Principal and Chief Executive

An exciting senior and strategic leadership opportunity to lead Blackburn College in to the next stage of its development.

Blackburn College is one of the UK’s largest and most successful colleges, and sector-leading in its curriculum development, delivery and relevance to employer needs. It is in the process of implementing a performance improvement action plan as part of its journey to bring its Ofsted rating for its FE provision back to good and ultimately outstanding. We have c13,000 students across Further and Higher Education and Work Based Learning, upwards of 1000 staff and a turnover of c£43m. We provide a broad range of programmes, from Study Programmes through to Higher Education, delivered in a largely newly built, world class environment. While 50% of our revenue is from Further Education, 39% is contributed by Higher Education programmes.

Blackburn College is seeking to appoint a visionary strategic leader as Principal and Chief Executive. The ideal candidate will have the focus, motivation and capability to define the shape, size and direction of the College in relation to the development and delivery of its curriculum, whilst maintaining financial sustainability and being true to its vision, mission and values and its service to its communities.

The post holder will be a passionate advocate of education and skills and will be committed to ensuring the delivery of outstanding teaching and learning throughout all aspects of the College’s provision.

The post holder will continue to develop our relationships with Universities of international standing, including our validating partners. We consider our approach to be sector-leading. At the same time we have interfaces with national and international business, and our community focus means that we are committed to develop further our presence around Blackburn and Darwen and in conjunction with key stakeholders including the local authority. A requirement will be to ensure the College continues to meet the demands of stakeholders and, above all, students and continue to transform the lives of individuals, heightening our impact on business and communities, whilst delivering high quality provision.

The Post

The new Principal and Chief Executive will have overall responsibility for the College and its strategic direction with both an internal and external facing role. The post holder will be required to manage at scale in such a way as to sustain financial performance amid increased competition whilst overseeing the delivery, of excellent performance across the whole portfolio of the College’s activities.

Promoting excellence in teaching, learning and assessment and maintaining and creating key strategic partnerships which bring new opportunities for learners and our stakeholders will be an essential part of the role.

The Person

Applications are invited from experienced professionals from across the full spectrum of FE and HE institutions and agencies, and must have relevant experience and perspective. The ideal person will need to be a strong inspirational leader, an advocate of high quality teaching and learning and have high credibility within the College and amongst the College’s validating partners. Above all they must have a successful track record gained as a leader of a large Further Education College, Higher Education Institution, a training provider or any other commercial organisation which shares similar values to Blackburn College.

How to Apply

Please download a candidate pack and associated information on the post by following the apply link.

• The closing date for applications is 9am on Friday 11 May 2018
• Scheduled Dates of Assessment Centre: Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 June 2018 and applicants must be available for both days.
• Application Process. Full details of the application process are contained in the Candidate Pack.

As an individual you will be committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Blackburn College values diversity and is committed to creating a diverse workforce