The International Schools Review Forum

Carrying over this post from the paid section. How different is the head of a school salary at a tier 1 school in Europe as opposed to his/her counterpart in Asia and also in relation to the faculty? I'm guessing a HoS makes three times as much as the senior most faculty.

Please clarify HOS or Executive HOS (exHOS)? There are some chain ISs more predominate in Asia where exHOSs make substantially more coin and comp than campus HOSs.

Just HoS, not executive ones.

Apples to apples are probably reasonably similar. The edge probably goes to Asia.
But the problem is there is a shortage of apples. Asia has the mega-schools with thousands of students, and that’s not what Europe is about. If you want the biggest package, run a mega-school in Asia.

Thanks sid. How different are the salaries of HoS with an oversight of 2000 students in Europe and SE Asia?

Depends on the school and what they are willing to offer for your expertise.
It's all well and good to go looking for the best package, but in my experience it bears little relevance to what job you'll end up getting.
If you have the chops to get a Director post at an international school with 2,000 students, start applying. There are openings posted already for an August 2020 start, and those will be filled within a few months. Some are already gone. Less lofty (yet still very good) schools are looking now for August 2019, and feeling the pinch of being so late in the game.
Viable candidate for these posts should be able to access data on regional salaries and packages through CIS, AISH, etc.

@mathman85

My issue is senior most faculty and salary vs comp. Asia by far has many more mega ISs and multi campus ISs and then you have the chain ISs. Senior faculty is kind of vague, ITs stay longer in the WE and EU than they do in Asia, even leadership is on a revolving track moving up and through the tiers. It also depends on where the leadership came from, and more what the perception is of ownership in what a leader at HOS will bring. Theres a difference between someone who was Senior leadership at an elite Boarding DS, and an executive leader who managed a large consolidated municipal DS. They have different skill sets and bring different types of value, that ownership for a particular IS will value differently. There just isnt a formula for an HOS that you would use for an IT or even for junior and senior leadership. Looking at smaller ISs is probably easier to get something more formulaic, since leadership in the IS will be relatively small. A small IS at around 200 students or less, the HOSs base coin is double that of the highest step/band on the IT scale (and the scale is likely to be smaller in general).
The other issue is coin in terms of base salary vs comp. In addition to improved benefits such as flights for the whole family, superior housing, etc. you often see a vehicle, mobile, and per diem allowances as well as substantial PD and supplemental auxiliary allowances worked into the budget. Executive leadership typically have bonus incentives as part of the comp that if they meet certain objectives they get coin bonuses, which can significantly increase their base salary.
To give you an idea of what that looks like, a small IS in JP, 170 students on roll between years 1-8, leadership consists of the principal (HOS/Executive Leadership), one AP (Senior Leadership), 1 Office Manager (Professional Staff), and one Lead Teacher (Junior Leadership) who does double duty as the counselor and the librarian. The salary scale has 2 bands bachelors degree and masters degree but has a stipend of USD$100/mth for certification. There are only 5 steps on the salary scale and a IT with 2+ years of experience can start on step 2, everyone else starts on step 1 and step 1 is USD$2500/mth and the salary increases USD$500/mth for each step, capping out at USD$4500/mth at step 5. The HOSs package would be USD$9000/mth, include flights for the family on an annual basis (or may take their coin equivalent), health and social insurance, housing (3LDK in a western neighborhood), a generous relocation allowance (usually a coin equivalent one time benefit), a vehicle (car), the IS pays the mobile bill, the HOS gets a per diem (accessed through an IS bank card). Then a bonus for increasing enrollment.

Wait... is it common practice that heads of school get a bonus for increasing enrolment?? :-/

@StereoTyped

Depends on the IS and ownership, but its not uncommon for a young IS thats well below its cap (IE.. an IS with a cap of 240, thats roll is below 100) for ownership to offer leadership an enrollment incentive, assuming thats one of ownerships primary goals.