Chief of Staff

Salary: Adhoc Salary scale - £70,000 - £80,000

FTE: 1.0 FTE (Working 37 Hours a week)

Annual Leave: 35 days plus standard public holidays and an additional 4 days including the closure of our office between Christmas and New Year

The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is strengthening its role as an anchor institution in Hertfordshire, supported by an extensive and growing global network. We are seeking an outstanding Chief of Staff to support the Vice-Chancellor in identifying, shaping and delivering complex, high-impact opportunities—at pace, and with a clear focus on strategic outcomes and effective risk management.

Main duties and responsibilities

The successful candidate will lead and deliver University-level strategic projects on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, often involving multiple internal services and senior external partners. You will be able to provide high-quality, tailored advice and recommendations, drawing on robust analysis and up-to-date intelligence. You will be responsible for ensuring progress is tracked against key milestones, benefits and impacts, proactively managing deadlines to maximise opportunity and mitigate corporate risk. This includes financial monitoring of projects, ensuring they are within budget.

You will need to demonstrate that you can successfully build trusted relationships across UH and externally (including domestic and international partners) to ensure the Vice-Chancellor and University Executive Team are briefed at the right time, with the right level of insight. You must be able to maintain a strong understanding of policies affecting higher education, identifying emerging opportunities and challenges. You will be responsible for commissioning research as directed by the Vice-Chancellor, as well as plan & organize strategic stakeholder events

Skills and experience

You will be a highly credible, agile professional with a strong track record of delivering complex work in fast-moving environments. You will bring the judgement, diplomacy and drive required to operate at the heart of the University and to command the confidence of the Vice-Chancellor.

You will have substantial experience in coordinating high profile strategic projects within a Higher education environment, with proven ability to engage & influence senior stakeholders. You must be able to demonstrate collaborative leadership skills, successfully meeting challenging deadlines via the effective utilization of people, resources and logistics. This role requires excellent written & verbal communication skills, including expertise in producing executive level reports. You will be confident in working through both ambiguity and complexity, as well as dealing with rapid change and able to tackle problems with analytical rigour.  

Qualifications

An undergraduate degree is essential. A taught postgraduate degree is desirable. A postgraduate degree in Accounting, Finance or Project Management would be advantageous.

Please view the job description and person specification for a full list of the duties and essential criteria. Please attach a personal statement showing clearly how your skills and experience match the Person Specification.

Internal applicants – please ensure you apply via your employee self-service portal.

We regret that we are unable to offer UKVI sponsorship for this post; applicants will either hold UK Right to Work or demonstrate access to UK Right to Work before an offer is made.

Contact Details/Informal Enquiries: Helen Davidson, Deputy Secretary & Registrar/Head of Corporate Services. h.davidson2@herts.ac.uk

Closing Date: 07 May 2026

Interview Date: 21 May 2026 

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