Manager, Policy Compliance

Job Location:  Milton Keynes, Remote/Hybrid

Fixed Term Contract: End Date:  Not Applicable

Welsh Language:  Not Applicable

Change your career, change lives

The Open University is the UK’s largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education. Find out more about us and our mission by watching this short video (you will be taken to YouTube by clicking this link).

About the Role

As Manager, Policy Compliance, the role holder will work within Student Support, in Academic Services, and provide leadership, supervision, and support to members of the Student Policy & Compliance Services Team.

The main functions of this role are to ensure Student Policy is compliant with university policy, UK law, and the requirements of relevant external bodies such as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) obligations under consumer protection law. 

The role focuses on the compliance of student policy and contractual documentation based on user needs, business requirements, and student feedback. The role holder will support ensuring that student policy remains compliant with both internal and external requirements. They will also support ensuring that strategic decisions and change activities across the university take account of any applicable compliance risks, and where appropriate, ensuring that such risks are mitigated as far as possible.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with colleagues in Student Support, across Academic Services, OUVP, CIO portfolio, PVC Students, Faculties, and others to ensure that the University’s student support provision is compliant with University Policy, the requirements of HE regulatory bodies, UK law, and quality frameworks including Matrix and QAA.
• Coordinate policy change projects.
• Support the Assistant Director, Student Policy & Compliance Services in matters related to policy and compliance.
• Assist in the proactive management of changes to policy, curriculum, and legislation. This includes taking a risk-based approach to analysing the impact of change for students and reporting to appropriate Senior Staff.
• Ensure that all changes to policies and the curriculum are recorded so that students can easily track all the changes that have affected their study.
• Provide expertise within projects and other developments that relate to student policy and compliance, offering advice on risk management, direction, and information where there are compliance requirements.
• Provide line management for staff who assist in the work above, including career development and pastoral support.

About You

Essential:

• Strong data analysis skills and the ability to conduct advanced data analysis to assess risk, inform policy decisions, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Advanced reporting skills and the ability to develop comprehensive reports that clearly communicate findings and recommendations to stakeholders.
• Highly developed problem-solving skills and the ability to address complex compliance issues with innovative, pragmatic, and effective solutions.
• Strong ability to support thorough investigations into compliance breaches and develop strategies to prevent future occurrences.
• Possess experience in leading and managing teams to ensure compliance with recognised standards.
• Exhibit an analytical mind, capable of lateral thinking to solve problems, make sound, evidence-based decisions, and work confidently on own initiative within tight time constraints.
• Display highly developed interpersonal skills, excellent communication and presentation abilities, with the capacity to influence, establish credibility, and assert authority.
• Ability to build and maintain effective, genuine, and open long-term relationships with external and internal stakeholders, working cooperatively across institutional boundaries to improve compliance with policy and service to students.
• Demonstrate proven organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise, use tact and judgement, and adapt flexibly to changing requirements.
• Ability to carry out the role in a way that is consistent with equality legislation and University policies.
• Strong commitment to excellence in working with a diverse student population.

Desirable:

• Detailed consumer law knowledge and the ability to apply in-depth understanding of external requirements (e.g. Competition & Markets Authority) to a range of audiences to mitigate risk and/or ensure organisational compliance and protect consumer rights.

Support with your application

If you have any questions, or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on 01908 541111 or email careers@open.ac.uk quoting the advert reference number.

What's in it for you?

At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work life balance. Get all the details of what benefits we offer by visiting our Staff Benefits page (clicking this link will open a new window).

Flexible working

We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.

Work location

It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where you can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes office it is expected that you will attend the office at least once per months and in response to business needs.

Next steps in the Recruitment process

If shortlisted, we anticipate interviews taking place W/C 22nd June

Early closing date notification

While most roles will remain open until the advertised closing date, applications may be reviewed on an ongoing basis. In some cases, vacancies may close earlier if a sufficient number of suitable applications has been received and equality impacts have been appropriately considered. All roles will remain advertised for a minimum of one week before any early closure is implemented. If you have started an application or were in the process of applying when the advert closed, we encourage you to get in touch. We are committed to understanding individual circumstances and can offer further support where needed, including reasonable adjustments for applicants with protected characteristics.

How to apply

To apply for this role please submit the following document(s):

• CV
• Supporting Statement (Your Supporting Statement should be no more than 1500 words and should outline how your current skills and experience meet the essential and desirable criteria listed above)

 You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system.  Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.

The Open University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion which is reflected in our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We aim to foster a diverse and inclusive environment so that all in our OU community can reach their potential. We recognise that different people bring different perspectives, ideas, knowledge, and culture, and that this difference brings great strength.  We strive to recruit, retain and develop the careers of a diverse pool of students and staff, and particularly encourage applications from all underrepresented groups. We also aspire to make The Open University a supportive workplace for all through our policies, services and staff networks.