University Admissions & Education Planning Lead

Location: Singapore
Employment Type: Full-Time
Organisation: Young Education

About the Role

Young Education is looking for an experienced University Admissions & Education Planning Lead to join our team in Singapore.

This is not a traditional university application consultant role.

We are looking for someone who has previous experience in education planning, university counselling or admissions consulting, and who is interested in helping us build a comprehensive education-planning service from the ground up.

The successful candidate will work closely with the founders to develop Young Education's long-term planning product for students from secondary school through university admission.

The role will involve both:

1. Direct student planning and admissions work
and
2. Building the systems, processes, resources and service standards behind the product.

This is therefore particularly suitable for someone who has worked as an education planner, university counsellor, admissions consultant or senior education consultant and is ready to take greater ownership of an education-planning business.

Key Responsibilities

1. Long-Term Education Planning

Develop personalised education plans for students from approximately Grade 8 / Grade 9 onwards.

Planning may include:

• academic subject selection

• IGCSE / IB / A-Level pathway planning

• university major exploration

• university and country selection

• extracurricular activity planning

• competition and academic enrichment planning

• research and academic-project planning

• internship and work-experience planning

• volunteering and community engagement

• summer programmes

• leadership and personal-development opportunities

• English-language testing

• admissions-test preparation

• application timelines.

The goal is to help students build a coherent academic and extracurricular profile over several years rather than only preparing applications in Grade 12.

2. University Admissions Strategy

Support students applying to universities across destinations including:

• United Kingdom

• Hong Kong

• Singapore

• Australia

• United States where relevant

• other international destinations where appropriate

Responsibilities may include:

• university research

• programme and major selection

• admissions-requirement analysis

• application strategy

• reach / target / safety university selection

• application timeline management

• UCAS planning

• Hong Kong university applications

• Singapore university applications

• coordination of personal statements and application essays

• recommendation-letter planning

• interview preparation

• offer evaluation

• final university decision support.

The planner is not necessarily expected to personally write every student's essay, but must be able to evaluate the overall quality, positioning and consistency of an application.

3. Student Profile Development

Help students develop a strong and authentic profile based on their interests, academic strengths and intended university direction.

This includes helping students answer questions such as:

• What subject or major is suitable for me

• What should I do over the next two to four years

• Which activities actually strengthen my profile

• Which competitions or programmes are worth participating in

• Do I need research, internships or summer programmes

• What evidence demonstrates genuine academic interest

• How can my academic choices and extracurricular activities form a coherent story

The planner should avoid simply recommending large numbers of unrelated activities.

Instead, the goal is to help each student develop a clear, realistic and personalised pathway.

4. Build Young Education's Planning Product From 0 to 1

A major part of this role is to help develop Young Education's education-planning system.

Responsibilities will include creating and improving:

• student onboarding process

• student diagnostic framework

• education-planning questionnaire

• four-year / three-year / two-year planning templates

• annual planning framework

• semester planning framework

• student profile database

• activity and competition database

• university research database

• application timelines

• student task-tracking system

• parent communication templates

• monthly / quarterly progress reports

• planning meeting structure

• student meeting records

• service-delivery standards

• consultant SOPs

• quality-control processes.

The successful candidate should be comfortable turning personal experience and professional knowledge into a repeatable and scalable service system.

5. Build Internal Resources

Develop internal resources for the planning team, including:

• university admissions guides

• country-specific application timelines

• subject-selection guides

• major-exploration resources

• university comparison frameworks

• extracurricular activity databases

• competition databases

• research and summer-programme resources

• admissions-test information

• application checklists

• student case studies

• parent education materials.

Resources should be continuously updated according to changes in university admissions requirements.

6. Student Case Management

Manage assigned students throughout their planning journey.

This includes:

• conducting regular student meetings

• setting clear short- and long-term goals

• assigning student tasks

• tracking completion

• identifying delays or risks

• adjusting plans where necessary

• coordinating with subject teachers

• coordinating with writing / application specialists

• documenting decisions and progress.

The planner should be proactive rather than waiting for students or parents to raise problems.

7. Parent Communication

Communicate professionally with parents regarding:

• academic progress

• university direction

• subject selection

• activity planning

• student engagement

• application risks

• important deadlines

• changes in strategy.

The ideal candidate should be able to explain complex admissions issues clearly without creating unnecessary anxiety.

Strong communication skills with Chinese-speaking families are highly valued.

8. Cross-Team Collaboration

Work closely with:

• academic teachers

• curriculum teams

• operations staff

• application and writing specialists

• external programme providers

• students and parents.

Education planning should be integrated with the student's actual academic performance.

The planner should therefore be able to identify when a student needs:

• academic intervention

• English support

• examination preparation

• extracurricular development

• application support.

9. Product Development & Quality Control

As the planning service grows, the successful candidate may take responsibility for:

• refining the service model

• setting planner performance standards

• reviewing student cases

• training junior planners

• conducting internal case discussions

• maintaining planning quality

• developing new education-planning products

• improving customer experience.

Candidate Requirements

Essential

• Bachelor's degree or above.

• Previous professional experience in one or more of the following:

  • university admissions consulting

  • education planning

  • university counselling

  • international education

  • overseas education consulting

  • school university guidance.

• Strong understanding of international-school students and university admissions.

• Experience working directly with secondary or high-school students.

• Strong project-management and organisational skills.

• Ability to manage multiple students and timelines simultaneously.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

• Comfortable taking ownership rather than waiting for detailed instructions.

• Able to work full-time in Singapore.

Highly Preferred

• 3+ years of relevant experience in education planning or university admissions.

• Experience supporting applications to the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore.

• Familiarity with:

  • UCAS

  • UK undergraduate admissions

  • Hong Kong university admissions

  • NUS / NTU / SMU admissions

  • IB

  • A-Level

  • IGCSE.

• Previous experience managing students over multiple years rather than only during the final application year.

• Experience building internal SOPs, templates or planning systems.

• Experience training or supervising junior consultants.

• Experience working in an education consultancy, international school or university-counselling department.

• Strong Mandarin and English communication skills.

• Familiarity with the needs and expectations of Chinese-speaking families in Singapore.

The Person We Are Looking For

We are particularly interested in someone who:

• has already handled real university-planning cases

• understands that good planning begins years before university applications

• can distinguish meaningful profile development from superficial activity stacking

• is comfortable challenging unrealistic student or parent expectations

• can convert admissions knowledge into clear action plans

• is highly structured and detail-oriented

• follows up proactively

• takes deadlines seriously

• documents student progress consistently

• enjoys building systems

• is comfortable working in an entrepreneurial environment

• wants to help build a new education-planning product rather than simply inherit an existing system.

This Role May Be a Good Fit If You Have Previously Worked As

• University Admissions Consultant

• Education Planner

• University Counsellor

• College Counsellor

• Overseas Education Consultant

• Senior Education Consultant

• International School University Guidance Counsellor

• Admissions Strategist

• Education Programme Manager

Career Development

This role has the potential to develop into a leadership position as Young Education's education-planning business expands.

Future responsibilities may include:

• Head of Education Planning

• Head of University Admissions

• Planning Team Lead

• Product Lead - Education Planning

• Training and managing junior planners

• Developing new planning services

• Managing complex or high-value student cases

Application

Candidates should submit:

• CV / Resume

• Relevant education-planning or admissions experience

• Countries / university systems previously handled

• Approximate number and type of student cases previously managed

• Examples of responsibilities in previous roles

• Current availability

• Expected salary

Shortlisted candidates may be asked to complete a student case-study exercise.

For example, candidates may be given a Grade 9 or Grade 10 international-school student profile and asked to develop:

• a preliminary university direction

• academic priorities

• extracurricular-development priorities

• a two- to three-year planning timeline

• key risks and recommended next steps.