Interim Director of Student Success

University of the West of Scotland

Paisley Campus base with travel to other locations as required

Fixed term: 9 months  

University of the West of Scotland’s purpose is to be a placemaker with its communities, driving social inclusion and reducing inequalities through education, research, and knowledge exchange.

UWS Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Learning, Teaching and Student Success) Professor Rachel Cragg seeks an outstanding individual to join her Team as Director of Student Success.

As a member of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor’s team, the post holder will provide leadership across the University’s range of student-facing functions and services, and advising the suite of professional student services, acting as a voice for students and their issues at a senior level in the organisation.

For an informal discussion about the position, please contact Rachel Cragg by emailing: Rachel.Cragg@uws.ac.uk

About UWS

University of the West of Scotland is a placemaking institution that is proud to be an integral part of its local communities, with a national and international reach: the University has four campuses in Scotland in Ayr, Dumfries, Lanarkshire and Paisley, as well as a campus in London Docklands. UWS has nearly 100 international partnerships and its student community comprises more than 100 nationalities.

UWS is committed to providing education opportunities for all, empowering individuals to reach their full potential. The University creates meaningful impact locally, nationally and globally through innovative learning and teaching, pioneering research, and transformative partnerships. UWS is committed to the UNSDGs and was ranked in the world’s top 300 universities for sustainable development in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2025. 90% of UWS research was classed as world-leading, internationally excellent, or recognised internationally in the REF (Research Excellence Framework) 2021.

Our professional services teams are the backbone of UWS, providing robust and innovative solutions to support the vast range of work across learning and teaching, and research and innovation. You will join a supportive and dedicated team, playing a key role in a range of work that will help drive forward our ambition to deliver world-leading research, and graduates who will design, shape and build a new future.  

We offer our staff a caring and supportive environment, across five campuses, and a competitive benefits package which includes:  

• 31 days of annual leave, plus a further 12 days for public/university holidays
• An additional days leave on your birthday
• Defined benefit contribution pension scheme (including death in service benefits upon joining the scheme
• A flexible approach to working pattern and work-life balance
• Employee discount scheme across 3,500 retailers
• Fitness facilities across our campuses
• Access to a range of health and wellbeing resources, including occupational health, physiotherapy and access to our Employee Assistance Programme
• Professional, career and research development opportunities

Interview date: Friday 14^th November 2025

The University reserves the right to shorten/extend the closing date of any position where a high/low volume of suitable applications are received. Therefore, if you are interested in this role, an early application would be encouraged.

You can find out more about how the University uses your personal data as part of the recruitment process by looking at the UWS HR Applicant Privacy Notice at www.uws.ac.uk

UWS are committed signatories to the Armed Forces Covenant.

UWS is committed to equality and diversity and welcomes applications from underrepresented groups.  

UWS is a “Disability Confident” employer. 

University of the West of Scotland is a registered Scottish charity, no. SC002520