Job description
Comprising the largest dental school in Europe, the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences (FoDOCS) at King’s College London is a centre of excellence in the UK for oral, craniofacial and dental research and ranks 5th in the world (1st in the UK) in the QS World University Rankings for Dentistry (2021). This is an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated and experienced students and education professional to join one of the world’s top dental schools to help build on these successes and continue to improve and evolve our world-class student experience.  
 
As a key member of the Senior Professional Services Leadership team, the post holder will oversee all academic administrative processes and lead a team of 28 people to deliver an outstanding level of service and support.  Working closely with the faculty’s Dean for Education, the successful candidate will be instrumental in supporting the implementation of the university’s Education Strategy, as well as engaging with a wide range of colleagues to drive a positive and transformative impact on education and the student experience, ensuring: 
 
that services are delivered efficiently and consistently well across King’s; 
the mutual role of students, staff and professional services are understood so that the services deliver value and positive impact; 
the key measures of service effectiveness reflect the needs of students; 
a culture of service, transparency, and continuous improvement across King’s. 
 
The Associate Director Education is a key senior level role, acting at the interface between the faculty and university’s Education & Students function in our shared accountabilities for delivering the university’s strategic ambitions defined in Vision 2029. The post holder will therefore have a dotted line to the Executive Director of Education and Students and be an active member of the Education & Students Functional Leadership Team of the university, with responsibility to contribute to the health of education and the student experience both within the faculty and across King’s. 
 
The ideal candidate will be a strong leader with extensive experience of delivering an excellent student experience in a complex environment. Communication with diverse audiences and building collaborative and productive relationships within the faculty, across King’s College London and with our NHS partners is key in this role. We are therefore looking for a confident and self-assured individual with demonstrable experience of building networks and motivating and influencing stakeholders. 
 
This post will be offered on an indefinite contract  
This is a full-time post

Key responsibilities

As the professional lead for education and students in the faculty, a primary responsibility for the Associate Director, Education is to ensure that all students in the faculty, or studying on faculty-owned modules, have an outstanding education and learning experience. This is achieved by: 

• Leading in partnership with the relevant Vice Dean Education to define and deliver the faculty education strategy (in line with the overall university Education Strategy). 
• Ensuring the efficient and effective delivery of all taught education programmes, identifying and reducing waste and inefficiency from processes and ensuring maximum value add for students and academics.   
• Leading and managing education support staff to create high-performing and resilient teams, ensuring that faculty structures remain optimal to deliver strategic imperatives. 
• Enabling the inculcation of a customer service ethos, focused on effective delivery and high levels of customer care to students and staff.   
• Fostering inclusive education services and supporting an inclusive education culture in the faculty.  
• Building strong and durable partnerships with academic staff, especially those in education leadership roles. 

 
Additionally, Associate Directors, Education are responsible for ensuring faculty compliance with internal and external requirements. This includes (but may not be limited to): 

• Contributing to the articulation and delivery of the institutional Education Strategy.  
• Efficient and consistent application of university regulations and policy, liaising with specialist teams and functions as appropriate. 
• Strong and effective oversight of programme, module, and student data, ensuring it is accurate, reliable and secure and that education staff are fully aware of, and equipped to deliver, their data and reporting responsibilities.  
• Effective operation of quality assurance and quality enhancement processes for modules, programmes and services. 
• Accurate, reliable, and current programme information is provided to enquirers, applicants, students and partners. 
• Efficient and effective management of any distinctive professional, statutory or regulatory body requirements. 

 
Associate Directors, Education are typically expected to have line management responsibility for programme administration, quality assurance and student experience. Other functions such as digital education and technical support may also sit within the remit in some faculties. 
 
Additionally, as a member of the Education and Students Leadership Team, Associate Directors, Education are accountable for the efficient and effective delivery of education support across King’s. This is accomplished by: 
Providing a two-way conduit between the university and the faculty, representing staff and student matters from the faculty in decision-making forums, explaining, advocating and implementing decisions in the faculty once decisions are finalised.  
Participating actively in leadership team meetings and forums.  
Leading and participating in working groups, workstreams, governance forums and other initiatives and projects according to interest, specialism and capacity.  
Supporting the training, mentoring, development and career progression of colleagues in the function. 
 

Skills, knowledge, and experience 

Essential criteria  
 
1.       Leadership and management skills commensurate with building a culture of empowered accountability throughout the faculty. 
2.       Application of evidence-based analytical, creative, and constructive thinking and effective change management. 
3.       Ability to engage in collaborative working across King’s professional services, other faculties, academic and student communities, with a meaningful and visible commitment to Diversity & Inclusion policies and practices. 
4.       Experience of delivering high value-add services to customers or clients, delivering at pace, with accuracy and to high-quality benchmarks. 
5.       Ability to interpret and apply regulatory frameworks to specific cases and to advise others on their application. 
6.       Experience of securing compliance with internal or external regulatory requirements. 
7.       An ability to build, sustain and develop relationships at all levels, internally and externally, using persuasion and influence to achieve agreed objectives. 
8.       Ability to act as a high-respect, high-challenge leadership partner. 
9.       Highly effective communication skills attuned to audience requirements and delivered in different formats. 
 
Desirable criteria
 
1.       Prior experience of providing education support in higher education. Where this criterion is not met, Associate Directors will need to demonstrate their acquired knowledge and understanding of issues in higher education services. This includes an understanding of the priorities, cultures, and pressures of a research-led university, and of academic processes and the structure of the academic year  
 
Further information

The selection process will include a panel interview and presentation 
This post is subject to Occupational Health clearance.