NEMNET - Job Description

  

  
Head of the Modern and Classical Languages Department
Spence School
New York, New York
Salary: Based on Experience
Date Posted: 9/30/2025
 
Job ID: 81349
Position/Title: Head of the Modern and Classical Languages Department
Employer: Spence School
Department:
Category / Heading #1: Administration  Department Chair - Foreign Language
Category / Heading #2: Teaching  Foreign Languages - Modern and Classical
Category / Heading #3:  
Status: FullTime
 
 
Job Description/Responsibilities:

The Spence School

Head of the Modern and Classical Languages Department

Full-time Position to begin August, 2026


Spence seeks our next Head of Modern & Classical Languages to inspire and guide a dynamic Grades 5–12 program in Mandarin Chinese, French, Spanish, and Latin. The Interim Head cultivates a cohesive, forward-looking team—mentoring colleagues, championing professional growth, and steering strategic hiring—to advance a curriculum grounded in communicative proficiency, cultural fluency, and linguistic scholarship.


Responsibilities:


  • Serve as immediate supervisor to the 15-member department

  • Oversee department members’ professional growth feedback cycle

  • Ensure vertical and horizontal alignment by engaging in curriculum review and mapping across the department

  • Lead regular department meetings

  • Manage placement, sectioning, staffing, and faculty searches in partnership with administrators

  • Represent the department to internal and external constituencies

  • Serve on school-wide committees and at admissions and outreach events

  • Steward day-to-day operations and the departmental budget

  • Collaborate on international trip planning to provide cultural immersion

  • Oversee Upper School Student Language Fellows supporting Middle School classes

  • Teach three Middle or Upper school courses
 
 
Minimum Degree: M.Ed
Certification Required: No
Minimum Experience: 7-10 Years

 
Qualifications:

Qualifications

  • Finds joy in working with children and in school life 

  • Leads with energy, kindness and a sense of humor

  • Demonstrates cultural competency and skills engaging with and learning from people with diverse backgrounds and experiences

  • Has sustained teaching experience 

  • Shows an appreciation for the craft of teaching and for the disciplines of modern and classical languages

  • Possesses successful departmental or equivalent school-leadership experience

  • Has led development and implementation of innovative program design  

  • Demonstrates ability to foster sustained collaboration and professional growth within a team

  • Demonstrates skills in communications and interpersonal relations within and across multiple constituencies 

  • Holds advanced degree or equivalent experience


Spence is committed to an equitable program and a diverse faculty and student body. We therefore actively seek candidates from diverse backgrounds. 
 
Tuition Remission: No
Spend for Graduate Study: No
Relocation Assistance/Allowance: Yes
Support/Sponsor Work visas to overseas candidates: No
ON Campus Housing: No
OFF Campus Housing: No
 
 
Application Notes:
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Deadline:
Open Until Filled
 
Contact Info
https://www.spenceschool.org/about-spence/employment