Following our recent successful appointment of a Managing Director to one of their brands, Anderson Quigley is delighted to be partnering once again with a large, well-established, and highly successful international education group. The exact brand identity must remain confidential at this stage due to market-sensitive plans, but this is a rare opportunity to lead a higher education brand into its next phase of development and growth – whilst benefitting from significant financial investment, long-term stability, centralised services, and the strategic guidance of a highly experienced executive team who have built several successful HE institutions within the UK and beyond.
What we are looking for:
- An executive leader, ideally from a corporate or professional services background, with significant experience within the higher education sector, who can bring an entrepreneurial, quality-driven, customer-focused, and growth-focused approach.
- You will have held overall leadership responsibility for a higher education provider, institution or university, or at the very least a major division within one.
- You may currently be operating as a Managing Director, CEO, COO, or Deputy CEO, essentially functioning as the number one or number two within your institution.
- Experience gained within an alternative or private HE provider is highly desirable, although a mix of post-92 public and private HE experience is also welcome.
- You must have the capability to build, manage, and lead a higher education brand end to end, covering everything including but not limited to operations, registry, student services, academic provision and professional services – with full commercial, operational, budgetary, and P&L responsibility at institution level.
- A strong understanding of widening participation and the needs of diverse student demographics is essential, as is experience with UK SLC funded HE programmes, local student finance systems, and a genuine belief in the value and impact of teaching and learning institutions.
- Up to date, in-depth knowledge of the UK HE regulatory landscape (i.e. OfS, QAA, DFE), with a clear understanding of what it takes to build a very successful, high quality HE institution that delivers outstanding student experience while adhering to the highest professional and ethical standards.
- A demonstrable track record of scaling an HEI – growing student numbers and provision and driving profit, while maintaining academic quality, business sustainability, and high standards of customer service.
Practicalities:
- This is a full-time role, with an expectation of four days per week on-site.
- You must therefore be London based or able to commute easily to London.
- Flexibility to travel between UK campuses will be required as the organisation expands (regional travel will be expensed accordingly).
- A highly competitive and negotiable executive-level salary, commensurate with institution-wide leadership responsibilities is on offer, alongside performance-based bonuses and significant potential for future remuneration growth and long-term incentives. For the right candidate, we are open to negotiating a tailored package, so please do get in touch to discuss this aspect further.
Next steps:
If both the core criteria and practicalities align with your profile, please contact Samantha Bryan-Ross and Akhil Yerneni for a private and confidential conversation to progress your interest.
