Head of School of the Arts (STA)

About the Role

As Head of School, you will be the school’s senior academic officer, responsible for shaping and delivering its vision through strategic, academic and operational leadership. You will drive innovation and cultivate a supportive research and educational environment,

The Head of School reports to the Vice-Principal and Executive Dean for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and will work closely with senior members of the School, Faculty and University. The Head will represent School and Faculty interests to drive forward the school’s academic mission in line with Queen Mary’s Strategy 2030.

The Head of School position runs for a limited term of 5 years (with possible extension) alongside a permanent professorial appointment. In recognition of the significance of the Head of School role, Queen Mary protects the postholder’s time by allowing 80% of full-time hours to be dedicated to the leadership and management activities of the School, with the balance devoted to academic activity.

On the completion of the Head of School position, the postholder will then move to a substantive professorial post on an indefinite, full-time basis.

About You

Applications are invited from candidates with proven strengths in educational leadership, managing resources and inspiring and developing multi-disciplinary teams alongside an understanding of the UK higher education sector.

You will have strategic insight and a strong commitment to fostering an ambitious, inclusive, and collegiate environment.

About the School

The School of the Arts is a diverse community comprising of six departments: Drama, English, Film, Linguistics, Modern Languages and Comparative Literature and the university-wide Department for International Education. The school has an excellent reputation in research, scholarship and education.

The Department of Drama was ranked first nationally in REF21 while the Departments of Film and Linguistics were placed first for their research outputs.

About Queen Mary

At Queen Mary University of London, we are committed to fostering social justice and improving lives through academic excellence. We continue to embrace diversity of thought and opinion in everything we do in the belief that when views and disciplines interact, and perspectives intersect, original and innovative thought takes form.

Benefits

We offer competitive salaries, access to a generous pension scheme, 30 days’ leave per annum (pro-rata for part-time/fixed-term), a season ticket loan scheme and access to a comprehensive range of personal and professional development opportunities. In addition, we offer a range of work- life balance and family friendly, inclusive employment policies, campus facilities and flexible working arrangements.

We particularly welcome applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic groups and women as these groups are underrepresented in these academic leadership roles at Queen Mary.

The post is being managed by our recruitment partner, Perrett Laver.

For further information, including a detailed job description and person specification, please visit:

https://plusportal.perrettlaver.com/ quoting reference number 8377.

For an informal and confidential conversation about the role, please contact:

Daniel Munks at Daniel.Munks@perrettlaver.com.

The closing date for applications is 9am BST on Monday 27th April. Interviews are expected to be held at our Mile End campus in the first week of June 2026.

Valuing Diversity & Committed to Equality

Advert information