Chief Executive

Advance HE is an international, member-focused charity, dedicated to the development and enhancement of Higher Education for the benefit of students, staff and society. It is also a global business with an ambitious growth strategy. Advance HE focuses particularly on enhancing teaching and learning, effective governance, and leadership development, as well as tackling inequalities through its equality, diversity and inclusion work, such as the Race Equality Charter and Athena Swan. It offers professional development programmes and events, Fellowships, awards, student surveys, and consultancy and enhancement services.

In an ever-evolving Higher Education sector and against the backdrop of significant change, Advance HE is seeking to appoint an engaging and inspirational Chief Executive Officer to lead the organisation forward. The new CEO will deliver on Advance HE’s responsibilities to the HE sector, ensuring an excellent membership experience and maximising value-add to the sector; they will need to be capable of anticipating changes in the sector and responding accordingly to the market. Reporting to the Chair of the Board, they will provide strategic leadership over the whole organisation, considering Advance HE’s charitable objectives and safeguarding its continued financial sustainability. The new CEO will be an effective ambassador for Advance HE, both in the UK and abroad, continuing to grow the organisation’s presence and impact internationally and building a strong network of peers in similar organisations and political bodies. They will be a real leader, encouraging the Executive Team in continued creativity, adaptability and collegiality. The CEO will lead a substantial evolution in Advance HE.

Candidates will be senior leaders with a strong existing understanding of the Higher Education sector, who can speak credibly about HE in both national and international contexts. They will be natural diplomats, who have the skills and demeanour needed to communicate Advance HE’s mission to a wide audience. Strong candidates should have the political nous needed to interact with media, politicians and senior leaders across the globe. Ideally, candidates will have familiarity with membership organisations, and will have a good sense of how to boost engagement and membership numbers. They will be commercially savvy, and enjoy working in partnership with international stakeholders. Strategic vision and the ability to navigate political complexity will be crucial.

Advancing equality and achieving inclusion drives everything we do. We welcome applications from people that share this commitment.

For further details on the role, please visit https://www.minervasearch.com/current-opportunities/advancehe/

To apply, please send a cover letter and CV to advancehe@minervasearch.com by close of business on Wednesday 5^th March 2025.

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