Director of Employability and Entrepreneurship

Anderson Quigley is delighted to be partnering once again with GBS, part of GEDU Global Education, on the key search for their new Director of Graduate Employment and Entrepreneurship. Please note, this is a fully on-site role, for five days a week, based at any of GBS’s UK campuses in London, Manchester, Birmingham, or Leeds (with regional travel involved).

Who is GBS?

GBS is a major force in UK Higher Education, supporting over 50,000 students through vocational, undergraduate, and postgraduate courses. As one of the largest Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the country by student numbers, the scale of the impact you can have here is enormous. Their mission is clear: to be a gateway to diverse, industry focused education and to transform communities by expanding access to high quality learning. They are committed to championing inclusivity, empowering non-traditional student demographics, and boosting career prospects through strong employer connections. If you believe education is a key driver of socioeconomic progress, you will find GBS’ vision highly rewarding.

Overview:

This is a fundamental and high impact leadership role, reporting directly to the Deputy CEO. Your purpose is to deliver the graduate outcome strategy and significantly increase the number of students securing graduate outcomes, including getting into a graduate level job, second job, or launching their own professional enterprises. The focus must be sharply on real, measurable outcomes, meeting the institutional KPIs for progression.

As the Director, you will lead a large team of around 80 people, once fully recruited, (through four direct Heads) and drive a results led careers service focused on securing new jobs or achieving promotions to more senior, graduate level positions, providing individualised support for mature students. You will also work with Faculty Deans to embed employment skills and entrepreneurialism into the curriculum, establish strong links with local and regional employers, and oversee a strong alumni programme. You must bring the innovation and hunger to fundamentally enhance GBS’s impact and effectively lead this large, complex, multi region team.

Essential Criteria:

In depth senior leadership expertise in the careers, employment and entrepreneurship sector is essential. We are open to candidates from higher education, or an employment or training business, or even local government. You must have a strong, demonstrable track record, at a large scale, of successfully getting people into better jobs, securing promotions, or launching businesses. You will have experience managing and leading large teams across a regional or national base. You will have a proven track record in high level decision making, an outcome led approach, and the ability to deliver strategic priorities to budget within a large and complex organisation. With strong influencing, networking, and leadership skills, you will drive continuous improvement to ensure GBS meets or exceeds its progression targets.

Next Steps:

To discuss this impactful role further, please get in touch with Alicja Janowska.