Tes appoints Ali Nazarboland as Engineering Vice President

SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

Tes has appointed Ali Nazarboland as Vice President of Engineering as it expands its Tes360 platform for schools and trusts.

Nazarboland joins the education technology group with more than 20 years of engineering leadership experience across financial technology, payments, insurance, the public sector and other regulated industries. He will lead Tes’s engineering function as the company develops its wider technology platform.

His appointment strengthens the senior leadership team as Tes places greater emphasis on Tes360, a connected platform designed to bring together information used by schools and multi-academy trusts. The product is intended to address problems caused by disconnected systems and help staff turn data into action.

Before joining Tes, Nazarboland oversaw global engineering teams of more than 350 engineers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the US and Asia-Pacific. His background includes scaling engineering organisations and modernising legacy technology systems.

Tes360 focus

Tes has been broadening its technology offering across the education sector, with software and services covering timetabling, special educational needs and disabilities provision, behaviour management, staff wellbeing, parents’ evenings, recruitment and professional development. Tes360 sits at the centre of that strategy, linking information across those functions.

The company, which has operated in education for more than a century, has sought to combine software products with editorial and sector insight through Tes Magazine. The latest leadership appointment suggests engineering remains central to that plan as schools and trusts seek clearer oversight across multiple systems.

Rod Williams, Chief Executive Officer at Tes, said: “Ali brings a combination of technical expertise and leadership experience to Tes. As we continue to scale Tes360, it’s vital that we have strong engineering leadership that can combine strategic thinking with deep technical understanding. What stood out about Ali is his passion for education and the opportunity to contribute to work that has a genuine societal impact.”

Sector background

Nazarboland’s career has spanned sectors where large engineering estates and regulation often shape product and infrastructure decisions. That experience is relevant to education technology, where suppliers are under pressure to integrate systems more effectively while giving school leaders access to information spread across administrative, pastoral and teaching functions.

For Tes, the appointment also reflects the operational demands of expanding a platform used by institutions managing large volumes of pupil, staff and school performance data. In that context, engineering leadership can influence how quickly products are updated, how legacy systems are connected and how consistently services run across different markets.

Williams said the appointment formed part of a broader technology investment, with Tes continuing to expand Tes360 and its wider education ecosystem as it seeks to deepen its software relationships with schools and trusts.

Nazarboland said the company’s stage of development and its education focus were key factors in his decision to join. “Tes is entering an important phase in its journey, and the opportunity to be part of that is a major draw for me. Throughout my career I’ve worked across a variety of sectors, but being able to apply technology in a way that has a meaningful impact on education and young people is particularly rewarding. I’m looking forward to working with the team to continue building scalable, high-performing engineering capabilities that support Tes’ ambitions.”