Provost

Our mission is clear: widen participation, remove barriers to learning, and deliver dependable student outcomes with academic quality, commercial pace, and operational integrity. LSST does not try to be all things to all people, but it strives to be the right thing for the learners who need it most. We take pride in our work, our teams, and our continual focus on progress. We blend academic credibility with commercial instinct, long-term ambition with hands on execution, and inclusive delivery with structures that are built to last.

Our goals:

We are now moving into our biggest stretch of ambition and opportunity yet. We want the freedom to award our own degrees, build smarter academic and governance frameworks, and grow in a way that proves what modern private higher education can do for communities that deserve stronger outcomes.

To get there, LSST needs a Provost who leads visibly and decisively, sees the future clearly, and enjoys the hands-on work of building the structures that will allow us to advance with confidence and quality. If you care about shaping academic direction while scanning the horizon for opportunity, strengthening governance without losing momentum, and leaving a long-term institutional legacy, you will recognise yourself in this role immediately.

Overview of the role:

Our new Provost will lead on academic strategy and take overall responsibility for academic quality, standards and student outcomes across our Higher Education, Further Education and Skills offering. This is an executive, institutional level role for a no.1 academic leader who wants to help shape the whole organisation, not just a part of it, and who is comfortable working at pace in a growing and commercially aware environment.

Reporting to the CEO, you will provide strategic and operational academic leadership across curriculum design, teaching and learning, academic standards, quality assurance, governance, safeguarding, equality, and student support. You will lead and directly manage senior academic colleagues including the Vice Principal, Deans, and the Head of Academic Standards and Quality. You will also work closely with the executive team to ensure academic priorities and commercial planning move forward in unison, with clarity and shared ownership of outcomes.

Your contributions to LSST’s external positioning will also be vital. This will include maintaining strong relationships with validating partners, supporting the delivery of regulator requirements, and helping to prepare the organisation for increased autonomy, including approved fee cap status and degree awarding powers.

Terms:

• Salary: The salary range is £180,000 to £250,000, depending on experience, with the potential for a further performance-related bonus structure to be agreed with the preferred candidate.
• Location: The role is based at LSST’s Head Office in West London at Memo House, Kendal Avenue, Park Royal, London, W3 0XA. You will also occasionally visit other LSST campuses in London, Birmingham and Luton as required. Travel to other campuses will be expensed.
• Work arrangement: This is a full-time, in-person leadership role. LSST would like the Provost to be on site 5 days per week initially in order to build relationships and support a period of transition. Once established in post, this is expected to settle at 3 to 4 days on site in a typical week.

Essential criteria:

To succeed as Provost at LSST, you will bring:

• Significant senior academic leadership experience within UK higher education, further education or skills, operating at institutional or large-faculty scale. This may include current or recent experience as a Dean, Executive Dean, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Principal, Provost, Chief Academic Officer, Branch Campus Director or equivalent.
• A strong track record of leading teaching and learning, academic quality and standards, and student outcomes, with a clear understanding of national expectations and good practice.
• Experience of working in or closely with the private or alternative higher education sector. If your background is mainly in public universities, you will be able to demonstrate meaningful partnership work with private providers through validation, franchising or collaborative delivery arrangements.
• Confidence operating within UK regulatory frameworks, including engagement with the Office for Students for higher education and OFSTED for further education and skills provision, and readiness to act as a senior institutional contact in audits and reviews.
• A doctorate and recognised teaching qualifications are likely essential (unless there is very strong equivalent experience), alongside evidence of continued professional development and sector engagement.
• Experience leading or contributing to applications for degree awarding powers, registration category changes or similar autonomy enhancing processes.
• Familiarity with multi campus or distributed models of delivery, including branch campuses, partner delivered provision or franchise arrangements.
• A clear intention to commit to LSST for the medium term at minimum, typically at least four to five years, in order to see through key institutional projects and provide continuity of leadership.

Should you wish to discuss the role further, please direct all enquiries to our advising consultants:

• Alicja Janowska: alicja.janowska@andersonquigley.com
• Akhil Yerneni: akhil.yerneni@andersonquigley.com

Anderson Quigley is acting as an advisor to LSST. An executive search process is being carried out by Anderson Quigley in addition to the public advertisements. The closing date for applications at present is midnight on 18th December. If you are particularly keen on expressing interest for this role, but the timescales pose an issue to your interest, please reach out to our advisors to explore any discretionary room.