Head of Widening Participation

LSE is committed to building a diverse, equitable and truly inclusive university

Salary from £59,670 to £69,092 per annum inclusive with potential to progress to £76,562 pa inclusive of London allowance

This is a fixed term appointment for 12 months

The role

In this strategic leadership position, you’ll be overseeing the School’s portfolio of Widening Participation (WP) programmes and developing LSE’s WP strategy to meet our widening access commitments and targets. You’ll contribute to the development of a ‘whole student lifecycle’ approach to the enrolment, support and progression of students from under-represented groups. You’ll also provide strategic leadership on the School’s Access and Participation Plan (APP), on behalf of the Vice President and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education) to ensure it is strategically aligned with the School’s LSE2030 strategy.

The team and wider context

The WP team’s work directly contributes to the School’s strategy, LSE2030, and supports our goals for advancing equity, diversity and inclusion. The WP team works with colleagues across the School to meet the ambitious commitments in our Access and Participation Plan with the regulator, the Office for Students.

The WP team has primary responsibility for:

• Widening Participation activities and programmes
• Access and Participation Plan (APP) leadership

What we’re looking for

We are looking for someone with the ability to provide clear direction for the team and support them to deliver on strategic objectives. Essential skills and experience include:

• Experience of developing, implementing and reporting on strategic and operational plans for widening access and participation
• In-depth knowledge of the operating environment for widening access and participation and equity, diversity and inclusion in the UK education sector
• Experience of making significant contributions to Access and Participation Plans to meet regulatory requirements
• Ability to bring together data from multiple sources of quantitative and qualitative evidence to draw strategic conclusions, make recommendations and deliver change

What LSE has to offer

LSE is one of the world’s leading institutions for the study of the social sciences. With 18 Nobel Prize winners, 37 past or present heads of state and ranking among the top 50 universities in the world (QS 2024), we are a truly international university at the forefront of global policy debate.

We offer an occupational pension scheme, generous annual leave, hybrid working, and excellent training and development opportunities.

For further information about the post, please see the how to apply document, job description and the person specification.

To apply for this post, please click the 'Apply' button, above.

If you have any technical queries with applying on the online system, please use the “contact us” links at the bottom of the LSE Jobs page.

Should you have any queries about the role, please email Zach Collins:

Z.Collins@lse.ac.uk 

The closing date for receipt of applications is 8 August 2024 (23.59 UK time).

Regrettably, we are unable to accept any late applications.

Interviews will take place w/c 19 August 2024

This position will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Any offer of employment made is conditional on receipt of a satisfactory DBS check.

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