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Senior Officer - Higher Education Regulation

Office for Students (OfS) - Compliance and Student Protection directorate (CASP)

The challenge

The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of higher education (HE) in England.  Our mission is to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers.

These roles are based in the Compliance and Student Protection directorate (CASP) and the Participation, Access and Equality directorate (PACE). We’re looking for skilled, committed people to deliver our work both to ensure higher education providers meet our minimum regulatory expectations, and to influence and incentivise even better performance, in order to achieve our objectives.

As we embark on our ambitious new strategy, focusing on quality and standards, and equality of opportunity, this is an exciting time to join the OfS. We are looking for aspiring regulators who want to use their skills to support the next phase of regulation in these areas.

The role

The primary function of CASP is to develop and implement the OfS’s regulatory framework. It designs and delivers high quality services for market entry, degree awarding powers and university title, and is responsible for the ongoing monitoring of registered providers. It is also implementing the OfS’s new approach to regulating quality and standards, including the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF). The primary function of PACE is to promote fair access to, and participation in, English higher education for students, no matter what their background. It regulates access and participation plans, and delivers funded programmes such as Uni Connect.

Once appointed, you will start assignments in either CASP or PACE. This is where you will undertake most or all of your work. You’ll be expected to lead on designated work areas, taking responsibility for managing those areas and your own workload, to deliver results. The work is highly varied and you could be involved in:

  • registering new higher education providers wanting to enter the sector
  • assessing providers’ plans to improve access and participation among underrepresented groups
  • delivering funded programmes such as Uni Connect
  • investigating and assessing compliance with our conditions of registration and intervening in the interest of students
  • developing and implementing policy reforms to improve quality and standards and equality of opportunity
  • improving the systems within the OfS that deliver services to providers

We’ll take your preferences, skills and experience into account when determining which directorate you will be appointed to.

About you – person specification

While previous regulatory experience would be welcome, it is not essential as comprehensive training is available. Our teams have joined the OfS with previous experience working in regulators and higher education providers, as well as in the civil service, broader education roles, and other public sector organisations. Above all, we’re looking for people who share our commitment to working rigorously to protect students’ interests.

These are the areas we think are really important in being able to do this role well, and we will ask you to demonstrate these in your application:

  • Maintains a comprehensive knowledge of the regulatory context for the OfS’s work, including the OfS’s current goals around quality & standards and equality of opportunity
  • Demonstrates an understanding of regulatory decision-making processes which enable credible, evidence-based decisions to be reached.
  • Writes complex strategic and operational details in a clear and concise manner, using appropriate grammar, style and language.
  • Plans and manages own workload, resolving competing demands and coping with changing priorities in a flexible and proactive way
  • Demonstrates a confident and co-operative style and deals credibly with people at all levels, including with external stakeholders, to build positive working relationships

At interview we will be looking for you to demonstrate:

  • Understanding of the operation of regulatory processes
  • Ability to reach reliable judgements on the basis of complex evidence
  • Experience in delivering projects
  • Ability to communicate complex regulatory information effectively, orally and in writing
  • Experience in implementing and improving systems and processes
  • Personal resilience and ability to work effectively as part of a team

If you are invited for interview, please note we will ask you to complete two pre-interview tasks and a numerical reasoning test in order to demonstrate the skills above.

Working for us

The OfS regulates the higher education sector on behalf of all students. We value diversity and the wealth of perspectives, experience and ideas that it brings to our work, and we strive to embed equality of opportunity in everything we do.

We recruit based on fair and open competition and welcome applications from candidates regardless of age, disability, race and ethnicity, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and socio-economic background.

In addition, our Total Reward Framework offers a range of benefits to suit your way of life. These include comprehensive learning and development, annual leave starting at 25 days per year (plus public holidays), access to the highly regarded Civil Service pension scheme and a variety of health benefits.

Working arrangements

Flexibility is important to the OfS, as we recognise that such flexibility can enable people to work more effectively. A set of organisation-wide principles shape our approach to flexible and hybrid working, which our teams then use as guidance on how they deliver their business goals. To attract the widest possible field of qualified applicants, flexible working, for example job share and part time working, apply to this role.

Note on rolling recruitment:

We have an ongoing need for talented people to contribute to our work in supporting students’ interests. This advert will therefore remain open on our website, and we invite you to apply at any time.

Closing date: 27 April 2023.

Location: Bristol
Salary: £39,792 to £41,829
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Permanent
Placed On: 27th March 2023
Closes: 27th April 2023
Job Ref: R0000570
   
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