Academic Dean - School of Hospitality

Lead and shape a high-performing School, driving student success, academic excellence and growth at LCCA.

About LCCA

London College of Contemporary Art (LCCA) is a modern, student-centred institution committed to widening participation and empowering learners from diverse backgrounds to achieve their academic and professional ambitions. As part of Global University Systems — a large, international education provider — we are proud to be embedded within a global network that delivers high-quality, accessible education at scale. Our programmes are future-focused, combining applied learning with innovative, industry-relevant curricula and state-of-the-art delivery to ensure our graduates are equipped with the skills needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving world.

We are now seeking an exceptional and highly strategic Academic Dean for the LCCA School of Hospitality to lead a dynamic and growing academic area. This senior leadership role will play a pivotal part in shaping the future direction of hospitality education at LCCA, driving continuous enhancement of our programmes, strengthening industry alignment, and delivering outstanding student outcomes. The successful candidate will champion academic excellence while fostering innovation, engagement, and a culture of continuous improvement across the School.

The Role

As Academic Dean – School of Hospitality, you will provide strategic leadership of a high-performing and evolving School, placing student experience and student success at the heart of all decision-making.

You will lead a diverse academic community across multiple disciplines and levels of study, operating within a fast-paced, highly regulated environment. Using data-driven decision-making, you will deliver continuous improvements in academic quality, operational performance, and student outcomes, including continuation, completion, and progression.

As a senior leader, you will contribute to the wider executive team, leading through complexity, driving transformation, and embedding a culture of continuous improvement and accountability.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Delivery

• Provide strategic direction and leadership for the School, ensuring sustainability, scalability and alignment with institutional priorities.
• Translate strategy into clear and deliverable operational plans across the programme portfolio.
• Lead the School through growth, transformation and organisational change.

Student Experience, Teaching & Pedagogy

• Place student experience at the centre of all strategic and operational decisions.
• Lead the development of inclusive, accessible, and high-impact teaching and learning approaches suited to a widening participation student body.
• Drive improvements in engagement, retention, attainment, and progression, including targeted action to close awarding gaps.
• Ensure teaching practices are innovative, applied and aligned with employability outcomes.

Data, Performance & Quality

• Take accountability for School performance against KPIs, using robust data analysis to inform decisions.
• Embed a culture of data literacy and evidence-based improvement across academic teams.
• Oversee academic governance, quality assurance and regulatory compliance.

Leadership, People & Culture

• Lead, develop and inspire a diverse academic workforce, fostering an inclusive and high-performance culture.
• Build leadership capability across Associate Deans and Course Directors to ensure consistent delivery.
• Manage performance effectively and support staff development in a complex environment.

Partnerships & External Engagement

• Build and sustain strategic partnerships with academic institutions, awarding bodies and industry.
• Represent the School and College externally to enhance profile, reputation and growth opportunities.

About You

Essential Qualifications & Skills

• Master’s degree or relevant professional qualifications.
• Recognised teaching qualification.
• Significant experience in senior academic leadership within higher education, in a widening participation context.
• Proven ability to deliver measurable improvements in student outcomes and academic performance.
• Strong expertise in data-driven performance management and strategic planning.
• Deep understanding of pedagogy within a widening participation context.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills.

Desirable

• Doctorate in a relevant discipline.
• Experience of partnership or franchise delivery models.

Experience

• Experience leading academic teams within complex and fast-paced organisational environments.
• Track record of delivering improvements in continuation, completion, and student satisfaction.
• Strong knowledge of UK higher education regulatory and quality frameworks.
• Experience driving innovation in teaching, learning and curriculum development.

Why Join Us?

This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of Hospitality education within a growing, forward-thinking institution. You will lead a dynamic School, influence strategy at senior level, and play a key role in delivering exceptional outcomes for a diverse and ambitious student community.

Our Approach

We are committed to ensuring our workforce reflects the diversity of our student population, striving to increase representation across age, disability, gender identity and expression, religion, race, sex, sexual orientation, and socio-economic background.

We are also committed to providing adjustments to those who may require support with the recruitment process. Please contact the LCCA Talent Acquisition Team at collegedivisionrecruitment@gus.global.

Please note: For this opportunity, you must be able to prove you have the right to work in the UK. We are not a licensed sponsor.

To apply for this role, please click on the 'Apply' button above.