Director of Curriculum in Newtownabbey

MCS Group is delighted to be partnering with Belfast Metropolitan College, Northern Ireland’s largest further and higher education college, as they seek to appoint a Director of Curriculum on a full-time permanent basis. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in delivering Belfast Met’s “College of Choice” strategic objective, leading curriculum innovation, quality assurance and academic excellence across the College while ensuring outstanding learner outcomes and alignment to economic and societal priorities.

About Belfast Met

Belfast Metropolitan College is the largest and longest established further and higher education college in Northern Ireland, attracting 20,000 learner enrolments in 2024/25, with student satisfaction rates of 95%. The College employs approximately 941 teaching and support staff and has an annual turnover in excess of £75m. Belfast Met has a dual mandate to promote economic growth and social inclusion. The College’s vision, mission, aims and values are fully aligned with Government priorities and growth areas identified for Northern Ireland, shaping the policy and delivery context for the organisation.

The College is committed to ensuring that every learner, irrespective of background, gains the skills to get a job, keep a job or get a better job; that every business is supported to grow and innovate; and that those with barriers to learning have the opportunity to learn and grow to achieve their potential. This is the Belfast Met ethos.

About the Role

Founded in 1906, Belfast Met has long been at the heart of the city’s economic and industrial growth, providing the skills, knowledge and innovation that power local industry and transform lives. Today, their mission remains the same: to lead the city to work through a commitment to their values of Collaboration, Ambition, Respect and Excellence.

As Further and Higher Education continues to evolve, Belfast Met is ambitious about its future, driving innovation, strengthening employer engagement and ensuring its curriculum remains aligned to the needs of learners, industry and the wider economy. The College is focused on delivering innovative, high-performing programmes while continuing to enhance learner experience, quality assurance and teaching excellence.

Belfast Met are now looking for a strategic, inspirational and forward-thinking leader to join the Executive Leadership Team as Director of Curriculum. Reporting directly to the Principal and Chief Executive, you will lead all aspects of curriculum development, delivery and quality assurance across the College, ensuring the successful implementation of the College Development Plan and achievement of key strategic objectives.

You will play a central role in shaping and delivering curriculum strategy across Higher Education, Further Education, Apprenticeships and Skills programmes, ensuring provision remains innovative, economically relevant and responsive to employer and community needs. Leading multidisciplinary teams across several academic schools and quality functions, you will foster a high-performing and inclusive culture that drives continuous improvement and exceptional learner outcomes.

The successful candidate will bring significant senior leadership experience gained within a large and complex organisation, alongside a strong track record of strategic curriculum leadership, stakeholder engagement and operational delivery. Most importantly, they will have ability to lead transformational change, inspire teams and deliver strategic outcomes within a complex environment.

For this role, candidates will need to demonstrate that they meet the criteria below:

• A degree or equivalent with a demonstrated commitment to continuous professional development.
• Has operated at a senior management level or above (for a minimum of 5 years within the last 8 years) in a large and complex organization with responsibility for Curriculum delivery across a number of subject areas.
• Demonstrable experience of developing strategic curriculum frameworks for HE, FE or skills aligned to employer needs or economic priorities, working with a wide range of awarding organisations.
• Strong record of effective leadership and management of operational delivery for HE, FE, Apprenticeship or Skills Programmes.
• Experience of managing multidisciplinary teams, including objective setting and performance management to optimise performance.
• Experience of building relationships across stakeholder groups both internal and external to the benefit of the organisation.
• Demonstrates the ability to lead others with energy and enthusiasm, to command respect and to provide an environment where others feel motivated to achieve outstanding results.
• Possession of a full driving licence and have the use of a car for business purposes or have access to a form of transport which will permit them to meet the requirements of the post in full.

Desirable experience, knowledge and skills:

• Demonstrable experience of personal level budget responsibility of at least £10million per year, and the ability to work with financial information for decision-making purposes.

This is a key public appointment and an opportunity to make a lasting impact on learners, communities and the future economic prosperity of Northern Ireland.

To speak in absolute confidence about this opportunity please contact Alex Noble, Head of Executive Search on 028 9693 2668, or to request a Candidate Pack for the Director of Curriculum role select ‘Apply Now’, or email . Applications will close on Friday 5th June at 12pm. Should you wish to make an application for the post please send your CV & Cover Note to the above address.

MCS Group is committed to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion for all, being the first recruitment agency in NI to achieve Bronze Diversity Mark accreditation. If you have a disability which means you require a reasonable adjustment to be considered at any stage of the recruitment process, please contact us and we will endeavour to facilitate the request.

Even if this position is not right for you, we may have others that are. Please visit MCS Group to view a wide selection of our current jobs.