Thank you for your interest in joining us at the University of Leeds.

This is a rare opportunity to take up the role of heading up Strategy and Planning at the University, which is a key professional service within the portfolio of the Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor and leads the University’s approach to planning, insight and performance.

The successful candidate will direct the teams responsible for enabling and measuring the delivery of the University’s ten-year strategy, Universal Values, Global Change, ensuring that this activity is underpinned by reliable and robust business intelligence and a sound understanding of the changing external landscape.

Key to this work is developing and delivering the required strategic and regulatory expertise, including consideration of appropriate benchmarking, analytics and foresight. In turn, this ensures that the strategy and associated key performance indicators – the implementation and measurement of which the successful candidate will lead – remain relevant and appropriate.

Also integral to the role is the provision of informed strategic advice, data and foresight to the annual University-wide Integrated Planning Exercise, to ensure it identifies and develops the appropriate plans, actions and resources to achieve our KPIs and broader objectives.

The University of Leeds wants to make a difference to the world, and this boldness and ambition makes it a dynamic place to work, with a genuine desire to innovate at its heart. Our commitment to transformational change across the University will improve the experience of our students and colleagues and make us fit for the future.

The successful candidate will need to be innovative, creative and strongly committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, demonstrating our University Values in everything they do. There are exciting times ahead for both Strategy and Planning – and the University – and we look forward to receiving your application.

The University was founded in 1904, but our origins go back to the nineteenth century with the founding of the Leeds School of Medicine in 1831 and the Yorkshire College of Science in 1874.

Today, we are one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK, and globally renowned for the quality of our teaching and research. With over 9,000 staff and 32,000 students the University is divided into seven groups known as faculties: arts, humanities and cultures; biological sciences; business; engineering and physical sciences; environment; medicine and health; and social sciences.

We are a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities, and part of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), which comprises 23 research-intensive institutions spanning six continents.

The strength of our academic expertise, across a wide breadth of disciplines, offers a wealth of opportunities for our students and staff, and has a real cultural, economic, societal, and environmental impact around the globe.

Our new institutional strategy, ‘Universal Values, Global Change’, sets an ambitious, transformative roadmap for the next 10 years. It is a blueprint for a values-driven university, rooted in our desire to make a difference in the world – one that harnesses expertise in research and education to help shape a better future for humanity, working through collaboration to tackle inequalities, benefit society and drive change.

The University’s core values are:

• Integrity: We are open and honest in our words and actions.
• Inclusivity: We are a community where everyone is welcomed and belongs.
• Compassion: We are caring and considerate in our words and actions.
• Collaboration: We work together to achieve our goals and ambition.

Following the largest online discussion held at Leeds, our staff, postgraduate researchers and students helped co-create our core values and behaviours, which are now being adopted across the University.

Our strategy

Further information about the University and our Strategic Plan 2020-2030, can be found here: https://spotlight.leeds.ac.uk/strategy/

Our strategy identifies three core areas of focus:

Culture – recognising that collaboration rather than competition is fundamental to yielding excellence in research, education and societal impact.

Community – recognising the importance of diversity, partnership and innovation in forging strong communities internally and externally.

Impact – recognising the need to develop the next generation of global citizens and to focus our research efforts on areas in which we can be truly globally leading, while harnessing the potential of digital innovation to enhance both.

Our academic strategy for the next 10 years is rooted in our desire to make a difference in the world.

It sets a blueprint for a values-driven university. One that harnesses expertise in research and education to help shape a better future for humanity, working through collaboration to tackle inequalities, benefit society and drive change.

The academic strategy will be supported by our Enabling Strategy. This will encompass academic areas, our people and ways of working, working conditions and environment, our role in the city and region, financial and environmental sustainability.

We are a large and diverse organisation – with more than 9,200 staff from more than 100 different countries, and one of the largest employers in Leeds. In addition to a competitive salary which will be negotiated with the successful candidate, we offer a range of generous benefits for our employees, which include:

• 26 days holiday plus approx. 16 Bank Holidays/days that the University is closed by custom (including Christmas) – that’s 42 days a year!
• Generous pension benefits and maternity, paternity and adoption leave.
• Flexible working opportunities – not every job needs to be in the office 5 days a week.
• IT provision and support when working from home.
• Access to a vast selection of professional learning opportunities, including over 16,000 courses on LinkedIn Learning.
• Extensive self-development programme.
• A range of wellbeing services, including discounted healthcare.
• A raft of offers for shopping and leisure.
• Travel discounts and sustainable Cycle to Work scheme.
• On-campus childcare facilities.

Working at Leeds

We are a campus based community and regular interaction with campus is an expectation of all roles in line with academic and service needs and the requirements of the role.  We are also open to discussing flexible working arrangements. To find out more about the benefits of working at the University and what it is like to live and work in the Leeds area visit our Working at Leeds information page.

Our University 

At the University of Leeds, we are committed to providing a culture of inclusion, respect and equality of opportunity that attracts, supports, and retains the best students and staff from all backgrounds. Whatever role we recruit for we are always striving to increase the diversity of our community, which each individual helps enrich and cultivate.  We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to Black, Asian, people who belong to a minority ethnic community; people who identify as LGBT+; and disabled people.  Candidates will always be selected based on merit and ability.

Information for disabled candidates

Information for disabled candidates, or candidates with impairments or health conditions, including requesting alternative formats, can be found on the University’s Accessibility information page or by getting in touch with Anderson Quigley (jessica.entwistle@andersonquigley.com)

Anderson Quigley is acting as an advisor to the University, an executive search process is being carried out by Anderson Quigley in addition to the public advertisements.

The closing date for applications is noon, Monday 21 August 2023.

Applications should consist of:

• A full CV.
• A covering letter outlining how you meet the “What will you bring to the role?” criteria of the person specification.
• Please include details of two referees in either your CV or covering letter, though please note that we will not approach your referees without your prior consent and only should you be successful in the recruitment process.

Should you wish to discuss the roles in strict confidence, please contact Helene Usherwood on helene.usherwood@andersonquigley.com, +44(0)7719 322 669 or Ed Pritchard on ed.pritchard@andersonquigley.com, +44(0)7980 817 927.

The recruitment timetable is set out below. Please inform Anderson Quigley if any dates are problematic, we will endeavour to be as flexible as we can.