Regulatory Policy Assistant in Manchester

The Assistant Provost (Learning, Teaching and Standards) provides institution-wide strategic leadership for the quality, standards and enhancement of learning and teaching across UK Management College and every one of its campuses. The role sets and raises the standard expected of teaching, leads the institution’s teaching enhancement and quality-assurance agenda, and is responsible for academic standards and regulatory readiness — ensuring alignment with the requirements of the regulator (the Office for Students), the partner universities (awarding bodies), the UK Quality Code and sector frameworks.

The Assistant Provost facilitates and leads the institution-wide teaching observation process and personally conducts observations as part of quality assurance and standard-setting. The role reports to the Provost and submits the Office Performance Plan (OPP) directly to the Provost.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide visible, institution-wide strategic leadership for the quality, standards and enhancement of learning and teaching across UK Management College and every campus, setting the vision, standards and expectations for high-quality, inclusive and engaging education.
• Develop, own, implement and annually review the institution’s Learning, Teaching and Standards strategy and delivery plan, embedded consistently across all campuses and aligned with regulatory, partner-university (awarding body) and sector requirements.
• Set, raise and assure a consistent standard of teaching quality and academic standards across all campuses, reducing campus-to-campus variation and driving measurable continuous improvement.
• Work in close collaboration with, and in support of, the Dean — providing institution-wide standards and quality leadership while the Dean retains full authority and line management for academic delivery and staffing.
• Prepare and submit the Office Performance Plan (OPP) directly to the Provost, and provide regular, evidence-based assurance and reporting on learning, teaching and standards across all campuses.
• Lead the institution’s academic quality-assurance and standards framework, ensuring academic standards are set, maintained and assured consistently across all campuses.
• Lead institutional readiness for, and ongoing compliance with, the requirements of the regulator (the Office for Students) and the UK Quality Code, including supporting regulatory submissions, returns, monitoring and reviews.
• Ensure the quality and standards of provision meet the conditions and expectations of a registered higher education provider, working with the Dean and the partner universities.
• Oversee quality-assurance processes — monitoring, periodic review, action planning and external and partner requirements — and ensure timely, evidenced responses to any quality or standards risks.
• Provide the Provost and senior committees with assurance on academic standards, quality and regulatory compliance across the institution.
• Design, facilitate and lead a robust, consistent and developmental institution-wide teaching observation process spanning every campus and all teaching staff.
• Personally conduct teaching observations across campuses as part of quality assurance, calibration, moderation and standard-setting, modelling the practice expected of the institution.
• Oversee the analysis of observation outcomes across the institution, identify cross-campus themes, and ensure the findings drive the training, CPD and enhancement agenda.
• Monitor and enhance teaching quality institution-wide using student feedback, observation data, peer review and student-outcome data, embedding and scaling good practice across all campuses.
• Support the institutional response to teaching-quality risks, working with the Dean to ensure timely, evidenced improvement.
• Support and oversee the academic staff training and CPD programme, ensuring it reaches all teaching staff across every campus to a high standard.
• Support the mentoring scheme and the assistant lecturer development pathway, ensuring effective and consistent support and progression institution-wide.
• Lead the facilitation of professional recognition for teaching staff, championing Advance HE Fellowship (all levels) and other relevant professional fellowships and memberships, and raising the proportion of staff recognised year on year.
• Build institutional teaching capability and a culture of pedagogic innovation, scholarship and continuous improvement across all campuses.
• Work with the Dean’s team, Course Directors and Course Officers to enhance the quality and consistency of curriculum delivery and the student learning experience across all campuses.
• Ensure teaching practice is inclusive and compliant with the Equality Act 2010, and that enhancement and standards activity demonstrably supports student engagement, continuation, progression and satisfaction.
• Support the embedding of employability and career-readiness within teaching practice across the institution, working with the Employability and Career department.
• Act as a senior point of contact with the partner universities on teaching quality, standards, observation and enhancement, ensuring documentation and evidence meet their monitoring, validation and review requirements.
• Lead the annual Learning & Teaching Conference and other enhancement events, with partner-university and external contributions, ensuring institution-wide participation.
• Represent the College on learning, teaching and standards matters at senior committees, partner-university meetings and relevant external and sector engagement, bringing sector developments into practice.
• Provide professional leadership to the teaching enhancement and quality function in collaboration with the Dean and the Associate Dean, supporting the review of relevant Office Performance Plans, KPIs and trackers for consistency across campuses.
• Analyse learning, teaching and standards data across the institution, report to the Provost and senior committees, and drive evidence-based continuous improvement.
• Undertake additional duties and projects as assigned by the Provost.

Ideal Criteria

• Demonstrable senior experience in teaching enhancement, learning and teaching quality improvement, and academic staff development.
• Strong knowledge of academic standards, quality assurance and regulatory requirements in UK higher education (including the Office for Students and the UK Quality Code).
• A track record of working collaboratively and in support of senior academic colleagues across a multi-campus institution.