Vice Principal (Operation)

The London College

Position Details:

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £55K - £60K with potential progression to £70K.

Closing date: TBA

Salary & Benefits:

People are at the heart of what we are and do. The London College is proud to have been committed to teaching excellence for nearly 5 decades. We believe supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the College and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. You will receive a generous package of benefits including 30 days paid holiday, a pension scheme and free parking on site. The College is situated in West London only 2 miles away from Heathrow airport and there are excellent transport links to our campus, including main bus routes and a train station within 1 mile from the main College campus.

Job Summary:

The Vice-Principal (operations) is a central role for the day to day running of the College. The post-holder is responsible for the College Principal and ensures that administrative support and leadership is delivered in an effective, efficient, responsive and professional manner supporting across the broad spectrum of the College’s activities. The post-holder will support the College Principal and Senior Management Team (SMT) on a day-to-day basis to facilitate the strategic direction of the College.

You will set and uphold excellent standards of work and bring the team together to provide the best possible service for the smooth running of the College. You will also support and lead on cross-College strategies, processes and initiatives ensuring that the College’s ambitions are supported by appropriate systems, processes and resources.

The post holder is expected to have knowledge of the significant challenges and opportunities in the Higher Education sector, an understanding of good practice in delivering professional administration and financial support and the ability to balance academic considerations and wider drivers and priorities.

The post holder will report to the college Principal with close links to academic leads, administrative Team and also other ancillary staff and contractors.

Strategic Skills Requirements:

Support the Principal and quality team and other departmental staff in preparing and developing the College's strategic plan and monitoring progress towards aims and objectives.
Working with the Principal and Quality Team in identifying College strategic priorities and how they map to College and strategic priorities.
Work with the College Principal and Quality Team in implementing best practice and consistency of approach across all administrative areas, identifying areas requiring development and improvement.
Establish and maintain effective working relationships with Principal, Site Manager, Human Resources, Finance, IT, Marketing and Communications, and Planning.

Leadership Skills Requirements:

Provide effective leadership and management of the College Services that support academic delivery, reviewing workloads, resources and training needs.
Undertaking Performance and Development Reviews (PDRs), identifying sickness patterns and leading on performance management issues.
Take responsibility for the motivation, management and flexibility of staff working within the team, instilling confidence in the requirements and importance of relevant functions to ensure that teams work together to effectively deliver on plans and projects.
To establish effective network contacts with similar roles across College departments to coordinate action, minimise duplication and share good practice.
Work with Quality Team and academic colleagues to support the delivery of change projects across the College, planning and ensuring delivery within set timescales.

Staff Management Skills Requirements:

Work with the College HR department, to ensure effective HR management across the College including: Implementing Quality Assurance processes for Recruitment and Selection of all College staff; Supporting the Principal, Quality Team and other senior staff with the recruitment processes for staff within the College; Effectively administering the processes associated with the management, renewal and termination of fixed term and existing contracts.
Coach and encourage staff in a supportive environment, demonstrating willingness to listen, engage and support.
Contribute to and deliver training and other forms of support to Operations staff within the College as required.
Promote and encourage professional development opportunities for the staff you manage, through the Professional Development Review process and enhancing necessary skillsets.
Implement effective procedures and processes with regard to staff Annual Reviews.
Co-ordinate the induction process for all new staff to the regularly reviewing procedures and providing feedback on induction to the Principal.
Support the co-ordination of the timely production of management information, reports and returns for the College’s daily workload allocation.
Support the College’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work including collating management information and supporting College based activities.
Co-ordinate the management of compliance with mandatory training for academic and professional services staff within the College.
Support the Principal in implementing change management strategies as required.

Person’s Requirements:

First degree or equivalent along with professional training or demonstrable experience normally associated with this level of qualification.
Significant FE/HE administrative experience with verifiable track of record [Most ESSENTIAL]. We do not encourage you to apply if you do not meet this requirement.
Demonstrable people and financial management experience including setting and monitoring spending.
Experience of sourcing information, particularly through electronic sources, to inform and support reporting for strategic planning and/or business cases.
Knowledge and understanding of UK HE funding mechanisms, strategies and priorities.
Excellent report writing skills - ability to write clear and concise formal reports and documents, maintaining high levels of accuracy and attention to detail.
Strong negotiating and persuasion skills.
Excellent analytical skills, with the ability to communicate complex policy matters.
Excellent IT skills (Excel/Word/PowerPoint /Databases etc.) with the ability and willingness to learn new systems.
Excellent communication skills - ability to communicate with a wide range of people at all levels, maintaining high levels of accuracy and attention to detail.
Ability to demonstrate tact and diplomacy, and the ability to deal discreetly with confidential and sensitive matters.
Excellent organisational and time-management skills with a demonstrated ability to plan and organise a large workload to meet both internal and external deadlines - working on a variety of complex issues simultaneously.
The ability to cope with change in a fast moving, dynamic environment where change is often required immediately.
Excellent inter-personal skills; ability to develop effective working relationships with all levels of staff and external contacts.
Developed leadership skills, with the ability to instil confidence in others.
Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
Ability to work under pressure and maintain a high degree of accuracy.
Ability to absorb and deploy new information quickly and accurately.
Ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.

How to apply

To apply, please complete the application form via the 'Apply' button (above).

Location:	London
Salary:	£55,000 to £60,000 with potential progression to £70K
Hours:	Full Time
Contract Type:	Permanent
Placed On:	20th August 2025
Expires:	19th October 2025

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Vice Principal (Operations)