Head of Academic Quality & Standards

Terms: Permanent, Full Time post 

Closing Date: 7 February 2022 - 12:00 

 *The location of this position is flexible and can be home working or based in one of the OU offices in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The postholder will need to be prepared for occasional travel to Walton Hall in Milton Keynes.

Change your career, change lives 

The Open University is the UK’s largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education. 

Assessment, Credit and Qualifications (ACQ) sits within the wider unit of Academic Services. ACQ has four core areas of work: Academic Quality and Standards, Policy and Projects, Operations, and Resource Planning, Strategy and Communications. ACQ staff work closely with colleagues from across the University and with external bodies to; support students and their learning experience, assure academic standards, provide advice and guidance to academic and professional services staff, and ensure that essential services related to assessment, credit and qualifications are delivered.

The role 

The Head of Academic Quality and Standards (AQS) is a key leadership role for the institution. The role sits within ACQ and is a member of the ACQ Directorate Team. The postholder and the AQS team support the Pro-Vice Chancellor Students’ institutional accountability for the assurance and enhancement of academic quality and standards and alignment with external quality assessment frameworks.

The strength of your leadership skills will be key to your success. The ability to influence discussions, constructively challenge, and develop appropriate and supportive solutions in collaboration with others will be critical. As a team player you will be skilled in building effective and mutually respectful relationships with stakeholders. You will have substantive experience of effectively leading and developing a team and an ability to engage and inspire a team of experts. In doing so you will ensure that your team is best placed to lead improvements in quality assurance and enhancement and provide advice and guidance to colleagues across the University on quality related matters.

Skills and experience 

• Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of the key issues and challenges currently facing the HE sector, specifically in relation to academic quality and standards.
• Experience of academic quality and standards systems, policy and processes in the four Nations of the UK HE sector.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, able to collaborate and with a creative and positive approach to problem-solving.
• Substantive experience of leading, managing and developing teams with the ability to inspire a team of experts.
• High-degree of personal credibility, tenacity, and integrity.

This role is part of an anonymous recruitment trial and all applications are completed online following the instructions on our website:

Head of Academic Quality & Standards | Employment (open.ac.uk)

For further information about the role, including a full person specification, please see the attached job description and additional information document.

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