Job Description

We are dedicated in everything we do to being a university of social purpose, with a strong emphasis on principles of academic excellence and inclusion. . This shared purpose is threaded through our education, our research and the ways in which our students and colleagues engage with wider society in local, national and global contexts. Our students are at the heart of our thinking and we are also proud to be one of the country’s leading research-intensive institutions, assessed to be in the top 25% in the UK in REF2021. Through the dedication of our academics to teaching and learning, discoveries that change the world, and the distinctive feel of the Royal Holloway experience, we have built a diverse and supportive community that inspires students and colleagues to succeed. 

Under the leadership of our Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Julie Sanders, we are now seeking to appoint an exceptional Executive Director of Business and People Services. A newly configured role, the post will be absolutely central to achieving our vision and mission. The Executive Director of Business and People Services will play a key role in the University’s senior leadership team and be responsible for leading a group of directorates with a strong focus on business-critical services from people to digital. They will be responsible for ensuring those services are strategically aligned and change-enabling. Together with their leadership colleagues, the Executive Director will support the Vice-Chancellor and Principal in the management and successful operation of the institution, contributing to its success as a university of social purpose, delivering its education and research objectives in ways that opens up choice and opportunity for all its stakeholders

The successful candidate will be a proven senior leader with experience in managing operations in a comparably complex institution. They will demonstrate a proven ability to work collaboratively across a diverse range of stakeholders as well as an empathy for the University’s mission and values. A significant scale of strategic and operational management experience is essential. We are looking for someone who is imaginative in their horizon-scanning capabilities and compelling in their communication of possibilities. 

This is a significant moment in the history of the university. It is one in which, as a community and as a senior leadership team, we are seeking to shape a future that is as brave, bold and future-facing as the principles which were at the heart of our two founding colleges, Bedford and Royal Holloway, which opened to enable women’s education in 1849 and 1886 respectively. If you have the right experience, skills and track record of success and share our passion and ambition, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Further information, including a full candidate brief, can be found at: www.odgers.com/90223  

Applications are invited by close of business on Friday 8th December 2023.

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