Associate Dean of Academic Standards

The opportunity

The Associate Dean of Academic Standards primary objective is to secure the annual national standards for UAL Awarding Body’s suite of circa fifty-seven regulated qualifications, ensuring grade profiles remain consistent year on year across more than 200 institutions in four countries, delivered to more than 63,000 students. They will act as the final arbiter of academic standards for all UAL Awarding Body qualifications, ensuring that teaching, learning and assessment deliver consistency, reliability and validity.

They will secure annual national standards through the strategic leadership and management of a team of Chief Examiners, Senior External Moderators, External Moderators and External Assessors. They will operate as the academic lead and figurehead for all UAL Awarding Body assessors, examiners and moderators and lead in their selection, recruitment, training, development, monitoring and performance management.

The Associate Dean of Academic Standards will be a nationally renowned expert in pre-degree creative education, and will ensure the needs of students, the creative education sector and the creative industries are represented in the strategic decision-making of the awarding body, and in the design and review of qualifications and assessments. They will also provide a positive ethical and social viewpoint to support all business decisions, ensuring the awarding body responds positively to issues of diversity and social justice.

About you

Specialist Knowledge/Qualifications

Degree or equivalent (essential)

Postgraduate qualification in the arts or education policy (desirable)

A comprehensive understanding of teaching, learning and assessment in Further and Higher Education and in schools and 6th form colleges (essential)

A comprehensive understanding of qualification, assessment and education policy, specifically in regard to further education, vocational and applied qualifications and public funding (essential)

A comprehensive understanding of the current and future needs of the UK creative industries and the wider creative economy, both in terms of discipline specific knowledge and skills and wider thematic issues such as sustainability and Artificial Intelligence (essential)

A comprehensive understanding of the principles of budget management and project management (essential)

Knowledge of business change processes through staff, systems and operational development (essential)

Relevant Experience

Strategic leadership and management experience in an education environment (essential)

Experience of forming and leading dynamic teams to deliver organisational objectives (essential)

Experience of working across a large organisation and successfully influencing and managing change in such an environment (essential)

Experience of budget management and business planning in an education environment (essential)

Experience of working with specialist colleagues in finance, IT and HR to ensure smooth business operations (desirable)

A proven track record of influencing policy makers to achieve positive outcomes for own organisation and the wider sector (desirable)

Communication Skills

Communicates in a compelling and influential way adapting the style and message to a diverse internal or external audience in an inclusive and accessible way (essential)

Leadership and Management

Motivates and leads effectively, setting the direction of one or more function and promoting collaboration across formal boundaries (essential)

Professional Practice

Contributes to advancing professional practice in own area of specialism (desirable)

Planning and Managing Resources

Effectively plans, prioritises and manages the delivery of complex projects or activities to achieve long term strategic objectives (essential)

Teamwork

Builds effective teams, networks or communities of practice and fosters constructive cross team collaboration (essential)

Student experience or customer service

Leads the improvement of the student or customer experience and promotes an inclusive environment for students, colleagues or customers (desirable)

Creativity, Innovation and Problem Solving

Initiates innovative solutions to problems which have a strategic impact (essential)

If you have any queries you may contact OEA Recruitment Team via email OEAstaffrecruitment@arts.ac.uk or telephone: 020 7514 2965