VP – Student Retention

Industry: K-12 Education / School Network

Location: India

Experience: 10 Years

Reporting To: CEO / Senior Leadership Team

Role Type: Senior Leadership

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced and data-driven VP – Student Retention to lead the organization’s student retention and Transfer Certificate (TC) control strategy across a network of 16 schools.

The role will be responsible for ensuring that schools proactively identify and manage students who may be at risk of leaving, including new admissions during their critical early months, before a Transfer Certificate is issued.

The VP – Student Retention will establish a structured, organization-wide approach combining data analytics, early-warning systems, SOP governance, school-team accountability and targeted retention interventions.

This is a highly hands-on leadership role requiring close engagement with Principals, Vice Principals, Coordinators and Class Teachers across the school network.

Success will be measured through sustained reduction in TC volumes, stronger student retention, improved new-admission retention and consistent adoption of retention SOPs across schools.

Key Responsibilities 1. TC Trend Analysis & Early-Warning Systems

- Analyze historical TC and student attrition data to identify trends, patterns and high-risk segments.
- Identify risk factors associated with student exits, including new-admission attrition.
- Develop and maintain centralized MIS and dashboards for student retention and TC tracking.
- Establish early-warning indicators to proactively identify students at risk of leaving.
- Review school-level MIS submissions on a weekly basis for accuracy, completeness and timely escalation.
- Convert data insights into actionable retention strategies and interventions.
- Continuously refine the early-warning framework based on data, school feedback and changing student/parent circumstances.

2. SOP Governance & School Accountability

- Design the governance framework, SOPs and training modules for student retention and TC control.
- Work with school and academic leadership to develop practical and effective retention processes.
- Present the proposed SOP framework to the CEO for approval before implementation.
- Cascade approved SOPs and formats to Class Teachers, Coordinators, Vice Principals and Principals.
- Ensure a structured retention attempt takes place before a Transfer Certificate is processed.
- Conduct periodic audits to measure SOP adoption and compliance across schools.
- Identify implementation gaps and work with school leadership to close them.
- Establish clear ownership of student retention at the school, coordinator and classroom levels.

3. Student Identification & Retention Strategy

- Identify students showing early signs of disengagement, dissatisfaction or intent to exit.
- Combine data-driven insights with feedback from school teams to understand individual student risks.
- Design targeted and personalized retention interventions.
- Work with school teams to address academic, emotional,



engagement and logistical factors contributing to potential student exits.
- Give particular attention to new admissions and their first-year retention.
- Develop structured intervention plans for high-risk students.
- Lead the design and governance of a Zero-TC Recognition Program to encourage positive retention practices across schools.
- Work closely with academic leadership to ensure retention initiatives maintain educational integrity and student outcomes.

4. MIS, Reporting & Governance

- Maintain centralized MIS and dashboards covering:
- TC trends
- At-risk students
- Retention interventions
- SOP adoption
- New-admission retention
- School-level performance

- Establish a disciplined weekly reporting and review cadence.
- Review school submissions and ensure timely escalation of critical cases.
- Develop management reports for the CEO and senior leadership team.
- Establish performance reviews connecting retention outcomes with school-team performance.
- Use data and insights to recommend corrective actions and strategic interventions.

5. Cross-Functional Leadership

- Act as the key integrator between the central leadership team and school teams.
- Work closely with Principals, Vice Principals, Coordinators, Class Teachers and Academic leadership.
- Build a common understanding of retention priorities across the network.
- Support school leaders in implementing retention strategies effectively.
- Drive consistent execution across geographically distributed schools.
- Establish a culture of ownership and accountability around student retention.

Performance Scorecard

- TC Reduction: Sustained year-on-year reduction in Transfer Certificate volumes.
- Student Retention: Improvement in retention and stability across key grades and sections.
- New-Admission Retention: Improved first-year retention and reduced early attrition among new admissions.
- SOP Adoption: Consistent adoption of approved SOPs and formats across school teams.
- Early Identification: Accuracy and effectiveness of the early-warning system.
- Retention Interventions: Successful retention of identified at-risk students.
- Zero-TC Recognition: Participation and measurable impact of the recognition program.
- MIS Discipline: Timely and accurate weekly reporting from all schools.

Candidate Profile Experience & Qualifications

- 10 years of overall professional experience.
- Significant leadership experience in:
- Education management
- Student retention
- School operations
- Student engagement
- Customer/parent experience
- Attrition management
- Service-oriented organizations

- Proven experience driving organization-wide retention, attrition-control or stakeholder-engagement initiatives.




- Solid expertise in data analytics, MIS and data-driven decision-making.
- Experience translating data insights into practical, ground-level interventions.
- Demonstrated experience implementing SOPs, governance frameworks and compliance processes across large, distributed teams.
- Strong communication, negotiation and relationship-management capabilities.
- High emotional intelligence and strong stakeholder-management skills.
- Prior experience in school networks, education groups or similar service-oriented organizations will be strongly preferred.
- MBA/PGDM or equivalent Master’s degree preferred.

Leadership Capabilities

- Ground-Level Orientation: Comfortable working directly with school teams and reviewing MIS data closely.
- Data-to-Action Mindset: Converts analytics and early-warning signals into concrete retention interventions.
- Governance Discipline: Drives consistent SOP adoption and accountability across a distributed network.
- Executive Influence: Able to align Principals, Vice Principals, Coordinators and Class Teachers.
- Stakeholder Management: Solid interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence.
- Values & Judgment: Balances retention objectives with educational integrity, empathy and respect for students and families.

First-Year Priorities First 30 Days

- Diagnose TC trends, exit patterns and new-admission attrition.
- Assess existing retention processes and SOP adoption across all 16 schools.
- Meet school leadership teams and understand key retention challenges.

First 60 Days

- Develop the retention and TC-control governance framework.
- Design SOPs and training modules.
- Secure leadership approval.
- Establish centralized MIS and dashboards for weekly review.

First 90 Days

- Establish consistent weekly MIS submission across schools.
- Drive adoption of approved SOPs.
- Finalize the Zero-TC Recognition Program.
- Begin structured intervention tracking for at-risk students.

First 6 Months

- Demonstrate measurable reduction in TC volumes.
- Improve new-admission retention.
- Establish consistent retention governance and reporting across schools.

First 12 Months

- Establish a fully embedded network-wide TC-control and student-retention system.
- Ensure strong SOP adoption and MIS discipline across schools.
- Demonstrate sustained improvement in retention outcomes.
- Establish a scalable retention framework supporting continued organizational growth.

Key Stakeholder Interfaces

- CEO and Senior Leadership Team
- Principals
- Vice Principals
- Coordinators
- Class Teachers
- Academic Leadership
- School Operations Teams
- Students and Parents, where required

Why Join This Chance?

- Build and own the Student Retention and TC Control function across a growing network of 16 schools.
- Directly influence student experience and retention at the school and classroom level.
- Work closely with senior leadership.
- Own a high-visibility, measurable organization-wide mandate.
- Build and institutionalize a data-driven student-retention framework.

📌 VP – Student Retention (Hyderabad)
🏢 Devdort
📍 Hyderabad