University College Birmingham

Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Chief Academic Officer

Based in the heart of Birmingham city centre, University College Birmingham (UCB) is a specialist, aspirational and globally-connected institution offering vocational education and training within a supportive learning community. Our vision is to unlock the talent of our learners to help them achieve their ambitions, maximising opportunities for career progression and personal fulfilment. We have invested over £140m in our teaching and other facilities over the last ten years to ensure an outstanding learning environment.
In 2022, we entered into an unprecedented and unique collaborative partnership with the University of Warwick. Ranked sixth in the 2022 Guardian League Tables and awarded the Times University of the Year 2022 for Teaching Quality, Warwick are committed to partnering with us on a full range of projects which will enhance student opportunity, experience and outcomes. Among these joint pieces of work are aspirations to enhance student employability across the West Midlands region, widen participation in Further and Higher Education and to support regional ‘levelling up’ and key skills priorities.

We are entering into one of the most exciting and ambitious periods of our development and are now seeking to appoint a Deputy Chief Executive & Chief Academic Officer. This is a brand-new position that will propel us into a new era, developing a transformational academic strategy that will take us forward to 2030 and beyond. With line management accountability for our Pro Vice-Chancellors and Executive Deans they will deliver sustained academic growth and lead a revitalisation of the curriculum, including new modes of flexible delivery and the identification of new and growing markets.

With a strong emphasis on partnership-working, they will drive enhancements in reputation and, most importantly, student outcomes. 

To deliver the above, we are seeking an exceptional academic leader, someone with a proven track record in a larger Higher Education provider of leading sizeable and complex curriculum teams, and of driving a tangible step-change in academic performance through sustained, imaginative and large-scale strategic curriculum transformation, modernisation, growth and portfolio diversification. Demonstrable experience of achieving sizeable improvements to quality outcomes is essential, as is extensive evidence of leadership of HE curriculum teams, driving complex transformation and managing change. They will bring a demonstrable ability to work innovatively and at pace, and possess in-depth experience of futureproofing institutions through bold and decisive strategic leadership and the introduction of pioneering curriculum renewal and reform. It is likely that they will have a doctorate or made significant progress towards it. 

They will have exposure to sizeable capital projects that enhanced the student experience and provider offer across the University, working strategically with relevant Corporate Services functions, such as Estates, Finance and IT. A superb strategist, they will have Board level exposure and demonstrate outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present engagingly to a full range of stakeholders. Alongside this, they will bring a comprehensive understanding of the Higher Education regulatory and policy landscape and a strong sense of academic best practice, developed in organisations of real scale and complexity, as well as an unwavering commitment to the values and ethos of UCB. 

For further information about this unique opportunity, including details of how to apply, please visit www.odgers.com/85669   

Closing date: Monday 6th June at 5pm