Executive Dean

Bird Conservatoire:

Bird Conservatoire is a specialist performing arts institution based in South-East London with a long-standing reputation for excellence in dance and musical theatre training.

At the heart of our Conservatoire is a simple but defining belief, that performance underpins everything. It shapes who we are, how we teach, and how our students develop as artists. We are proud of our highly talented student performers and of a curriculum designed to support their professional success in a demanding and competitive industry.

We offer multidisciplinary performing arts programmes to a diverse and international student body, delivered through a student centric approach and bespoke training pathways that are closely aligned to the needs of the profession. Our training is intensive, disciplined and industry facing. It is designed to reflect the realities of a professional performance career and to prepare students to thrive within it, both on stage and on screen.

Our commitment therefore is clear: To develop performers who are competitive at the highest level and equipped to succeed in leading professional roles within the industry.

Our next chapter:

We are now entering an important phase of development. Whilst our identity and heritage remain central to who we are, we are evolving how we structure and deliver our training. This includes moving towards a more defined, consistent and scalable model of delivery across programmes, ensuring that every student experiences a coherent and high-quality education regardless of discipline or cohort.

At the heart of our next chapter is a commitment to clarity and consistence in delivery. We are strengthening how programmes are structured, how teaching is delivered, and how student experience is managed across the Conservatoire, ensuring alignment with the expectations of industry and the demands of professional performance careers.

Bird is an ambitious and focused organisation. We are not seeking growth for its own sake, but rather a strengthening of academic quality, learning and teaching, graduate outcomes and professional readiness for our students, ensuring that they are even better equipped to excel within industry. 

The role of Executive Dean:

As Executive Dean, you will lead the operational delivery of all performing arts training across the Conservatoire, ensuring that programmes are delivered consistently, effectively and to a clearly defined standard. This is a senior executive role focused on implementation and accountability within a complex, performance-led environment.

Reporting directly to the Principal and CEO, and working closely with the Artistic Director, you will translate institutional direction into day-to-day delivery. You will ensure that teaching and training operate as a coherent system across all programmes, disciplines and teams, with clear expectations, consistent standards and a strong focus on delivering an exceptional student experience.

The role includes active leadership of academic managers and delivery teams, with responsibility for embedding a high-performance culture grounded in accountability and high-quality delivery. You will be expected to intervene directly where standards are not met and to make clear operational decisions that balance quality, resource and delivery priorities.

In close partnership with the Artistic Director and wider executive team, you will ensure that artistic intent is realised through disciplined and structured delivery, and that feedback from industry is effectively embedded into programme delivery and continuous improvement.

Alongside this core focus on operational excellence, there is also scope to contribute to the development of new programmes, support diversification of provision, and engage with the Conservatoire’s longer-term ambitions, including postgraduate development and potential international collaboration.

Practical considerations:

• Location: The role is based at our Sidcup campus in South-East London (Alma Road, Sidcup DA14 4ED).
• On-site requirement: This is a highly visible leadership position and during teaching periods (approximately 33 weeks per year), you will be expected to be on site five days per week. Outside of teaching periods, there is increased flexibility, with up to 40% remote working depending on operational requirements.
• Salary: Competitive, dependent on experience and with flexibility for discussion.
• Benefits: Bird Conservatoire offers a competitive and supportive benefits package, including 30 days annual leave + bank holidays + closure days, enhanced pension contributions, enhanced sick pay, and free access to performances and productions. More details here: https://www.bird-college.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1822-Bird-College-EVP-Doc-v6.pdf

What we are looking for:

We hope this role will appeal to an experienced, creative and entrepreneurial academic leader who combines operational strength with a deep understanding of performing arts training environments. You may currently be operating at Executive Dean, Dean, Deputy Dean or equivalent level, and will bring a track record of delivering structured programmes at scale, improving performance, and leading teams through growth, diversification, change.

Candidates may come from conservatoires, specialist performing arts institutions, relevant higher education institutions and universities, or performance-led training organisations. We are open to a range of backgrounds, provided there is clear evidence of academic delivery, operational academic leadership and a commitment to high standards in performing arts education.

How to apply:

If you wish to apply, please click below to be re-routed to our application portal. Should you wish to discuss the role further or for details on how to progress your application, please direct all enquiries to our advising consultants:

• Eva Tomka: eva.tomka@andersonquigley.com
• Akhil Yerneni: akhil.yerneni@andersonquigley.com

Anderson Quigley is acting as an advisor to Bird Conservatoire. An executive search process is being carried out by Anderson Quigley in addition to the public advertisements. The closing date for applications at present is noon on 6^th May 2026, although initial conversations may take place on an ongoing basis. Whilst every application before the closing date will be given a fair opportunity, we do encourage early expressions of interest.