Head of Change in Kilmarnock

Grade and Salary: Grade 9, Competitive Salary

FTE and working pattern: Full-time, 35hrs per week; Open-ended

Reward and Benefits: 33 days annual leave, plus 9 building closed days for all full time staff.

Purpose of Role

The Head of Change is responsible for establishing, leading, and embedding the University's central change function and change ecosystem in support of Strategy 2035. This role will oversee the delivery performance of the University's strategic and operational change portfolio, including capital projects and business change initiatives. The role owns the end‐to‐end change system: from intake and prioritisation of demand, through portfolio planning and governance, to delivery oversight, benefits realisation, and transition into business as usual. Acting as the University's senior authority on change, the postholder ensures that change investment decisions are aligned to strategy, capacity and risk appetite, and that change is delivered consistently, sustainably and with measurable value for all stakeholders.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Own and operate the University's change portfolio, providing a single authoritative view of demand, priorities, sequencing and capacity.
• Lead portfolio shaping, prioritisation and balancing of change against BAU capacity.
• Establish portfolio‐level decision support for executive governance (value, risk, benefits confidence, readiness).
• Define, design and continuously improve the University's change ecosystem, including change lifecycle processes and standards for multi‐category, multi‐speed and multi‐method delivery (scaled by risk and size), portfolio, programme and project governance, assurance and stage‐gate controls.
• Establish new change governance structures, up to and including University Executive and Committees of Court; establish clear decision rights, delegated authorities and escalation routes across the change lifecycle.
• Provide process, planning and governance enablement and assurance for the University's Strategy 2035 programme and Transformation Office, working in partnership with the Transformation Office leadership.
• Provide senior oversight (excluding day‐to‐day delivery management) of major programmes and high‐risk change initiatives; ensure delivery approaches are appropriate (waterfall, agile or hybrid) and consistent with university standards; intervene where delivery confidence, benefits or adoption are at risk.
• Establish and own the University's value and benefits management framework and ensure robust business case management for all major initiatives; use benefits confidence to inform portfolio prioritisation, continuation or closure decisions.
• Provide leadership and line management across all change disciplines (programme/project management, business analysis, change management, PMO); lead strategic workforce planning, recruitment and capability development for change capability, including competency frameworks and communities of practice.
• Establish an effective operating partnership with Technology leaders to align digital transformation and change delivery.
• Own the University's change reporting and MI, including portfolio, delivery, risk, benefits and capacity views; provide trusted, timely reporting and MI to executive leaders and governance forums; use reporting and MI to drive decision‐making, transparency and continuous improvement.

Key Stakeholders, Authorities & Decision Rights

• Director of Strategic Planning, Projects & Performance – Line Manager accountable executive
• Executive Director of University Operations – Senior Executive Leader (matrix)
• University Secretary & Vice Principal – University Executive Leader
• Vice Principal & Provost – University Executive Leader
• Programme/Project Managers, Business Analysts and Project Support Analysts (PMO) – Direct Reports
• Professional Services Directors – Sponsors / stakeholders / peers
• Academic School and Global Research Institute Directors – Sponsors / stakeholders

Decision Rights & Authorities

• Recognised functional owner for change across the University.
• Authority to define, implement and maintain University‐wide change standards, governance frameworks and assurance requirements.
• Accountable for developing and maintaining enterprise change portfolio prioritisation recommendations for Executive consideration.
• Authority to provide independent challenge, assurance and escalation on high‐risk or under‐performing change initiatives.
• Responsible for escalating material change risks, delivery concerns or governance breaches to University Executive and Court level governance as appropriate.

Accountability & Budgetary Responsibility

• Operational budget responsibility; matrix responsibility for the enterprise change portfolio budget: c.£20m.
• Accountable for authoring, maintaining and baselining the enterprise change portfolio and associated management information.
• Accountable for evolving and approving change processes, artefacts, templates and governance designs.
• Accountable for defining role profiles and recruiting change capability across the central change function.
• Accountable for delivery performance of large‐scale strategic initiatives only where explicitly assigned by the Executive.

This job description is intended as a flexible framework which outlines the key general areas of activity in your position. Other activities may be required which are not outlined above but which are appropriate to the position and grade. Your personal objectives (PDR) will also set out specific tasks and objectives for you to achieve, including objectives to help your career development.

Education, Skills & Experience

Education

• Postgraduate qualification or equivalent experience in change, organisational development, higher education management, or related field.
• Professional qualifications in change management (e.g. Prosci, ACMP) and/or portfolio, programme or project management (e.g. APM, MoP, MSP, PRINCE2, Agile).
• Evidence of continued professional development in leadership, governance, and/or finance.

Skills

• Strategic leader with a clear vision for establishing, embedding and maturing enterprise‐wide change functions.
• Strong enterprise portfolio leadership capability, including prioritisation, sequencing and balancing change against organisational capacity and risk appetite.
• Expertise across portfolio, programme and project management in complex, multi‐method change environments.
• Advanced governance, assurance and control capability, with confidence operating in regulated, committee‐driven contexts.
• Strong financial acumen, including capital planning, benefits realisation, value management and business case governance.
• Benefits‐led, outcomes focused decision maker, able to use incomplete or ambiguous information to support timely executive decisions.
• Ability to build, lead and develop multidisciplinary change teams and professional communities of practice.
• Clear, confident communicator, able to operate across academic leadership, professional services and executive forums, and to simplify complex change for diverse audiences.
• Strong partnership‐building skills with Technology and Finance leaders.
• Advanced analytical, critical‐thinking and problem‐solving skills, with sound judgement in high‐ambiguity contexts.

Experience

• Senior leadership experience owning or operating an enterprise change, portfolio or transformation function, with accountability for standards, governance and outcomes (not solely programme delivery).
• Demonstrated ability to design and embed organisational systems (governance, standards, capability).
• Experience operating effectively in complex, regulated and committee driven environments (e.g. higher education, public sector, research intensive or similarly complex organisations).
• Proven record of providing executive‐level decision support for large‐scale strategic and business‐critical change, including prioritisation, investment and risk decisions.
• Experience overseeing delivery performance of large, multi‐stream business and technology‐enabled change portfolios, intervening where confidence, value or adoption is at risk.
• Successful experience establishing and developing multidisciplinary change capability, including workforce planning, recruitment and professional development.
• Track record of influencing senior governance forums and executive leaders through clear evidence, insight and judgement.
• Experience working across multi‐campus, international or highly federated organisations.

Equality and Diversity Statement

Heriot‐Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities. Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

Heriot‐Watt University values diversity across our University community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from under‐represented groups. For more information, please see our website here and also our award‐winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers here.

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g. part‐time working and job share options.