Thank you for your interest in joining us as our new Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
At the University of South Wales (USW), our vision is to transform lives and contribute positively to the world. Established more than 180 years ago by industry, USW is one of the UK’s most dynamic and forward-thinking universities, home to circa 20,000 students from more than 100 countries and supported by 2,700 dedicated staff members.
Our strong partnership with industry prepares individuals for future careers, fostering growth and allowing them to fully express their talents. Whether through our teaching or our research, our aim is to make a meaningful impact beyond the boundaries of our campus. We believe in collaboration, building responsive and sustainable partnerships that drive long-term benefits.
We play a pivotal role in supporting businesses and communities across the South Wales region, contributing £1.1 billion annually to the UK economy and sustaining 10,600 jobs nationwide. While deeply rooted in our region, our influence and contributions extend far beyond.
Our ambitious USW 2030 strategy outlines a roadmap for the future. Like many in the sector, we face financial challenges and are currently navigating a complex transformation programme that reassesses our academic delivery models and workforce needs, along with modernising systems and practices.
Our new Deputy Vice-Chancellor will be instrumental in driving forward and implementing this academic transformation, fostering an environment that encourages individuals to push boundaries and support one another in achieving excellence.
We are also making strategic investments to ensure a vibrant future. This summer, we began construction on a new academic building, set to become a hub for Computing, Engineering and Technology when it opens in 2026. It’s an exciting time to be part of our journey.
The USW community is often described as a family—composed of inspiring and dedicated individuals committed to creating opportunities and promoting social justice. USW is truly special, with a strong sense of community and an unwavering focus on helping others realise their potential.
We look forward to welcoming an inspiring and strategic leader who shares our commitment to making a lasting difference for our students, staff, and the wider community.
The University of South Wales (USW) is innovative, thriving, and sustainable. We work to build better futures for our students, our communities and our partners economically, socially, and culturally.
We are proud to be Wales’s leading widening participation university and are committed to addressing social inequalities, supporting and enabling our students to achieve the best life outcomes possible.
With a distinctive portfolio co-designed with industry, we pride ourselves on producing the healthcare workers, lawyers, teachers, and police officers of tomorrow. Our curriculum is created with our students to ensure they are equipped with the relevant skills, knowledge, and experience to maximise their potential and future opportunities. We also work in collaboration with industry, researching and innovating to tackle some of the biggest global challenges, from energy and health to security and sustainability.
We have a vibrant and diverse community, with students from more than 100 countries, studying on our campuses in Cardiff, Newport, and Pontypridd. We also provide a range of inclusive study pathways, supporting lifelong learning and flexible options for our students, working closely with our partner colleges.
We are challenging ourselves to think and act differently by tackling stigmas and removing barriers. Taking inspiration from our students, partners and community to develop a shared sense of belonging we are building better futures for all economically, socially and culturally.
Our values
At USW, we hold our values close to our hearts. Our community is:
The University Strategy – USW 2030 – sets out our direction; a pathway for the future that is bold and ambitious to ensure our continued success and long-term sustainability.
Our vision is clear – we want to change lives and our world for the better. Our world is changing at an intense pace and it is our job to equip our students with the skills, knowledge and experience required to maximise their potential and future opportunities in the world of work.
By 2030, we will:
We have a strong reputation for producing highly impactful and applied research. We are fourth in Wales for impact (2021 Research Excellence Framework), with 81% of our research activity classed as world-leading or internationally excellent (4/3*).
We strive to help solve real problems faced by society. Our multidisciplinary research teams collaborate with industry, communities, and organisations to make a positive difference to lives. Our research is focused around four accelerator areas:
Crime, Security, and Justice
We are impacting policy, practice and business with our internationally-recognised research in criminology, cyber-security, social policy and police sciences.
Health and Well-being
Our expertise in intellectual disabilities, health and social care, social prescribing, cognitive psychology, and sport and exercise science is tackling key issues around ageing and vulnerable groups.
Creative Innovation
We’re leading the agenda for the creative industries and digital economy in Wales, influencing policy through identifying the challenges and opportunities facing the creative industries.
Sustainable Environment
We’re helping to create a safer, more sustainable world with our ground breaking multi-disciplinary research in hydrogen, ecology, anaerobic digestion and advanced power systems.
We are challenging ourselves to think and act differently. At USW, we are embarking upon a journey to create equitable spaces for all. We are tackling stigmas and removing barriers, taking inspiration from our students and our community.
Equality, diversity, and inclusion has been embedded into how we operate as a university.
Race Equality Charter – USW is committed to progress with Advance HE’s Race Equality Charter (REC).
Athena SWAN – USW has been recognised for its commitment to gender equality by achieving the Athena SWAN Bronze award.
Stonewall Top 100 Employers 2020 – USW rose to 24th in the 2020 Workplace Equality Index and was named as a Top Trans Employer by Stonewall in 2020.
Disability Confident Scheme – We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer, which means taking action to improve how we recruit, retain, and develop disabled people.
University of Sanctuary – USW is a University of Sanctuary. This recognises the University’s commitment to creating a welcoming culture for people seeking sanctuary within, and beyond, its campuses.
The University’s locations offer the best of what South Wales has to offer within easy reach – the capital, the coast, mountains and valleys.
We have five campuses across three locations, but we’re one university.
Cardiff – A modern, multicultural capital city – here, you’ll find more green space per person than any UK city. Well-known as a city of culture and entertainment, there’s always something to experience in Cardiff. Our Cardiff Campus is home to a vibrant and creative community, from Games and Design to Fashion and Film.
Newport – An independent, multicultural city that is the gateway to Wales. Our Newport Campus is right in the heart of the city, overlooking the River Usk. At the Campus, an array of professional learning and teaching is on offer from Education and Teaching to Business and Cyber Security.
Pontypridd – Framed by green hills with easy access to the Brecon Beacons National Park. Here, you’ll have space to focus and horizons to explore. A diverse and friendly community is at the heart of our Pontypridd Campus, with learning spread across three sites – Treforest, Glyntaff, and the USW Sport Park.
ROLE DESCRIPTION
| Job title | Deputy Vice-Chancellor |
| Reports to | Vice-Chancellor |
| Direct Reports |
|
| Head Office | Treforest campus in Pontypridd |
| Job Purpose | Working closely with the Vice-Chancellor and operating as a critical member of the University Executive team, you will provide strategic leadership, direction, academic leadership and operational oversight across the University and the wider group. Particularly in respect of our academic transformation and quality. |
Responsibilities
USW is driving forward significant long-term transformation to deliver our 2030 Strategy and you will play a key role in supporting the wider Executive team in delivering our integrated, financially sustainable and effective Transformation Programme. As part of that USW wide Transformation Programme, you will take specific ownership for leading all aspects of the academic transformation programme, ensuring benefit and performance realisation and effective embedding of change.
An integral part of the DVC role will be to provide visible leadership and engagement with a range of stakeholders across both the university including our staff, trade unions, governors and wider partners. Our leadership approach is rooted in our organisational values and role modelling these values is a core part of our Executive leadership approach. You will, as part of this approach, champion and drive forward our commitment to diversity equality and inclusion delivering tangible outcomes and improvements in participation, representation, experience and outcomes of minoritised students and staff. You will be comfortable with being challenged and offering challenge as we will build trust within our team, accountability for our actions and a sharp attention in impact.
You will also be an advocate and ambassador for all that we do outside of USW. Making our wider region and beyond aware of what we stand for, what we do and our quality in doing it. Bringing stakeholders to us who can enhance our mission.
The DVC portfolio includes leadership responsibility for a range of academic faculties and functions. You will lead our Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching to ensure our pedagogic vision is evident in practice and can be translated into reputational advantage. And you will oversee our Future Students department to ensure that we meet recruitment targets, identify and exploit new market opportunities and grow good business whether in the UK or through international partnerships. Vitally, you will lead on how we open up participation of students in our region at whatever stages of their lives and careers, including later starters to HE.
Alongside others you will identify and build a mix of programmes and academic services that build the financial strength of the University. Growth, but good growth.
You will lead your teams to ensure connectivity between curriculum, learning & teaching, research and innovation, building around our core strengths and accelerated development areas and ensuring effective implementation of transformation across our workforce, delivery models and student journey. You will be a willing player in building a more integrated and connected USW with a new organisational design.
Externally you will be responsible for building partnerships that enrich our offer and that ensure the best outcomes for our learners, improved quality, driving enhancements in reputation and most importantly, student outcomes. You will also be an influencer regionally and nationally, helping to shape the external environment in which USW will thrive.
USW is an institution that is proud of its heritage as a university that was built by industry and is rooted in its region, that provides access to educational opportunities for all, and that works in a fully integrated way with industry in curriculum design and applied research. You will be committed to and have evidence of achievement against that profile of work.
You will be someone who will take that history to a new level.
In Summary
As DVC You will:
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Academic
Knowledge and Skills
Personal Attributes
Desirable Qualifications and CPD
Salary – Competitive with a well-defined, clear pay structure which reflects both market conditions and the levels of skills and experience required to remain at the leading edge of a challenging and competitive environment.
Pension – Opportunity to join a generous pension scheme. The current scheme offers significant benefits including:
Annual leave – generous annual leave entitlement which aims to encourage a healthy work/life balance. Annual leave entitlement is 35 days from day one, plus all public bank holiday and further additional closure days over the Christmas period (usually up to 3 days).
Working Flexibly – USW has flexible working policies, enabling you to manage your responsibilities and interests outside of work. We offer generous Maternity, Paternity/Partner, Adoption and Shared Parental leave, as well as Carer and Compassionate Leave.
USW also has a flexible approach to working hours and informal hybrid working arrangements to support you to work in a way that meets the needs of the University and takes account of your personal circumstances.
Other benefits include:
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 advertisement.
The closing date for applications is noon on 13 December 2024.
Applications should consist of:
Should you wish to discuss the role in strict confidence, please contact Elliott Rae at +44 (0)7584 078 534 or elliott.rae@andersonquigley.com or Aino Betts at +44 (0)7743 934 723 or aino.betts@andersonquigley.com.
| Closing date | December 13th |
| Longlisting | December 18th |
| Preliminary interviews (AQ only) | January 6th – January 8th |
| Shortlisting | January 9th |
| Final panels | January 16th and 17th |
www.southwales.ac.uk 