Head of Higher Education

Hereford College of Arts is a vibrant arts college with a specialist focus on art, media, design, popular music and performing arts. The curriculum includes undergraduate and postgraduate degrees alongside a range of Further Education programmes and a wide-ranging short course programme. Our mission is to empower creativity and enrich our world through transformative arts education and we are proud of the way our community of students, staff, governors, fellows, partners and alumni contribute to the benefit of our wider society. We have a good reputation and track record, but have ambitious plans to develop and grow our distinctiveness. Hereford city and the wider region are also full of ambition with new cultural initiatives and enterprises, and an innovative engineering university in development, which offer many opportunities for collaboration. 

We are now looking for a Head of Higher Education to join the Senior Leadership Team and provide inspirational leadership across our HE provision, whilst ensuring it remains fully integrated into the college as a whole.  At a time of exceptional change and challenge across HE, we are looking for someone with a strong grasp of this evolving landscape, its new demands and opportunities, and the potential for different models of delivery. You will bring passion and pragmatism, innovation, and an ability to win hearts and minds and collaborate effectively in complex situations. You will be a powerful advocate for HCA and engage well with our many different stakeholders. You will keep a calm head under pressure and understand the constraints, as well as benefits, of working within a smaller institution.  This is a 'hands on' role and you will work directly with our committed team of HE Course Leaders and other academic and professional services staff. 

As Head of HE you will oversee all aspects of curriculum development, learning and teaching, and assessment and quality assurance, to ensure the very best outcomes for our students.  You will identify new opportunities for financially viable curriculum development to meet national needs and play a leading role in the development and delivery of recruitment strategies. You will have responsibility for managing the relationship with the validating university partner and leading the college towards our aspiration to achieve our own degree awarding powers. You will build external partnerships with businesses and other organisations to further college strategic objectives and benefit students and staff.  

As a member of the Senior Leadership Team you will help drive the overall strategic leadership of the college and will promote collaboration, alignment and efficiency across our HE and FE provision to benefit students, and ensure the college is greater than the sum of its parts.

The college has recently undertaken a review of strategy, which we are in the process of refining into an implementation plan.  This is an exceptional opportunity to join us at a time of transition to help us realise our vision to develop a good college (Ofsted good provider, TEF silver) into an exceptional centre for creative education rooted in place but connected to the world.

For an informal discussion please contact Abigail Appleton, Principal, by emailing a.appleton@hca.ac.uk.

To apply, click on the link below. 

Closing date for applications: Tuesday 8^th May 2018