King's College London

THIS VACANCY IS OPEN TO INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY

About us

King’s Foundations is a leading centre for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and pathway education across the HE sector, accredited by the British Council. As one of the largest providers of pathway education, we welcome over 2,500 students each year across our King’s International Foundation Programmes and our range of Pre-sessional Programmes. King’s Foundations is also responsible for the delivery of Academic Skills support across the university providing in person, online, and asynchronous programmes for students studying on all undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at King’s.  In addition, we offer an increasing number of short courses in English language learning and teaching.

Our mission is to support a diverse group of learners to achieve their potential at King’s, supporting students to become independent and inquisitive learners. King’s Foundations is home to approximately 80 permanent staff, growing to around 150 during our busy summer months.  We champion a forward-thinking approach to education and take a digitally-enabled approach across all aspects of education. Over the last 6 years, the department has seen significant planned growth in support of King’s Vision 2029, with annual income of over £20m.

About the role

The Head of Operations leads and manages the professional services team within the department and works across the Centre for International Education and Languages (CIEL) with other Heads of Operations, to align policies, processes and approaches across the Centre. They are responsible for the effective day-to-day running of the department overall and ensuring that there is comprehensive planning in place to support the delivery of King’s International Foundation programme, the Extended International Foundation programme, the suite of Pre Sessional programmes and the Academic Skills programme, whilst maximising opportunities to deliver and contribute to short courses, partnership work and commercial opportunities.

Core duties include:

• Leading and managing the department’s Professional Services team, including the Business Support Team, the Student Experience Team and the Programmes Team ensuring high-quality services that are appropriately student and staff focused 
• Overall operational leadership and management of the department’s business and education operations, working closely with CIEL colleagues and wider university professional services teams.
• Leading in the development, implementation and operationalising of departmental and CIEL strategy.
• Initiating and managing projects, including balancing numerous projects effectively, to improve the effectiveness of the department.
• Leading the planning and implementation of efficient, effective, and high-quality staffing and other resourcing needs in response to planned and fluctuating student numbers across the department, including areas connected to programme delivery, space, student and staff experience, and student attainment tracking.
• Working across CIEL to align approaches and realise the benefits of coming together in one area.

This is a full time role (35 Hours per week), and is offered as a fixed term contract until May 2026

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. Substantial senior professional services skills which demonstrate leadership skills in a complex environment, ideally gained within the Higher Education sector, including involvement in budgetary, HR, space planning, monitoring KPIs etc.
2. Experience of managing multiple projects and leading strategic change processes, independently and in collaboration with others.  
3. High degree of numeracy and the ability to analyse statistical data to underpin financial decisions and approaches.
4. Proven excellent oral and written communication skills, negotiation and influencing skills, across a range of staff, including obtaining buy-in from senior stakeholders.
5. Excellent leadership, interpersonal and influencing skills and the ability to build up and maintain effective working relationships across the organisation and at all levels.
6. Significant experience of leading and managing teams, including dealing with conflicting demands and tight timelines.
7. Excellent organisational skills, the ability to prioritise effectively and deliver work personally and through others to tight deadlines and within budget.
8. Demonstrable commitment to EDI in working practices and people management, ensuring that policies and local practices are adhered to

Desirable criteria

1. Relevant postgraduate or professional qualification.
2. Comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by the sector.
3. Experience of leading a programme planning and delivery cycle of large programmes

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

HR Use Only

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service clearances.