Manager - Higher Education Regulation

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 Regulation directorate. 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 the Regulation directorate is to develop and implement the OfS’s regulatory framework. We design and deliver high quality services for market entry, degree awarding powers and university title, and are responsible for the ongoing monitoring of registered providers. We also implement the OfS’s new approach to regulating quality and standards, including the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF). In addition, we work to promote fair access to, and participation in, English higher education for students, no matter what their background. We regulate access and participation plans, and deliver funded programmes such as Uni Connect.

Once appointed, you’ll be expected to lead your own work areas and support and manage the work of your team. 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.

Crucially, to perform this role, you must be able to provide leadership and effective management oversight for a group of staff. An ability to co-ordinate and take ownership over a portfolio of work or organisational function across a team is also critical.

We also think these areas 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
• Demonstrates an ability to lead and manage a team to achieve results, and an ability to co-ordinate a diverse portfolio of work held by a team to drive progress
• 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:

• Expertise in the design and operation of regulatory processes
• Ability to reach reliable judgements on the basis of complex evidence
• Experience in inspiring and leading a team to drive progress and achieve positive results
• Experience in co-ordinating a diverse portfolio of work or organisational function across a team
• Experience in leading and managing 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

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.

We do our best to find an arrangement that works for everyone and many of us work flexibly, part-time or in job shares.

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.