Job Shadowing HE

John Schless: It's all about the Student Experience

John Schless is Head of Student Experience at the Royal College of Art. 
 
In this episode, John shares his leadership experience at the Royal College of Art as well as the transition to his current post from previously being Chief Executive of the Students' Union at the University of Greenwich. With the benefit of leading the student experience from 'both sides', and having perspectives from a large post-92 Students' Union, a world-leading postgraduate specialist medium-sized institution as well as an earlier career background in fundraising, John explores leading through change, the importance of influence and his ultimate motivation in making a difference to people's lives. 

Rebecca O'Hare: Student Accommodation - it's not just a room

Rebecca O'Hare is Deputy Director of Residential Services at the University of Leeds. In this episode, Rebecca shares more about how student accommodation is a central part of the student experience, talks about her career path in different types of student accommodation jobs and highlights the role she took in response to the national Living Black at University report, commissioned by Unite Students and carried out by Halpin Partnership. Rebecca also discusses how her background in fine art influences her approach at work, and how social media has supported her professional presence and development. 
This episode is kindly sponsored by JSS Search, a boutique recruitment agency prioritising and cultivating long-term relationships grounded in sector understanding and a diversity of needs. Their Higher Education team, comprising expert consultants in professional services areas such as student operations, change and transformation, finance, procurement, and HR, is committed to providing UK-wide support. This includes executive search, contingent recruitment or interim solutions. JSS actively supports sector development through networking events and webinars. Emphasising EDI and Social Mobility, they extend their impact beyond recruitment, making a positive contribution to the Higher Education community.

Ashleigh Hope & James Rew: Accessing Our Conservatoires

Ashleigh Hope is Head of Access and Participation at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and James Rew is Access and Participation Manager at Leeds Conservatoire. 
 
In this episode, Ashleigh and James discuss the HE conservatoire setting, the benefits of working in a small specialist institution and how they have each developed their access and participation career paths to date. They also look at the backdrop of leading access and participation work in conservatoires when there is significant declining opportunity for young people to access early performing arts experiences in parts of the primary and secondary state education sector. 

Josh Gulrajani: The Art and Science of HE Planning

Josh Gulrajani is Director of Planning, Performance and Student Statutory Returns at Aston University. 
 
In this episode, Josh explains the remit of a planning director and, with my episode co-host HE consultant David Marks, delves into the topics of student number planning, the broader planning process and recent sector experience of Data Futures. Josh also shares his career path so far, discusses the value of engaging with wider professional activities and offers advice on getting into the planning profession.
 
This episode is kindly sponsored by Dixon Walter. Dixon Walter is a Search and Selection Firm devoted to the appointment of outstanding leaders within Higher Education. Since 2015, they have been delivering successful appointments across the full spectrum of senior Professional Services and Academic Leadership positions throughout the UK and across all mission groups. Hallmarks of their service include the supportive and insight-driven approach leading to innovative, diverse, and inspirational appointments that regularly exceed the expectations of both clients and candidates. 

Julie Kelly and Lesley O’Keeffe: The Balancing Act of the Academic Registrar

Julie Kelly is Academic Registrar at the University of Hertfordshire and Lesley O'Keeffe is Registrar at Brunel University. They are also both members of the Executive Committee of the Academic Registrars Council, the national body that represents the profession. 
 
In this episode, Julie and Lesley explore the vast and pivotal role of the Academic Registrar in supporting the student journey, the variations in roles and titles across the sector, their different routes into Higher Education careers and how you create line-management relationships with subject experts. They also offer advice to colleagues who may aspire to be an Academic Registrar in the short- or medium-term. 
 
This episode is kindly sponsored by Anderson Quigley. Anderson Quigley builds better leaders for a better society. They are industry experts with decades of experience in public sector executive search, interim management and advisory. Driven by their core values, integrity, diversity and hands-on project ownership, they bring their expertise to bear for organisations that focus on society and social development, delivering leadership recruitment in higher education, schools, healthcare, charities, social care, housing, cultural organisations, the arts and government.

Alison Benson: Under the Bonnet of University Governance Management

Alison Benson is Strategic Planning Manager (Governance) at the University of Leicester. She has worked in Higher Education since 2016 and currently leads a team that manages the top-level corporate and academic governance of the university. 
 
In this episode, Alison explores the purpose of university governance, what's involved in its effective management and how you know if it's working well. She also shares wider aspects of her professional life including navigating part-time working in a predominately full-time HE culture and the leading role she is taking in the sector to support governance professionals in their career pathways. 

Victoria Holbrook: Engaging the HE Sector

Victoria Holbrook is Assistant Director (Consulting, Governance and Insight) at Advance HE, which is a member-led charity that works with partners across the globe to improve higher education for staff, students and society.  
 
In this episode, Victoria shares her career path through roles in organisations that support the HE community, discusses why good engagement with stakeholders matters and provides insight to the expertise she brings to help HEIs with problem-solving; she also offers views on the challenges facing the sector, and shares tips on how to get into her type of job.

Jamie Jones: Building a new university from the ground up

Jamie Jones is Vice-Principal (Operations and Infrastructure) at ARU Peterborough, a new £30 million university that opened its doors to its first students in September 2022. Jamie has worked in Higher Education for over 20 years.
In this episode, he shares his leadership involvement in setting up a new institution, discusses why he was attracted to the opportunity, uncovers his career path to date, talks through his working life now - including his approach to work-life balance, and offers advice on how to progress into executive operational roles. 

Selina Hannaford: What exactly is a Chief Of Staff?

Selina Hannaford is Chief of Staff at City, University of London. She has worked in Higher Education for 20 years and during part of that time has been the Chief of Staff to four different Vice-Chancellors or Presidents.
In this episode, Selina shares her career journey to date, sheds light on what a Chief of Staff does, uncovers the importance of the working relationship between a Chief of Staff and a Vice-Chancellor, discusses the importance of authentic leadership and offers advice on how to get into the Chief of Staff role. 

The Job Shadowing HE Trailer: Coming Soon!

Susannah Marsden introduces her new podcast, Job Shadowing HE, where guests from across the Higher Education sector talk about their roles, their career paths and how to get in and get on in those jobs.