Associate Dean (Programmes) - (Health Top-up)

Department: Academic/Oxford Brookes University partnership (OBU)

Location: Any GBS UK campus

Salary: £72,000 - £75,000

Type of Contract: Full-Time, Permanent (40 hours per week) - (N.B. sponsorship is not offered for this role)

Our Vision: Changing lives through education

The Role: We are seeking an Associate Dean to provide academic leadership and strategic oversight for our BSc (Hons) Health, Wellbeing and Social Care Top Up programme (Level 6 Direct Entry), delivered exclusively to GBS HND Healthcare graduates. This role is central to driving excellence in curriculum design, programme delivery, and student experience within a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape. Due to our delivery model, the Associate Dean will need to demonstrate flexibility to support academic operations across weekdays, evenings, and weekends.

Role Purpose: Reporting to the Dean of Faculty, the Associate Dean shall provide leadership and management for particular higher education programme(s) validated by GBS or by our collaborative partners and offered at our campuses. To ensure our collaborative partnership thrives and furthers the objectives and aims of GBS's strategic planning, including the implementation of our learning and teaching strategy across all levels and all course offerings. To ensure GBS maintains the highest academic standards and student‑centred learning environment, enabling our students to meet their educational and professional goals. To manage the collaborative partnerships strategically in order to meet key performance indicators set for student attendance, retention, progression and achievement.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• To provide leadership to all staff involved with the delivery of the partnership programme which includes managing all direct reports.
• To advise senior management on all resource requirements, ensuring that all such requirements, including staff, facilities and learning resources, are planned for and realised in a timely manner.
• To manage on a day‑to‑day basis the operation of the programmes delivered across the GBS campuses, including travel to all campuses and collaborative partner sites as necessary.
• To contribute to the efficient and effective use of resources provided by GBS across its campuses.
• To ensure that staff and students make full use of the learning resources provided by GBS.
• To deal with student issues in a timely and professional manner using the appropriate policies and procedures.
• To promote and further enhance the highest quality teaching and learning experience for GBS students.
• To ensure that students experience the highest quality, pastoral support and careers advice.
• To ensure that academic standards are met through the assessment process and that the marking criteria of our collaborative partners are consistently met by all teaching staff involved in the assessment of students.
• To be responsible for reports for GBS academic governance structures, partnership meetings, including quality reports to all stakeholders.
• To ensure that the quality assurance and quality enhancement requirements of the collaborative partnership are fully adhered to and implemented across all programmes.
• To liaise and act as a key point of contact with staff at the partner institution.
• To attend all partnership meetings and to ensure that reports for these meetings are produced in a timely manner and to the highest standards.
• To write high‑quality reports using quantitative and qualitative data for internal and external audiences, as required.
• To work efficiently, accurately, and with attention to detail.
• To liaise with key internal and external stakeholders, as required.
• To undertake other such duties and responsibilities in the spirit of the role of Associate Dean.

Essential Skills and Experience:

• Experience of leading and managing academic staff and teams.
• Good honours degree and a Master’s degree in a relevant discipline.
• Experience of working in partnership with universities and other higher education‑related organisations.
• Experience of programme management.
• Knowledge and understanding of implementing internal quality assurance systems and external quality assurance, including the QAA and OFS.
• A professional approach with integrity at all times.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with an enthusiastic approach.
• Experience of upholding academic standards and enhancing the student learning experience.
• Recognised teaching qualification, for example, with the HEA.

Desirable Skills and Experience:

• Experience of quality assurance reviews, for example, the QAA.
• External examining at UK universities and other higher education providers.
• PhD and research publications.
• Senior leadership experience of change management.

— Professor Peter Flew, Vice Provost "I joined GBS in 2025 at a pivotal time in its journey towards excellence. Working to create the best learning environment for our students is a very exciting and rewarding exercise. Everyone in the organisation works together to make a huge difference to those who have not had access to higher education before."