Abstarct: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of ethical leadership on the job performance of physical education teachers, with the mediating role of work engagement. In terms of purpose, this research was applied, and in terms of methodology, it was a descxriptive-survey, correlational, and cross-sectional study. The statistical population consisted of all physical education teachers in Iraq. Due to the large size of the target population, a sample of 190 physical education teachers from the provinces of Baghdad and Al-Anbar was selected using convenience sampling. Data were collected using three standardized questionnaires: the Ethical Leadership Questionnaire developed by Brown et al. (2005), consisting of 10 items; the Work Engagement Questionnaire developed by Schaufeli et al. (2006), consisting of 9 items; and the Job Performance Questionnaire developed by Boyle et al. (2019), consisting of 3 items. The face and content validity of the instruments were confirmed by a panel of experts, while their reliability was established using Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability coefficients. Data were analyzed using SPSS and SmartPLS 3 software baxsed on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicated that ethical leadership had a positive and statistically significant direct effect on the job performance of physical education teachers. Furthermore, ethical leadership exerted a positive and significant effect on teachers' work engagement, enhancing their motivation, commitment, and involvement in job-related activities. However, the results revealed that work engagement did not have a significant effect on teachers' job performance. Consequently, the mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between ethical leadership and job performance was not supported. In other words, although ethical leadership increased teachers' work engagement, this increase did not significantly improve their job performance in the present study. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of ethical leadership as a key factor in enhancing the job performance of physical education teachers and suggest that promoting ethical behaviors among educational leaders can contribute to improving employees' performance. On the other hand, the lack of support for the mediating role of work engagement indicates that other factors may explain the relationship between ethical leadership and job performance, warranting further investigation in future research.