Bill Turner brings over 40 years of experience in education to his role as a Senior Associate leading the Dubai Search Fairs. He joined Search Associates in 2016, after a career that included 11 years in Middle East school leadership across three head teacher and principal positions, spanning the British system, the IB, and American AP curricula.
Bill began his career in 1982 after graduating from Eton College and earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of East Anglia. He taught English as a Foreign Language in Sudan, Italy, and London before completing his teaching certification and moving into English and Drama classrooms in Basingstoke and Worthing. From there, he rose through school leadership in the UK, eventually becoming Deputy Head Teacher in Wiltshire, England, while completing his master’s degree and national qualification for headship.
In the Middle East, Bill served as Secondary Head Teacher and Deputy Principal at Al Khor International School in Qatar, where he introduced the school’s first sixth form and grew enrollment by over 300 students. At GEMS World Academy-Dubai, he oversaw the school’s IB Diploma authorization, and from 2010 to 2014, his leadership earned “Outstanding Leadership” ratings for four consecutive years from Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority. From 2012 to 2016, he served as Founding Secondary Head Teacher and Principal for two sister schools in Dubai, Kings’ School Al Barsha and Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba.
Bill and his wife, Alison, are based in Dubai and the UK. Alison has led five schools of her own as a Primary Head Teacher and Principal across the UK, Dubai, and Thailand, and now works alongside Bill in his Search office, supporting the day-to-day work of helping educators in the region. Together, they cover the full 3 to 18 age range in their support of educators and schools. Bill says his greatest learning experience has been raising his three sons. He speaks Italian well, French less so, and a bit of Arabic, most of which he picked up translating road signs while stopped at traffic lights.
After decades on both sides of hiring, first as a head teacher building his own staff, Bill continues building those same relationships today as a Senior Associate, helping educators find the right role while staying closely connected to the schools he supports across the region.
