to a team of qualified expeditioners and ensure that all activities are managed with the highest standards of safety and risk management.
Key Tasks and Responsibilities
- Strategic Leadership & Vision
- Visionary Design: Develop and oversee the philosophy and approach of our expedition programme, ensuring it reflects our aim to continue to be world leading in outdoor pursuit provision.
- Curriculum Development: Develop and implement the expedition programme ensuring it is progressive for all students, regardless of age or length of stay at Aiglon.
- Challenge: Ensure challenge is appropriate to ability and context, acknowledging that expeditions serve pastoral and community-building purposes alongside physical stretch.
- Reinforce the Purpose: Independence, resilience, responsibility, and growth are essential values.
- Holistic Assessment: Take a lead role in the school’s development of holistic assessment within the expedition context.
- External Engagement: Seek to build relationships with the wider community to share expertise and gain insights from external best practices, with particular emphasis on risk management.
- Operational Oversight & Management
- Team Leadership: Provide instruction and guidance to the Head of Senior and Junior Expeditions in their operational oversight.
- Leadership: Provide inspiration, leadership, and guidance to all teaching staff involved in expeditions, with the expectation to deliver the highest standards of professionalism.
- Staff Development: Manage professional reviews, appraisals, and training (internal and external) for the expedition staff.
- Meetings: Chair expedition department meetings and work closely with both Junior and Senior heads to ensure departmental alignment.
- Stakeholder Liaison: Liaise with the School Council, Assistant Heads, Houseparents, and academic departments.
- Recruitment: Oversee and support the recruitment of all expedition staff, including guides.
- Development: Monitor and continually improve the process of student reflection.
- Administration: Ensure all paperwork and communication is complete, efficient and effective.
- Budgets: Preparation and management of all Expedition budgets.
- Mountain School: Line-manage the Junior Mountain School Programme, with specific liaison with the Bear Grylls Survival Academy.
- Summer Camp: Act as the senior advisor for all summer expedition activities, ensuring a robust handover of safety protocols and operational standards to the Summer School team while maintaining ultimate accountability for safeguarding and risk management frameworks.
- Safety, Risk & Compliance
- Safety Evaluation: Oversee and evaluate the safety protocols of the entire expedition programme.
- Risk Management: Encourage and verify a high level of risk management documentation and ensure operating standards align with best practices.
- Open Culture: Ensure a safe and open environment for staff to share experiences and opinions to improve safety.
- Compliance: Ensure that all equipment and its usage comply with current PPE and safety standards.
- Work closely with the HR team and Director of Compliance to ensure compliance with processes relating to recruitment of guides.
- Ensure that qualifications of all staff and Guides are appropriate.
- Safeguarding: Ensure all staff and Guides receive safeguarding training at regular intervals, upholding the highest standards.
- Logistics & Equipment Management
- Planning & Bookings: Oversee and guide administrative support and the Heads of Expeditions to ensure bookings are made with a nine to twelve-month lead-in.
- Stores Management: Manage the expedition stores, including the upkeep, care, and long-term planning for equipment.
- Inventory Systems: Manage robust systems for recording inventories and maintenance schedules.
- Communication & Ethos
- Internal Communication: Ensure students, staff, and parents receive effective and efficient information regarding upcoming expeditions through assemblies, staff meetings, bulletins, and external communication.
- External Communication: Work with communications, admissions, and advancement teams to ensure clear and inspiring messaging to the wider community, delivered to a high professional standard.
- Institutional Values: Contribute enthusiastically to the life and work of the school, upholding the Aiglon ethos, including the delivery of meditations.
General Requirements
The Director of Expeditions is expected to be a visible and motivational presence and contribute to the overall life of the Aiglon community. They will undertake additional responsibilities as may arise at the reasonable request of the Director of Character Education and the Director of School.
Qualifications, Experience, and Attributes
The qualifications, experiences, and attributes of the post holder must match the detailed specification below:
A. Education, Qualifications, and Languages
- Essential:
- Swiss-recognised International Mountain Leader/Accompagnateur
- Winter mountaineering or ski qualification
- Rock Climbing Instructor
- First Aid certification
- Driving licence
- Professional working proficiency in French and fluency in English
- Desirable:
- Teaching qualification
- Holder of an IFGMA qualification
- Higher-level qualification in other adventure activities: Paddlesports, Mountain Biking
B. Experience and Knowledge
- Essential:
- Experience in health and safety auditing, incident management protocols, and Swiss legal requirements for high-risk activities.
- Experience in managing department budgets, equipment procurement, and overseeing a team of full-time and freelance staff.
- Experience in designing progressive outdoor education programs that align with educational frameworks.
- Experience leading and teaching young people and groups in the European mountains in a variety of adventurous activities.
- Highly competent skier.
- Professional-level competence in winter navigation and avalanche safety.
- Experience in creating and delivering presentations to a wide range of audiences.
C. Personal Qualities, Attitudes, and Behaviours
- Essential:
- Ability to build professional relationships with students while adhering to Aiglon’s safeguarding policies.
- Ability to communicate effectively across all stakeholders.
- The ability to inspire confidence in staff, students, and parents, articulating the value of risk to the School Council and Board of Directors.
- Proven ability to remain calm and lead a team through high-pressure emergency situations in remote environments.
- Commitment to continuous professional development, staying at the forefront of international outdoor education trends and safety standards; expected to mentor junior staff in their professional development.
Apply online using the form below. Only applications matching the job profile will be considered.