Director of Business Planning and Commercial

The Director of Business Planning and Commercial will provide executive leadership across our business planning, commercial and financial strategies, ensuring sustainability and growth while maximising value for members. You will lead the development of multi-year business plans, oversee integrated financial and commercial strategies, and drive income generation in excess of £15m. This role demands a proven leader with significant commercial experience, strong financial planning expertise, and the ability to analyse complex information to shape effective strategies.

As a key member of the Executive Team, this is a senior leadership position, reporting to the Deputy Chief Executive, that requires the ability to unite strategic vision with practical execution. You will bring exceptional commercial acumen and an understanding of the higher education sector’s policy and strategic context to shape and deliver integrated business and financial strategies. As a visible and influential leader, you will inspire and develop high-performing teams, champion a culture of innovation and financial sustainability, and work collaboratively across the organisation to achieve measurable impact and long-term success. Your success will enable Advance HE to deliver measurable impact for members and position us as a highly credible voice and trusted partner in the sector.

Applications close on Sunday 14th December, at 11.59pm. Stage 1 interviews are scheduled for Friday 2nd January 2026 via MS Teams. Stage 2 interviews are scheduled for Thursday 15th January 2026 in London.

For full details on this role, please see the candidate pack here.

Job requirements

This job requires a minimum attendance of once per week at an Advance HE office location, with York as the nominal office/main office base.

Reporting to the Deputy Chief Executive, the Director of Business Planning and Commercial will support the drive of our strategic vision, ensure outstanding membership value, and strengthen our international impact while safeguarding financial sustainability.

The successful candidate will be a strategic leader who can:

• Role model and drive a culture of commercial acumen, ensuring financial efficiency and sustainability underpins everything.
• Enable the development of new commercial and partnership models in pursuit of financially sustainable approaches to grow Advance HE's reach and impact.
• Deputise for the CEO/DCEO as required.
• Lead organisational wide planning cycles to ensure clear business development, lead generation and sales plans are in place for all regions and monitor progress against them.

We seek a proven leader of transformation and change who has an appreciation of the Higher Education sector.

The ideal candidate will bring:

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Enterprising approach and solution-focused innovation.
• Ability to create a vision and lead teams to deliver lasting change.
• Strategic vision and ability to navigate complex stakeholder landscapes, to build scalable products and services.

Job responsibilities

The Director of Business Planning and Commercial is responsible for providing Executive leadership across Advance HE's business planning, commercial and financial strategies maximising the organisation's impact and sustainability.

For the full job description, please see the candidate pack.

Job benefits

This is a hybrid-working post with a York Nominal Office, with a minimum of one day per week office attendance.

Benefits include but by no means limited to:

• 31 days annual leave (plus national bank holidays). 3 or 4 of these days have to be taken during the office closure between Christmas and New Year.
• USS pension scheme (6.1% employee contribution and 14.5% employer contribution)
• Enhanced family leave benefits
• Flexible working hours
• Specsavers vouchers
• Retail Discounts
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Financial Wellbeing service provider access
• Hybrid work

A salary will be offered to secure the right individual, although it is expected that the salary will initially be circa £88,880, with the potential for salary progression in line with the appointee’s performance in role.

Please complete your application via the ‘Apply’ button above.