As a manager in HE, you will play an integral role in carving out the future for thousands of university staff and students. University leaders have a unique opportunity to collaborate with other institutions across the sector to drive positive change in their universities, the HE sector and the wider community.
Operations and management roles in universities are diverse and cover a wide variety of responsibilities, from finance and legal through to estate management and campus development. Don’t be put off by the unfamiliar job title – the roles are often similar to other executive or senior roles in other sectors, and many of the skills are transferable into HE.
How to start a career in operations and management
The majority of management positions in a university are full-time, career-track management roles. Universities are unusual institutions in that they operate on a dual-management system of part-time, hybrid academic-managers, alongside career-track managers. Whether you work in the private or public sector, routes into higher education management are becoming more accessible.
Firstly, think about the type of role you’d like to work in within a university. Senior roles are often split into management and operations. Reflecting on your current skills and experience can help to identify whether you’re a good match for roles with similar skills sets in HE, even if the job titles are slightly different to those in your current sector. You can visit https://www.jobs.ac.uk/search/senior-management to browse the operations and management roles on offer.
You may already have had a degree of managerial experience in your career, such as project management, line management, financial and resource management. Being able to demonstrate these, alongside your achievements and experience within your field, is crucial. Professional development courses can also help you build the skills you need for your desired management specialism. Often, the best way to enhance your CV and get a fresh perspective on your skills is by looking to external leadership and advanced skills training programmes. Making an investment of your time and money in these is a great way of demonstrating that you are keen to develop a career in university management.
Operations and management job profiles
Senior operations roles in UK higher education include Admissions Officer, Director of Research, Director of Teaching, Head of Department, and Head of School. The route to the most senior academic management roles (Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Dean, Vice-Chancellor) is usually through significant experience working at a university, with evidence of institutional management, and crucially, strategic experience.
On the other hand, managers within HE can be financial specialists, legal and IP advisors, HR managers, policy analysts, operations and strategy planners, research funding managers, teaching and learning specialists, marketing or external relations managers, specialists in alumni relations, internationalisation and external relations, to name just a few possible roles.
Take a look at our various case studies, Q&As and video interviews with operations and management professionals working within universities, to find out more about their roles and what they enjoy about working in HE: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/operations
Qualifications and experience
Professionals looking to gain an operations or management role within a university are expected to have substantial demonstratable experience of working in industry. An undergraduate degree is often essential, with postgraduate study being desirable for senior management jobs. This may not always necessarily be a master’s or PhD; many management roles might ask for specific industry-related qualifications. For example, a Marketing Manager might be expected to have a Level 6 or 7 qualification from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), whilst a Director of Finance may be expected to be a fully qualified Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB) accountant with significant post-qualification experience.
The shape of your CV will depend largely on what category of management position you are applying for. Achievements and relevant qualifications should be presented not for their own sake, but with clear indications of the skills they allowed you develop. You will also need to research into your target area and how this field might differ in a HE setting. Focus on your experience of leadership, team-working and planning, project management, and in particular, financial acumen (budget holding, grant management, etc.). These will help you to create a cogent, specific, and above all, convincing narrative of how you understand the importance of management in UK HE today, and what role you can play in it.
Salary
Management jobs within UK universities are most commonly within the £40,000 to £79,000 salary bracket, depending on the seniority of the role.
Search for operations and management jobs
Operations and management jobs at universities are split across various professional services categories. Browse the senior management jobs on offer within these categories below: