Head of Social Purpose Operations

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The opportunity

We believe the world needs creativity. That’s why UAL is a social purpose university, dedicated to nurturing creativity and deploying it to help solve the world’s problems. At the core of our new 10-year strategy is a commitment to making the world a better place through our collective creative endeavour. This is a time of great change, and great opportunity and we are looking for a unique, talented and focused individual to join us at this exciting juncture as the Head of Social Purpose Operations. 

This brand-new role will support the Chief Social Purpose Officer in defining, building and creating the University’s recently formed Social Purpose Group. The Group brings together our fundraising team, our communications directorate, and our new Storytelling Institute, a hub for campaigners and artists to collaborate in the service of social purpose goals. 

You will play a key leadership role in building and running the new division. Sitting within the Group’s new Senior Leadership Team and working alongside four Directors, you will: 

• Build and lead the strategic business planning for the Social Purpose Group ensuring that the directorates can develop and drive transformation, in line with UAL strategy
• Lead strategic planning and operational delivery of finance, people, data management, governance, compliance and communications for the Group, working with key business partners
• Develop, build and ensure consistent and effective ways of working in partnership with the Directors of Development, Communications, the Storytelling Institute and Social Purpose Lab
• Lead on the development and delivery of data-driven governance and communications internally and externally, including budget planning, business cases and papers 

There is also opportunity for designing new ways of thinking and being in the workplace, to deliver a fundamental step change in how UAL can make the world a better place. 

About you

We are looking for a candidate with significant leadership and management experience at a senior level in a complex organisational environment with multiple stakeholders. Key to the role will be your experience of successful management and delivery of culture change, within Higher Education or a similar environment, developing teams to be highly service focused. 

With a degree / postgraduate qualification in business, management or a relevant field, professional qualification in a relevant area or substantial equivalent experience, you will have in depth knowledge of core operations and process management activities such as administration, risk management, finance, HR and quality assurance. 

We are UAL

University of the Arts London (UAL) offers an extensive range of courses in art, design, fashion, communication and performing arts. We are a collegiate University spread across London with six Colleges, four Institutes and five Research Centres. UAL also has two subsidiary companies, delivering specialist activities – UAL Short Courses Ltd, and UAL Arts Temps Ltd.

We’re made up of all types of people, coming together in London, the world’s creative capital. We are designers, artists, performers, thinkers, researchers and makers. Our students, staff and graduates form a global network of creatives, entrepreneurs and leaders. Together, our ideas change the world. Because the world needs creativity.

We are ranked highly across the board. We are ranked first for specialist art and design, second in the world for Art and Design in the 2023 QS World University Rankings (for the fifth year in a row), ranked fifth in sustainability and two of our colleges were rated in the top three fashion schools in the world.

Our culture

We have become one of the world’s most international Universities, welcoming over 22,000 students and 6,000 staff from 130 countries. And, as a global university, staff and students learn from different cultures and perspectives, which leads to new conversations and innovative work. At our very core, everything we do seeks to challenge the status quo by driving social purpose and standing up for what matters.

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds including those who may feel underrepresented in the workforce due to their socioeconomic circumstances such as those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (B.A.M.E.) backgrounds. We aim to be a university where everyone can be themselves and are supported to reach their full potential.

With our commitment to inclusion and diversity, we are proud to be a Race Equality Charter (REC) member to help us reduce barriers that negatively impacts B.A.M.E. staff, a Stonewall Diversity Champion to ensure all LGBTQ+ people are valued at work, a Disability Confident Scheme Committed employer and member of the Business Disability Forum which help us to improve the lives of disabled people in the workplace.

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