Job Description

Location: Joseph Priestley Building
Salary: Commensurate with experience
Post Type: Full Time
Release Date: 15 December 2023
Closing Date: Sunday 28 January 2024
Reference: 122023-750

An executive search process is being managed by Perrett Laver for this role, and further detailed can be found .

Birmingham City University (BCU) is an institution with a proud heritage and a hugely ambitious future, dedicated to enabling all our students to transform their lives and achieve their fullest potential. Just as we were founded to shape the needs of the industry around us in 1843, so today we are looking at how to shape society, create an economy of the future and provide our students with a platform to be an integral part of this future we seek to create. We have seen significant student growth in recent years, from 23,500 students from 80 countries in 2016, to more than 31,000 from over 100 countries in 2023.

Our University is like no other. We have invested over \xc2\xa3400 million in our estate, including unique developments across our hugely expanded City Centre Campus with a stunning state of the art home for our Royal Birmingham Conservatoire as well as the distinctive redevelopment of a Victorian factory into STEAMhouse, a home for our STEAM agenda to bring together entrepreneurs, creatives and academics to generate new interdisciplinary solutions to tomorrow\xe2\x80\x99s problems.

The appointment of Professor David Mba FREng as our new Vice-Chancellor has given fresh impetus to this agenda as the university begins work on a new strategy that takes us beyond 2030. The development of the new strategy will be a key focus of his Executive Leadership Team, of which this role will play a major part, with an enhanced focus on social mobility and inclusion, EDI, employability and interdisciplinarity, the University seeks to be the premier anchor institution that benefits not just its students but the wider Birmingham area.

Building on this powerful platform, we are seeking to appoint a Chief People Officer to join Professor Mba\xe2\x80\x99s Executive Leadership Team, playing an integral role in the next phase of BCU\xe2\x80\x99s development. The Chief People Officer will be responsible for providing strategic leadership on all areas of Organisation Culture, Human Resources, Employee Relations, Reward and Recognition, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Engagement and Wellbeing. You will be able to demonstrate significant contribution to strategy and decision making which enhances both academic and business-related performance across the University ensuring the University is competitive in term of resource, efficiency and quality of service.

We are on the threshold of a new era, our most exciting yet, and want to appoint an ambitious and talented leader able to seize the opportunities in front of us.

If you would like to discuss this opportunity further or have any questions about the role, please contact Research Associate, Olivia Sutton at

Birmingham City University