Salary or Salary range: £69,365- £79,257 per annum
Posting End Date: 24 May 2026
About the role
Imperial College London’s Department of Life Sciences is seeking an experienced and strategically minded Head of Education Office to lead our large and complex education administration functions, and act as the senior professional authority for education operations within the Department.
This is a senior professional services leadership role with responsibility for overseeing all undergraduate and postgraduate taught education administration across a thriving and expanding portfolio. You will play a critical role in shaping the quality of education delivery and student experience, working in close partnership with senior academics, central services, and faculty colleagues.
With around 1,000 undergraduate students, 300 postgraduate taught students, and new MSci programmes launching from 2026, this is an exciting opportunity to influence education strategy at scale within a world-leading research university.
What you would be doing
Reporting to the Director of Operations, Life Sciences, you will provide strategic leadership and operational oversight for the Education Office, managing senior administrators and specialist teams that support teaching, assessment, progression, quality assurance, and student lifecycle activity.
- Leading all aspects of education administration to ensure delivery is efficient, compliant, and student-focused
- Acting as the senior professional authority for education operations within the Department, advising on risk, policy, capacity and improvement
- Overseeing academic year planning for undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes
- Ensuring regulatory compliance and robust quality assurance across programmes and modules
- Leading workforce planning, structure and capability across the Education Office
- Ensuring the effective collation, interpretation and use of data and systems
- Driving continuous improvement and service redesign informed by data and stakeholder insight
- Building strong relationships with senior academics, Faculty teams and Imperial central services
- Representing the Department on Faculty and university-level committees.
This is a highly autonomous role requiring sound judgement, strong leadership capability, and the confidence to influence at senior levels.
What we are looking for
You will be an experienced higher education professional with the confidence to operate at senior level and the credibility to influence academic and professional colleagues. You will bring substantial experience in higher education administration, alongside a proven ability to lead large, complex professional services teams.
You will have:
- A degree or equivalent professional qualification
- Significant experience supporting teaching and learning in a higher education environment
- Demonstrable experience of leading and developing administrative teams
- Strong understanding of student systems, academic regulations and the student lifecycle
- Excellent organisational, analytical and problem-solving skills
- The ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced, high-volume environment
- Exceptional interpersonal skills, with the credibility to work effectively with senior academic stakeholders
- A proactive, improvement-focused mindset and a commitment to excellent service delivery
- Experience leading change in complex, matrixed organisations, including leading operational change and major process or systems developments would be an advantage.
What we can offer you
- A unique opportunity to join our vibrant departmental community and make a substantial contribution to our mission to use science for humanity.
- The opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution.
- A sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 41 days’ annual leave and generous pension schemes).
- Access to a range of workplace benefits including a flexible working policy from day one, generous family leave packages, on-site leisure facilities and cycle-to-work scheme.
- Interest-free season ticket loan schemes for travel.
- Be part of a diverse, inclusive and collaborative work culture with various staff networks and resources to support your personal and professional wellbeing. In this role you will have the opportunity to shape education services at scale, influence institutional processes, and lead a highly skilled team in a supportive and ambitious department.
Further information
This is a full-time, open-ended post, based primarily at our South Kensington Campus. You will also be expected to travel to our Silwood Park Campus regularly.
We welcome informal conversations with prospective applicants. If you require any further details about the role, please contact: James Andrewes – j.andrewes@imperial.ac.uk.
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