The OU in Scotland

The OU in Scotland is the largest provider of part-time undergraduate higher education in Scotland, and our open access policy, flexible part-time delivery, national bridging programme with schools, college articulation agreements and geographical reach position us well as Scotland’s national widening access university.  20% of our undergraduate students have qualifications below standard university entrance level when they joined the OU, 26% have a declared disability and 20% are resident in the most deprived areas of Scotland (based on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation).  
We are proud to have ranked first in Scotland for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2024.  

The OU works with Scotland's employers and businesses to provide high quality learning and skills including a range of funding to enable training. 74% of OU students in Scotland are in full-time or part-time employment, and three out of four FTSE 100 companies have sponsored staff to take OU courses.  In Scotland, 23% of students are living in rural or remote areas and 85% of graduates are remaining in the location where they studied - so their talent and skills benefit local communities.    
For further information please visit The Open University.

About the Role

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced education specialist and leader to join the executive team at the Open University in Scotland and play a pivotal role in the organisation’s future.

Working as the core lead for the organisation’s operational activities, the role has a wide range of responsibilities, primarily focused on delivering outstanding support for the organisation across vital areas such as governance, resource management, directorate organisation, risk management, support services and project coordination.

In addition, the post holder will operate in a role with similar functions to a university secretary as a key member of the Open University in Scotland leadership team, providing an oversight of organisation and sector issues to provide a unifying organisational approach as well as providing aide and counsel to the Director, with a core focus on effective problem solving, communication, and effective relationship building, internally and externally.
 

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate the governance and internal executive meeting and engagement structures of the Open University in Scotland, including internally with executive and other groups, with the wider Open University and with key external stakeholders.
• Liaise with the Scottish Government, the Scottish Funding Council and other relevant bodies on funding and financial support and governance, in conjunction with OUiS lead SFC contact and other strategy colleagues.
• Lead the Support Services Team and manage related processes and resources on behalf of the Nation Director, including human resources, accommodation, facilities, health and safety, graduation ceremonies and internal events and oversee management of the University’s physical estate and technological infrastructure in the Edinburgh offices

Skills and Experience

Essential:

• Degree level qualification.
• Demonstrable understanding and awareness of the external environment and government policies as they impact on further and higher education in Scotland.
• Proven ability and recent or current experience within adult, further or higher education.
• Excellent ability to deliver highly organised and detailed governance and operational organisation, board or committee management in an education context, including the management of risk, resources and other key governance activity.

More information is provided via the Job Description. 

How to apply

Unless otherwise stated in the advert, all applications are completed online. Applications submitted via 3rd party websites will not be received.

To apply for this role please submit the following document/s;
•    CV 
•    Supporting statement, up to 1,000 words, you should set out in your statement why you’re interested in this role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the required competencies for this role as detailed in the job and person specification.
You will need to have your documents ready ahead of submitting your job application. 

There will be a pre-interview task as part of the selection process.

Support with your application

If you need support or have any questions or requests for adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process or the role, please contact Scotland-Recruitment@open.ac.uk, quoting the vacancy reference number.
If you would like to discuss the role, please contact Martin Boyle at Scotland-Directorate-PA@open.ac.uk. 
 

Early closing date notification 
We may close this job advert earlier than the published closing date where a satisfactory number of applications are received. We would therefore encourage early applications. 
 

What you get in return

We have a strong commitment to providing training and development in and beyond your current role. This includes thorough induction into the organisation and regular reviews of your training and development needs.
We also offer a great range of benefits that support our employees and their families for the long term. Staff Benefits include an attractive pension proposition and 33 days holiday per annum pro rata, plus 8 Bank Holidays and 3 extra Christmas closure days.