Deputy Director of Derby International Business School

Director of Derby International Business School

£71,346 to £89,183 per annum (for exceptional performers, there is scope for further progression up to £102,560 per annum)

Hybrid
This role will be based on site, primarily in the named location with the opportunity to work remotely available in line with our Adaptive Working Framework.

We have one simple promise – to make a positive impact. Through our ground-breaking research, teaching excellence and commitment to sustainable living, we are changing lives for the better.

The University of Derby is a modern university with a modern outlook. Everything we do is driven by delivering excellence and opportunities for our students, our staff and our region.

We have some of the best university facilities in the UK and achieve outstanding results for our teaching and research and have been awarded Gold in the prestigious Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023 – making it one of the top universities in the country recognised for its outstanding student experience and student outcomes.

Financially strong and seriously ambitious we offer our employees an inclusive culture that centres itself around staff wellbeing, where you can be confident you will receive all the help and encouragement you need to build a rewarding career with lots of opportunities to enhance your skills.

Based in our state-of-the-art, £75 million Cavendish Building in the heart of Derby, Derby International Business School (DIBS) is not just educating future business leaders, we are shaping innovators, disruptors, and pioneers ready to thrive in a rapidly evolving world. As a globally connected, regionally grounded and impact-focused Business School, we are committed to empowering people and organisations through applied, industry-integrated business education that prepares graduates for the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Our diverse portfolio of undergraduate and postgraduate courses spans disciplines including accounting, business management, international business, economics and finance, marketing, operations, supply chain and logistics, event management, and tourism management. Each programme is carefully designed to combine academic excellence with practical relevance, equipping students with the knowledge, skills, professional behaviours and strategic mindset required to succeed in an increasingly complex global business environment.

We pride ourselves on our commitment to academic excellence, industry relevance and positive societal impact. Our curriculum is designed in partnership with leading organisations such as PwC, Rolls-Royce, and local enterprise hubs, ensuring our graduates develop the capabilities employers increasingly value, including critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, adaptability and digital fluency. Through strong regional and national partnerships, students benefit from placements, networking opportunities, consultancy projects and real-world learning experiences that bridge the gap between theory and practice.

The Cavendish Building plays a central role in delivering this vision, providing a technology-enabled environment where students, staff and external partners collaborate to address real organisational challenges. As a living laboratory for business education, it supports the integration of learning, research, enterprise and engagement, creating opportunities for innovation, experimentation and impact.

Our programmes are accredited by leading professional bodies including CIMA, ACCA, CIM and CIPD, alongside internationally recognised organisations such as EFMD and PRME, reflecting our commitment to quality, credibility and continuous improvement in business education. We are ambitious for the future and are building on our strengths in applied learning, employer engagement, global partnerships and impactful research to create a distinctive Business School that contributes to better business, better society and a better future.

The school is made up of the following discipline areas:

• Accounting, Economics and Finance
• Business and Management
• Executive Education and Enterprise Development

We are seeking an inspiring and ambitious academic leader to join Derby International Business School as Deputy Director.

Working closely with the Director and Senior Management Team, you will play a pivotal role in shaping and delivering the School's strategic ambitions. You will provide leadership across academic provision, research, enterprise, external engagement and business development, ensuring DIBS continues to deliver an outstanding experience for students and meaningful impact for employers, partners and communities.

You will lead and develop Heads of Discipline, Programme Leaders and academic teams, creating a culture of excellence, innovation and continuous improvement. You will drive the development of a future focused portfolio, ensuring our programmes respond to employer demand, emerging market opportunities and changing student expectations.

The role will have significant responsibility for supporting student recruitment growth, enhancing academic quality and performance, strengthening research and knowledge exchange activity, developing new income streams, and expanding collaborative partnerships both within the UK and internationally.

As Deputy Director, you will also deputise for the Director as required and act as an influential ambassador for DIBS across the University and with external stakeholders.

This is an exceptional opportunity for a strategic leader who is passionate about shaping the future of business education and delivering measurable impact through people, partnerships and performance.

You will be an experienced and credible academic leader with a strong track record of delivering results within higher education.

Holding a doctorate in a relevant discipline, you will bring substantial leadership and management experience, alongside a deep understanding of academic quality, portfolio development, student outcomes, research and enterprise.

You will have proven success in leading high performing teams, driving organisational improvement and delivering strategic objectives through collaborative and inclusive leadership. Equally comfortable operating at strategic and operational levels, you will combine commercial awareness with academic credibility and an ability to build strong relationships across a diverse range of stakeholders.

We are looking for an individual who can demonstrate:

• Significant leadership experience within a higher education environment.
• A track record of developing and inspiring high performing academic teams.
• Success in delivering improvements in student outcomes, academic quality and organisational performance.
• Experience of leading strategic change and growth initiatives.
• Strong commercial awareness and the ability to identify and develop new opportunities.
• Experience of building productive partnerships with employers, professional bodies and external stakeholders.
• A sustained commitment to research, scholarship and academic excellence.
• Exceptional communication, influencing and relationship management skills.

Most importantly, you will share our ambition to create an innovative, inclusive and impactful Business School that prepares students to succeed in an increasingly complex and interconnected world.

• Actively contribute to the development and success of DIBS assuring the achievement of strategic targets including Institutional Success Measures, Performance Indicators and operational goals.
• Ensuring DIBS is correctly positioned in the marketplace for the short and longer term with an appropriate portfolio including Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses, research and enterprise.
• Drive the development and delivery of sustainable growth plans for DIBS, including student recruitment, portfoliodevelopmentand external engagement.
• Support the Director of DIBS to enhance and diversify theDIBS’srevenue streams by developing and implementing innovative and sustainablethird streamincome targets and initiatives.
• Support and enable the development of new income-generating opportunities aligned toDIBS’sstrengths and market demand.
• Together with the senior leadership team, work to establish a thriving, innovative, and dynamic environment to position DIBS as the ‘go-to’ for business leaders and entrepreneurs.

Academic Leadership

• Leading the Heads of Discipline and Programme Leaders to form a strong leadership team for DIBS.
• Lead the academic and curricula development for DIBS, identifying trends in student demand, anticipating emerging requirements and ensuring the promotion of employability, enterprise and inclusion across programmes.
• Use knowledge of the market to assess critically the future horizon to deliver academic curricula that inspires and challenges students, is fit for the future and uses innovative methods of delivery to meet the highest quality standards ensuring the offer is ambitious, attractive and sector leading.
• Lead the development of teaching to ensure that DIBS delivers TEF Gold standard teaching, leading to outstanding learning and assessment practice that embeds the values and ambitions of the School within its core delivery. Develop metrics to deliver the rankings set for DIBS in areas such as TEF, REF, PTES, PRES, DLHE/LEO, NSS and other key performance indicators.
• Drive compliance with institutional performance expectations within the HE sector e.g., the OfS, Designated Quality Body.
• Lead the Discipline level relationship with DIBS’s collaborative partners supporting the operational delivery.
• Create an environment where all staff are expected to share good practice across all the University and to encourage and respond positively to good practice wherever it is found.
• Establish and deliver necessary business development for DIBS identifying and responding to local and regional needs.
• Develop and sustain effective working relationships with external partners, including industry, professionalbodiesand academic collaborators, to support teaching,researchand enterprise activity.
• Ensure that external partnerships are effectively managed to support delivery, studentexperienceand mutual value.
• Embed the University’s core values with specific emphasis on academic quality and social opportunity.
• Develop and foster academic research and scholarship within DIBS to inform the curricula as well as appropriate knowledge transfer activities to enhance the standing of DIBS’s Discipline areas, and deliver strong research outcomes to feed into REF.
• Create, delivery and continuously monitor the objectives to demonstrate that the work of the DIBS has measurable external impact outside of the University, enriching the cultural value and impact of higher education across a number of contexts to support the DIBS’s strategy on a regional, national and international basis.
• Undertake as appropriate a cross-University role in leading activities required to support the achievement of strategic goals.
• Take responsibility for all collaborative partnerships linked to the DIBS.
• Demonstrable expertise in stakeholder engagement, partnership building, commercialisation, multi-party research collaborations and working in complex organisations with a range of disciplinary traditions.

Management

• Provide a collaborative leadership approach which is inclusive of professional services and cross discipline working.
• Create and deliver measures and plans to deliver effective communication with staff across DIBS.
• Agree and achieve DIBS targets and objectives, using management information and active performance management.
• Ensure effective delivery of growth targets through robust operational planningandperformance monitoring.

Please see the Job Description for the full list of Principal Accountabilities.

• Hold a doctorate in an academic discipline relevant to the Derby International Business School or have extensive equivalent professional experience
• Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) with aim of achieving Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy within 3 years of commencement date in post (if not already SF-HEA)
• Relevant professional qualification/membership of a professional body

Experience

• Significant management experience in an HE institution of a similar or larger size
• Successful experience of using effective leadership and management competencies to create a high performing team
• Delivery of outstanding learning, teaching and assessment practice, that is reflected in metrics and rankings such as TEF, REF, PTES, PRES, DLHE/LEO and NSS and other key performance indicators
• Successful experience of performance management, monitoring against agreed targets in a supportive environment
• Demonstrable experience gained through industry employment
• Experience of building capacity and capability of staff in relation to scholarship and research
• Evidence of sustained personal track‑record of research and scholarship

Skills, knowledge & abilities

• Knowledge and use of quality assurance and enhancement policies and procedures
• Highly regarded academic and people leader with a proven ability to deliver through people
• Knowledge and utilisation of quality assurance and enhancement policies and procedures
• Self-confident and resilient with well-developed influencing and persuasion skills
• Proven ability to develop and leverage strategic partnerships with employers, professional bodies and external stakeholders to enhance reputation, student opportunity, research, enterprise and organisational growth
• Well-developed verbal and written communication skills, including report writing
• Strong business skills and commercial acumen and ability to manage budgets
• Good analytical and critical thinking skills
• Ability to enable and gain commitment to organisational change
• Flexible and adaptable, willing to challenge, innovate and change the orthodox
• A commitment to live and promote the University core values

Business requirements

• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development
• Evening and weekend working including open days and applicant visit days
• Overseas / overnight business travel

Experience

• Experience of undertaking successful bids for external funding.
• Successful development of international collaborations, recruitment of international students and internationalisation of the curricula
• Experience of successful inter-disciplinary developments
• Generous annual leave entitlement of 42 days inclusive of bank holidays and concessionary days (pro rata)
• Suite of holistic wellbeing benefits and support including family-friendly policies, generous sick pay provision and comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
• Access to a variety of staff discounts at high street retailers
• Discounted onsite gym
• Access to employer-funded Private Health Insurance
• Holiday purchase
• Cycle to Work scheme
• A flexible working environment
• A commitment to personal and professional development

For further information and informal enquiries regarding the role, please contact Alexandra Charles, Director of Derby International Business School via A.Charles@derby.ac.uk

For enquiries regarding your application and for sponsorship eligibility, please contact the recruitment team via recruitment@derby.ac.uk .

This role is eligible for sponsorship by the University, however, your individual circumstances must meet the criteria set out by UKVI ; this includes meeting the English Language requirement and earning a salary that meets the highest of either the going rate for the SOC code or the minimum salary threshold for the Skilled Worker route (£41,700 per annum, as of 22nd July 2025).

If the role is eligible, but the offered salary is less that the going rate for the role, you may still be able to apply for a Skilled Worker visa if:

Your job is on the Immigration Salary List

You’re under 26, studying or a recent graduate, or in professional training

You have a PhD level qualification that’s relevant to your job

You have a postdoctoral position in science or higher education

Please note that the University cannot confirm your eligibility for sponsorship until an offer is made and your individual circumstances have been considered.

The University of Derby is committed to fostering an open, inclusive and diverse community where everyone is treated with dignity, fairness and respect. We are committed to advancing equity, diversity and inclusion regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief (or none), sex or sexual orientation.

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to inclusive recruitment and welcome requests for adjustments throughout the recruitment process. Applicants may choose their preferred title, including 'Mx', and may share preferred pronouns if they wish. We also use anonymised shortlisting to help reduce the potential impact of unconscious bias. For more information on equity,diversityand inclusion at the University of Derby, pleasevisitour website .

We are also committed to promoting academic freedom and freedom of speech and expression within the law, in line with our Code of Practice , and value diversity of thought alongside diversity of backgrounds and experiences.

However you identify, we welcome applications from people whose experiences, perspectives and talents will contribute to our inclusive, supportive and intellectually vibrant community.

Environmental Sustainability

At the University of Derby, we are passionate about embedding sustainability into everything that we do. We aim to bring environmental sustainability into all aspects of the University, including teaching, research and operational activities. In line with the University's strategic framework, we expect all our staff to embed sustainability into their working practices and support the University's objective to reach net zero carbon by 2050.

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