Principal, High School

Full-Time Founding Leadership Position
· Reports to the Head of School
· Master’s degree required, Ed.D. or Ph.D. preferred
· Illinois Principal Endorsement preferred
· 5+ years of educational leadership (e.g. department chair, assistant principal, principal) experience required
· College-preparatory, independent, Jewish day or faith-based school experience is a plus. Being Jewish is not a requirement for this role. Fewer years but exceptional craft? We hire for mastery, not seat time.

Are you an entrepreneurial educational leader with deep instructional expertise and an appreciation for the power of faith-based schools to instill a sense of purpose in students? Do you want to build a brand-new Jewish college-preparatory high school from the ground up: its culture, its academics, its traditions? Are you happiest in classrooms and hallways, not behind a desk? Do you lead from a deep well of humility, reflection, and purpose?

If so, Davis wants to hear from you.

Davis School Chicago is a proudly Jewish, college-preparatory high school opening in fall 2027 in downtown Chicago, in a state-of-the-art building at the heart of a great city for learning. Every adult at Davis is an educator and a culture-builder. We hold two expectations at the same time: deep human warmth and uncompromising intellectual excellence. High health and high results, never one at the cost of the other.

This is a summary of the characteristics that describe our dream team. Please read the full Profile of the Ideal Davis Educator and more information about our opportunities before you apply.

To thrive here you are:

• Warm and intellectually formidable. Genuinely kind and seriously bright. We hire for intellectual horsepower; only sharp minds grow students to their full potential.

• You bring the room to life. Passion people feel, loud or quiet, with the range to teach, support, and lead.

• A builder who owns it. Startup grit, a real growth mindset, open about mistakes, gives the gift of feedback, and the drive to create what doesn’t exist yet.

• Teach how to think, not what to think. Rigor, evidence, and a love of hard questions, including the controversial ones. Students reach their own conclusions.

• Rooted in tradition, built for what’s next. Ancient wisdom and modern tools, AI included, aimed at today's problems.

• Unapologetically Jewish. Israel has a right to exist; that is not up for debate. Everything else is fair game, including spirited debate about Israel’s actions. You’re excited to help build a proudly Jewish, pro-Israel school.

Opening a school from scratch, Davis first needs a builder-leader: someone who can take a bold founding vision and turn it into a living school, then run that school at a level of excellence every student, parent, and teacher can feel. The role stands on three domains of equal weight: the public leader, the instructional leader, and the manager of students, parents, and faculty, powered by a reflective inner life that keeps ego small and judgment sharp.

• Warm, Relational, and High-Performing – Kind, emotionally intelligent, intellectually rigorous, and committed to excellence.

• An Inspiring Public Leader – Executive presence, credibility, and warmth that make people genuinely willing to be led.

• An Entrepreneurial Builder – Thrives in ambiguity, solves problems, and creates programs, systems, and traditions from the ground up.

• A Curious and Courageous Thinker – Embraces learning, evidence, critical thinking, and meaningful debate.

• Humble and Spiritually Grounded – A genuine reflective or spiritual life, in whatever form (candidates for this role are not required to be Jewish), that regulates ego, cultivates humility, and grounds visible leadership.

• A Discerning Judge of Hard Calls – When the good of a student and the good of the institution pull apart, analyzes with sophistication and lands on the better of imperfect options.

• Rooted and Forward-Looking – Honors tradition while embracing innovation, technology, and AI.

• Committed to Jewish Life and Community – Values Jewish identity, the diversity of Jewish thought, and meaningful engagement in Jewish life.

• A…