Associate Director (Planning & Operations)

Associate Director (Planning & Operations)

Department: Business Operations

Grade and Salary: £65,091 - £74,613 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance

Job ID: 138185

About us:

King's Libraries & Collections is one of the UK's largest and most distinguished research libraries, housing exceptional library collections and archives. We support students, researchers, clinicians and members of the public through high quality services, study environments, and the expertise of our dedicated staff.

Libraries & Collections spans seven libraries, including the flagship Maughan Library on Chancery Lane, the Foyle Special Collections Library, which houses King's remarkable manuscripts and rare books, and King's Archives, steward to more than five million print items and a wealth of unique archival material.

We are now seeking an individual with strong business or operational management experience to help shape the future of King's collections. This is an excellent opportunity to bring your skills to an educational and cultural setting and play a central role in delivering King's 2030-ensuring our collections continue to enrich research, teaching and public engagement for years to come.

About the role:

This is a key leadership role for Libraries & Collections, providing operational oversight for the delivery and long term sustainability of library and archive services across King's. As Associate Director for Planning & Operations you will be responsible for the business management of a large and complex part of the university, enhancing operational resilience and strengthening strategic capability.

This role would suit someone with experience of operational leadership who can effectively translate organisational strategy into deliverable plans.

We encourage applications from candidates who have experience from both within and outside of the Higher Education sector where they can demonstrate the skills needed to succeed in this role.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract.

About you:

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

Essential criteria:

• Experience of senior management or leadership in operational management, planning or business management roles.
• An ability to lead, motivate, and develop people, fostering a positive, collaborative, and inclusive culture.
• Experience of leading annual planning cycles, including resource allocation and performance monitoring.
• Proven track record of delivering organisational wide projects with demonstrable results.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data, identify trends, and use evidence to inform decision making.
• Financial acumen - able to manage large budgets, provide financial forecasts and provide financial insights to support strategic decision making.
• Clear and effective communication skills that will engage stakeholders and bridge the gap between strategic vision and operational planning for colleagues.
• Strong critical thinking skills - can analyse situations and implement effective solutions; identify patterns and root causes to avoid problems in the future.

Desirable criteria:

• Experience working in higher education, libraries, cultural institutions, or other knowledge based environments.
• Experience of developing or delivering organisational wide workforce strategies or people focused transformation programmes.
• Experience in supporting career development frameworks or talent management initiatives.
• Experience preparing high level reports, business cases, or strategic papers for senior governance bodies.

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 page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further information:

At King's, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university. The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination. When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King's guidance.

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 person specification section of the job description. 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.

We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.

We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.

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

Closing Date: 5th March 2026.

Interviews are provisionally scheduled for the 16th and 18th March.