Deputy Head of Curriculum and Quality - Travel, Food and Drink in Leeds

Leeds City College are recruiting for a Deputy Head for Travel, Food and Drink, Curriculum and Quality to provide inspirational leadership and drive excellence across a vibrant, fast‑evolving curriculum area. This is a key role, offering the opportunity to shape outstanding teaching, learning, and assessment while raising ambition and outcomes for all learners. You will work closely with the Head of Department to drive strategic change through impactful operational delivery, ensuring curriculum innovation is brought to life in practice.

Together, you will design, deliver, and continuously improve a high‑quality curriculum that is ambitious, inclusive, and closely aligned with industry standards and the evolving needs of employers across the travel, hospitality, food, and drink sectors. A core part of your role will be to champion excellence in teaching and learning, ensuring learners are supported, challenged, and inspired to achieve their full potential and progress successfully into further study, apprenticeships, or employment.

You will lead with energy and purpose on all aspects of quality assurance across the curriculum area, including lesson visits, learning walks, data analysis, curriculum reviews, and staff development. Through coaching, mentoring, and empowering staff, you will build confidence, consistency, and excellence across all programmes. Employer engagement and industry collaboration are a real strength of the department. We have excellent established relationships with key employers including LNER, Leeds Bradford Airport, and the Hyatt Group, providing learners with outstanding opportunities for work experience, live briefs, and meaningful exposure to real‑world industry practice that brings learning to life.

A particularly exciting element of this role is the opportunity to shape and embed curriculum delivery within our new Printworks Kitchen and Bar project. You will play a leading role in integrating teaching and learning into this dynamic, real‑world hospitality environment, creating an inspiring space where learners can develop practical skills, professional behaviours, and industry‑ready expertise. This innovative model will directly connect curriculum with commercial practice, raising both aspiration and achievement.

Interviews will be taking place w/c 27th July 2026.

What You Will Do

• Lead, motivate, and develop a large, dynamic curriculum team to deliver outstanding teaching, learning, and assessment.
• Work closely with the Head of Department and leadership team to drive continuous improvement across the curriculum area.
• Create a high‑performing, supportive team culture focused on excellence, collaboration, and learner success.
• Ensure curriculum delivery is ambitious, inclusive, and aligned with industry standards and employer needs.
• Champion outstanding teaching and learning, ensuring learners are inspired, challenged, and supported to achieve their full potential.
• Lead and embed consistency across the department, ensuring a unified approach to curriculum delivery, quality, and expectations.
• Work collaboratively with Maths, English, and Personal Development & Behaviour (PDBA) programme managers to ensure a coherent, consistent learner experience across all areas.
• Lead and oversee quality monitoring processes, including IQA (Internal Quality Assurance) and EQA (External Quality Assurance), ensuring compliance, consistency, and high standards across all provision.
• Lead quality improvement activity, including lesson visits, learning walks, data analysis, and curriculum reviews.
• Use performance data effectively to identify priorities and drive improvements in outcomes.
• Coach, support, and develop staff to continually improve practice and achieve consistently high standards.
• Maintain high standards and expectations for both staff and students, acting as a role model of professionalism at all times.
• Be a respected and proactive member of the departmental management team, contributing positively to leadership, culture, and decision‑making.
• Strengthen employer engagement and industry partnerships to enhance curriculum relevance and impact.
• Ensure learners benefit from meaningful work experience, live briefs, and authentic industry exposure.
• Lead the integration of the Printworks Kitchen and Bar into curriculum delivery as a real‑world learning environment.
• Ensure learners are fully prepared for progression into further study, apprenticeships, or employment.
• Lead on attendance and punctuality strategies across the curriculum area, ensuring high expectations are set, monitored, and consistently applied to maximise learner engagement and success.

About You

• Passionate about driving excellence in curriculum delivery and improving outcomes for learners.
• Has experience of leading and developing large, dynamic teams within education or training.
• Has a proven track record of improving teaching, learning, assessment, and learner achievement.
• Confident in creating a culture of high expectations, consistency, and continuous improvement.
• Skilled in coaching, mentoring, and developing staff to improve practice and performance.
• Can effectively lead and hold others to account in a supportive and respectful way.
• Highly organised, proactive, and confident in using data to drive improvement.
• Strong knowledge and experience of quality assurance processes, including IQA and EQA.
• Understands what outstanding teaching and learning looks like and how to embed it consistently.
• Visible and respected leader who models professionalism at all times.
• Builds strong, positive relationships across teams and contributes effectively to senior management.
• Thrives in a fast‑paced, dynamic environment with competing priorities.
• Able to build strong connections with employers and actively embed industry practice into the curriculum.
• Excited by innovation in curriculum delivery, including real‑world learning opportunities such as the Printworks Kitchen and Bar project.
• Demonstrates energy, resilience, and ambition to make a meaningful and lasting impact on learners, staff, and the wider organisation.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in recruitment is key to our Group’s values. We are dedicated to fostering a workplace that embraces equality, diversity and inclusion in all its forms, where every candidate is treated with fairness, respect, and equity. Our recruitment processes are designed to ensure equal opportunities, remove bias, and promote a diverse talent pool.

RECRUITMENT AGENCIES

We do not accept unsolicited CV’s and applications from agencies and will not be liable for any fee in connection with a candidate that has been submitted speculatively through any agency that has not been expressly instructed for a particular vacancy as part of our Preferred Supplier List.