Appointment of the Dean of Business and Law
Thank you for your interest in joining St Mary’s University as our new Dean of Business and Law.
At St Mary’s, we are dedicated to preparing our students for flourishing lives and successful careers within a community of mutual respect. We aspire to enable every student to achieve their full potential, through outstanding support for their learning and giving them a broad and rich experience.
We pride ourselves on being an academic community which values positive human relationships, promoting belonging and supporting individuals to be the best version of themselves.
In challenging times, we continue to thrive, achieving real progress and success in student satisfaction and community impact. We recently climbed to our highest ever position in the 2022 Good University Guide while ranking 18th nationally for overall satisfaction in the 2021 National Student Survey. Our community is characterised by trust among staff and students, and our core values of respect, inclusion, generosity of spirit and excellence.
We will be implementing a new academic structure from September 2023 and we are now seeking to appoint the inaugural Dean of the new Faculty of Business and Law. The Dean will be responsible for shaping the new Faculty and developing its strategic plan, building on our existing strengths in both Business and Law. At both undergraduate and postgraduate level, we are committed to offering vocationally relevant programmes of study with the highest academic standards. We are seeking to grow our student population in Business and Law by developing innovative and contemporary programmes and new academic partnerships, as well as continuing to develop our research and knowledge exchange activities. In addition to leading the Faculty, the Dean will have corporate responsibilities focused on one of the following partnerships; student experience, student recruitment or equality charters, depending on your interests.
If you are excited about the prospect of joining St Mary’s and developing the new Faculty, then we do hope you will express an interest in the Dean of Business and Law role.
You can find out more about the University and the role on this site and our advising consultants at Anderson Quigley would be pleased to discuss the role with you.
Established in 1850 and with a deep heritage in education, St Mary’s University, Twickenham has a strong reputation for teaching excellence and a student-centred approach. Our aim is to prepare students for flourishing lives, successful careers and social commitment through excellent, research-enriched teaching in a community of mutual respect based on our Catholic ethos and values.
Developing and enhancing partnerships is important and we work with other universities at home and abroad, dioceses and institutions, local FE colleges and many schools across the UK. With nearly 5,000 students, 700 staff, and a turnover of £52 million, the University makes significant contributions to our local community and wider society, empowering our community to have a positive impact on the world.
Key Achievements and highlights
- Top Ten in UK for Teaching Quality 2022 Good University Guide
- Top 5 in UK for Student Experience 2022 Good University Guide
- 2nd in London for student satisfaction 2021 NSS
- Highest ever position in the Good University Guide, sitting in top half for first time
- 98% of graduates are in employment, vocation or further study within 15 months (HESA 2020)
- 6% ahead of sector average for student experience 2021 NSS
- Ofsted Outstanding assessment of our Primary and Secondary ITE provision for over ten years
Mission
We are an inclusive Catholic university seeking to develop the whole person and empower our community to have a positive impact on the world.
Vision
Our students and staff are at the heart of everything we do. We are an inclusive university, open to those of all faiths and none, and a local institution in a global city, serving a growing and richly diverse student community in locations both real and virtual.
Values
Rooted in our Catholic Foundation, with the value of the human person at its heart, our values set us apart, shape our behaviour and inform all our decisions in a university that responds to the demands of today.
Inclusiveness
We celebrate differences and welcome diversity, recognising that everyone is born with a unique identity. St Mary’s is a place where all students and staff can reach their full potential and make a positive contribution to society.
Generosity of Spirit
Across the University there’s a strong sense of encouragement, collegiality, empathy, helpfulness, and service to others.
Respect
We respect all and treat everyone as we ourselves would want to be treated.
Excellence
We strive to be the best at everything we do. We set high standards and seek continuous improvement in all our practices and work.
Please see the following link for the University management structure.
Vision 2030: The Future of St Mary’s
St Mary’s is committed to providing our students with a transformational experience. Offering strong support and challenging goals whilst they study with us and opportunities to be part of the wider St Mary’s community beyond their time here, we want our students to be highly skilled, informed and civically engaged. Vision 2030 sets out how we will do this, building on the successes of the past and setting our direction for the coming years.
To achieve our Vision, we have identified five Pillars that will support our strategy.
- Achieving Student Success: With a rich history in education, St Mary’s is committed to high quality delivery in education, research and the wider student experience. We will continue to provide an outstanding academic, sporting and social experience, to ensure our students flourish while they are with us, and beyond.
- Developing our People: We seek to empower our staff to reach their full potential by developing a supportive, inclusive, collaborative and inspiring working environment. We want our staff and leadership to reflect and encompass the diversity of our student body and the wider community.
- Driving Growth: Through growth we can reach more students, employers and communities, and ensure the University’s sustainable future. We will expand our applied and professional programmes and offer more flexible ways to learn.
- Developing Partnerships: We will identify organisations with whom we can work with to deliver shared goals. We will share our knowledge and expertise with other universities, further education colleges, and civic and sporting organisations at home and abroad.
- Enhancing our sense of Place: We treasure our historic campus and will continue to develop it as a safe space and to guard it for future generations. We will open up our work to the public and strive to have a positive impact in our local community. We will play a dynamic role in the educational, cultural, sporting, and economic life of south-west London.
Foundations to success
In order to achieve our Vision, we need to ensure that we adopt key strategies and develop new processes to provide the essential foundations for our success.
We will continuously improve our operations to ensure a sustainable future by:
Financial Sustainability: Our long-term financial plan has created, and will continue to provide, a stable foundation for our strategic objectives. In order to release funds for investment we will continue to pursue this plan.
Integrated Strategic Planning: an evidence-based planning process will bring together strategic aims, staffing plans and budget needs, in the context of a medium-term planning horizon.
We will enhance the staff and student experience through digital transformation:
Better Systems and Processes: building on investment in technology we need to ensure that our data is joined up, and that we streamline processes for staff to free up time for delivering core teaching activities.
Digital Teaching and Learning: We will continue to develop our capacity and approach, ensuring that our offer is driven by student need and preference.
We will improve efficiency across the University:
Bureaucracy is frustrating for everyone. We’ve made some useful changes to internal governance, but we will work with staff to identify more opportunities. We will also improve communication and collaboration to enhance the staff and student experience. We’ll turn to our Board of Governors, Development Board and advisory boards for insights into best practice.
You can read more about our Vision 2030 here.
Dean of Business and Law
Faculty: Business and Law
Reports to: Provost
Salary: Commensurate with experience
Hours: Full-time (at this level of post it is expected that the post holder will work additional hours if required as part of the contractual hours)
Term: Permanent
Since 1850, St Mary’s mission has been to provide a high quality academic and professional environment, inspired by its distinctive ethos and values. The University is an inclusive academic community, where everybody is welcomed.
St Mary’s provides an inspiring and welcoming environment and has a strong, supportive community. The University is proud of the support it gives to its students, and the support is underpinned by the provision of teaching that is student-focused with a strong emphasis on skills and character development.
At St Mary’s you will be encouraged to nurture and educate our students, preparing them to be ready to meet the challenges of today and anticipate those of tomorrow.
The Faculty of Business & Law is internationally recognised with established expertise and resources in business and law. At both undergraduate and postgraduate level, we are committed to offering vocationally relevant programmes of study with the highest academic standards.
Job Purpose
To provide vision and leadership for the Faculty to ensure efficient and effective operation of its work; to co-ordinate Faculty activities with the University strategy and initiatives; to contribute to the University’s management and initiatives.
Main duties and responsibilities:
These are the main responsibilities of the job and not a complete list.
- Represent and contribute to the University’s mission and ethos in the Faculty.
- Overall responsibility for the strategic direction of the Faculty.
- Lead, develop and co-ordinate teaching and learning in the Faculty across all of the disciplines covered.
- Lead, manage, develop and motivate staff in the Faculty to create a culture of excellence, collaboration and respect.
- Foster and develop innovative programmes, both undergraduate and postgraduate.
- Work with other Institutes/Faculties within the University to promote new cross-disciplinary developments.
- Build effective working relationships with leading academics, practitioners, employers and industries relevant to the Faculty’s activities in order to promote and enhance the work of the Faculty in teaching, research and knowledge exchange.
- Actively foster and develop new international relationships.
- Develop initiatives and new agendas to recruit students to agreed target numbers to current and new programmes.
- Work with alumni to further the interests of the Faculty.
- Manage the Faculty’s core budget and further non-core income-generating activities.
- Take overall responsibility for timetabling and examinations plus associated activities.
- Ensure compliance with quality assurance and enhancement procedures for all taught and research student programmes within the Faculty.
- Actively promote by personal example a research culture in the Faculty, including in relation to interdisciplinary research, among the disciplines within the Faculty and others outside it.
- Manage the Faculty’s research and knowledge exchange activity in accordance with agreed Faculty and University strategy.
- Take responsibility for the Health and Safety aspects of all Staff and Students in the Faculty.
- To Chair University level committees as required.
- To deputise for the Provost as required.
- Other ad-hoc duties as required.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Knowledge and Qualifications
- Graduate with doctoral level academic qualifications in an area covered by the Faculty (desirable).
- Specialist subject expertise and working knowledge in a relevant discipline.
- A proven competency in teaching in a relevant discipline and strong teaching record in Higher Education.
- Knowledge and experience of learning and teaching initiatives nationally (desirable).
- Leadership and management skills.
- Personal research record.
- Record of involvement in partnership working with non-academic organisations to produce demonstrable economic, public policy or quality of life benefits (desirable).
- Experience in policy writing and strategic thinking.
Skills and Abilities
- Leadership: ability to establish principles and set direction and motivate colleagues.
- Interpersonal skills: ability to relate to others with tact and diplomacy.
- Analytical and creative thinking: ability to conceptualise and analyse problems and to synthesise complex sets of information and ideas.
- Collaboration: ability to work with senior colleagues within agreed framework.
- Communication: ability to communicate clearly and effectively both orally and in writing.
- Planning and organisation: workload and financial planning and monitoring, and ability to assess and implement priorities.
- Highly developed negotiating and influencing skills.
- Facilitate change and achieve conflict resolution (in collaboration with relevant Senior Staff as appropriate).
University Policies and Procedures
All staff are expected to undertake their work in an inclusive, fair, safe and respectful manner, particular consideration should be given to the University values.
St Mary’s University reserves the right to change and amend this Job description/Person Specification in accordance with the changing requirements of the organisation.
St Mary’s University is located in Twickenham, which is just half an hour by train from the heart of London. This gives both staff and students access to the best of both worlds: a dynamic, bustling city and a tranquil, riverside suburb, with excellent schools and facilities. Many staff and students choose to work and study at St Mary’s because of its prime location.
A snapshot of the local area
A leafy, suburban neighbourhood, Twickenham is a mixture of period houses, formal gardens and parks surrounding King Street, the town’s centre. Twickenham offers many traditional pubs and restaurants, with many diverse cuisines. Church Street runs adjacent to the river and comprises cafés, boutiques, small bookshops, and a church.
The lively riverside towns of Kingston and Richmond are a short bus ride away from the University. Throughout the day, the towns attract visitors who come to enjoy the shopping centres, cinemas, restaurants, live music venues, bars, and theatres. Teddington, just along the road from the University, was recently named “the best place to live in London” by the Sunday Times.
Outdoor spaces
Marble Hill Park in East Twickenham is a charming local park and the setting of Marble Hill House, a Venetian villa built for a mistress of George II and now a local landmark. Just a short stroll along a peaceful riverside road into secluded woodland gardens is Orleans House Gallery, a stunning 18th century house and gardens which now serves as an art gallery, hosting regular exhibitions and workshops.
St Mary’s is close to two of London’s eight royal parks. Both Richmond Park and Bushy Park, where Parkrun started, offer staff and students hundreds of acres of beautiful, secluded woodland for get-away-from-it-all walks, as well as space for cycling and running.
Twickenham and the adjacent River Thames also provide lots of opportunities for outdoor activities.
Culture, history and heritage
Flood Lane and Church Lane lead down to the river where you can enjoy a drink in one of the riverside pubs or cross the bridge on to Eel Pie Island. Many musicians began their careers or played sets at the Eel Pie Island Hotel and recorded material at Eel Pie Studios.
In 2017, St Mary’s became the proud operator of The Exchange in Twickenham – a newly built community venue that boasts a 300-seat theatre, six studio rooms, a café and a bar. St Mary’s students benefit from teaching and training at the site, with drama students staging performances in the theatre.
The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, Henry VIII’s Hampton Court Palace, museums, galleries and other historic houses open to the public are also among unique features of the local area. On St Mary’s campus itself is Strawberry Hill House, Horace Walpole’s Gothic Revival villa.
Sport
The rugby capital of the world, Twickenham Stadium is the home of the Rugby Football Union. Seating 82,000, it is the 5th largest stadium in Europe and hosts the Six Nations matches and the Rugby World Cup, as well as the annual varsity match between rival universities Oxford and Cambridge. The prestigious matches attract fans from around the globe who celebrate in Twickenham’s pubs and bars, creating an unrivalled atmosphere. The area is also home to Harlequins and London Irish rugby clubs.
The stadium has a state-of-the-art fitness centre attached, as well as a world-renowned rugby museum. The stadium is also regularly used as a venue for concerts.
Find out more at www.stmarys.ac.uk/location
The salary is dependent on experience and will be negotiated with the preferred candidate.
Holiday entitlement is 35 days annual leave, plus public holidays and University closure days between Christmas and New Year.
The successful candidate will be eligible to join the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.
St Mary’s offer a range of additional benefits including the Cycle2Work scheme, season ticket loan and on-site gym and sports facilities at a discounted rate.
More information on employee benefits can be found at http://www.stmarys.ac.uk/jobs/benefits.htm
We promote applications from all sections of the community, irrespective of background, belief or identity, recognising the benefits that a diverse organisation can bring and particularly encourage applications from groups which are underrepresented in the University workforce.
We recognise the benefits and importance of an environment that supports flexible working and are open to conversations about this throughout the application process.
Anderson Quigley is acting as an advisor to St Mary’s University. An executive search process is being carried out by Anderson Quigley in addition to the public advertisement.
Should you wish to discuss the role in strict confidence, please contact our advising consultants at Anderson Quigley:
- Sophie Rees on +44(0)7719 313 982 or sophie@andersonquigley.com
- Elliott Rae on +44 (0)7584 078 534 or elliott@andersonquigley.com
The closing date for applications is noon on Monday 6 June 2022.
Applications should consist of:
- A full CV.
- A covering letter (maximum of 2 pages) setting out your interest in the role and details of how you match the knowledge and qualifications criteria of the person specification.
- Please include current salary details and the names and addresses of two referees. Referees will not be approached until the final stages and not without prior permission from candidates.
- Please complete the following online Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form.
Completed applications should be uploaded at www.andersonquigley.com/candidates using the reference AQ1361.
Timetable
| Closing date: | noon on Monday 6 June |
| Longlisting: | Friday 10 June |
| Preliminary interviews with AQ: | w/c 13 June |
| Shortlisting: | Monday 20 June |
| Panel Interviews: | Friday 8 July (on campus) |
