Senior Director of Academic Services

Hours per week: 37

Reporting into: Provost / Chief Academic Officer

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This role operates on a hybrid working arrangement that will require regular travel into our UK locations listed below when required. Travel each week will fluctuate in line with business requirements. Our working model arrangements are a non-contractual benefit so please note that an Arden work location is added to our employment contracts.

Travel will be required into the following locations:

• Coventry Head Office
• Birmingham Campus
• Leeds Campus
• Manchester Campus
• Newcastle Campus
• Nottingham Campus
• London area (Ealing, Holborn and Stratford)

About the Opportunity:

We are looking for an exceptional senior leader to join Arden University as our Senior Director of Academic Services. Reporting to the Provost & Chief Academic Officer, you will lead a diverse portfolio of services that are critical to the success of our students, academics and academic operations, ensuring the University has the people, systems, resources and support needed to deliver outstanding education at scale.

This is a highly strategic and influential role, responsible for bringing together a broad range of functions including Academic Resourcing and Timetabling, Careers and Employability, Employer Engagement, Library and Learning Success, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and Academic Excellence into a coherent, high-performing service model.

Working closely with Deans, Campus Academic Directors and senior professional services colleagues, you will ensure Academic Services operates as an integrated system that enables excellent academic delivery, supports student success and improves graduate outcomes. You will use evidence, insight and performance measures to drive continuous improvement, enhance efficiency and ensure services are aligned to institutional priorities.

This role presents a unique opportunity to shape the future of academic support services across a growing and innovative university. You will lead large-scale improvement initiatives, strengthen institutional capability, champion student-centred service design and ensure services deliver measurable impact for both students and colleagues.

About You:

You will be an experienced senior leader with a track record of delivering operational excellence, organisational improvement and strategic change within a complex higher education or similarly sophisticated environment.

You will bring significant experience of leading multiple service areas, driving performance through clear accountability frameworks and using data and insight to inform decision-making and improvement. You will be comfortable operating at both strategic and operational levels, moving seamlessly between long-term planning, performance management and day-to-day delivery. .

A strong collaborator and influencer, you will have the credibility to work effectively with senior academic and professional services leaders, building productive partnerships while maintaining focus on outcomes and accountability. You will be passionate about creating services that improve the student experience, enhance academic delivery and support institutional success.

Most importantly, you will be a values-led leader with the vision, resilience and drive to build an integrated Academic Services function that delivers excellence, innovation and measurable impact across the University. Experience of large-scale service transformation, workforce planning, performance improvement, digital innovation or complex operational leadership would be particularly valuable.

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