Head of Student Engagement and Success

Job Title: Head of Student Engagement and Success

Location: Birmingham

Salary: £42,254 - £43,482 per annum - SS7

Job type: Full-Time, Fixed-Term up to 12 months

The University is unlike any other. Standing proud in the heart of the city of Birmingham, they have been delivering career-focused education and training for decades. With around 8000 students across FE and HE level provision, the University is highly respected by employers and industry in meeting the region's skills needs.

The University's mission is to promote and provide the opportunity for participation in the learning process by those with the ambition and commitment to succeed and to maintain a learning community that meets the diverse needs of our students, the economy and society at large.

The Role:

The University is seeking an experienced student engagement professional to provide leadership to its recently refreshed Student Engagement and Success team.

As part of the ambitious Student Support and Wellbeing Directorate, the Student Engagement and Success Team supports students to overcome any non-academic challenges they face during their time at the University through the creation and delivery of institution-wide events, 1:1 support, and mentoring - the team is driven by a passion to ensure all students are supported to maximise their potential.

Working as part of the Directorate's senior management team, the postholder will build excellent relationships across the institution and with external partners and stakeholders and will be expected to play a key role in strengthening our approach to supporting students. The successful candidate will bring significant experience of working with young people and students in a similar setting and will possess an excellent understanding of the barriers to engagement and how these can be overcome.

With a focus on student belonging, retention, and success, the Head of Student Engagement and Success will use their excellent leadership, management and innovation skills to ensure that all students at risk of disengagement are supported and have equal opportunity to succeed.

The postholder will also support the development and delivery of the Access and Participation Plan, ensuring initiatives and projects are delivered within budget and are aligned to strategy.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone with demonstrable experience of developing and implementing student engagement initiatives within a relevant educational setting.

The successful candidate will be expected to start in role in March 2026.

For an informal chat about the role, please contact Ben Pithouse, Director of Student Support and Wellbeing.

Benefits:

• Generous allocation of annual leave
  • 26 days' paid leave per year
  • 12 Bank Holidays & Concessionary Days
• Excellent Local Government Pension Scheme
  • Employer Contributions - 20.9%
• Subsidised private healthcare provided by Aviva including a Digital GP Service.
• Employee Assistance Programme inclusive of counselling services, financial wellbeing support and bereavement support
• Annual health MOTs with our Registered Nurse
• Excellent staff development opportunities including professional qualification sponsorship
• A variety of salary sacrifice schemes including car, technology home and cycle.
• Heavily-subsidised on-site car parking in central Birmingham
• Hybrid working opportunities
• Free on-site gym membership

Extra Information:

All applicants for employment at the University will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the principles of Safeguarding and the PREVENT agenda in the context of further and higher education.

Closing Date - Sunday 30th November 2025.

Interview Date - TBC.

The University is an equal opportunities employer.

Please click APPLY to be redirected to our website to complete an application form.

Candidates with the relevant experience or job titles of: Engagement Manager, Student Engagement Lead, Student Success Lead, Academic Engagement Lead, may also be considered for this role.