RAJIV BHAT
Rajiv is an experienced business and education professional. Most recently he served as the Chief Operating Officer of Search Associates from 2017 to 2021. Prior to that he was the Director of the International School of Panama (ISP), a position he came to after nearly thirty years in the corporate world with two leading multi-national companies, Unilever plc and S.C. Johnson & Son (SCJ).
Rajiv began his career as a high school teacher in India before turning to the business world. During his 18 years with Unilever, he held various positions including Marketing Manager (India), Marketing Controller (China), Sales Director (Vietnam) and HR Director (USA). At SCJ, Rajiv was Regional Sales Director, Asia and then Managing Director, South Asia, where he founded the SCJ business and served as its head for 7 years. When he left to become Director of ISP, the business had a revenue of approximately USD100 million and 700 employees across the 5 countries of the region.
In his five years as head of the International School of Panama (1250 students, 175 teaching staff), Rajiv brought significant change to the school in terms of aligning its academic programs with 21st century learning needs. In addition, he oversaw a US$30 million expansion of the campus while also professionalizing its business, finance, HR and marketing departments.
With this background at the intersection of business and education, Rajiv brings expertise in several areas that are of increasing importance to international schools including strategic business and financial planning aligned with academic goals, competitive marketing & communications, recruitment, and human resources management.