Head of Support Centre

Part Time ( 21 hours per week), Permanent position

The closing date for applications is 23.59 on 17^th May 2026

Interviews will be held: 2^nd June 2026 (The interview will include a pre-task on the day before the interview OR The interview will include a presentation during the interview slot)

This role is not eligible for Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. The successful candidate(s) will have to ensure that they have the right to work in the UK or be able to secure this through another means without the sponsorship of the University. Further information about sponsorship is available on the UK Visas and Immigration Website. 

The University has been at the forefront of UK higher education for a century. Over the decades we have become innovators and pioneers, pushing academic boundaries and leading knowledge exchange. Having recently moved to a semester-based academic calendar, we turn our focus to global endeavours and operational excellence.  

The University of Reading is looking to recruit to a rarely available but vital senior professional services position within Student Services: Head of Support Centre (London Road).  

As a Head of Support Centre, you will provide operational leadership to a team of approximately 16 staff who deliver administrative support to a cluster of academic schools based predominantly at our London Road campus. You will be responsible for the delivery and improvement of an end to end student centric set of services, and will be the key contact in working with Heads of School, School Directors of Teaching and Learning and other operations managers to ensure that services to students and staff deliver the strategic objectives of the University. 

You will use your extensive operational and staff leadership experience to embed a culture of continuous process improvement, design new ways of working through the utilisation of technological solutions, and strive for operational excellence for the betterment of the student experience. You will be a problem solver, a collaborator, and an agent of change within a complex and fast changing environment all while delivering business-as-usual routines through your team. Your knowledge of systems and process administration, ideally gained from a higher education context, will help push our agenda forward as we head into an exciting new direction for the University.  

You will have:  

• Demonstrable process improvement skills and experience 

• Excellent leadership skills with a demonstrable record of creating capacity and supporting staff 

• Strong operational knowledge and the ability to transform an idea into practice across a large complex organisation 

• Exceptional organisational skills, able to handle a large workload across both business as usual and project requirements to deadlines 

• Strong influencing skills; able to appropriately articulate complex matters to a wide audience including senior academic staff 

• A growth mindset 

For more information, please contact:

Contact Name : Daniel de Sousa

Contact Job Title : Director of Teaching & Learning Administration and Operations

Contact Email address : d.a.desousa@reading.ac.uk

The University is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce, supports the gender equality Athena SWAN Charter and the Race Equality Charter, and champions LGBT+ equality. We are a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2). Applications for job-share, part-time and flexible working arrangements are welcomed and will be considered in line with business needs.

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