A defining career moment often starts with recognising it’s time for a change. For Jarrod Wales, OneSchool Global’s Director of Infrastructure Delivery, that meant closing one chapter and embracing a new opportunity.
Long before life at OneSchool Global, he spent weekends competing in rodeos across Australia. That passion eventually took him to the United States, where he spent five years pursuing the sport professionally.
When COVID-related border closures brought that chapter to an unexpected end, he redirected the same commitment and discipline into his professional growth.
After starting his career as an apprentice electrician and progressing through construction and project management, he spent years developing leadership skills on job sites, managing teams and delivering large-scale projects.
But for Jarrod, there was a desire to take his leadership to the next level – through further study.
“I’d been leading people and projects for years, but I knew that education was key to moving my career forward,” he reflects.
“While working, I studied at university part time and completed my Master of Business Administration (MBA), which gave me the language, structure, and strategic perspective to build on what I’d already learned in practice.”
The qualification became a catalyst for broader leadership opportunities and helped prepare him for the global responsibilities he now carries at OneSchool Global.
Today, Jarrod oversees OSG’s global infrastructure delivery program, supporting every new campus build and major upgrades across our five regions.
His role focuses on ensuring consistency, quality, and governance while empowering regional and local teams to deliver successful outcomes. This includes everything from design standards and budget oversight to reporting and risk management. He helps create a clear view of the organisation’s capital investment portfolio, enabling leaders to make informed decisions.
“Every project is different. The challenge is creating systems and standards that support local teams while ensuring we’re delivering environments that align with OSG’s vision and long-term strategy.”
One of the Infrastructure Delivery team’s key priorities is refreshing global design guidelines to ensure future campuses support the organisation’s strategic direction and evolving educational needs.
There’s also a focus on strengthening the support available to regions managing capital works projects from concept through to completion. By improving processes, resources, and ways of working, the goal is to make project delivery more effective and consistent across the organisation.
When asked about his leadership approach, Jarrod draws on two key principles.
“Believe in your people more than they believe in themselves, then get out of the way. And secondly, don’t ask anyone to do work you wouldn’t do yourself.”
This philosophy reflects a leadership style built on trust and empowerment rather than control.
“People want to work in an environment where they feel supported and encouraged to grow beyond their own expectations. As a leader, it’s part of my job to instil that belief in people.”
Reflecting on his own journey so far, Jarrod’s advice is simple but powerful.
“Keep a growth mindset and hold your direction loosely. The career I envisioned in my younger years looks very different from the one I have today. Yet it was being open to change, learning new skills, and embracing unexpected opportunities that ultimately led me to where I am today.”
“The skill isn’t choosing the perfect path at the beginning, it’s being capable of changing paths when the ground moves beneath you.”
About OneSchool Global
OneSchool Global is an independent school network that has more than 8,000 primary and secondary students and 2,000 staff across the globe, in regions including United Kingdom, North America, Europe, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and the Caribbean. Our students come from the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church community; however, OneSchool Global is not a religious school and only teaches religion as required in the curriculum.
