Head of Student Experience

Location: ON-SITE, London, Canary Wharf

Employment Type: Full-Time, Monday to Friday

Reporting to: Provost

Who are we?

Elizabeth School of London is dedicated to providing relevant, high-quality programmes and operates across seven campuses located in six UK cities: London, Birmingham, Leeds, Leicester, Manchester, and Northampton.

Overall Purpose of the Role:

The Head of Student Experience is responsible for the strategic leadership of a broad range of functions including:

• Student Wellbeing & Support (Funding, Guidance, Retention, Health and Wellbeing, Student satisfaction)
• Engagement & Employability (Support, Careers Advice & Partnerships)
• Inclusion, Equality and Diversity

The Head of SE also has a key role in promoting the continuing development and ambition of our students who come from the widening participation background.

The Head of SE will instil a passion and enthusiasm for enhancing the student experience, not only in the Team but across the whole organisation. The Head of SE will work with internal and external partners to provide vision, leadership and an ethos of innovative practice in how we deliver the best quality of experience for all our students.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic leadership for the enhancement of student recruitment, including the streamlining of all related systems and processes.
• Develop and implement coherent and effective cross-campus support for the learning and teaching strategy and associated policies and procedures.
• Provide strong and collegial leadership of your Team/s, supporting and nurturing them through proactive professional and personal development.
• Contribute to the College’s evaluation and enhancement processes by offering foresight and adopting a proactive and team-based approach to continuous improvement.
• Contribute to the College’s strategic and operational planning and performance reporting regime, including effective leadership of the Head of SE’s planning and performance.
• Manage financial budgets (where appropriate) and staff plans to deliver value for money and impact.
• Develop and enhance productive relationships with key partners such as employers, local businesses and other community organisations particularly in support of learning pathways and equalities.
• Work with various departments to help promote that students are placed on courses appropriate to their needs, qualifications, aspirations and receive support appropriate to their needs.
• Contribute to the successful execution of the College’s equality and diversity strategy.
• Provide strategic support to the student bodies (such as Class Representations, Student Unions) ensuring that they have the necessary resources to deliver their mission/s.
• Undertake projects and other management duties as directed by the Senior Leadership Team.

Key Contacts/ Relationships:

• External contacts include the local council, local employers, other local education establishments, local community organisations and voluntary sector organisations, awarding and accreditation university partners, HEIs and other quality standard regulators such as the OfS.
• Internal contacts include Provost, Head of Student Success, Registrar, Quality team, Academic Managers, teaching staff, Operations team and Finance team.

Generic Information to all Roles

The responsibilities described within the job description are not intended as exclusive or exhaustive. They are to highlight the major tasks and duties of the role and the post holder may be required to undertake other duties that are consistent with the overall purpose of role.

Education and Qualifications:

Essential

• Master’s degree or comparable qualification in a relevant area
• Significant experience of managing a similar service
• Proven record of evaluative ability, to recognise areas for improvement and plan for excellence
• Experience of dealing in widening participation environments
• Experience of strategic planning, target setting, evaluation and reporting
• Experience of managing change within a Higher Education setting
• Experience of effective learner support methodologies
• Effective of budget management achieving financial targets and effective use of resources
• Proven effective leader of individuals and teams
• Proven track record of effective team working
• The role will require travel between various campuses within the UK

Desirable:

• Teaching qualification
• Post Graduate Certificate
• Qualification in e-learning
• Qualification in enterprise
• Relevant management qualification
• Experience in staff recruitment environments
• Experience of working on national career initiatives / participating in strategic groups
• Significant understanding and knowledge of student timetabling planning

Skills / Attributes:

• Organisation skills to ensure effective and efficient use of resources
• Effective written, listening and speaking skills
• Able to plan and deliver strategies to support quality improvement
• Demonstrable record of building relationships with a wide variety of people both external and internal
• Effective leadership, management and support to staff

Benefits:

• Annual leave (5.6 weeks) + bank holidays.
• Workplace pension scheme.
• Company Sick Policy (from January 2025).
• Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) (until December 2024).
• Statutory maternity/paternity pays.
• Career development opportunities
• Training and self-development opportunities.
• Gym membership discounts
• Retail discount schemes
• Cinema discounts
• Grocery discounts
• Cycle to work
• Investing and savings opportunities
• Financial wellbeing – personal debt advise.
• Financial wellbeing education
• My Mind Pal (mental fitness)

All applications should be sent via the 'Apply' button above